I have been staring at a blank page for some time now. Well, a blank webpage to be precise. NieA_7 is a strange anime to talk about. Like watching an old movie in a language you don't understand, but you're pretty sure part of it is missing. At times it managed to be interesting and draw me in, but there was always a distance between me and NieA_7.
Its story is set in rural Japan, where some time ago an alien spaceship crashed to Earth. Ever since aliens have lived among people. The two looking largely identical, aside from the aliens having pointed ears and antennas.
Our protagonist is Mayuko Chigasaki. She is a hard-working young woman who is attending cram school in preparation for college, but who finds herself lost in life. She works incredibly hard, both at school and at various jobs, but for what goal? Just to get good grades? Mayuko has no idea what she wants to be or even what she'd like to study. Getting good grades and going to college is just what she feels she has to do. Even if getting there is making her miserable.
Mayuko's only "friend" is a curious alien called Niea. A hyperactive little troublemaker who is an outcast even among her people because she doesn't have an antenna. Together they wile away the days with all manner of silly (but affordable) adventures.
What makes NieA_7 so difficult to wrap one's head around is that it's never clear what it's trying to be. Much effort is put into evoking memories of Serial Experiments Lain, for example. To the point where they straight-up copy Lain's unique style of title cards and prominent characters are named after staff that worked on Lain. The tone and cinematography also imply a similar uneasy tone, perfectly fit for a suspenseful mystery. NieA_7 also tackles some heavy themes of its own; discrimination, alienation, poverty.
Except it's not a heavy, serious show at all. Instead all this pulled through the filter of a hyperactive slapstick comedy. The characters scream a lot and get into fights all the time. There's silly faces and zany animation all around. And... I don't know. It just never comes around to a point where that contrast—however deliberate—starts to feel entertaining. Instead it feels like NieA_7 just never delivers on any of its appeals.
Take the racism, for example. This was a prominent theme in Abe's Haibane Renmei as well, but is never really explored here. The character of Niea is ostensibly discriminated against, but this isn't reflected much in the plot. Some shithead children poke fun at her and only one character is openly racist, but that character is then also the butt of so many jokes that we can't take her seriously. Other aliens are always perfectly chill with Niea and she herself only reacts to hateful comments with silly gags and screaming.
We eventually get some hints that Niea might be special. That she's hiding more baggage than is apparent to Mayuko or even us, and that she has some major part to play in things to come. There are poignant moments scattered throughout; serious moments that feel too intense to be funny. These never last or develop anywhere interesting though. With even the show's big mystery petering out on a short, unspectacular reveal before resuming the slapstick antics.
And that could have been fine if the comedy was actually entertaining. There was never a moment where I really felt amused by NieA_7 and its jokes. It didn't have me laughing at any point, that's for sure. It always felt like the comedy was trying too hard with too little substance. The silly animations and screaming attempting to make up the difference instead of serving to punctuate already funny moments.
One scene that stands out as being particularly bad was the introduction for Chada. Mayuko opens the door for someone and it's a dark-skinned man in Indian dress, who politely greets and bows for her. She immediately slams the door shut and goes into an unhinged panic. Spending actual minutes of runtime throwing a fit about how there's a weird person at the door and immediately making the assumption that he's a pervert or a criminal. With subsequent attempts of Chada to introduce himself frightening her all over again, even when Niea told her there's nothing to worry about. It goes on for so long and it's so awkward to sit through. With the eventual joke being that he's just an alien pretending to be Indian, here to advertise his convenience.
It doesn't help the comedy—or the story as a whole—that the characters are so unlikable. Take Niea for example. The core of personality is that she is selfish and entitled. A proud freeloader who has no interest in other people or contributing to some shared caused. Even when helping someone else would benefit her as well. In fact, she'd happily ruin her own life if it means she can withhold help from someone else. Like in one story arc where the bathhouse where she lives is holding a contest to draw in customers, but Niea sabotages their plans even after being bribed into helping out.
She lives in Mayuko's closet where she steals her food, breaks her things, makes a mess, and stretches the already paper-thin household finances. Everybody always has to out of their way to accommodate her and she repays each and every one of them by making more trouble, whining, and openly sabotaging their lives. That's the character you are asked to sympathize with. That's not even me exaggerating or leaving out her positive qualities. I genuinely can't twist Niea's behavior in a way that makes her seem like less an obnoxious little shit.
Mayuko is nowhere near as offensive, but never really impresses as a lead character either. She's melancholic, irritable, and indecisive, with occasional zany outbursts when she has to partake in a gag. Her personality, much like the tone of the series as a whole, comes off as flippant. The need to balance moody overtones with wacky comedy drawing her in multiple directions, leaving us with a protagonist that feels lost. I sympathized with her problems, but only on a surface level. She never drew me in and her arc throughout the story ended up being unimpressive.
In a sense, Mayuko embodies the problem with NieA_7 as a whole. It's not deep enough for the story to ever draw you in, but the comedy isn't strong enough to carry the anime either. What you end up with is a show that feels like "nothing". Lacking any kind coherent direction, tone, ambition, or appeal. Meandering through a vague storyline with uninteresting characters before suddenly stopping without much of a climax. The only feelings it manages to evoke were boredom interspersed with embarrassment.
More like this...
Serial Experiments Lain: Inspired the tone and directing of NieA_7.
Haibane Renmei: Abe anime that deals with themes of alienation and discrimination.
Love Hina: Comedy anime revolving around public baths.
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