Whether you call it “Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou,” the English “Daily Lives of High School Boys” or the simple, punny “Nichibros,” I think we can all agree that this show slipped through the cracks. I’ll never understand why shows like YuruYuri get legally streamed while this one gets turned down.
I picked up Nichibros hoping for a spiritual successor to Nichijou, and I wasn’t disappointed. In both comedies, characters react to quirky and absurd situations without skipping a beat. The main difference I can find is that the Nichibros guys are much more meta, willing to break the fourth wall at the slightest inclination.
There’s one aspect to Nichibros that confused me at first—have you noticed how most of the female characters don’t have faces? Except for one or two notable exceptions, the eyes of the protagonists’ sisters, teacher, and female strangers are concealed in shadow. Even when we first meet Literary Girl, the most interesting female character in the series, her eyes are also covered up. (By the way, for a fascinating take on Literary Girl, check out AJTheFourth’s analysis.)
At first I thought this meant that we’re supposed to see the girls as antagonists. Perhaps that’s a holdover from an earlier period—when I used to try drawing manga in middle school, I always drew villains like this. Now, however, I’ve developed a theory.
It’s not we, the viewers, who can’t see the girls’ faces. It’s the teenage, male protagonists themselves. I can’t speak from experience, but I’d guess that to high school boys, women are a mystery. They can’t read their faces, or tell how they’ll react. For example, when Hidenori agonizes over pointing out a hairy mole on a female stranger’s neck. Or when Motoharu can’t gauge whether his sister will pick on him or make him curry for dinner.
This would also explain why Ringo, the socially inept female class president, never has her face concealed. Her awkward mannerisms are no mystery. And it’d explain why we always see the faces of the three female protagonist in “High School Girls are Funky,” the clip after the credits which mirrors the events of the main episode, but with women.
One thing my theory doesn’t explain—Toshiyuki’s baseball cap. But at least with him, his eyes are always visible.
6 Comments.
Nice observation regarding Ringo and the girls in the High School Girls are Funky segments.
Ringo is just the best, by the way.
Thanks for the pingback!
@Emily, agreed. Ringo is definitely the character I relate to the most!
Speaking as a former high school boy, I can confirm your theory that high school girls are an unpredictable and incomprehensible group.
Everytime I see this kind of artistic choice (concerning the shadowed eyes), I can’t help but think about those episodes of Kare Kano with “cardboard on a stick” animation.
Hopefully, in Daily Lives of High School Boys, it doesn’t take too long until they make fun of their own artistic choices and that’s a very effective way for a comedy show to break the ice :)
I love those kind of shows and hope there will be one like it this season!
I wrote a review about “Macho Nichijou” a while back (Loved the show BTW) and my description of the show was as follows:
“This is the story of a century long war between two sexes, where one has become the dominant force over the other. Not a day goes by where the demonic sex spawned from the very depths of Hades isn’t torturing the opposite sex for invalid reasons such as inferiority complexes, stealing their underwear, cooking better than them or merely because they exist. And yet, this race from the abyss somehow cannot deny their natural instincts and sometimes seek the opposite sex’s comfort while continuing to treat them like cow dung. Of course the opposite sex was forced to take a stand and do their best to rise up against the dark regime brought forth by the demented Tortegan succubi…Nah, the story’s about the daily lives of high school boys with humor added to the mix.”
In all seriousness, I think the reason was because in high school, contrary to what Watamote taught us about high school life (Very enlightening show that was to me on a personal level), guys have habits some gals can’t stand and guys who communicate with these ladies see them as banshees. It could probably be the same vice-versa. I’m just guessing as my high school life was…ordinary.
At the end of one of the episodes Toshiyuki uncovers his baseball cap and shows that he has a scar.