Nichijou Episode 17

"Nichijou Episode 17" (日常の第十七話) is the seventeenth episode of the Nichijou anime. The episode was written by Maiko Nishioka and directed by Naoko Yamada. It aired on July 25, 2011.

Prelude
School lets out for the day. Yuuko Aioi suggests to Mai Minakami that they walk home together. Mai asks if they can stop by the fire cistern on the way. Yuuko chuckles at Mai; there she goes again. High school girls don't go to places like that! She smacks Mai's shoulder with the back of her open hand in a friendly manner. The scene then makes a graphic match cut transition so that Yuuko's hand is now opening her locker. As Yuuko changes her shoes, she asks Mai if she'd like to stop by Daiku Coffee on the way. She tells Mai that the coffee shop has changed their system quite a bit, and might be confusing for Mai. She cheerfully tells Mai that she'll help her order, though, apparently ignoring the debacle that was her last visit there. She turns and sees Mai walking around the corner... only wearing a geta with an exaggerated tooth, causing her to lift off the ground when walking on it; further, the underpart has a large circle in it with birdseed, which falls out as she walks. Mai walks and turns to face Yuuko, stopping. Yuuko is understandably dumbfounded, freezing as she holds both pairs of shoes. Mai simply tells her, "It's asymmetry." Flustered, Yuuko tells Mai that she can see that it's asymmetry, but that's beside the point. Asymmetry can be fashionable, but this is ridiculous! Mai looks at her for a second before saying, "I was just kidding." Yuuko drops her shoes and smiles a little bit, incredulous. "That's too fast," she thinks, "even for a fastball." A sparrow then hops into view, following Mai's trail of birdseed; it then hops into the hole in Mai's shoe. Yuuko smiles while crying and thinks to herself, "Mai, there's something wrong with you!" She then buries her face in her hands, emotionally drained. Another sparrow arrives and the two interact with each other. More sparrows follow, and Yuuko thinks to herself, "The heavens must favor Mai..."

Part 68
It is a lazy day at the Shinonome househould. Sakamoto is taking a nap in the genkan. Nano is sitting on the ledge, not very active herself, languidly wondering what she should make for dinner tonight, her key spinning slowly behind her. Onions are on sale, but Hakase doesn't like onions... Nano's key stops turning at all and Nano starts nodding off. Hakase begins excitedly calling for Nano, her voice coming from outside but getting nearer. Hakase slides the door open, startling Nano awake. Hakase then lifts up a black triangle, frayed at the bottom and with a smaller dark grey triangle at the top. "Nano, look!" Hakase eagerly tells her. "I caught a crow!" Nano is again surprised. "Unbelievable!" she thinks. She gets up and frantically asks the Professor what she's doing with a crow. It's dangerous; it could peck her! Hakase tells Nano there's nothing to worry about. Sakamoto is shown still napping while Hakase tells Nano to hang on.

Sakamoto is then rustling inside a cardboard box. He knocks it sideways to get out, causing oranges to roll around everywhere. But something is off: Sakamoto is mewing, not talking. His scarf is missing! Thinking to himself, he laments that it's not here. Sakamoto then begins investigating a basket of freshly-folded laundry. He climbs up and begins digging; suddenly, he's stuck! His top half is trapped under the laundry, and his bottom half is hanging impotently, his feet unable to reach the floor. "I might die!" he thinks. With much effort, he's able to free himself. He carefully climbs down from the laundry basket and pines that his missing scarf is not here, either. Dejected, Sakamoto begins walking into the living room when he suddenly hears a strange voice say, "Hello, I am a crow."

Inside the living room, Sakamoto sees both the owner of this voice and where his scarf went. The crow from earlier is wearing it, and is now able to speak! With very poor lip syncing, the crow (voiced by Daisuke Ono) tells Nano and Hakase that it is a pleasure to meet them, giving a polite bow. The girls find this incredible, but Sakamoto is quite disconcerted, to say the least. "It's a good thing he's so polite," Nano says. Hakase points out, "That's because he's a crow." Sakamoto is astonished. Hakase wonders if the crow would drink strawberry milk; it would be cute if he did. Suddenly, the crow notices the mosquito that has been buzzing around the room and launches himself at it, greatly surprising Nano as he flies past, traveling at such a high speed that a second burst of air moves Nano's hair a moment after he passes by. He slams into the wall with his beak with tremendous force. Hakase, Nano and Sakamoto are incredulous, but the crow has pinned the mosquito to the wall. Nano grabs the crow and prys him from the wall. "Unbelievable," she says. "He killed a bug for us." Nano and Hakase are greatly appreciative. "No need to thank me," the crow says humbly. "it's just part of my job." What a crow!

Down on the ground, Sakamoto begins making a fuss. Nano, Hakase, and the crow watch as Sakamoto tries to tell them something, but none can understand his meowing. "Sakamoto-san," Nano asks, "where is your scarf?" Hakase begins laughing, pointing out that without Sakamoto's scarf, they can't understand him. Ever the gentleman, the crow volunteers to translate.

Sakamoto begins gesturing and mewing at the crow, obviously frustrated. The crow nods in understanding. "I see, I see." The crow hops to Hakase and tells her, "It would appear that he would like my scarf." Sakamoto juts into view and, exasperated, thinks to himself, "It isn't yours!"

As Sakamoto sits stewing in his frustration, Nano asks Hakase if she did indeed give Sakamoto's scarf to the crow. She puts her hand behind her head in embarrassment. "But what about poor Sakamoto-san," asks Nano, with Sakamoto nodding vigorously in agreement. Hakase decides that she'll make Sakamoto another scarf.

"I did it!" exclaims Hakase triumphantly. We then see that see is showing off a robot she's made. Not nearly as sophisticated as Nano, it still could pass for a small child. He wears a ballcap with the number 1 on it. "Biscuit #1!" Hakase continues. Astonished, Sakamoto thinks to himself that this robot has nothing to do with his scarf. "Excuse me, Professor," Karasu interjects politely. "What are Biscuit #1's functions?" "Good question, Crow!" Hakase replies. First, she tells him that Biscuit #1 has a rocket punch, pushing a button to show them. Biscuit #1 raises his right arm and his fist and wrist pop off, landing gently about two feet in front of him. Sakamoto is speechless. Everyone else finds Biscuit #1's underwhelming performance to be hilarious, however, and fall back laughing. Sakamoto struggles to keep his rage in check.

Still giggling, Nano tells Hakase that she should return Sakamoto's scarf. "Hold on," Hakase tells her. "It still has its left hand!" She pushes the one button she uses for everything again. Biscuit #1 raises his left arm just as he'd raised his other arm earlier. Suddenly, Biscuit #1's head pops off violently! It goes through the roof, which doesn't seem to slow it down any. Nano, Hakase and the crow laugh at this, too. Bitterly, Sakamoto thinks to himself, "I'll kill her... I definitely will." Later at dusk, everyone is outside. "I had a lot of fun today," Karasu tells them, "but it appears my shenanigans have gone on long enough." He bows and tells them to return the scarf to Sakamoto. "I am glad to have had the chance to speak the human language," he continues. As Karasu looks dramatically into the sunset, Hakase asks Karasu not to go. Nano also seems sad to see him leave, but grabs Hakase as she tries to run towards him. Sakamoto, sans scarf, seems less regretful of Karasu's imminent departure. "Perhaps we shall meet again..." Karasu tells them. Looking back at his new friends one last time, he tells them, "Farewell, everyone." He then zips off into the sky, shouting "See you again!!", leaving a trail of small clouds with this message skywritten behind him. Nano and Hakase wave goodbye, near tears as they call his name. Flying through the sky (somehow; his wings aren't shown), Karasu emotionally repeats what his new friends have called him: "Crow..." For added effect, his scarf billows in the breeze.

Down on the ground, Sakamoto gets wide-eyed as he irately realizes, "He took it with him!"

Like Love
Inside an office building, a woman sets a cup of coffee down next to a man who is hard at work on his computer. Off-screen, a man nervously says, "That's impossible, sir!" A second man replies, "No, it's fine. Leave it to me." Back on-screen, the man notices the coffee and looks up at the woman in warm appreciation. The woman smiles and walks away. The man turns back to his work, and the woman returns to her own seat at a nearby desk, facing him. Off-screen, the first man tries to object, but the second man asks, "What? Don't you trust me?" The first man tells him, "No, that's not... I trust you completely, sir." On-screen, the man smiles flirtily at the woman, who begins to mess with her hair. Off-screen, the second man tells the first, "Good. Then give me your hands." The scene abruptly transitions to the second man grabbing the first man's wrist, with the first man reacting in pain. Zooming out, it appears that the second man has wrapped his legs around the first man's waist and is pulling his arms back straight behind him, probably an attempt to alleviate a stiff back or something similar. As the first man continues to cry in agony, the second asks him, "How is it?" Outside, a window washer is lowering himself to clean the window behind them, unaware of the sight waiting for him.

Part 69
Yuuko and Mio Naganohara are building a house of cards. It's almost complete; Yuuko holds the final two cards. Nano is there as well, watching in suspense. Mai is lying under a blanket, her bottom half under the table upon which the house of cards sits, reading a book. She doesn't seem to care about the house of cards much. Lying next to her is her cat, Chitchi. Yuuko swallows nervously as she readies herself to finish the house of cards. Trembling, she tries to put the cards together. Mio and Nano tremble in kind. Suddenly, Yuuko offers the cards to Nano, but Nano waves her hands in front of herself to indicate she really does not want to. Mio and Yuuko lean in as Yuuko offers the cards again and Mio nods in encouragement. Nano waves more emphatically and shakes her head vigorously, turning away from them and cowering; when she turns, her key edges the table, causing it to shake. The house of cards quavers, but doesn't fall. Nano seems quite upset. Mio and Yuuko look at her with a mix of bewilderment and regret.

The hands on the clock on the wall fly, indicating that two-and-a-half hours have past. It is now five seconds to four. Nano has fallen asleep waiting for Yuuko to place the cards. Mio gestures at Yuuko to get her attention and then points at Nano. The two seem to think Nano sleeping is kind of cute, and give each other the shush gesture and nodding, silently agreeing to remain silent. Back to work, the two again tremble as Yuuko readies to stack the final cards. Yuuko comes this close to finishing when suddenly, Chitchi rushes out from under the table. Mai then grabs Chitchi's tail and drags her back under the blanket. Mio and Yuuko have become like statues in response. They then slowly stand up, Yuuko's arms still frozen in position, and walk stifly out of the room. Mai notices a cat toy next to her. In the hallway, Mio and Yuuko regain color and lean against the wall to let out a sigh of relief that the house of cards didn't fall. Mio and Yuuko walk back into the room. Chitchi is playing with the cat toy Mai is holding... and she's poking it right through a hole between the cards in the house of cards! Mio and Yuuko's hearts jump out of their mouths in shock. Mio then holds Chitchi while Yuuko, quite upset, has the cat toy and waves it at Mai. Understanding what Yuuko and Mio are getting at, Mai gives them the a-okay sign. Mio and Yuuko give another sigh in relief. They nod determinedly at each other and get back to work. Trembling yet again, Yuuko nearly places the cards at the top when she and Mio notice that the house of cards is shaking slightly in a rhythmic manner. Nano's snot bubble is shaking the tower when she breathes out! Mio and Yuuko's hearts jump out of their mouths again. They then stand up; Yuuko pulls Nano away from the table and lays her down for Mio to place a blanket on her. Mai meanwhile finishes reading and sits upright. She takes off her glasses and folds them, setting them down... on top of the house of cards! Mio and Yuuko turn and see this, and their hearts leap out of their mouths a third time. Mio grabs Mai's glasses and Yuuko sadly berates Mai again, who gives another a-okay sign. Frustrated, Mio and Yuuko give an uneasy sigh of relief. Yuuko picks up the cards yet again.

Yuuko gives a fierce look of determination, but then begins squirming in her seated position: she has to pee. She puts the cards down and looks at Mio, giving her the time-out sign, the symbol for the womens' restroom appearing next to her. Mio gives a thumbs-up, a yield sign popping up as she lets Yuuko know to be careful getting up. Mio sits with a stern look of concentration as Yuuko leaves and gently slides the door shut. The light fixture then slams down onto the table, completely destroying the house of cards! Mio's jaw drops to a ridiculous level as she screams silently in terror and disappointment. Unaware, Yuuko walks back from the bathroom and carefully opens the door, giving Mio a time-in gesture. She walks by Mio, who is sitting in mournful silence. Yuuko sits down and finally notices what's happened. Mio trembles, this time in grief. Yuuko picks up two cards and places them on top of the light fixture. Mio puts her hand in front of her mouth and begins to cry softly. Yuuko lets go and the cards remain standing. A triumphant orchestral flourish plays and Yuuko raises a fist in triumph, but we only see her from behind. Mio sobs silently, her hand hiding her face. Yuuko, still in her victory pose, is seen to be weeping as well. Crying, Yuuko sits back down and then slides underneath the blanket to sleep. Mio continues to sob.

Behind the Gymnasium, Part 1
Narrating as she remembers, Kana Nakamura says that yesterday, she dug a pit filled with adhesives behind the school's gymnasium. In her recollection, she looks at a pink envelope with brightly-colored flowers on it addressed to Nano Shinonome. "I'll use this letter to summon her her and trap her," she thinks. The background changes, showing that she is now looking at the letter in the present, in the school hallway. She holds the envelop in front of her mouth and chuckles. "I'll capture you today, Nano Shinonome," she thinks.

Nakamura is then outside, hiding behind the gym with her back against the wall. She checks her watch and then peers around the corner, waiting for Nano to arrive; she seems quite excited.

Around the corner, we see someone's feet walking. "She's here!" Nakamura excitedly thinks to herself. She then hears the sound of someone falling into a hole in the ground. "All right!" Nakamura thinks to herself as she dashes around the corner to find Nano. However, her hopes are dashed when she sees the distinctive blond mohawk of Tsuyoshi Nakanojou coming out of the hole; she's caught the wrong student! Nakamura then just stands next to the hole, looking down at Nakanojou. After a moment, she reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out an electric shaver she was carrying for some reason. She lies on the ground and, for some odd reason, proceeds to shave off Nakanojou's mohawk! He cries out as he realizes what she's doing; his hair flies off into the wind.

Part 70
As Makoto Sakurai kicks around a soccer ball, Manabu Takasaki spies on him from behind the vending machine, noting that he hadn't known that Makoto was Sakurai-sensei's younger brother. Now he plans to use him to learn more about Izumi. Makoto then reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out two Go stones, tossing them on top of the soccer ball he's vertically kicking. This greatly surprises Takasaki. This kid can play Igo soccer?! Interesting!

As Makoto bounces the Igo stones off the soccer ball with his head, Takasaki makes his move and approaches him. Makoto stops and listens to Takasaki, who asks, "Is there any boyfriend in the picture?" Takasaki immediately bends backward, covering his face with one hand and reaching to the heavens in agony as he cries out, "No future!" He stands back upright and angrily thinks to himself that this always happens! Makoto, knowing that Takasaki was actually asking if his sister had a boyfriend, tells him that, "Uh, no, there isn't..." His words echo in Takasaki's ears, who begins to imagine himself in a field as hundreds of bamboo shoots begin to poke through. "Yes...yes... Yes!" he thinks. He then slams his head against the vending machine over and over, yelling at himself, "Why am I cheering?!" Makoto says, "Uh...", causing Takasaki to stop and turn to Makoto, apologizing and asking him to please forget what he's said.

Trying to change the subject, Takasaki asks if Makoto really plays Igo Soccer. Makoto tells him he does. He then asks Takasaki, "You like my sister, don't you?" Takasaki turns to stone. [Meanwhile, we can see that on top of one of the vending machines, there is a sleeping cat. Sleeping on the cat is a mouse. Koujirou Sasahara is standing next to a metal beam, apparently hiding from Misato Tachibana, who runs past everyone while wearing her green turret.]

Takasaki soon becomes flustered. "Don't be ridiculous!" he yells nervously at Makoto. Red-faced with embarrassment, he tells him, "I just happen to have more Igo Soccer experience!" Makoto is surprised and asks Takasaki, "You played Igo Soccer?" Becoming more confident, Takasaki boasts, "Of course I did! Believe it or not, I was my high school's MVP!" Makoto is awed. He begins explaining that the Igo Soccer Club doesn't have a faculty adviser; if Takasaki would be their adviser, Makoto would do anything he could to set Takasaki up with Izumi. Takasaki likes this idea, but doesn't want to admit it. "But it's... not like I like her..." he lies. Makoto is determined. "If you won't be our adviser," he threatens, "I'll tell everyone that you like my sister."

Takasaki struggles to make a decision. Being an adviser is a lot of work... Not hearing a yes, Makoto turns around and starts shouting out, "Hey, everyone! Listen up!" Takasaki decides he must go after Makoto, but before he can, Haruna Annaka comes running up, calling for him in a panic. "Nakanojou's been buried behind the gymnasium..." Naturally, this surprises Takasaki. Annaka continues, "You have to come right away!" Makoto meanwhile continues to get other students' attention to share Takasaki's secret. Takasaki grimaces, sweating bullets before he finally says something to Annaka. "Listen closely," he tells her. Clenching his fist, he tells her that Nakanojou has not been buried, which worries Annaka. "That's right!" he continues almost deliriously, "It could just be a hole-in-one!" Annaka is even more astonished than before. She then tells Takasaki that Nakanojou's hair came off! Now it's Takasaki's turn to be shocked. He then holds out a black marker and tells Annaka to draw it in. "What?!" she says again. She then takes the marker and meekly tells him that she'll try it, surprising Takasaki. He holds out his hand telling her to hold on, much to her astonishment. He points to Makoto and asks Annaka, "What is the meaning of that?" Makoto is shouting like he's going to blab, but then changes what he says. "Hey! Tea," for example. Eyes spinning, Takasaki shouts at Annaka that "A student exposing another's private life requires my attention over a buried student, as a, uh, as a teacher!"

Makoto turns around and calls out for Takasaki. "I haven't said anything," Makoto shouts at him. "I look forward to having you as our adviser." Takasaki calms down and gives a thumbs-up and a wink. "That kid..." he says. He then turns around mechanically and tells Annaka, "Annaka! Let's go!" As Takasaki begins to run off, albeit incredibly slowly, he confidently thinks to himself, "We should hurry. After all, I'm a teacher." Annaka then points in the opposite direction and cries out, "It's this way!" Takasaki slowly begins to turn around, still running, almost in place.

Behind the Gymnasium, Part 2
Nakamura-sensei drinks coffee as she looks out the window of the science lab. "I know I was caught up in the moment," she thinks to herself, "but maybe I shouldn't have cut his hair." She sighs before deciding, "I guess I'll help him." Nakamura is then dragging a shovel as she heads towards Nakanojou and the hole. "He doesn't know it was me," she tells herself. She passes Mai, who is standing next to the wall; there is a crow standing on her head, and another perched on her arm. It appears that Karasu is on the ground, looking up at her.

Nakamura reaches the hole and is mildly surprised to find Takasaki and Annaka to be in holes as well, both thoroughly confused. The two continue trying to figure out what's happened, while Nakanojou mourns over his hair. Nakamura thinks for a moment before deciding that her best option is to run away.

This Is Chitchi!
Mai's white cat tries to get into a paper bag. But can't. It can't figure out to lower its head, and keeps pushing the bag forward as it tries to get inside.

Behind the Gymnasium, Part 3
Summoned by Nakamura's letter, Nano goes behind the gymnasium. She sees Tsuyoshi, Annaka and Takasaki trapped in holes and rushes over to help, but she falls in, too. However, her key hits the ground and stops her from falling any deeper than her waist. She's able to climb out, showing that Nakamura's plan wouldn't have worked even if Tsuyoshi hadn't fallen in. She brushes herself off, commenting on how dangerous it seems to be over here. (Only on Blu-ray.)

Part 71
Yuuko says goodbye to her parents as she leaves her house and heads off to school. After some walking, she takes a stand outside the school and glares at it. Determined, she thinks to herself, "I won't call her out today!" She then starts walking again. In the hallway, she continues thinking, "Besides, this is Mai's fault. She throws out jokes like a machine, and I always call them out..." She pictures Mai wearing her birdfeeder shoe, which transitions into the fire cistern, then her holding the sand eraser, and finally Mai pointing at her drawing of ET. "At this rate," she continues, "it will be an endless loop of jokes and comebacks!" She grimaces, not wanting this to happen. She opens the door and as she reaches her seat, she thinks poetically, "We're just maidens... Right... Innocent maidens who could make flowers blush." She takes her notebooks out of her bag and [what do you call this? I've done it a hundred times myself but can't think of a word for it right now] them on her desk. "We can't even talk like ordinary high school girls," she laments. She grips her notebooks, bending them. "Starting today, I won't call her out! My will is harder than diamond." Then, she arrives: Mai opens the door and wishes Yuuko a good morning. We can't see the top of her face. Yuuko turns and cheerily begins to wish Mai a good morning as well, but she stops short and looks at Mai incredulously. We then see why: On top of Mai's head is a pair of red glasses. And she's still wearing her normal glasses! Yuuko is taken aback and, blinking twice, thinks, "Double glasses!" She then clenches her fist and looks down, grimacing in frustration. "It's strong!" she thinks, "It's strong today! It's really strong today!" She then looks up in determination. "But I won't lose! I... no, we will change!" she thinks, fire in eyes.

Yuuko preps and acts like nothing happened. She turns to Mai again and greets her with "selamat pagi." Determined, she thinks to herself, "All right! It's time to let our girl-talk bloom!" As Mai rifles through her bag, Yuuko tries to have a normal conversation with her. "Hey, Mai," she asks, "Did you watch Muscle Lament yesterday?" Mai is silent. She pulls out a black marker and a opens a notebook, writing a huge "Y" on one page and a huge "N" on the other, with a "/" in between. She then shows this to Yuuko. Astounded, Yuuko thinks to herself, "Which... wh-wh-which one?" Mai suddenly stands up. Yuuko watches, wary of Mai's next move. Mai then kneels on the floor and begins swiping her hand around like she's looking for something. "My glasses..." she says. "My glasses..." She's still wearing her normal pair, and the extra pair are still on her head. Yuuko is alarmed. She clenches her fist and looks down, gritting her teeth and fighting every instinct in her body to say something. "Wh-what's with these high-paced jokes?" she thinks. "No. I mustn't do it! Yuuko, this is a trap!" Tanaka then walks up and sees Mai on the floor. "Huh, Minakami?" he says. "You're wearing two pairs of glasses," he points out, laughing a little. Yuuko bolts out of her chair and angrily thinks, "Tanaka, you jerk!" Sitting back down, she braces her pencil, trying not to say anything. "My line..." she thinks. "That was supposed to be my line..." A thermometer is shown with its mercury rising, representing Yuuko's anger. She finally grabs her pencil too hard and breaks the top off, sending it flying. She freezes in shock as she realizes, "No! It wasn't mine. That wasn't my line at all!"

Mai, back in her seat, asks Yuuko if Japanese is first period today. Yuuko tells her it is, adding that she'd heard the science teacher, Nakamura, collapsed again. Mai seems surprised and asks if Nakamura is all right. She then asks again if Japanese is first period today. Surprised, Yuuko begins to tell her, "You just asked—" but quickly covers her mouth and looks away. "That was close!" she thinks, close to panicking. "Why would that girl say the same thing twice? She's a sharp one! A real sharp one!"

The bell then rings signaling the start of class, and Takasaki-sensei tells Mai to give the class instructions. She instructs them to stand, bow, and set down. The rest of the class sits down, but Yuuko is stunned, drained of color and unable to move. Takasaki-sensei tells the class to get started and to open to page 82, but Yuuko continues standing. "Set down..." she thinks. She then looks down and fights back tears. "What's 'set down' supposed to mean?!" she thinks. "And everyone else let it slide!" She sits back down, trembling. Takasaki asks the class if anyone would like to read. Mai raises her hand. Yuuko, now almost desperate not to break, pants as she looks at Mai's raised hand. Mai doesn't just have her hand raised; she's giving the horns!

Takasaki calls on Mai without commenting. Standing, Mai picks up the book and holds it at arm's length. Yuuko is flabbergasted; with Mai's book that far in front of her, Yuuko is able to see that Mai is reading a manga inside her book! As Yuuko looks on in astonishment, Mai actually begins to read the excerpt... or recite it, as she certainly can't see the text. On the verge of breaking, Yuuko thinks, "If she's reading this... If she's reading this, then... Then..." The view pans outward, showing the school from above, then the city, then the Kanto Plain of Japan, out and out until the entire world is in view. Yuuko then cries out, "She memorized it?!" The words spring out of Japan in a blast of glitter and confetti. Yuuko's cry echoes as Takasaki stops writing on the board to look at her. The rest of the class looks back at her as well. Students in another class look to see where the noise came from. Students in gym pause in wonder. Yuuko's cry seems to have gone throughout most of the city, stopping an old woman walking her dog in the street; a baseball game; Sakamoto, who had been playing with tissues; a doctor and his patient in an MRI machine; a man lifting up a manhole cover; a man holding up another man at gunpoint; and an air traffic control tower. [The knot apparently the "Gunma prefecture with the shape of a soaring crane" （鶴舞う形の群馬県）. You may not know this but the shape of the prefecture somewhat resembles a crane flapping its spread wings.] Back in the classroom, even Mai seems surprised. Yuuko leaps backward from her desk, knocking her chair down, and thinks blissfully, "Calling someone's joke out... It feels... so... wonderful!" She floats in an imagination zone of flowers and bright lights, basking in the ecstasy. She cries in joy, and tears fly away. Back in the real world, Yuuko smiles, blushing. "I'm sorry I shouted," she tells the stunned classroom. "I'll go and stand in the hallway!" Takasaki stammers, "O-okay." Yuuko closes her eyes and smiles like she's just realized an important truth. "Yes," she thinks. "This is how it should be." She turns and walks past Mai into the hallway. "This is my path, and... That is Mai's path." As Yuuko opens the door, Mai turns and stops her. She takes off her glasses. "Since this morning," she tells her, "I've been wearing contact lenses." Yuuko gasps. Full of confidence, she gives Mai a peace sign and brightly asks, "Then what's the point of the glasses?"

Heated Table
Nano is reading at the table. Hakase is lying her head on the table, on the verge of falling asleep. Nano sees this and shakes the Professor by the shoulder. She tells her, "If you don't sleep in your bed, you'll catch a cold." Hakase groggily tells Nano, "Just a little longer..." She then falls asleep completely. Surprised, Nano cries out, "She got me!" (Only on Blu-ray.)

Short Thoughts
Nano picks up Hakase to take her to bed. She calls for Sakamoto, who wakes up and groggily follows them.

The female narrator says, She always ends up carrying her to bed.

Don't Miss It
The three of spades (voiced by Nakai Kazuya), one of the two cards Yuuko tried to finish the house of cards with, introduces itself. He explains that in the game of Daifugō, he begins as the weakest card. But with a revolution, he becomes the strongest! A real man overthrows his superiors. The next episode of Nichijou is Episode 18. Don't miss it.

Transitions
After Sakamoto is angry that it is his scarf and not the crow's, there is a lone tree in a meadow, standing under a star-filled night sky.

After Nakamura explains her plan, the tree is shown again. It's still a starry night.

After Nakamura discovers Takasaki and Annaka have fallen in as well and runs off, Nano and Hakase do an adorable little dance about what to do when a shark attacks.

After Yuuko accepts her fate, the tree is shown while the sun rises in the left.

Cultural References

 * Yukko greets Mai by saying "selamat pagi", which is the Malay language for "good morning".
 * Mai says Chakuseko (ちゃくせこ) instead of Chakuseki (ちゃくせき) which means "sit down" in Japanese. She does this as a prank on Yukko.

Image Gallery
Nichijou Episode 17/Image Gallery