Nichijou Episode 26

"Nichijou Episode 26" (日常の第二十六話) is the twenty-sixth and final episode of the Nichijou anime. The episode was written by Keiichi Arawi, the writer and illustrator of the original Nichijou manga, and directed by Taichi Ishidate. It aired on September 26, 2011.

Birthday
Yuuko Aioi, Mio Naganohara and Mai Minakami are at school, playing with a kokeshi, an akabeko, and a statue of the maitryea buddha, respectively. "Hey, listen!" Yuuko's kokeshi says. "We should have a birthday party for Nano!" "Good idea! When?" replies Mio's akabeko. "Today," Yuuko says through her doll, surprising Mio. "Today?!" Mio yells, for real. "Don't tell me these things at the last minute." Yuuko gets bashfull. "Sorry," she says, putting her hand behind her head. Mio leans back in her chair, resigned. "What are we going to do? I don't have anything prepared." "Well," Yuuko says sheepishly, "it's not like it's really Nano's birthday today." Mio bolts up out of her chair in shock. "You didn't ask her?" Yuuko, oddly confident, confirms, "That's right!" "What's right?" yells Mio, to which Yuuko replies, "It's a surprise!" "What do you mean?" Mai moves her statue forward on the desk. "The Professor... Let's celebrate the professor's birthday, as well." Yuuko approves. "Good idea!" she says, giddy. "We'll kill two birds with one stone! Let's do it!"

Mio is less convinced this is a good idea, but starts to think about it. "Well," she thinks, "good surprises are fun to give and receive..." She relents. "All right, I've got it! Let's buy a cake on the way home!" Yuuko loves it. "All right! Mai, are you ok with that?" Mai reaches into her bag. "I forgot my coin purse." Mio and Yuuko are both stunned by this, but Mio waves it off. "Oh, well. I guess Yukko and I will..." Yuuko bashfully tells Mio, "I forgot my wallet, too," much to Mio's lament.

Yuuko and Mai are then begging Mio. "Mio, please!" Yuuko pleads. Mio eventually smiles. "I still haven't returned the money I lost at the amusement park ... I guess I'll give it back today." Yuuko gets giddy. "I'll go tell Nano we're celebrating her birthday!" and gets up to do so. "What happened to the surprise?!" Mio shouts in frustration, just as Yuuko reaches the door. Yuuko realizes she's right and gets embarrassed. Mio sits back down, exhausted. "You're such an idiot..." Yuuko does not appreciate that! "But Sasahara rejected you..." she sulks, much to Mio's surprise. Mio stands up, angry. "He didn't reject me!" she shouts back. "But you ran away in tears..." adds Yuuko. Mio gets embarrassed and mad. "That was... I mean, just because their arms were linked doesn't mean they're dating! I haven't asked him about it yet! So it's not like he rejected me at all! So I haven't given up on him at all!" she declares. "I still totally like him!" Yuuko is shocked; Mio is surprised enough to look up from her book, at least. Mio starts shaking in embarrassment at what she's said. Yuuko and Mio exchange embarrassed faces a few times until Mio slams her hands on the desk. Completely red, she yells at them, "Forget I said that!"

Part 110
Nano Shinonome is in her genkan, about to go to school and in a very good mood. "Okay!" she says, "I haven't forgotten anything!" She turns her head. "Hakase, I'll se you later!" Hakase comes running in, surprising her. "Nano!" Hakase slides past Nano, grabs Nano's key, and then removes it, appearing to be in a good mood. Nano is absolutely stunned. Naked branches of a tree sprout buds, which begin sprouting flowers, visual metaphor of what Nano's feeling. She can't even be sure if she should be this happy yet; "Wh-wh-what's wrong, Hakase?" she asks. Hakase stands there holding Nano's key, smiling. "I just made a little one," she tells her, "so I'll go get it." Nano gasps in joy; the flowers on the tree begin popping open in bloom.

Nano suddenly realizes something and shakes her head, sending the flowers back into their buds. "Hakase, what do you mean by 'a little one'?" she asks hesitantly. Hakase tries to explain and reaches into her coat pocket. With a great deal of hopeful seriousness, Nano asks, "Will my back be smooth?" Hakase stops rifling through her pockets and tells Nano matter-of-factly, "It will..." The flowers pop back open, and Nano is again in a state of shocked elation. Hakase goes back to reaching into her pockets and tries to explain that the little one is... something, but stops when she can't find it. She shakes her coat, but nothing falls out. "Nano?" she asks. Nano responds with an ecstatic, "Yes?" Hakase smiles sheepishly. "It's gone." Nano falls back, knocking the flowers off her branches, and falling face down on the floor in despair. Hakase gets upset by this. "Nano, it'll be ok! Nano!" Sakamoto then walks in, groggy. "What are you shouting about so early in the morning?" he asks; they must have woken him up. He suddenly steps on something that gives off a small crunch. A second later, Sakamoto is literally shocked as whatever he stepped on sends volts of electricity through him. It stops, and Sakamoto waves his paw at Hakase, some small device broken and stuck in it. "Kid!" he roars. "Why did you set a trap here?" Hakase gasps and looks at what Sakamoto has broken. "Sakamoto broke the little one!" she cries. Nano, who's gotten up, gasps in anguish; her branches, already bereft of flowers, begin to shrivel and die... just like Nano's hopes and dreams.

Sakamoto realizes whatever it is he broke was important to the Girl and begins backing away, trying to explain how it's not his fault. Nano begins crying. Hakase points at Sakamoto and yells at him, "Sakamoto, you made Nano cry!" "No, no, no!" he tries to explain. "It's your fault for leaving it on the floor!" Morose, Nano turns and walks away. "I'm going to school..." she sputters. Hakase turns and panics. "Nano, you forgot something..." she says as she puts Nano's key back in her back with a disheartening *clink*. Nano lowers her head and shudders in despair, the entire atmosphere around her illustrating her misery; it follows her out the door.

"Nano," Hakase says, worriedly. "I can make a new one in no time." Nano's cloud of gloom suddenly lifts. "can you make it by the time I get home?" she asks. Hakase explains, "I can make a new one in no time, so..." Nano's flowers bloom again, with Nano herself bursting out of the last one. "Hakase!" she beams in delight. "I'm going to school!" Never have those words been said with such zest. Hakase is really glad Nano's happy again. The two say good-bye, and Nano leaves.

The Principal and the Vice-Principal
Principal Shinonome stands outside the school, panting in disbelief. He looks at the base of a statue marked as Principal. However, when you look up, it's not a bust of Shinonome, but of the Vice-Principal, Kousuke Oura! "Oh? How strange..." says the Vice-Principal, surprising Principal Shinonome. "Vice-Principal!" The Vice-Principal walks up to the statue smugly. "This statue was here when I was principal... How strange. Principal Shinonome's statue should be here." He chuckles as the Principal continues panting. "The pranks kids play these days are so humorous and mischievous..." He shakes his head, smiling in bemusement. He then gives a sharp glance at the Principal. "Or perhaps... Could it be that I have advocates?" He laughs mischievously.

A delivery man suddenly calls out for the Vice-Principal from an asphalt-covered area, telling him he's brought the delivery, much to the Vice-Principal's dismay. The delivery man walks up to the two school officials. "Is this where you wanted the statue?" The Vice-Principal stammers, trying to think of something. "Oh, um... I didn't..." Principal Shinonome turns and sees that the old statue of him has been tied down to the delivery truck. "Vice-Principal, is this...", he asks, still panting; only the Vice-Principal has begun panting, too. The Vice-Principal tries to stick with his story. "Kids play such elaborate jokes these days..." He apologizes to the delivery man and asks him to take this statue away. "What?" the delivery man says in shock. "You want me to cart this cheap one away?" "Cheap?!" the Vice-Principal cries. The delivery man smiles. "Got it! I'll remove this dull-looking one, too!" "Dull?!" the Vice-Principal cries. The delivery man yells back at the delivery man still with the truck. "Hey! He wants us to take this lame one, too!"

The Principal begins to smile. "There, there, Vice-Principal... don't let it get to you." The delivery man yells back at the Vice-Principal, "I'll take this and the gross one away on the double!" Now it's Principal Shinonome's turn to be shocked. "What?!"

Igo Soccer Club, Part 8
It is a misty morning at the high school. No one is around, but Kenzaburou Daiku's Blackbird is on the roof. Down below, Kenzaburou is jogging to the room where the Igo Soccer Club always meets. He takes out his keys, but is surprised to find the door is unlocked. He opens the door. Inside, Yuria Sekiguchi is just standing at the back of the room, blushing and trying not to look at him. Kenzaburou enters the room. "You're here, Sekiguchi?" he asks, happy but seemingly disappointed. "I wanted to get here first, so I had the Blackbird rush me here." Sekiguchi just looks at her feet as Kenzaburou puts his bag down. "What?" he asks. "Do you practice in the mornings, too?" Without looking at him, Sekiguchi tries to answer. "Uh... uh... um..." She takes a quick glance at Kenzaburou before staring back at the floor. "Yes..." she finally answers. Kenzaburou is surprised. "Seriously?" Kenzaburou walks over to Sekiguchi and holds up a black Igo stone. Sekiguchi nervously bends down and picks up a soccer ball and looks at Kenzaburou.

Part 111
Mio, Yuuko, and Mai are leaving school, apparently on their way to lunch. "I can't believe I have to buy lunch for both of you..." Mio complains. Yuuko puts her hands together and apologizes. "Well," Mio points out, "there's no way around it if you don't have your wallet..." Mai quietly puts her own hands together to show appreciation. Yuuko boisterously says, "That's Mio for you! So generous!" She slaps Mio on the back, hard; hard enough to send Mio staggering forward, just as an errant baseball flies behind her head, right where her head would have been if not for Yuuko's overexuberance. The baseball lands in the bushes. Mio is bent over, coughing from Yuuko's hard slap; no one saw what just didn't happen. Yuuko is concerned. "Are you ok?" she asks. "Yuuko, you hit too hard!" Mio chastizes her. Yuuko apologizes again, backing up into Mai, who's reading a book. Just as Yuuko bounces off of Mai, an eraser suddenly falls from above, landing in between Yuuko and Mai, exactly where Mai would have been standing. Mai continues reading nonchalantly as Yuuko apologizes to Mai. "I'm fine," Mai tells her. Up above on the second floor, Weboshii and Fe-chan look down, evidently responsible. The two then look at each other, apparently in surprise at what happened. (Fe-chan appears to be holding a drumstick for some reason...)

Back on the ground, Mio turns to Yuuko. "By the way, Yukko, did you ask Nano if we could visit her today?" Yuuko curses herself. "I completely forgot!" Mio smiles like she knew this would happen. Yuuko takes a position to start running. "Ok!" she says. "I'll go tell her we're celebrating her birthday!" Mio quickly grabs her arm. "Don't do that!" she yells. "Just ask if we can come over today!" Yuuko says that she will, but Mio figures she'll just screw it up and starts to run off herself. "I'll do it!" Yuuko grabs Mio's arm and holds her back. "I said I'll go," Yuuko repeats. Mio strains against her, trying to take another step. "No, I'll go!" In the shadow of Mio's foot, two ants quickly try to get out of the way. Yuuko pulls Mio back enough that she skips back and lands both feet behind where she'd been; Yuuko also falls back from the momentum. Mai quietly offers to go herself and begins to walk off, but Yuuko catches up to her and grabs her arm. "Mai-chan, Mai-chan, moment please! Just moment please!" This time Mai is kept from landing her foot, underneath which are the two ants again, as well as a piece of gum. Mai steps back and Yuuko runs off. "Ok," she says, "I'll go talk to Nano! Better late than never!" she adds, determined. The two ants are shown, safe and sound.

Yuuko runs and bumps headfirst hard into Koujirou Sasahara's back at the vending machine, causing him to drop the cup of coffee he's drinking. Yuuko is shocked and apologizes; Sasahara smiles and tells her not to worry about it. He poses, and tells her: "Go." She deeply apologizes again, bowing as she makes her way around him; once she's past, she begins running again. Sasahara's butler can be seen afterwards, straightening Sasahara's clothes. Soon after, Yuuko runs into Misato Tachibana and runs off to the side. The force of the collision causes Misato to spin forward, pivoting on her right heel. She eventually stops, but her arm keeps going, causing her to push the button on the vending machine for a can of black coffee. It dispenses, much to Misato's disappointment; that's not what she wanted! "I accidentally picked black coffee..." Yuuko rushes back in and apologizes. Misato waves it off. "It's ok. Sorry," she says. Yuuko backs up, still apologizing, before turning around and running off yet again, [word for "I feel so stupid!" groan]. Misato looks back at the vending machine and notices something. There's a sign that reads, "If 'Winner' Appears, Get Another Free!!" Underneath, the word "Winner" has lit up; Misato gets another drink! She picks her beverage and grabs it from the dispenser. Holding the black coffee in the other hand, she turns and notices Sasahara standing there... Presumably on his way to get a coffee to replace the one Yuuko had spilt.

Izumi Sakurai-sensei walks down a hall inside the school, carrying a pot filled with yellow pansies. She stops in surprise as Yuuko runs past, gasping. "Aioi-san!" she cries out, "Quiet in the hallway!" Yuuko runs fast enough that she sweeps along the pollen from the pansies. The pollen gets up Yuuko's nose, causing her to sneeze. The sneeze is rather wet; Sakurai-sensei gasps in wonder as the light from the window shines through her sneeze and forms a rainbow! "Rainbow," the male narrator announces. Yuuko then continues running off.

Outside, Kana Nakamura-sensei is on the roof, spying through a pair of binoculars. On the other side is Nano, gathering her things on her desk in Room 1-Q; eagle-eyed fans will notice her chair is sideways because of her key. Ogi then walks by. No longer seen through Nakamura-sensei's binoculars, Ogi walks down the hallway. Yuuko comes running, suddenly slipping really hard on a comb on the floor, sending it flying. It bounces off the edge of an open window, scaring off a white dove sitting on the stoop, before landing in Ogi's hands, which lie open as if waiting for it for some reason. Ogi looks at it. "I found it!" he says.

Again outside, Principal Shinonome is sweeping; his toupee has shifted oddly on his head. He looks up at the dove flying away, causing his toupee to slide back into position. He smiles warmly. As it turns out, Nakamura-sensei is now observing him through binoculars; a square of bare earth can be seen where the statue was removed. Nakamura pants, not believing what she's seen.

In the hallway, Yuuko is sitting on the floor, rubbing the back of her head where she'd hid it. "Ouch..." she moans. "Aioi-san, are you ok?" asks Nano, who has just left the classroom. She offers her hand to Yuuko, who is glad to see her. "Nano-chan, I've been looking for you." She grabs Nano's hand, and Nano helps lift her up. Halfway, however, Nano's hand and forearm snap off in Yuuko's hand! Yuuko is surprised; Nano is mortified. Nano glances to the side as she puts on her lying face. "Uh, this is just..." she quickly tries to explain, but Yuuko interrupts her. "Are you ok?" she asks worriedly, standing up. "Did that hurt?" Nano takes her hand back and tells Yuuko, "Uh, no. I'm fine..." Yuuko gives a sigh of relief. As Nano snaps her hand back on, she nervously tries to explain it away. "So, that isn't what you think. It's just..." Yuuko interrupts her again. "Hey, forget that. Can we come over to your house today?" Nano is surprised that Yuuko just glossed over her arm. "Huh? Uh, yes. Oh, right," she adds, now cheery, but Yuuko puts out her hand to stop her. She makes the shush! sign and chuckles mischievously. "It's a surprise, so I can't explain." Nano is confused as Yuuko walks off. "See you later," she tells Nano. After a moment, Nano smiles warmly. "Maybe I'll buy some for Aioi-san and the others."

Back on the roof, Nakamura-sensei is panting furiously as she looks through her binoculars. Principal Shinonome is just standing there, right where his statue was!

Rock, Paper, Scissors
For the first time since Episode X, Nano and Hakase perform the rock, paper, scissors dance; this time, Sakamoto joins in, hanging off of Hakase's head. "First comes rock! Then comes paper. You can't throw all of them, rock, paper, scissors!" Hakase throws paper, and Nano throws scissors; she's won! Nano's happy about that. Unfortunately, Sakamoto is hanging on Hakase's face, so she can't see anything. "What's going on?" they ask. Nano is disappointed.

Part 112
Mio, Yuuko, and Mai are in the park. Mio slams a long wooden stick onto a green pumpkin, which bounces off harmlessly; judging by Mio's exhaustion, she's been trying to smash this stubborn squash for a while now, with no success. Yuuko waits behind her for her turn; Mai is sitting on a bench, drawing on a portable easel around her neck; beside her is a cake box. Mio turns around and walks off, handing the stick to Yuuko. Yuuko steps up to the plate, grasps the stick firmly with both hands, draws the stick back above her head, pausing for a moment, and then smacks it down on the pumpkin as hard as she can! It bounces off without making a scratch. When she sees that that didn't work, she smacks it quickly a few times.

Yuuko then holds the stick to her side like she's preparing to swing a baseball bat. She swings the stick to hit the pumpkin on the side, but the stick breaks in half, the part Yuuko isn't hold flying through the air; Mai catches it without even looking up and begins whittling it.

Yuuko squats down and picks the melon up. She slams it down on the ground a few times, to no avail. She then stands up with it and begins to run. She cartwheels over it, using the momentum to slam the pumpkin down, but that doesn't work. She climbs to the top of childrens' slide and then slides down it before hurling the pumpkin to the ground, but again it just sits there. She picks it up one last time and then tosses it to Mio.

As Mio holds the pumpkin, Yuuko runs at her at full speed. At just the right moment, Mio hurls the pumpkin up into the air, and Yuuko jumps up after it, grabbing it some twenty feet in the air and, with the image of a fiery tiger appearing behind her, sends the pumpkin plummeting to Earth. The pumpkin releases a giant, pumpkin-shaped cloud of dust, and Mio and Yuuko wait to see if this worked. The dust clears, and the pumpkin sits there, smug and unharmed.

"This pumpkin..." Yuuko shouts in frustration, "is really hard!"

Untitled
Sakamoto walks down the street, moody and talking to himself. "That brat..." he complains, "why does she always..." He's suddenly interrupted by Kana Nakamura, who calls out for him in surprise... only she calls him Taishō, not Sakamoto. "Taishō! Is that you, Taishō?" Sakamoto slowly turns to look; when Nakamura sees who it is, she gets excited. It is Taishō!

Sakamoto is not glad to see the female science teacher. "Na-Nakamura!" he thinks, eyes full of fear. As Sakamoto begins sweating furiously, Nakamura tells Sakamoto née Taishō that she's been looking for him. She awkwardly reaches out to pick him up, telling him she's glad he's... something, but Sakamoto runs off in a panic. "Why are you running away?" Nakamura asks, chasing him. "Have you forgotten me?" Running at full speed, Sakamoto thinks, "I'm running because I haven't forgotten!" What's going on?

Sakamoto remembers. Sakamoto, sans speech-enabling scarf, lies in Nakamura's apartment, licking his paw as Nakamura walks in. "Taishō, it's dinner time," she announces, getting the cat's attention. Nakamura then places down Sakamoto's dinner: a steaming hot cup of instant noodle. He looks at it, not knowing what to do. Not noticing, Nakamura chows down on her own dinner. Sakamoto mews, getting Nakamura's attention as he looks up at her expectantly. "What's wrong, Taishō?" she asks. "You're not going to eat?" Trying to be nice, Nakamura takes her chopsticks and puts a big piece of meat in Sakamoto's cup. As she leans forward, she accidentally tips her own cup without noticing, pouring hot soup right on Sakamoto's head! He begins rolling around and yowling in pain, much to Nakamura's surprise. "What's wrong, Taishō?" she asks, genuinely not knowing what happened.

In another memory, it's bath time. In the bathroom, Nakamura holds Sakamoto, who struggles to escape her grasp. Next she is scrubbing Sakamoto, whose front half is completely covered in a huge amount of suds; he's wearing [a tutu or something?], perhaps explaining why Sakamoto was struggling so. Nakamura then takes a plastic tub of water and pours it on Sakamoto. "There you go..." she says caringly. However, being a cat, Sakamoto doesn't appreciate the deluge Nakamura pours on him. He again rolls around, yowling in discomfort. Nakamura is surprised, not understanding why Taishō is so upset.

In the last memory, Nakamura appears to have bought a book on how to raise cats; she also has a book on robots. "Shoot," she grumbles. "If I don't hurry, I'll be late." She says goodbye to Sakamoto, who is eating out of a bowl on a table in a room we've seen before. Being her usual clumsy self, Nakamura catches her foot on a cord, which jostles the table. "Shoot!" she says again, running off. The shaking of the table causes a lidless metal cage standing upright next to Sakamoto to lose its balance; after Nakamura leaves, it falls down, trapping Sakamoto inside.

Back in the present, Sakamoto is leaning up against a pole, trying to hide from Nakamura as she rounds the corner. Sakamoto deftly maneuvers his way around the pole, keeping out of sight as Nakamura continues calling out for him. "Just leave, already!" he thinks, desperate not to be caught by this careless woman.

Suddenly. Nano arrives, greeting Nakamura; she has a cake box and seems very happy, perhaps because she knows she's finally getting her screw removed when she gets home. Nakamura is surprised to see Nano, and so is Sakamoto, who hopes that Nano can do something to get rid of Nakamura. "What's wrong?" asks Nano. "You seem to be looking for something." Nakamura smiles and begins plotting. "This robot really does throw herself into danger," she thinks. She stops smiling when she realizes that she can see Nano at school any time; right now, Taishō comes first! Nakamura asks Nano if she's seen a black cat. Nano gets a little excited. "Nakamura-sensei, you have a black cat?" she asks. "Yeah," Nakamura tells her, "but it ran away." "I have a black cat, too!" Nano tells her, obviously unaware that the two are actually referring to the same cat. Nano offers to help Nakamura look, and Nakamura thanks her. Behind the pole, Sakamoto angrily thinks to himself, "Are you stupid?!", referring to Nano.

Nano asks Nakamura what her cat's name is, who tells her it's Taishō. Nano smiles. "What an interesting name," she giggles. Nakamura raises an eyebrow at her in confusion, possibly because it seems like a perfectly ordinary name to her. "Our cat is called Sakamoto-san," Nano continues. "What an unusual name," Nakamura tells her back. Nano smiles again. "It really is, isn't it?" As Nano smiles her head off, Nakamura looks at her oddly. Nano then asks, "Is he cute?", surprising Nakamura. Nano asks again, and Nakamura looks away, flustered. "What are you saying?" she asks. Behind the pole, Sakamoto begins thinking more calmly. "Well," he thinks, "it's not like Nakamura meant any harm... but I'd never survive in her care," he finishes grimly. He then imagines a weight labeled Memories of Nakamura's Poor Care, on one side of a set of scales. "No, hold on..." Another weight pops up, labelled Memories of the Kid's Pranks. "That's not any different from how things are now, is it?" He begins to sweat and shudders as the scale shows the two weights to be equal. "The scale won't budge," he moans.

Nano checks her really cool, (literal) wrist watch: 16:03. "It's already this late?" she worries. With regret, Nano tells Nakamura that she has to get going. "If you can find him," she adds cheerily, "can I come see Taishō?" Nakamura gets excited. "Yes, please do!" she exclaims. "You can come any time! Come tomorrow!" Nano politely says goodbye and walks off. Nakamura, smiling, chuckles mischievously. Behind the pole, Sakamoto grabs his head in frustrations. "Damn it! My life sucks, no matter where I go!" Poor cat.

(In the episode we meet Sakamoto, we can see Nakamura walking home in front of the scene with the flowers, well before we actually meet Nakamura.)

Part 113
Nano arrives home, announcing her return to Hakase and Sakamoto. Hakase gleefully runs up to Nano, holding something and smiling. "Nano," she tells her, "it's the little one!" Nano is elated to her that Hakase's remade the little screw. Just as gleefully, Hakase then tells Nano, "Sakamoto stepped on it again!" Distraught, Nano falls on the floor. "Sakamoto-san..." she grieves. Hakase then walks to Nano's side; she's grabs her key and takes it out! Nano looks at her in confusion as she sits up. "Huh?" Nano asks. "Are you sure you want to remove it?" "I'll make a new one right away!" Hakase answers confidently. Nano begins shaking in awe. Elated, Nano jumps over to hug the Professor. In the living room, Nano sits at the table, rubbing the key she's never been able to hold before, and smiling blissfully. Meanwhile, Hakase is hard at work at her desk making Nano a new, smaller screw. Nano looks over at the Professor. "I never knew it came off so easily," she tells her. "I could never get it off myself..." she adds bashfully. Hakase looks back at Nano. "That's because you can't remove it yourself, but other people can," she informs Nano. "I see," Nano thinks, taken aback. "But even you can put it back on!" Hakase adds cheerfully. Nano finds this to be a very odd design plan.

Nano perks up. "By the way," she asks Hakase, "what functions does that little one have?" Hakase is surprised; she hadn't thought of this! "If I remove this," she glumly tells Nano, "your big toe won't come off any more." "I have a function like that, don't I?" she remembers incredulously.

The doorbell then rings. "Could that be Aioi-san and the others?" Nano wonders aloud. Hakase spins her chair around in joy. "Yukko?" She jumps down and begins running to get the door, ecstatic. "Hooray, it's Yukko!" Seeing Hakase so happy causes Nano to smile warmly. "Oh, right," Nano suddenly realizes. "I should put this key away..." Nano begins jogging down the hallway, holding her key and smiling. "Now I finally look like a normal person," she thinks. We get a shot of Nano's keyless back as emotional music begins to play. "I wonder if I'll become even closer with everyone. Maybe I'll get to go out with everyone more, and live a more fun and ordinary life!" As Nano beams, she suddenly begins remembering things. Earlier today, Yuuko had just seen Nano's hand come off, and yet she tells Nano, "Hey, forget that. Can we come over to your house today?" Nano seems a bit surprised by this memory. She then remember Hakase telling her, "Because it's cute." Then Yuuko, getting ready to leave Shinonome Labs, tells Nano, "Nano, you're just Nano-chan. Isn't that enough?" Yuuko turns and gives Nano a friendly smile. "I just came here to tell you that. But I forgot all about it." Nano slows down, and then stops. An emotional tear forms as she [sighs?]. She pictures an image of her at school, sitting in her sideways chair, all alone; but then Yuuko greets Nano cheerily and gives her a peace sign. Mio and Mai are on either side, smiling as well. She then remembers Hakase on the porch, kicking her feet back and forth happily. "Nano!" Finally, she remembers Sakamoto, looking up at her and cordially calling her "Girl," his term for Nano. Nano stops, holding her key as she realizes that, even with the key showing everyone she's a robot, she's already close with everyone, living a fun and ordinary life. The music ends and the hallway fades to black.

Yuuko, hiding in the hallway just outside the living room, whispers to Mai and Mio to keep them quiet; this is important! Mio and Yuuko then whisper in unison, "Ready, and..." The two then happily walk into the living room doorway and surprise Nano; followed by Mai, who is emotionless as usual. Yuuko then takes a cake box from behind her back and the three present it. "Ta-dah!" says Yuuko. "Happy birthday! We bought you a cake!" Inside the living room, Nano has put her key back in. "Aioi-san..." she says, surprised. "Happy birthday... huh? Why?" Mio, Yuuko, and Mai enter the room. In response to Nano's questions, Yuuko puts her index finger in front of her face and adopts a mysterious expression, chuckling smugly. She then gives a peace sign as she tells Nano, "It's a surprise, a surprise." Hakase then pops up. "Cake!" she hollers. "I want cake!" She begins batting at the cake box, trying to get the delicious treat inside. Yuuko tries to keep the box out of Hakase's reach. "Wait, Hakase! You're pulling too much!" Hakase doesn't listen, continuing to chant CAKE! Nano gets worried. "Wait, Professor..." she tries to warn. Mio leans down to get Hakase to calm down, but she's too late. Hakase's repeated beating on the cake box makes Yuuko drop it! The box lands on the ground with a disheartening plop, cake and frosting oozing out of the bottom. Hakase, Mio, and Yuuko and not happy about this.

Mio is frozen in shock as Hakase mourns the cake, and Yuuko wonders what to do now. Unfazed, Mai looks in her bag and grabs something. "I have another..." she quietly announces. "Mai-chan..." Yuuko and Mio begin in gratefulness, but are surprised and disappointed when Mai just unfurls a piece of paper with another drawing of a shark on it as a gift for Hakase. Hakase really seems to like it, though!

In the kitchen, Nano pours everyone tea. She smiles as she hears Yuuko playing with Hakase in the living room. She then opens the fridge. "But how did everyone know it was my birthday?" she wonders aloud as she pulls out another cake box. She closes the door, revealing a calendar covered in shark stickers and a drawing of Hakase and Nano, probably drawn by Hakase. The 7th (a Monday) has a crayon flower around it with Nano's Birthday written in the square.

Nano then cuts the cake on the counter; it looks pretty tasty, with white frosting and whole strawberries on top. Nano is so happy she begins to tear up. Hakase then rushes in, holding up the little screw she made. "Nano, I made the little one!" she cries out triumphantly. Nano quickly wipes away her happy tears. Nano turns to Hakase and begins to tell her she's changed her mind. "This key has certainly been inconvenient, and I really did want to remove it, but..." She pauses a moment. "I prefer things the way they are!" As she announces this, Hakase darts behind Nano and removes her key. She places the little screw in the hole and then pops the big key back in. Nano isn't sure what just happened, but Hakase is pleased. "This little one spins when you're really happy!" Nano turns around in a panic. "What kind of key is that?!" Hakase laughs, embarrassed. Nano gets over this quickly enough and begins smiling again, before suddenly remembering something. She asks Hakase to take the cake out to the living room. Hakase is dumbfounded. "Oh! More cake!" Hakase is more then happy to take the cake as Nano tells her she'll bring out the tea. Hakase runs off, chanting CAKE! again. Nano is shocked when she hears the distinctive sound of Hakase tripping and crashing into something. Worried, she rushes into the living room to find that Hakase dropped the cake right on Yuuko's chest! Hakase cries over the ruined cake as Yuuko grimaces at the unpleasantness of having an entire cake all over you, and Mio tries to get the situation under control. Nano rushes in to try to help. Yuuko tells Nano to get something to clean this up. Mai, ignoring what's going on, takes out a candle and goes to put it in the remains of the first cake on a plate on the table. Hakase sees this and gets upset; she wanted to put the candle in! Angry, Mio grabs Mai, telling her, "We have to clean it up first!" Yuuko again calls for something to wipe the cake off her torso.

Suddenly, Yuuko begins laughing, and Hakase joins in. Nano gets flustered at all this commotion. However, we then see Nano's back: her key is spinning! Although the situation is chaotic and everything is going wrong, Nano is still with her friends and family, the people she cares about and who care about her. The scene transitions outside, where Sakamoto is sleeping on the roof, ignoring the ongoing commotion somewhere beneath him. Above a beautiful sunset, Daiku's Blackbird flies him home as the scene fades to black. If you listen very closely, you can hear Nano whisper "Thank you" in English just before the scene ends.

Motivation
Mio is in class, reading a newspaper. She sneezes. On her desk is a Buddha statue. Behind her, Yuuko is sitting with her head on her desk, her arms laid out. "What's wrong, Mio?" "I can't stop sneezing," Mio replies, aggravated. "What are you talking about?" Yuuko asks. "Will those sneezes away." A little annoyed, Mio asks, "And what do I do until they're willed away?" Yuuko tries to think of something. She then sits upright, determined. "Just stop them!" Mio isn't convinced. "That's impossible." Sort of like just willing motivation, I suppose. A branch of cherry blossoms pop open. "What a simple moron," reads the female narrator.

Nano's key is then shown, sticking out of her back, just like in a typical Don't Miss It segment, but instead of a voiceover promoting the next episode, there's only silence.

Image Gallery
Nichijou Episode 26/Image Gallery