Nichijou Episode 7

"Nichijou Episode 7" (日常の第七話) is the seventh episode of the Nichijou anime. The episode was written by Katsuhiko Muramoto and directed by Noriyuki Kitanohara. It aired on May 16, 2011.

Part 27
The episode begins looking upward at an ominous storm-filled sky. A dirigible appears. Inside, a glass of red wine is raised in front of a portrait of a royal family, consisting of a husband, wife and young daughter. All are blond and have elfin ears. The room is then shown. The man holding the wine glass is sitting at a table alone, but three generic men wearing identical outfits (green hoodie, khakis, baseball cap) stand near.

Another man knocks on the door and announces that he has brought someone with him. The man with the wine glass tells them to enter, and the man at the door enters with the king from the portrait in tow. The king is tied up, and gives the man with the wine glass a scowl when he sees him. The man announces that King Albert is here; King Albert addresses the man as Dolph and asks what the meaning of all this is. Dolph coolly replies that he thought the two could enjoy a nice meal together, and one of the uniformed men pulls out a chair for Albert. The guard at Dolph's side leans in and whispers something, and Dolph feigns surprise that there doesn't appear to be any food for King Albert. He then chuckles in a weird, high-pitched manner. Dolph then gets up, walks over to the king and reaches into the breast pocket of Albert's robe, pulling out a simple wooden cube. Dolph is pleased with himself. He then demands that they end this game of hide-and-seek as we get a closeup of the princesses' portrait. Dolph calls him King Albert, adding, "Or should I say, Albert?" He then laughs evilly.

The scene cuts to the princess running through a hallway as we hear the uniformed men, Dolph's henchmen, asking each other if they've seen the princess. She ducks behind a wall as several henchmen walk past, and then looks at the item she has been holding tight in her hands: an identical wooden cube. Back in the dining room, Dolph kisses the wooden cube that he has, and Alfred asks Dolph if he thinks his actions can possibly be forgiven. Dolph chuckles. What does he care about being forgiven? There is no one to punish him. He has the king tied up, and all the king's former servants are now Dolph's loyal henchmen. Being evil, Dolph launches into his obligatory monologue: This zeppelin trip around the world was the perfect chance for Dolph to usurp the throne. Now he's capture the king, and the princess is trapped. The king angrily asks why Dolph would betray him like this. Dolph wishes Albert wouldn't say such things; he is grateful to the former king, after all. He was an orphan and the royal family adopted him and raised him, even assigning him as Commander of the Kingdom. Why the betrayal, then? Just because Dolph was raised by the king does not mean he had no ambitions of his own. He walks up to Albert and pulls the king's face to his by yanking on his beard. Dolph tells him that this is simply God's punishment. A henchman then arrives and tells Dolph they have found the princess. As Dolph leaves, he tells Albert he is looking forward to hearing his last words. The king calls him a traitor.

The princess is trapped, held back at gunpoint by Dolph's henchmen. She asks them what they think they are doing; don't they know their place? Dolph then arrives and addresses Princess Starla. She asks him if he knows what he is doing, and he replies he knows exactly what he's doing: He will take the wooden cubes and resurrect the ancient weapon, and become the new king of the Fey Kingdom. He tells her she has no friends here and she cannot escape, so be a good girl and hand over the other wooden cube! He walks towards her, menacingly. However, he suddenly trips over himself and falls on the floor. Everyone is shocked. Dolph isn't moving; a henchman cautiously approaches Dolph and takes his pulse. Dolph is dead! Everyone is shocked. The henchmen look around, not knowing what to do. With trepidation, a henchman slowly begins to clap while cheering for the princess. Others join in, and soon they are all cheering for the princess they had betrayed mere seconds ago. The princess is understandably stunned, but soon gets very angry. She yells at them, but only says that this is going to cost them. The henchmen are greatly relieved. Princess Starla storms out, demanding they take her to her father. The last henchman to leave the room looks down and notices one of the wooden cubs on the floor in the hallway. He picks it up and looks back at Dolph to check, but that wooden cube is still there. He picks it up and, holding both cubes in his hands, begins to tremble. Does this mean he'll become king now? He needs to calm down, so he goes to the window, sets the cubes on the windowsill, and lights a cigarette. He thinks to himself that he's always been a soldier, and he expected to always be a soldier. He decides he can't do it; he has no plans for being a king and besides, he doesn't know how activate the ancient weapon anyway. The flame on his cigarette reaches his fingers and he drops it out of reflex. However, he also accidentally knocks the wooden cubes out of the blimp. He tries to reach for them, but it's too late. The wooden cubes then hurtle downwards. Suddenly, Mio Naganohara is standing there, and the wooden cubes fall into places as Mio's hair clips. Yuuko Aioi stands up and screams; she is standing up in class having just woken from a dream. The class looks at her in shock, and Yuuko nervously tells them, "Good morning."

Lottery
Yuuko is in class, quickly comparing a lottery ticket with a newspaper while giddy with excitement. She tells Mio that she's just won ¥100,000 in the lottery! Mio looks at the ticket while Yuuko jumps with excitement, wondering what she should buy. Mio then tells Yuuko that her ticket is a year old. Yuuko is so shocked she loses all color.

Present
Mio comforts Yuuko over not having won the lottery after all. Yuuko says she's fine, but she continues to cry with her head on her desk. Mio then asks Yuuko, isn't today her birthday? We see that Mio is holding a present behind her back. Yuuko looks up and Mio hands her her gift. Yuuko cheers up immediately, takes the present, and then asks if she can open it now. Mio nods and bashfully tells her it's nothing special, just something lying around the house. Yuuko tells her it's the thought that counts; then she pulls out the gift and sees it is a jar of octopus wasabi. Yuuko is confused and disappointed.

Part 28
Japanese teacher Manabu Takasaki enters the faculty office and addresses English teacher Izumi Sakurai. Takasaki-sensei asks her if there's anything she can do about that Aioi girl (Yuuko); she never does her homework. He believes it would help if her homeroom teacher, Sakurai-sensei, talked to her about it. Sakuria-sensei tells him she will talk to Yuuko, but she must get to her first period class and leaves. She bumps into Tomioka, who is carrying cups of tea and begins to apologize profusely to him. Takasaki puts his hand to his forehead in frustration and thinks to himself, "I want to protect her!" He goes into an inner monologue. For a man who is twenty-six and has had no luck with women, Sakurai-sensei is like a bamboo shoot that suddenly began to grow in his yard. He has a memory of himself as a boy, looking at the bamboo in his garden. Takasaki then corrects himself: As a teacher, it is inappropriate to bring romantic feelings to the workplace. He smacks himself and tells him to keep it together. Looking down, he sees a blackbook and assumes Sakurai-sensei forgot it. Takasaki stops Sakurai-sensei in the hall and hands her her blackbook. However, she is already holding hers. Tomioka then runs up, asking why Takasaki took his blackbook. He hands it back and apologizes. Sakurai-sensei then excuses herself and leaves. Takasaki gives a heavy sigh and goes to the window. He thinks to himself that he wants to take Sakurai-sensei mushroom hunting. He then wonders if she has a boyfriend; she doesn't wear a ring, so she can't be married... Does he have a chance with her? He begins to wonder what Sakurai-sensei's favorite music is, what her favorite animal is, her favorite sport, her favorite vegetable. Takasaki then stops himself and asks what is he thinking? A proper role model for the students shouldn't be thinking impure thoughts like this. Principal Shinonome walks by and asks if Takasaki is worreid about his students, but Takasaki doesn't notice him. Takasaki begins to pace as he continues his thoughts; surely asking her what her favorite food is is innocent. He then imagines a conversation between himself and Sakurai-sensei: He asks her her favorite food, and she says she'll eat anything. Takasaki laughs confidently and asks her how she feels about shiitake mushrooms; they're good grilled or boiled. Sakurai-sensei agrees and asks about fried mushrooms. Takasaki replies that of course you can fry them. Takasaki pumps his fist and thinks to himself that he can do this! He begins to walk while thinking to himself. He needs to act naturally, as if he were talking to eggplants. He stops Sakurai-sensei again and apologizes for stopping her again and again, but asks if she's dating anyone right now. In a visual metaphor, a stalk of bamboo is quickly sliced apart. Takasaki grabs his head and asks what on Earth is he saying? He angrily asks himself, Is he stupid? Sakurai-sensei cheerfully replies that she isn't seeing anyone right now. Sakurai-sensei's words ring in Takasaki's ears. He imagines himself in a patch of dirt as dozens of bamboo shoots pop up and thinks, "Awesome!", crying with joy. Sakurai-sensei calls him and he goes back to the real world. He apologizes for asking such a personal question, thinking to himself that that went well. The two exchange pleasant farewells and go their separate ways. Sakurai-sensei's words ring in Takasaki's ears again. He suddenly lies down in the hallway and quickly does pushups. Principal Shinonome sees this and says, "That's the spirit!"

Helvetica Standard
The reaper is chasing after the destitute tengu who has stolen his scythe. The tengu thinks to himself that if he doesn't pawn the scythe and buy some food, he'll die. He nears a river and panics, but trips on a rock and hops across the river. He looks back across the river and is dismayed to see the reaper get up and fly towards him.

Imagination
Yuuko has put her octopus wasabi aside on her desk. She asks Mio if she wants her to guess what she isn't thinking about at all, and guesses something pretty random (carefree office lady travel diary). Mio sheepishly replies that she was thinking about it, just a little. Yuuko is stunned.

Running Onto Trains Is Dangerous
Mio, Yuuko and Mai Minakami run to catch the train, but only Yuuko is able to get on before the doors close, much to Yuuko's dismay.

What Will You Have?
Mio and Yuuko are at a conveyor belt sushi restaraunt. The chef asks for their orders, but soon chuckles and admits that he forgot what they had just told him. Mio and Yuuko are amazed that he forgot.

Part 29
Nano Shinonome is walking home, and passes Yoshino Naganohara (Mio's prank-loving sister). Yoshino notices Nano's key and grabs a hold of it. Nano freaks out. Yoshino tries to be friendly and say hello, but Nano jumps away, trying to hide her key the best she can, and asks, "Um, can I help you?" Yoshino begins to say something, but then looks up as if lost in thought and says nothing. Nano turns and walks away. Yoshino suddenly grabs Nano's key again, and she is again very upset at this, jumping and backing away. Quite bothered by a stranger touching her special place (ie, the place on her body that makes her special), she asks what this stranger wants. Yoshino laughs and says, "Well, I just thought you seemed unusual." Visibly upset, Nano glances away and claims, "There's nothing unusual about me. I'm perfectly normal," and that the key is just an accessory. Yoshino looks down; the camera then pans out and we see that she is holding part of Nano's arm. She laughs, but Nano shouts in horror. She desperately tries to get her arm back, but Yoshino, who is a good deal taller than Nano, holds Nano's arm way abover her head, asking how Nano did that. Yoshino finally puts Nano's arm in her bag and then turns to leave. Nano begs, "Why?!" Yoshino apologizes to a very upset Nano and says she was just kidding. Nano begs for her arm back. Yoshino then holds out both of her fists and asks, "Which one?" Nano cries that it's in her bag, and Yoshino tells her she, "Correct! Second question." Nano is not pleased with this. Yoshino then poses a math problem involving the distribution of apples, then finishes by asking, "Where is your arm?" while holding up three fingers (the correct answer if she had asked the expected question: How many apples are left?). Nano cries that it is in Yoshino's bag. Yoshino is amazed she answered correctly again. Yoshino then tells her there is one question left, and if Nano gets it correctly she'll win an arm. Nano correctly points out that the arm was hers to begin with. She asks Nano to say the word bag (かばん, kaban) ten times. Nano does. Yoshino then asks, "What do you usually draw on?" Nano almost says bag, but manages to say drawing board (がばん, gaban). Yoshino tells her she is wrong: the answer they were looking for is "paper" (かみ, kami). Despondent, Nano tells her that isn't fair, but Yoshino giggles and tells her she's kidding. She gives Nano her arm back and she snaps it back into place. She then begs Yoshino to stop following her and begins walking away. Instead, Yoshino sneaks up behind her again and actually pulls out Nano's key. Nano is horrified; but after a few seconds of actually seeing her key in Yoshino's hands, she becomes incredibly happy: It came off! Nano has an imagination sequence with her running around in a field of flowers, ecstatic that her key came off. She joyfully shouts out, "It came off! (toreta appearing in letters in the sky behind her). She even flys into the air in happiness. Back in the real world, Nano is stuck in her daydream and is so enraptured she sparkles. Yoshino then puts Nano's key back with a disheartening kachunk, then runs off after something catches her attention. Nano is still standing there frozen in joy, eyes still shut. An old man rides by on a bicycle and Nano still doesn't notice.

Yoshino then runs into Mio and tells her they should go home. She tells Mio that she just ran into someone interesting, someone who's arm came off and who had a key on her back. Mio asks her what she's talking about. As Yoshino tells Mio that she met someone like that, the view goes back to Mio, still in a state of bliss, her sparkles having grown into large bursts of color. Mio tells her sister that that's weird.

Short Thoughts
Principal Shinonome is alone in the faculty office, drinking tea. As he looks out the window, the female narrator says, "I want to use some quotation marks that have a pretty rad vibe to them."

Part 30
Later, Nano has come down from cloud nine and is in the park with Hakase and Sakamoto, playing baseball. Hakase has the ball and tells Nano she's about to throw; Nano is at home plate with a bat, and Sakamoto is umpiring. Hakase throws the ball with very little force; it rolls, stopping before it even crosses home plate. Sakamoto sighs and concedes that they are just kids, after all. Nano then swings her bat. Because of her robot strength, she whips up a cloud of dust, and the wind she creates actually sends the ball back to Hakase, who cheers and claims she won. Sakamoto wonders to himself what in the world they are doing. Hakase then asks Sakamoto how many points that was. Sakamoto is shocked. Next, Nano is on the mound. Hakase swings the bat before Nano even pitches. Nano then throws like a girl, but with such strength that it flies past Sakamoto's head and blasts through the chain link fence. Sakamoto shudders in fear, realising he could have died. Nano then asks Sakamoto how many points that was. Hakase then swings again, and Sakamoto is baffled at how little the two know about baseball. Hakase then offers the bat to Sakamoto, who asks how she expects him to hold it with paws like his. He then goes into a tangent about his paws. He's distracted as Hakase drops the ball in front of him, and he starts playing with it before suddenly realising Nano and Hakase are right there. He looks up in embarrassment as Nano and Hakase look down on him, their faces showing they clearly thought he was being adorable. Sakamoto tells the girls that it isn't safe for them to be playing on their own, so he's going to keep an eye on them; he has no intention of participating. He suggests they start with some catch. Nano and Hakase call him "coach," and start pestering him. Finally, Nano is back on the mound and asks if Hakase is ready. Nano gently lobs the ball towards Hakase with a weak follow-through; but because of Nano's intense android strength, the ball still launches into the air with a sonic boom. Nano and Hakase then have to look for the ball in a field somewhere. While searching for the ball, Nano overhears Yuuko talking to her friends as they walk home. Nano turns and wistfully watches the three girls talk about school. She then turns around, and The Gentleman is in the field, holding the baseball. He hands it to Nano and the two exchange silent pleasantries. The male narrator declares, "Oh! Gentleman!", in English. Mio then sees Nano talking with The Gentleman and notices her key. She thinks to herself that maybe she's the girl her sister mentioned.

Birthday Present
Yuuko struggles to open her octopus wasabi.

Don't Miss It!
One of the wooden cubes (voiced by Wakamoto Norio) introduces itself. Become its owner, it declares, and you shall inherit an ancient weapon. The next episode of Nichijou is Episode 8. Don't miss it.

Transitions
After Takasaki sees Sakurai-sensei's blackbook, a city skyline is shown. Someone is releasing a giant balloon off the roof of a skyscraper while a blimp slowly drifts by. After Helvetica Standard, Nano and Hakase play rock paper scissors. Nano wins and is overjoyed, but Hakase pulls out a remote. She pushes the button and Nano's hand spring launches off screen. It then quickly pulls back and Nano's hand is holding the television remote control. Nano is stunned while Hakase takes the remote and flips through channels.

Then, the two daifuku mascots who had been holding jump ropes in previous episodes have given that up and are playing catch. One throws it up quite high and the other one settles beneath with his glove out, but the ball hits him on the head, knocking him to the ground. The first runs over to him to see if he's ok.

After Yoshino steals Nano's arm, the city skyline is shown. The balloon is tied to the roof with several flags, and the blimp has made progress through the sky.

After Sakamoto is adorable, the city skyline is shown at sunset. There are more clouds, and the balloon begins to be pulled back down.

Image Gallery
Episode 7/Image Gallery