Nichijou Episode 20

"Nichijou Episode 20" (日常の第二十話) is the twentieth episode of the Nichijou anime. The episode was written by Jukki Hanada and directed by Ichirou Miyoshi. It aired on August 15, 2011.

Heno Heno
Sakamoto sneezes and shudders. "It's gotten colder lately," he thinks to himself as he walks down the hallway. Suddenly, he notices Hakase peering through a doorway... and she has tied a white sack over her head and drawn a Henohenomoheji on it so that she resembles a teru teru bozu. Sakamoto is flabbergasted. Hakase then walks toward Sakamoto, slowly and shakily As she approaches Sakamoto, Hakase spookily calls his name, scaring him. Nano Shinonome then begins to approach from behind Sakamoto, wearing a similar hood and eerily calling out, "Sakamoto-san..." Terrified, Sakamoto staggers about, unable to escape. He backs up against the wall and tries to ask them to cut it out, stammering in fear. Sweating bullets, he asks them to at least tell him why they're doing this!

Part 83
Nano joins Mio Naganohara, Mai Minakami and Yuuko Aioi in Mio's room to help Mio with her manga. Mio asks Mai to add some tones to a manga sheet, and Yuuko to write the page numbers on the sheets and fill in the hair. Nano is amazed. "Naganohara-san, I didn't know you drew manga." Mio is a little embarrassed, telling Nano it's no big deal. Yuuko then snickers and tells Nano that Mio used to hide her talent from them and draw in secret. Mio explains that she did used to hide it, but recently sent a copy of one of her works to a manga magazine, and received a letter from them saying they were looking forward to her next submission. That made Mio think that maybe it was a bit weird to keep her drawings a secret. Enthusiastic, Nano tells Mio, "They must think you have talent!" Mio plays down her talent. Nano asks if she can take a look, surprising Mio. Nano picks up a finished sheet and begins to read. Mio is concerned; her steamy yaoi manga appears to be more than the timid Nano can handle. Nano begins trembling, her face turning red, steam rising from her head and her key turning... it appears Nano may be overheating. Mio tries to apologize, but Nano doesn't hear her. Nano then comes across something especially risqué; she gasps, steaming like a teakettle as her key spins wildly. Mio is worried, but Nano seems to have let off steam. "E-excuse me," Nano says weakly as she begins to shuffle off. "I'm going outside for a bit..." Somewhat stunned, Yuuko asks, "Are you ok? Want me to come?" Nano, still emitting residual steam, tells Yuuko to help Mio; she'll be back soon. "Nano has a lot on her plate," Yuuko says.

Mio then looks at the clock and notices that it's getting late; they don't have time to waste. Mio tells Yuuko that they should keep working until Nano gets back; the deadline is tomorrow, after all. Yuuko gives Mio a big thumb's up. "Roger that!" Walking back to her seat, Yuuko confidently tells Mio, "I'm not a bad artist myself. Let's wrap this up." She sits down and picks up a mechanical pencil, holding it with the point facing up. Gleefully, Yuuko jokes, "All units, attack! Just kidding." Unaware the pencil is upside down, Yuuko goes to push the top to dispense lead, only for the tip to stab the middle of her thumb. The action is shown again, zoomed in as the pencil pierces Yuuko's skin. Yuuko cries out in pain, a sonic boom blasting through the windows and up through the roof. The beam of pain rockets upward, going through the clouds. Japan is seen from space as Yuuko's pain launches through the thermosphere, hitting Jupiter right in the Great Red Spot and blasting out the other side, grazing Saturn's rings, right through Uranus, Neptune, and even Pluto. Showing the destruction of our Solar System, the camera pans down to what looks like an unknown red planet in the foreground. Zooming out, we see this is actually a drop of Yuuko's blood, coming out of where she pricked her thumb. It's a tiny wound, but it seems like it really hurt. As Yuuko holds her hand and trembles in pain, Mio looks back and gives Yuuko some words of encouragement. "Don't give up so soon," she tells her. She's interrupted by Mai, who hands her the sheet she had been working on. "Let's look over your work," she says. Behind Mio's two characters, Mai has drawn an odd portrait of a monk with a string of little figures flowing out of his mouth. Mio is floored. Furious, she yells at Mai. "What are you drawing?!" With her usual lack of emotion, Mai merely replies, "St. Kuuya." Distressed, Mio clarifies: "That's not what I meant!" she cries. "Why are you drawing at all?" Mai's glasses sparkle mystically as she stands against a golden backdrop. "I heard the empty background crying," she replies. Mio, shaking as she tries not to yell at Mai further, hands her some Wite-Out and tells her to use it to cover up her drawing. "Just put the tone there... and don't do anything weird!" she pleads.

As Mai goes back to her station and Mio buries her face in her hands in frustration, Yuuko blows on her thumb and waves her hand to lessen the pain. "This has to be the worst pain I've ever experienced," she whines. She sighs and decides to fill in the hair. As she reaches for a pen, she accidentally knocks over her inkwell. Stunned, she watches as the ink pours all over the manga sheet she's working on. Suddenly realizing what's happening, Yuuko turns blue as she cries out, "Eeeeeehhhh?!" She takes tissues and desperately tries to blot up the ink in a frenzy. Without looking up, but with uncanny timing, Mio matter-of-factly tells Yuuko, "Oh, right. If you make a mistake, tell me right away." "Right away?" Yuuko thinks in a panic. She looks back down at her manga sheet; while she was able to clean up the excess ink, it has still left a huge stain, taking one of the character's heads with it. Trembling, and with her usual terrible sense of judgement, Yuuko thinks, "I can't do that! I have to fix this as soon as possible!"

Mai hands over her manga sheet again. "I hope you didn't draw anything this time," Mio tells her. But alas; this time, Mai has drawn an elaborate cemetery in the background! Mai is stunned as she sees this; she then notices that Mai has altered the dialogue slightly; now her character is telling the other, "Don't make me kill you." Shaking, Mio angrily asks Mai, "What is this?" Again taking her literally, Mai tells her, "A graveyard." Furious, Mio calls Mai an idiot. "This is a fancy palace in Daikanyama! And I told you not to draw anything. Why would you do this?!" Mai again shimmers her glasses and, against the same backdrop, answers, "Because there was space there." Mio can't handle this. "Forget it," she yells at Mai. "Just erase it. Just erase!"

Yuuko stares at her manga sheet, panting in panic. She closes her eyes as she thinks, "L-looks pretty good..." We then see that Yuuko is holding a wooden dip pen, evidently trying to fix her mistake. "It looks pretty good, but it just doesn't look right!" Yuuko's poorly-drawn head sticks out like a sore thumb atop his body. Yuuko wonders if it would just be adding fuel to the flame by showing this to Mio. Meanwhile, Mai gives Mio her manga sheet for the third time. "Did you erase it properly this time?" she asks. "I really need you to stop messing around." Looking at the manga sheet, the good news is, Mai didn't draw anything; she really did erase... only, the graveyard is still there. Instead, Mai erased the characters! "Why?!" Mio shouts. Mio loses it, yelling at Mai, demanding to know, "What is this?!" As cool as ever, Mai tells Mio, "I erased it." "Do you want me to erase you?!" Mio shouts back. "Why would you do this?" Mai's glasses glint again; with a backdrop that's just Mio's room, Mai bluntly tells her, "Because this manga isn't very interesting." "You just hit a nerve!" Mio snaps back. Distraught, Mio gives Mai a blank sheet and tells her to just draw in panel borders, like the ones on the last page. Just the borders! Mai grabs the blank sheet and looks at it. Uh-oh.

Helvetica Standard
With her eyes closed, a woman overseeing a shogi match tells the two men sitting on the floor that ten seconds have passed. The younger man seems to be struggling, most likely trying to think of a move. The old man is cool and collected. "Twenty seconds," she says. She begins counting up from one. The younger man continues to struggle. He's actually trying to place a piece down on the board, but the older man is holding his hand, keeping him from doing so. The woman reaches ten, and another judge announces that time is up; his eyes are closed as well. The younger man cries out in anger.

Part 83 (continued)
Yuuko pants desperately. "This is out of control!" she thinks. She's drawn a new head, but it looks just as bad as the first one. Yuuko can't possibly show this to Mio! Meanwhile, Mai gives Mio her manga sheet. Mio reaches for it, but hesitates; she tries again and grabs it. "You really just drew in panel borders?" she asks warily. Mai just blinks. A male narrator reads the manga Mai has drawn."Once upon a time, there was an old man and an old woman. The old man went to cut grass in the mountains..."The man cries out in shock; sitting in the middle of the road is a man in a peach blossom. Mio silently and emotionlessly stands up, the room beginning to warp. Mio is completely speechless. "It's a private born from a peach," Mai tells her. "I don't care about that!" Mio shouts back. Mio then crouches next to her desk, on the verge of tears. "Mai, just read a book..." she says, giving up. "Okay," says Mai.

Panting, Yuuko's face has turned so blue it's almost black. "Th-this... is hopeless!" she thinks. Yuuko has tried yet again to draw a new head, and this one is the worst yet. Beads of sweat cascading down her face, Yuuko thinks, "I feel like the more I panic, the worse it gets..." She grasps her head. "What am I going to do? What can I do?" Suddenly, Mai's hand appears as she pokes Yuuko's back, getting her attention. "Leave it to me," she tells her. As Mai takes over, Yuuko wonders if Mai can really do it. Yuuko lowers her head and thinks, "Of course not... there's just no way..." She opens her eyes and cries out in wonder. "So good!" she thinks, "Unbelievably good! She's too good! But this... This is unbelievably different!" she cries out to the heavens. Mai has indeed done a good job in drawing a new head, but it doesn't fit the rest of the page at all; for one, it's far more detailed than anything else on the page. Mai hands the manga sheet to Yuuko, who shuffles off, defeated. Placing the inkwell next to the sheet, she thinks to herself, "I want to go back to the time before I knew right from left. When everything seemed so new..." She intentionally knocks the inkwell onto the sheet where it had been before. She goes to give Mio the sheet, continuing her thought. "And I'll tell myself to stay like that." Yuuko smiles confidently as she hands Mio the ruined page. Mio blinks in confusion. Yuuko then drops to the ground and cries out, "I'm sorry! Please draw this again!" Mio stares at the sheet, dumbstruck, managing to utter, "But..." Outside, Nano is on a swingset, and is surprised to hear Mio roar, "I don't have any more paper!"

Morals
Sakurai-sensei is walking down the school hallway when she sees Koujirou Sasahara round the corner, running. As he passes, Sakurai-sensei tries to tell him not to run in the hallway, but he's gone before she can finish. Misato Tachibana then enters the hall wearing her turret, chasing Sasahara, and giving Sakurai-sensei a terrible fright.

Short Thoughts
Wearing a sack just like Hakase and Nano were wearing earlier, Sakamoto struggles in vain to take it off. Hindering his progress is the fact that his front legs are also in there. He stands up and wobbles around, but falls on his back.

The female narrator reads, "There wasn't any point."

Part 84
Misato sits on the riverbank at sunset, seeming somewhat wistful and pensive. Sitting next to her is her kendo equipment. Misato sighs; she then looks straight up and sighs again. Suddenly, a hand comes down and chops her on the forehead. "You're open!" says the stranger. Misato is surprised to find Yoshino Naganohara standing behind her. "Naganohara!" she asks as Yoshino sits down next to her. "What are you doing here?" Confusingly, Yoshino replies, "No, no, no. Me, too!" As Yoshino reaches into her bag, she asks what Misato was doing. "Oh, um... nothing much," Misato says, evading the question as she turns her head away from Yoshino; clearly, she's dealing with some heavy thoughts. Misato nervously clasps her hands and places them on her knees. "Actually," she tells Yoshino, "I just couldn't focus during practice, even with the meet coming up." She fidgets with her thumbs as she talks. "When you were in high school, did you ever feel this way? For some reason, my armor feels really heavy." She looks over at Yoshino, who takes a bite out of cracker, her pinky extended. "She's not listening..." Misato thinks, annoyed. Yoshino is also reading a manga. She laughs uproariously. She turns to Misato and asks, "Shiitake Zanmai 's a weird manga, isn't it?" Misato looks away and says to herself, "She can't do anything but kendo." With tremendous enthusiasm, Yoshino asks Misato, "Huh? What? Did you hear something interesting?" Misato gives up on talking about serious matters with Yoshino. "Forget it," she tells her. Changing the subject to something Yoshino can talk about, she asks her, "Isn't the national meet coming up?" Yoshino closes her manga in surprise. "That's true," she says; she seems to have completely forgotten. "Right?" Misato asks. "Mihoshi said you hadn't been by the dojo..." She trails off as she sees Yoshino stand up. "I came to shop!" Yoshino says. In a tizzy, Misato tries to get Yoshino to listen, but she just offers her a bag of crackers. She doesn't even wait for Misato to take it; she drops it in front of Misato, who quickly catches it. "Huh? What?" she asks, rightly confused. Yoshino then walks off and cheerily tells Misato, "Later!"

Misato looks at the bag of crackers and asks herself, "What was that about?" Her little sister Mihoshi Tachibana then calls out to her. Misato turns to find Mihoshi trotting toward her; on her back is her own kendo equipment. As she sits down next to her, Mihoshi asks her older sister, "What are you doing here?" Misato tells her than Yoshino was just here, surprising Mihoshi. "What?" she asks. "Isn't she going to the national meet tomorrow?" Misato is surprised to learn that the meet is tomorrow; Yoshino didn't say anything about it. Misato then remembers that Yoshino left the bag of crackers she's holding, offering Mihoshi one. "Whoa, they're really red," she comments. Misato agrees. The two red-headed sisters each take a bite of their crimson crackers. A moment later, they both cry out, "Hot!" as they stick their tongues out in pain.

Melon Bread
During lunch break, Yuuko enjoys a melon bread. She chews, making noises that clearly indicate it's quite tasty. She picks up the wrapper and makes a "hmm?" noise as she looks at the back. There is a sticker which reads, "Best before date located on back of bread." She looks at the back of the melon bread only to find that she's eaten half of the expiration date, only leaving "201" as the beginning of the year. Yuuko's "yummy!" noises turn to increasingly worried noises as she continues chewing.

Like Love
As Mio reads the newspaper in class, Yuuko taps her on the back to get her attention. "Hey, Mio... check this out." Mio turns around to find Yuuko looking at herself in a cosmetic mirror as she displays two small plastic melons sprouting from fake flowers which she has attached to the sides of the top of her head, imitating an odango hairdo. "How does this look?" Yuuko asks. "I thought it might be fun to change my image." Yuuko then strikes a fashionable pose and asks, "Does it look good?" Mio tells her it suits her.

Part 85
At Shinonome Labs, Nano, Sakamoto, and Hakase play hide-and-seek. As "It," Nano faces the wall and calls out, "Ready?" Hakase cries back, "Not yet." Nano calls out again, and Hakase then calls back that she is. With a musical flourish, Nano spins around, ready to seek. "Okay, here I come!" she announces. She begins skipping down the hallway, calling out, "Hakase, where are you?" Suddenly, she screeches to a stop, her sockladen feet slipping on the wooden floor. She gasps, holding her hand in front of her mouth in shock. In front of her is an upside down cardboard box, roughly cat-sized and completely out of place; the tip of Sakamoto's tail is sticking out from underneath one of the flaps. It begins to wag as he then calls out, "Ready." Nano is shocked at how lousy a hider Sakamoto is. After a moment, she flatly calls out, "Sakamoto-san, found you," lifting up the box to find Sakamoto, who seems incredulous that someone was able to uncover his magnificent hiding spot. "Luck's a scary thing," he says coolly, cleaning himself. Nano gets on her knees and apologizes. Sakamoto turns to Nano and tries to downplay it further. "I don't usually play kiddie games like this," he tells her. "But I guess I should play with you guys every once in a while." "I see," Nano replies. Sakamoto begins wagging his tail excitedly. "What are you doing?" he asks Nano impatiently. "Let's get going!" Running in place, he cries out, "Shabba dabba do!" and runs off, much to Nano's excitement.

Nano and Sakamoto continue searching for the Professor, but can't seem to find her anywhere. As it turns out, Hakase is hiding in a little nook behind the wall. She's brought some snacks, of course. "They'll never find me here," she says, giggling. Sakamoto points out that she could be hiding outside. Nano agrees; why don't they take a break? Hakase hears this, which causes her to stop laughing. As Sakamoto asks what if they never find her, Hakase begins to get upset, hugging her knees and crying. Suddenly, the wall spins around with Hakase leaning against it; she's gotten up and come out of hiding. Nano and Sakamoto, who were standing right outside Hakase's hiding spot, are bowled over in shock. After they regain their composures, Nano investigates Hakase's hiding spot, impressed that she'd made it herself. "Why did you come out?" asks Sakamoto. "That's not how you play hide-and-seek, you know." Still teary-eyed, Hakase tells them, "I thought you wouldn't be able to find me..." Both Nano and Sakamoto think to themselves that, yeah, they could never have found her in there.

Sniveling, Hakase runs over to hug Nano. Nano begins to feel really happy that Hakase loves her, but the moment is ruined when Hakase blows her nose on Nano's uniform. Nano complains that now she has to wash it. Sakamoto, trying to hide his eagerness to play again, tells Hakase that she really is hopeless. He then turns to them and announces, "I'm 'it' this time! Let's play!" Unfortunately, Nano and Hakase are walking away and don't seem to have heard him. Hakase tells Nano that she'll wash it, but Nano replies that she'd probably mess it up, so it's fine. The two then begin arguing back and forth a little, Hakase offering to wash it, Nano telling her she'll ruin it. Sakamoto watches them leave in silent dignified disappointment. He then begins to clean his back.

This Is Pyon
Mai's white dog, Pyon, is sitting on a newspaper, panting and wagging his tail rapidly, looking up. At the other end of the energy spectrum, Mai looks back at him. She pulls the newspaper out from under Pyon, who tumbles off. Mai turns and puts it down again to read. Pyon walks over and sits on the newspaper again. Mai gives up and turns on the television. She is mildly surprised to see Pyon get on the table and sit in front of her again. The two watch television together.

Part 86
Back at Mio's home, it is evening. Mio demands from Yuuko, "What did you say?" Yuuko tries to explain, but Mio won't have it. Mio is holding the ruined manga sheet Yuuko had spilt ink on earlier. "I'm glad you want to help," Mio explains. "But you were the one who spilled the ink, right?" Yuuko says nothing. "I didn't have any more paper," Mio continues, obviously agitated. "So, when I was forced to ask you to get some, what did you say? What was it you said?" Yuuko just sits there, not daring to speak. In a flashback, we find out what Yuuko said. Holding a coin, Yuuko asks, "Which of us should go buy it?" She flips it and catches it. "I'll let this decide!"

"That's ridiculous!" Mio shouts in the present. Moving her arms dramatically in frustration, Mio shouts, "You spilled the ink, so you go buy it! I still have lots of work to do! But that's fine. Once you ended up going to buy it, what did you say?" "Hold on..." Yuuko says meekly, trying to interrupt Mio's rant. "What did you say?!" Mio shrieks back, repeating her question. Earlier, Yuuko, leaning on Mio's desk, asks Mio how hold she looks. "Who cares?" Mio cries out now. "If you don't hurry, the stationery store will close! Why are you asking me this now?" Mio stomps her foot, telling Yuuko, "You look your age!" She calms back down to an agitated state and continues. "But that's fine," she says. "So, you were going to the store. And when you put on your shoes, you said..." As Yuuko puts on her shoes, she tells Mio, "It's cold today. I feel a little under the weather." She winks and gives Mio a peace sign.

"Just suck it up!" shouts Mio in the present. "How long are you going to drag this out? And it's not cold today, either!" Mio juts her palm out to stop Yuuko from saying anything. "But that's still fine. And you ended up buying..." The scene cuts to Yuuko, handing Mio a soda. "What is that?!" Mio now cries. "Yeah, but..." Yuuko tries to interrupt again, but Mio keeps shouting. "I asked you for paper! When I told you to stop with the jokes, you gave me..." The scene cuts to Yuuko, offering Mio a jar of marmalade with her other hand.

"No, thank you!" Mio shouts at Yuuko. "I can't use that! What do you expect me to do with it? When I said that, you said..." The scene cuts to Yuuko, giving Mio a peace sign, moving her index and middle fingers in a scissor-like motion and telling Mio, "Forgive me, hyacinth." She then sticks out her tongue. "Hyacinth!" Mio yells at Yuuko currently. "This isn't some minor problem! And where'd the hyacinth come from, anyway? But I still believed in you. I believed that you bought me paper... That's a hard gag!" Nearly on the verge of tears, Mio continues berating Yuuko. "But when I asked you for the paper, what did you say?" The scene cuts to Yuuko, telling Mio, "Mio, you need to pacifyacinth yourself. " She sticks her tongue out again. "Pacifyacinth!" Mio roars, her pigtails spinning. "Who needs to pacify herself? Who needs a hyacinth?" Yuuko tries to interrupt again, telling Mio, "Yeah, that's why..." Mio continues anyway. "I asked you again if you actually bought it... And what did you say then?!" Past Yuuko tells Mio, "Forgive me," sticking her tongue out yet again.

Mio slaps her thigh in anger and bellows, "What happened to hyacinth?! Who cares about hyacinths, anyway? The paper! And you gave me...!" Flashback Yuuko then hands Mio some japanese writing paper. "Yes, yes, yes, perfect..." Mio says. She pushes up the bridge on a set of Groucho glasses and somewhat creepily declares, "Time to write..."

"You idiot!" Mio cries in the present. "How much stupidity do you have to put me through before you're satisfied?" She begins stomping her feet. "When I asked you what you were trying to do..." Flashback Yuuko cheerily tells Mio, "Did you know that the truth isn't always correct?" She winks. "Yes it is!" Mio roars. "You were completely useless, so I tried to asks Nano for help! I asked her to buy paper for me, and..." The scene cuts to Nano, again overheating from looking at the manga as Mio and Yuuko look on in shock. "She was totally spaced out!" Mio cries. "Her eyes were glued to the page! It was a cry of joy! I had no choice, so I asked Mai..." The scene cuts to a weary Mio asking, "Mai, could you go and buy it for me?" as she shuffles over to where Mai is... or rather, was; Mai's left a note telling them she's gone home.

In the present, Mio slaps her thigh again. "She went home!" she cries. "She left without making a sound! Mai always does everything her own way... It's Mai's way or the highway! When you saw the letter, do you remember what you said?" In a flashback, Yuuko holds Mai's note. "It must be a divine trick," she says ominously. She turns to face Mio, a stern look on her face. "Some kind of devilish trap," she finishes.

"This is a devilish trap!" Mio bellows in the present. "It's been a devilish trap since you guys arrived! When I said that, you..." Yuuko is then holding the note and striking a funny pose, sticking out her tongue. "I don't get it!" Mio cries. "Well..." Yuuko tries to interrupt. Mio interrupts Yuuko's interruption. "I don't want to hear your excuses, you moron!" "No, no, no. That's why..." Yuuko tries again, but Mio won't have it. "I don't have any more peanuts, you... Peanuthead!" Mio shouts. Mio continues to tremble with anger, but she seems to have gotten most of it out of her system. As Yuuko holds out the package she's been holding on to, she tries to tell Mio, "But this..." "There you go again!" Mio shouts. "What..." She opens one of her eyes, and then both, looking regretful and surprised. In Yuuko's hand is a freshly-bought package of manga drawing paper. Neither know what to say. Finally, Mio meekly tells Yuuko, "F-forgive me, hyacinth..."

Don't Miss It
The manga manuscript paper (voiced by Koyama Mami) introduces itself. "Now is the time to boldly illustrate your dreams and drop them in the mailbox," it tells us. The next episode of Nichijou is Episode 21. Don't miss it.

Transitions
After Mio tells Mai to undo her drawing for a second time, a cluttered office is shown. The computer is on, and reaches the moment where the screensaver kicks in.

After Mio yells that she doesn't have any more paper, the office is shown again. The computer is now showing a spreadsheet, and a hot cup of coffee is sitting on the table in front of it. The office worker is nowhere to be seen, however. The computer then switches to screensaver mode again.

After Sakamoto really gets into hide-and-seek, the office is shown again. The sun is setting; the desk is tidier, and the computer screen is already on screensaver mode (although leaving your computer on over night wastes a lot of electricity). The screen then turns black, either shutting off or going into sleep mode.

Image Gallery
Nichijou Episode 20/Image Gallery