Is this what happiness feels like?
Impression
I feel like my bitter and cynical heart has been gently soothed and laid to rest on a fluffy cloud. And now, everything is beautiful and nothing hurts. Non Non Biyori is back, and this season is saved. It’s even better than that, actually – because Kiniro Mosaic was last season, and we have more Gochiusa coming up in Fall. It’s game, set and match, with 2015 itself saved in straight sets.
Non Non Biyori is a different sort of iyashikei to something like Kiniro Mosaic or this season’s short Wakaba Girl, which are both by the same author and are graduates of Manga Time Kirara. It’s funny at times, but it doesn’t rely on comedy. It’s simply relaxing, but it’s really, really good at being relaxing. From an objective standpoint, almost nothing happened this episode, and almost nothing will happen for the rest of the season. Ren-chon practised going to school, took the bus and stole a cell phone saw Hikari off. The next day, she went to school with Natsumi and Senpai Koma-chan, and they all sang the school song together. That was it. The school song actually took up a chunk of time, but I was perfectly content -happy, even- with just sitting there and basking in all the countryside landscape paintings. And it was the best thing I’ve seen all season.
Also, did anyone else mourn the death of the legendary sword, as based as the recorder is?
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Ren-chon carries the show, but there’s a reason she’s practically its poster girl, and it’s not just because of nyanpasu. You know, it’s that thing where one character is so much more amazing than the rest – what do they call it, best girl? A Ren-chon-centric episode was clearly the best way to start off the season. At times, she has this worldly wisdom that goes beyond her age – maybe precisely because she’s at the age of a bright, shiny first-grader. Look at how suave that backpack is.
I had to hold back a tear when she showed such silent pride at her new backpack in the bathroom. All the other characters are great as well though, including the unsung hero Nii-chan – they couldn’t have sung the school song without him, you know? I also found myself missing Hotaru and Candy Store, the latter especially – I still vividly remember the adorable scenes last season where Candy Store quickly becomes attached to Ren-chon after babysitting her, and I thought she would have wanted to come to something like her entrance ceremony. I mean, it’ll be a long, looooong time before she’s called ‘Miyauchi Renge-san’ again.
It might be strange to say this, but I feel like it’s almost a waste to have this air now, at least for me. I have very few work-related obligations for the season, and so I don’t actually need relaxing, certainly not anything as effective as Non Non Biyori. I needed it the last time it aired, back in the ancient era of Fall 2013, but now it’s just the icing on a cake I already have. But this does leave more time for blogging, and means I can not only have my cake, but eat it too. So it looks like I’ll be spending this season hyping up Ren-chon, rooting for Hotaru’s secret crush and making height jokes about Komari! Yay!
Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed
Possibility of Blogging: Ren-chon/10
P.S. The new OP isn’t bad, but the new ED is god-tier.
Nyanpasu!
Ren-chon sees things through the eyes of a child, and sometimes children can see things clearer than any of us.
Nyanpasu!
And sometimes, Ren-chon just… knows stuff, somehow.
noun: haute couture
(i) expensive, fashionable clothes produced by leading fashion houses.
“rails of haute couture”
(ii) the designing and making of haute couture clothing.
“the champions of haute couture insist that it can be as visionary as any art form”