Non Non Biyori Repeat

Episode 4

As one might expect from this laid-back series, things start on a very simple note. Renge catches some tadpole shrimp and begins taking care of them in the classroom, but she's more excited by the fact that her first bicycle is arriving the next day. The pink bike is accompanied by torrent of rain, so Renge puts together a teru teru bozu charm to ward off the lousy weather. For good measure, she also improvises a costume for herself and ends up scaring the living daylights out of Komari. The kids all ride their bikes around town when the weather finally clears up, but their next day of school starts off on a somber note: the shrimp have died. Hotaru and Komari fret over Renge, who is clearly broken up over the loss of her tiny pets. Their efforts at cheering her up come to naught, but Natsumi turns out to have the situation under control. She saves the shrimp eggs buried at the bottom of the fish tank, and the girls return to school the next day to find a new generation of shrimp floating around.

Non Non Biyori has always been a sentimental comedy at heart, and Renge's exploits as a giant teru teru bozu lead the charge on the humor front here. Her costume is both amusing and adorable, and it looks exactly like the kind of project that a kid might throw together while stuck inside on a rainy day. It's not hard to see how things will play out when she runs into Komari in the fog, but it's still fun to watch the scene unfold into an unintentional chase sequence. The final image of a terrified Komari trapped between Renge and Kazuho, both of whom are wearing paper plate masks, makes the whole scene worth the leisurely buildup.

What elevates this episode beyond the usual standard for slice of life anime is the saga of the tadpole shrimp. It starts in a completely unassuming fashion, giving the impression that the shrimp are just another snapshot in the show's ongoing efforts to immerse us in its world. Surely, we think, the point of this story is to show Renge going on an adventure with her shiny new bike. Ultimately, however, the bicycle ends up being the innocuous background prop while the shrimp come to dominate the plot. The story runs us through a full range of emotions, going from the idle joy of being a kid with some newfound freedom to the speechless deflation of losing a pet and finally ending on the comforting realization that life goes on. What's so impressive is that the whole journey unfolds without any obnoxious melodrama or overt emotional manipulation. There are no sobbing breakdowns or contrived monologues, the series simply places the audience in the moment and lets our feelings build up naturally.

Drawing this much meaning out of a small event takes work, and it's not difficult to see the care and attention that went into this episode. Images are carefully crafted to bring out the significance of each scene by forging connections with the viewer's own memories. There's the shiny new bicycle sitting idle in the rain, the girls standing happily outside the candy store in the afternoon sun, and the modest pet funeral in the schoolyard. Even the above screenshot is neatly arranged to capture the mood of the moment: Hotaru and Komari desperately try to think of a way to cheer up the downtrodden Renge while Natsumi rests easy in the knowledge that everything will work out fine. The final emotional knockouts are delivered by Renge's pair of contrasting diary entries. Each is only one sentence long, but they drive home the low and high points of the story better than any spoken dialogue. The episode's writing, direction, and voice acting quietly conspire to step back and let the characters work through the plot on their own.

This is easily the best single episode I've reviewed in more than four seasons. It fits perfectly into the context of the series, but it also stands strong as an individual piece of fiction. This is the kind of meaningful storytelling that slice of life shows so often strive for but so rarely manage to actually pin down. I laughed, I cried, and I learned about tadpole shrimp. Who could ask for more?

Rating: A+

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.