Non Non Biyori Repeat

Episode 3

Summarizing twenty-five minutes of anime isn't an especially difficult task, but I feel a bit silly every time I talk about the plot in Non Non Biyori Repeat. Compared to the high stakes and deadly consequences of a more serious title, the everyday antics in this series feel entirely too normal for a piece of fiction. That's part of the reason this show impresses me so often: it can get an absurd amount of mileage out of a completely unremarkable premise.

This episode opens with the characters taking tests with varying degrees of success. Natsumi seems especially doomed to failure, and she quickly ropes the rest of gang into some last minute studying. Despite some truly impressive attempts at pulling answers out of thin air, she doesn't manage to get much right beyond writing her name at the top of the page. The girls plan an emergency study session over the Golden Week holiday, but Kazuho is entirely too tired and lazy to act like a teacher on her day off. Renge tries in vain to get her sister up and moving, but eventually settles for using Kazuho as a bad example to get the rest of the group motivated.

The test scene plays right into one of Non Non Biyori's strengths: sharp writing delivered at a relaxed pace. The scene will feel familiar to anyone who's sat around complaining between exam sessions, but the dialogue is far wittier than the average real-world middle school student's. Natsumi's futile complaints drive the scene along, Hotaru and Komari serve as the easily flustered voices of reason, and Renge's unpredictable one-liners jump the conversation from one topic to another. Natsumi and Komari's brother is technically there as well, but he's really more of a prop than a character. (I ended up turning to the manga to confirm that he even has a first name: it's Suguru.) The classroom dynamic in this show is carefully balanced to produce humor that feels natural and spontaneous, and the results are impressively funny.

The scene between Renge and Kazuho is also well crafted, but it takes a slightly different approach. Rather than leaning entirely on witty dialogue, it plays with the audience's expectations by deliberately taking the conversation off-track. The plan to treat studying like a video game is derailed by Kazuho's appetite, leading to Renge's indignant complaint that she's somehow ended up fighting fruit instead of monsters. The scene's momentum rises and falls several times before building to the final image of Kazuho wandering around half asleep and blindfolded as the other characters arrive. The whole sequence is a leisurely descent into chaos with some fun twists and turns.

Non Non Biyori Repeat brings its comedic A-game in this episode, but the show's contemplative side is mostly missing in action. There's a brief moment of reflection when we learn that Kazuho actually puts a fair amount of effort into her job as a teacher, but that's about all we get this week. The strong comedy keeps this series in the upper echelons of the slice of life genre, but the package is incomplete without the occasional moments of nostalgic insight.

With a third episode in the bank, it's increasingly safe to assume that this sequel will retain the strength and consistency of the original. From time to time, it'll turn in some genuinely compelling musings on the little moments that lead us to grow up bit by bit. In between those flashes of brilliance, there's plenty of carefully crafted humor to help pass the time. Even in its less ambitious moments, Non Non Biyori Repeat is a very easy series to enjoy.

Rating: B

Non Non Biyori Repeat is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Paul Jensen is a freelance writer and editor. You can follow more of his anime-related ramblings on Twitter.