#nove nakajima render

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group K Round 3: #K5 vs #K6

#K5: Adopted magical girl learns to love, live, and also fight

#K6: Slice of life in the middle of nowhere

Details and poll under the cut!

#K5: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha ViVid

Summary:

Vivio Takamachi, a Sankt Kaiser royalty of ancient Belka, was previously subjected to mistreatment. Fortunately, she now lives a peaceful life with family and friends while practicing martial arts with her coach, Nove Nakajima. However, Vivio soon becomes the target of the mysterious fighter Heidi E. S. Ingvalt, who demands Nove to reveal the location of the ancient Belkan royals. Refusing to disclose this information, Nove finds herself in a losing battle, but Heidi soon falls unconscious. In addition, Nove discovers Heidi’s true identity to be a middle school student named Einhald Stratos.

When she regains consciousness, Einhald clarifies that she has no animosity toward ancient Belkan royals. Having inherited the passion to defend and harboring regretful memories of her ancestor, the ancient Belkan ruler Claus Ingvalt, she simply wants to prove that her fighting ability is strong enough to protect others. Intrigued by the girl's situation, Nove arranges for Einhald to meet with Vivio. Although they get off to an unconventional start, Vivio enthusiastically trains with Einhald, assisting her in finding peace of mind while developing a vivid friendship along the way.

Propaganda:

It’s such an interesting setting, like it’s so fucking weird and I love it despite the queerbaiting. But basically these two magical girls retire ro run a dojo and adopt another magical girl who was abused. It focuses on the abused kid (previous series focused on the two magical girls) and that kid learning to be a kid and fight not for survival but like fun, and making friends and having a family they trust. All while in a sci-fi magical world with some fascinating and enjoyable world building. It has flaws, but for me the setting and characters make up for the sometimes misogynistic additions.

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Gender Identity/Sexuality Discrimination

#K6: Non Non Biyori

Summary:

Hotaru Ichijou's lifestyle completely changes when she leaves Tokyo and moves with her family to the isolated Asahigaoka village. Her new school has only five students including herself, all sharing a single classroom regardless of grade level. There are no convenience stores in the area, and it can take up to two hours for a bus to arrive.

Nevertheless, Hotaru finds herself captivated by the countryside's charm thanks to her four unique schoolmates with whom she quickly forms a genuine bond. The most colorful of them is Renge Miyauchi, a first-grader who is often perceptive despite her age. However, no less intriguing are the three Koshigaya siblings: the quiet oldest brother Suguru, the petite older sister Komari, and the prankish youngest sister Natsumi.

Having someone from the city join their cheerful little group enlivens the ordinary days in Asahigaoka. Not only does Hotaru bring firsthand knowledge from the alluring outside world, but her fresh outlook on life welcomes a blossom of change to their usual routine.

Propaganda:

Non Non Biyori is a show that, at first glance, seems to be little more than a standard Iyashikei affair with above average background art and below average character writing. What the show lacks in surface-level complexity, however, it makes up for with its delivery of capital T Themes.

The first season serves as a foundation, where it creates a strong sense of place through gorgeously rendered background art. We’re frequently given long, wide-angle shots of the background as characters walk through going about their business. The characters, though simply written, are given strong interactions with each other in order to grant a better understanding of the sense of community within the town. This serves to establish the town itself as the single most important element of the show, allowing the themes to blossom come season two, where we can better see the underlying melancholy behind the show’s lighthearted tone.

Non Non Biyori is ultimately a show about good times that can never last. The town they live in and the lifestyle it represents is dying, and the kids will grow up someday and will probably leave in search of better opportunities, with the possibility that they will never return to their hometown. Even in the short term, the age gap between the characters means that high school and eventually college will separate them, and though they’ll likely remain friends things will have irreversibly changed. Though the threat of change looms over the narrative, importantly, it’s not something that’s ever lingered on for too long, and when it is, it’s delivered with a “less is more” mentality, where we’re given only enough information to infer how the characters are feeling ourselves without it needing to be explicitly stated. This approach delivers Non Non Biyori’s central message: that even though change is inevitable and all good things come to an end, the single best thing a person can do is enjoy the good while it lasts.

Trigger Warnings: None.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

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