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43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like eating chicken soup on a cold night..., August 14, 2003
This review is from: Niea Under 7 (NieA_7) - Box Set (DVD)
Niea_7 is essentially about folks who aren't perfect, who arent rich, who are barely getting by, who somehow seem to be optimistic and push on through lifes problems, even accepting it when things don't turn out so well. I've seen this series two times already within the three month's I've owned it. I've recently been going through some personal problems, and so I decided to pull Niea out again for a third time. I've watched one episode each night before going to bed, and it's exactly the prescription I needed. It makes me laugh, but also makes me realize that even with life's problems, we can all muddle our way through and even have a laugh at the things that make us human. To keep enjoying what you like to do no matter how tough life is. Whether it's Kotomi's ruthlessness as she tries to keep the bathhouse afloat or Nenji's (who is in charge of heating up the water at the bathouse) penchant for burning things. It's obvious that they both like their jobs and are happy to be doing what they are doing, even to the extreme. Each character's purpose is clearly defined, even hilariously over-defined in some instances. This is why Niea_7 is really Mayuko's story as she struggles to find her purpose in life when things seem piled up against her. She seems to just drift through life devoid of anything in her life that could make her forget her problems for awhile and make her happy. This is what makes her sort of an outcast amongst her peers...and it takes the most unlikliest person, um I mean alien, to remind her of something she used to enjoy doing and get her motivated. Niea_7 is definitely something to treasure. It'll put a smile on your face, make you laugh out loud and give a warm glow to your heart.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A quiet, beautiful series that should have been much longer., December 13, 2003
This review is from: Niea Under 7 (NieA_7) - Box Set (DVD)
Niea Under 7 is a series that seems to be trying to combine anime genres for laughs. You'll see elements of Maison Ikkoku, and Urusei Yatsura (LUM), two Rumiko Takahashi series, although she had nothing to do with this anime. I really think the alien element, was added initially as an audience hook. Much like in Kimagure Orange Road, where most of that story could have been told without some of the characters being ESP'ers. Niea could have just been a bratty friend, and not an annoying alien girl. The series focus explores the life of a poor ronin girl, named Mayuko, seeking to make ends meet, and wondering how to approach the rest of the world, on a social level. I believe the presence of Niea, is a device to help get her, to come out of her shell. We see a character, much like a lot of young people who is diligent in school, honest, very hard working, with a misplaced sense of pride. Mayuko is also a character, who needs to be brought out of her shell. She's mistakenly seen by other students, as standoffish or arrogant, when she's really shy, and nervous in social situations. The alien plot has some interesting dynamics to it. The aliens have been there for years, and have integrated into society. There are apparently levels of aliens, the lowest of which is the Under 7 type like Niea, who lacks an antenna, and appears to be dirt poor. I think the aliens are a convenient method to show cultural class struggles, similar to the poor, and the rich elite of our everyday society. This series is probably too quiet for hard-core mecha lovers. It's slow moving, and many of the plots are inconclusive, and often depressing. I would have liked to see the development of Mayuko, played out till its conclusion. She's an interesting, but often a very sad character. Still as anime comedy plots go, some are very original, and quite funny. Those looking for a definitive ending will be disappointed. The DVDs are well packaged, with some interesting extras, and insights into the Japanese culture. This was produced by the same people who did, Serial Experiments: LAIN, but it does not have as confusing a story. While it lacks the wild humor of LUM, or other similar series, it makes up for it in depth of emotion. The character development is such, that you can often feel yourself in the same position, (or at least in sympathy) of the characters in their situations. A good watch if you like story over action.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Diamond in the Rough, June 18, 2009
This review is from: Niea Under 7 (NieA_7) - Box Set (DVD)
NieA 7 - 8.5/10 A diamond in the rough. For a series with such a lowly average on MAL, it's surprisingly good. It's reminiscent of Haibane Renmei because of its slow, dialogue heavy and relaxing style. After watching the first volume, I wasn't too taken with it. It started off reasonably well, showing the struggles of a very believable young woman, Mayuko, as she tries to survive with little money and, at the same time, studies to get into college. But my interest levels dropped as soon as it was revealed that an alien, NieA, lived in Mayuko's closet, eating some of her food and causing her trouble. My interest continued to decrease as more cartoony aliens got involved and the usual anime silliness ensued. Why did this bother me, you ask? Because NieA 7 didn't need an alien living in a closet and attempting to build a UFO. The highly enjoyable and realistic slice of life elements were, from my perspective, getting damaged by the random slapstick comedy elements. I can see and fully understand one of the reasons for the involvement of carefree NieA - to show the contrast between stressed Mayuko, trying her best to survive, and NieA, an alien so carefree that she comes across as thoughtless - but I feel the main reason was to take the anime away from the realm of the real. The thinking probably was that most viewers want to use anime to escape, and that if the story was too realistic it would've taken away from the enjoyment. This sort of thing is viewed as a negative by me because I like to see some anime that contain believable stories. The good news for people like me is that after the mixed opening volume the series started to focus more and more on realism and less on anime insanity. Rather than having a UFO blow a hole through the roof and the like for giggles, the second volume had an episode where an arcade gaming competition was used for laughs, involving the staff at the bathouse where Mayuko lives and works playing against a small army of kids. I found it funny because it wasn't over the top; because it tried to be real. In my the eyes, the best kind of comedy is the kind I can imagine happening in the land of the real - not just on some nutyy planet on the other side of the galaxy. After the first volume, there were also a lot of episodes that focused on the serious sections of the story without resorting to slapstick humour in an attempt to brighten up the mood randomly. My favourite depressing episode is probably the one where Mayuko gets invited to a 'Go-Con' (basically random group dating) and eventually decides against going because she doesn't have any nice clothes to wear and can't afford to have her hair cut. Simple, I know, but the feelings and thoughts Mayuko had during that episode are the kind many people have over the course of their lives and it was effective on an emotional level because of that. Slice of life is at its best when it allows you to go into the shoes of the characters and feel how they feel, and Niea 7 achieves this on a number of occasions. Really, the reason Niea 7 is so endearing is because the cast, aliens aside, come across as real people. Mayuko struggles to get by and lacks a goal to work towards; the owner of the bathouse attempts to handle two jobs in order to keep the bathouse running, despite it bringing her debt, because of her ties to the people who work there; Genzo, the shy guy with a crush on Mayuko because of her helping him when they were kids, tries to help Mayuko by bringing her rice, yet struggles to express his feelings for her...etc, etc. It's very easy to get into the heads of the cast and see things from their points if view, and that's what makes NieA 7 a fantastic series to spend time watching. The message of NieA 7 is to live life to the full, instead of worrying about everything constantly. Life flies by very quickly and there's little joy to be had if everything is always too difficult. That's why Mayuko is envious of NieA for being so carefree, like nothing can bother her. As Mayuko lives with NieA, she understands how it feels to be 'free', and I'm sure the objective of the series when it was created was to make the viewers feel the same way as Mayuko. Watching the series is a relaxing, occasionaly depressive and mostly fun ride - a journey worth the time of any bored anime fan looking to unearth a gem. Do I recommend the series? Providing you can handle lots of talking and little in the way of action, yes. It's a charming series that fans of Haibane Renmei and its ilk will lap up.
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