10 Second Anime - Non Non Biyori Repeat - Episode 12 [END]

Spring arrives and the girls reflect on a year gone by. It was a perfect day with totally ideal weather to watch the cherry blossoms. Season finale.

Episode 12 - "Only One Year"

Heh.

It took Renge almost a whole year to meet Pecchi? Of course she had to give him a weird name like "Knee Knocker."

 

This episode felt a little slower than usual, but it made me realize the show was having their own style of flashback memories as we said goodbye to the each of the settings. Is there such a thing as present tense nostalgia?

 

We skipped right over Winter and went straight to Fairy Power!

Oh man. They even reprised the last scene of the first season with the four main characters sitting on the bridge. I miss this show already.

 

It was still a Non Non Biyori episode, so Renge had to insist on a childish response to some bit of new knowledge. 

Why didn't anyone ever tell her that mythological beings can live in bamboo shoots? Make sure to knock before destroying somebody's house from now on.

 

Pecchi instantly became an expert bamboo digger.

Aw, they even brought back the rabbit hutch from the first season! Plus showing Hotaru being very worried about Komari's cooking skills.

 

The best part of the show, besides the ending under the cherry tree, was just showing the kids waste time waiting for the adults to stop talking. Even these mundane little vignettes using a single camera perspective can be ripe for comedy and showcasing character traits as story. This is slice of life healing anime, of course, so just watching the characters be themselves is the point.

 

Clearly, the most of the focus for this season was Hotaru getting used to the countryside culture and becoming good friends with Renge, Natsumi and Komari. She was reflective on how quickly the year passed since she came from Tokyo, yet her new friends were already making plans with her to experience all the seasonal events all the way to next year. It was comforting, in a childlike way, that they had all the time in the world to be good friends.

Final Thoughts.

When this season began, I was confused at first by the premise. Were they actually going to repeat the same year that was in the first season? Yes, yes they were, but they were going to tell other stories that happened during that time. And it worked. It really worked. Each episode, even the one with all the rain and the scary teru-teru bouzu had ideal weather for a perfect day, which is what the title of this show means.

Because every day can be a perfect day, even ones that are sad, disappointing in some ephemeral way or where too much seems to be happening all at once. The weather in the country is as much a character as any person, helping to set the mood, punctuate a sudden event or allow a quiet externality to another's thoughts.

 

This show was the epitome of Summer slice of life anime, one where I always looked forward to what the characters were doing. It really was like visiting with the neighbor's kids once a week. It gave me that nostalgic feeling for Aria, the Animation. Not much happened, but the characters were so well developed, I just wanted to see how they would act and what they would say for the little things that did happen.

 

The standout episodes were Hotaru's fireflies taking the place of her fireworks and Renge learning to ride a bike with Kaede. Quintessential slice of life healing anime. I wonder if there'll be another Repeat of the same year. So many small stories can be turned into an adventure if you're a kid, so there doesn't seem to be a lack of material there, but I would be concerned about the nostalgic slow paced atmosphere being reproduced. This season recaptured that feeling with grace and imagination. I would like to see that happen again.