Nichijou Episode 10

"Nichijou Episode 10" (日常の第十話) is the tenth episode of the Nichijou anime. The episode was written by Chizuru Segawa and directed by Mitsuyoshi Yoneda. It aired on June 6, 2011.

Red Light, Green Light


In front of a shrine, Mai Minakami is "it" in a game of 'Darumasan ga koronda' also known as Red Light, Green Light with Yuuko Aioi and Mio Naganohara. She turns and says "red light," making Yuuko and Mio freeze in their tracks. She holds it for a lot longer than is usual. She then sits down, shocking her friends, takes off her shoes and continues staring at them. Mio and Yuuko struggle with keeping perfectly still for so long. Birds end up landing on their heads, but Mai continues to say nothing.

Part 40


Yuuko is waiting impatiently for the light to change, cursing herself for being late for homeroom. She thinks to herself that she already used "I was helping my grandmother" the other day, and "My mother wasn't home" isn't much of an excuse. How can she avoid getting into trouble? The light changes, and she's off.



Exhausted from running, Yuuko reaches class 1-Q. She wonders how she was stopped by four red lights. She reaches for the door, bemoaning the fact it will be the first period already. She suddenly notices that the sliding door is slightly ajar. She looks up and sees an eraser wedging the door open. She panics a little over this obvious trap. She figures she'd never fall for such an obvious trap and goes to the other door, only to find it also has an eraser trap! Yuuko starts to get upset and wonders what she did to get punished like this, other than being late. She figures she can just sneak in through the back door, but it's locked! She decides she'll sneak in through the lower door, but is floored to find another eraser trap. Yuuko had a feeling something like this would happen, and Mai is the only one who would do it. Yuuko then decides to try going above the door, but is astonished to find that it is all newly-installed stained glass! Yuuko starts to run off, but soon realizes that won't solve anything. Yuuko resolves that, since she'll get in trouble no matter what she does, she might as well go in guns blazing and die fighting. Wouldn't that be cool? She'll go in through the front entrance. She'll take an eraser to the face while smiling and roll with the punches, imagining the scene. The entire class should burst into laughter, and Takasaki-sensei shouldn't get mad. Yuuko tells herself that her plan will work, if she's bright and cheerful about it. She opens the door, the eraser falls on her head, and she cheerily says good morning to the class, adding "Just kidding!" She then sees a completely empty class; a message on the board tells her that first period will be in another room. Yuuko sighs.

Soap


At home, Mai stands on her patio and blows a soap bubble. After watching it float for a bit, she grabs it and eats it. She clearly does not like the taste.

Invincible Alien


Yuuko is wearing a paper bag on her head, laughing and making cutting motions with her fingers. She declares, "I'm an invincible alien!" as Mio and Mai look on. Mio, a little embarrassed, asks why Yuuko is acting stupid; is she a grade schooler? Yuuko replies confidently that invincible aliens are immune to any and all attacks! The distinctive ping of a metal bat is heard nearby, and Yuuko is struck in the head by a baseball. She falls to the ground and twitches. The student who hit the ball calls out an apology and asks if she's alright, but Yuuko is in far too much pain to answer.

Blue Note


Nano Shinonome and Hakase are playing trumpets, poorly. Sakamoto rushes in and tells them to cut it out; Miles would turn in his grave! Nano apologizes, but Hakase excitedly asks if Sakamoto was listening. He replies that he wasn't listening so much as being tortured! Hakase announces she's going to play again, infuriating Sakamoto; but when she does, she can't get enough air to go through to make any real noise. Sakamoto then looks at Nano, annoyed, who looks away in embarrassment.

Part 41
Haruna Annaka reads a sign announcing nagashi soumen in the park today and thinks to herself that she's decided to check it out. She's only seen nagashi soumen on television before, so she's really excited. She hasn't eaten yet, so she's going to stand near the front and eat her fill! She enters the park and is disappointed to find that nagashi soumen is nothing more than a bamboo shoot extending from someone's window to the ground; further, she's the only one there. A woman suddenly opens the window and tells Annaka to get ready, and throws a glass of water with noodles down the bamboo. Annaka is shocked and the noodles hit the dirt. The woman yells at her, telling her she's never seen such a lousy customer. Annaka is stunned. The woman announces that round two is coming up; Annaka nervously asks the woman if she has any chopsticks; the woman angrily tosses her a set, but Annaka finds that they have been used; the woman claims they're recycling. Time waits for no one, so the woman sends the second round of noodles. Annaka decides she'll have to use the back ends of the chopsticks. The woman then sends a baseball; Annaka grabs it in disbelief. The woman tells her it's transient humor. Annaka doesn't know how to respond.

The woman then throws a cup full of uncooked noodles with no water, which don't move far. The woman angrily tells Annaka that she can't expect them to have infinite water; Annaka "Eh...?"s yet again. The woman yells at her, telling Annaka she should eat it and savor the flavor. Annaka grabs some disappointingly. Suddenly, a man's voice tells the woman: "You haven't changed a bit." Both the woman and Annaka look over; it's Egi Masaharu, nagashi soumen researcher. Annaka is stunned. The woman begins crying and adresses Masaharu; she quickly slides down the bamboo, astonishing Annaka. As the woman approaches him, Masaharu tells her that the moment he'd heard there was nagashi soumen in the park, he knew it was her. She tells him she's been doing this because she believed he would return someday. Annaka is perplexed. The woman continues: It has been thirty years since Masaharu left her in search of the perfect nagashi soumen. Did he find them? Masaharu laments that he's eaten so many noodles over the years, he just doesn't know anymore. Annaka is baffled. Masaharu continues that he raided their savings, but the money's run out. He apologizes, and tells the woman to let the noodles flow, and the woman tearfully agrees. Annaka is flummoxed. The woman turns to Annaka and asks her, "What are you looking at?" Masaharu then tells Annaka to make like nagashi soumen and flow away. Annaka is discombobulated.

Short Thoughts


A tennis instructor tells his first-year students that some people respond to praise, and others respond to criticism. He'll be using his intuition to tell them apart. Another girl is sitting off court and listening in, and then closes her eyes and begins to cry. The female narrator tells us her thoughts: "I respond to praise, but I never receive any."

NASA


A man counts down in English as a space shuttle readies for launch. He reaches zero and the shuttle launches. He then adds, "If I say it like that!" A woman in the control room gasps and asks, "What?!" The astronaut in the shuttle asks a very long "Whaaaaat?!" as the shuttle launches into space.

Part 42
Nano is reading when Hakase bursts in to show Nano she's put her hair in a ponytail. Nano is impressed, and tells Hakase that it does make the Professor look a bit more mature. Hakase is delighted by this; she runs over to Nano and asks her how much older her ponytail makes her look. Nano decides it makes Hakase look pretty mature, thrilling Hakase even more. She then asks Nano how mature Nano is, and Nano modestly replies that she doesn't think she's all that mature. Hakase laughs and tells Nano, "I guess you aren't", surprising Nano. Hakase gets up and tells Nano that she'll have to clean up the table for her, and begins picking up Nano's snacks and magazines. She even takes the magazine Nano is still reading, telling Nano that she's hopeless. Hakase then notices Sakamoto sleeping on the floor; she takes a magazine and lays it on Sakamoto like a blanket. This wakes up Sakamoto, who gets annoyed and asks her what she's up to. Hakase tells him he'll catch a cold and goes to put another magazine on him; when he tells her he won't catch a cold, and that she should be using blankets and not magazines, Hakase just tells him he always complains and puts the magazine on him anyway. Sakamoto jumps away, again asking what she's up to. Nano, cleaning up Hakase's attempt to pick up, tells them she's about to do laundry, and Hakase volunteers to do it herself. In the laundry room, Nano finishes putting the dirty clothes in the washing machine, closes the lid, and tells the Professor that she only has turn the dial. Hakase tells Nano she's hopeless, and that she'll turn it for her. When Nano tries to do it anyway, Hakase yells at her, so Nano reluctantly lets her turn the machine on. Hakase can't reach, so Nano picks her up; she turns the dial and the machine begins rumbling. Pleased with herself, Hakase tells Nano that if she need anything else, she should let her know, and runs off. Nano then opens the dryer, which is spinning; Hakase turned the wrong dial. Nano is frying an egg while Hakase pesters her. She tells Nano that she's hopeless and should let Hakase cook. She grabs Nano's arm and starts tugging it while Nano tries to get back to cooking. They're fighting over the pan when Sakamoto walks in, humming and in an unusual good mood. Naturally, Hakase makes Nano flip the hot egg, which lands right on his head, making him roll around in pain. Sakamoto manages to get the egg off and yells at Nano, who apologizes. Hakase then tells him that he's hopeless, and he angrily shoots back that he's not the hopeless one, they're the ones messing around! Hakase condescendingly tells Sakamoto that getting angry won't help anything. Sakamoto is still mad; Nano goes to the fridge to start over. Hakase volunteers to do it, and tries to reach into the bowl Nano has some eggs in. Hakase can't quite reach, however, and an egg rolls out of the bowl and right onto Sakamoto's head. He cries out, and Hakase tells him he's hopeless.

In the living room, Hakase is cleaning the egg off of Sakamoto's head. He asks Nano what is up with the kid today. Nano brings in lunch and tells Sakamoto that Hakase is trying to act mature. Hakase affirms that she is mature. Sakamoto suddenly gets an idea; he jumps out of the Professor's grasp and talks to her. He tells her, "Did you know that mature people don't eat snacks?" Hakase is taken aback; she paces back and forth in panic before undoing her ponytail. Ta-dah! she says, it's actually just her! Sakamoto laughs heartily, then suddenly calls Hakase a liar, leaving Hakase stunned.

River Fishing


Yuuko is fishing in a mountain stream. She gets a bite and reels it in, but it turns out to be a boot. She gets another bite, but it's actually a tea kettle. Yuuko takes the boot and the kettle and laughs, noting that they're more interesting than fish would have been. She puts them down, picks up her fishing pole and leaves, saying that if she'd knew she'd have this much fun, she would have invited someone else. Just after Yuuko leaves, a giant peach floats by.

Chic Things


Just like most "Things We Think Are Cool" segments start, Mai is standing in front of nothing, reading. Instead of Mio and Yuuko popping in, though, Mai looks up from her book and says, "Chic things."

An older man sits at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant and grabs a sushi dish. He then eats it with his bare hands. Mai declares that eating sushi with your bare hands is a "chic things".

Part 43
Yuuko sits at her desk in her room, groaning while looking at her homework. Damn it, she thinks; she doesn't want to do her homework. She asks herself why she even has to do homework, anyway. Well, her grades are terrible, so she has to do it. But she knows she can fix them, so she should be able to pass. Maybe... She puts her head on her desk and continues thinking. After she passes, then she'll graduate; but she doesn't want to go to college, so maybe she'll get a job? She lifts her head up and starts pondering. She heard on the television the other day that it's tough to find a job; maybe it's harder to get a job without a degree. She imagines a chimp walking and labels it "high school"; the chimp evolves and walks upright, representing college; it becomes a man with pants to represent employment. Yuuko thinks she can't get through it without taking a college entrance exam. But... Yuuko really doesn't want to study! How will the stuff she's studying now help her in the future, anyway? Yuuko wonders about her future; what does she want to do? She has a flashback to herself in grade school, reading "What I Want to Do" by herself. She says that when she grows up, she wants to be a frill-necked lizard! (Isn't she precious?) Back in the present, Yuuko stomps her feet and then walks weirdly as she keeps repeating "frill-necked" morosely. She then takes off her socks (for some reason) and lies on the floor, grasping her head and trembling as she yells in her head, "I don't want to study! I don't want to study, and I don't want to be a frill-necked lizard!" She sits up and thinks that if she did become a lizard, she wouldn't have to worry about this stuff, imagining an origami frill-necked lizard. She chuckles to herself and figures that if she's wishing to become something else, she might as well become a living national treasure and imagines herself with a goatee, handling a clay-like substance. She wonders how much does a living national treasure makes, anyway? How does one become a living national treasure? What even is a living national treasure?

Yuuko starts walking around the room and scolds herself that she needs to think realistically. She tries to think of what she wants to be, but eventually gives up. She tells herself that she's only a high school freshman, she's got three years to think about it. If she hasn't figured it out by then, she'll... go to college! She bangs her head against the wall, cursing exams. Which leads back to... Yuuko doesn't want to study! Yuuko tells herself that being depressed won't get her anywhere. Instead of thinking what she wants to be, she should think of what she wants to do. She sits on the floor and starts tapping her finger, asking herself what she wants to do. She starts slapping the ground with her hand, and then starts punching the ground with her fists, making a lot of noise. Suddenly, Yuuko's mother barges in, surprising Yuuko. She grabs Yuuko by the shoulders, then kicks her in the gut in a complex but smooth rolling motion. Yuuko flips and lands on the ground. Yuuko's mother yells at her to quit her banging; does she have any idea how late it is?! She slams the door and leaves. The camera pans around Yuuko's room, showing her baseball poster, her socks, her empty notebook, and finally her lying stunned on the floor. She sighs and tells herself, "Well, I'm not good at thinking too hard. I'll just work on my homework!"

After credits, Yuuko is back at her desk, crying that she doesn't want to do her homework.

Don't Miss It!


The origami frill-necked lizard (voiced by Nozawa Masako) introduces itself. It tells us that it's really hard to make with origami, and it might take a couple of extra sheets of paper before you figure out how to make it. The next episode of Nichijou is Episode 11. Don't miss it!

Transitions
After Yuuko sees the empty classroom, a grocery store's empty display cases are shown.

After Blue Notes, the grocery store's display case is now full of freshly packaged food.

After Nano and the Professor do laundry, a grocery store clerk puts discount stickers on the remaining food.

Trivia

 * Just after Haruka Annaka decides to use the back ends of the chopsticks, in the background Mi-chan shows his mother Kimiko a ball of mud he's just made. They're on their way to visit the vice principal. See: Episode 11, Part 45.
 * The man eating sushi with his bare hands in the "Chic Things" segment resembles Indonesia's second president, Suharto. However, when questioned, Arawi stated that the man was just a normal person.

Image Gallery
Episode 10/Image Gallery