NieA_7 is an anime that ran from April to July of 2000, and had two manga releases in 2000 and 2001. The character design is done by yoshitoshi ABe, who is also responsible for art design on Lain. The anime follows NieA, an under class alien, who lives with poor cram student Chigasaki Mayuko at a declining bathhouse, as we see her face many challenges from something as meaningless as breakfast to her identity as an alien. It's a calm, hilarious slice of life anime with undertones of drama and melancholy.
Why do I like NieA_7?
It was my first ever anime, I still hold it highly to this day. It upsets me when people talk about Abe's work and forget to mention NieA completely, as if it's this anime that was never worth watching. NieA is the perfect anime for me, simply because of its hilarity mixed with serious themes as well as the sci-fi aspect.
Favourite things about NieA_7
Ah, NieA. The character that is practically married to food and is so goofy no one takes her seriously. It comes at her demise, though, later in the series when she claims she hears the Mothership speaking to her despite the fact that she has no antenna. Which she is also made fun of for not having, and every time she is bullied or called a freeloader by Mayuko, or called a "stupid no-antenna under-alien" by Karna, she doesn't hesitate to point them out on their discriminatory speech.
Throughout my journey of being an anime fan, I have been sprung with many terms, one of them being "waifu/husbando". I pondered for many years who this could be for me. And then it hit me. Komatsu Chiaki. Named after writer of Lain, Chiaki J. Konaka. UFO fangirl. Overall adorable ball of energy, too much for even Mayuko to handle, and she lives with NieA. While not the conventional waifu type, if someone asked me who my waifu was, I would say her.
Get yourself someone who looks after you the way Chie looks after her father. Sometimes I forget who the parent is supposed to be when it comes to these two. Not to mention how she teases Mayuko about her and Genzo.
This is what you get if you wait through the ending of NieA; you get Dalgit's Tidbit of India Information, where the human form of Chada, Dalgit, gives the audience a bit of trivia about India. I actually have no idea how reliable the information is, but it's a funny thing to look forward to at the end of every episode. I have that Shane Punjab jingle seared into my brain.
Soundtrack
- OPENING: Come On Over Here/Koko Made Oide - SION
Listening to this makes me wanna clear my throat. This opening is magical every time I hear it. It really sets up the vague unsurity the anime tackles. They took notes from Lain's closing for this one. - CLOSING: Venus and A Small God/Venus to Chiisana Kamisama - Maria Yamamoto
A cute ending song which refreshes you after the episode you just watched. It's a nice song which just helps the whole thing close out. I'm saying the same thing twice, aren't I?