Niea Under 7, Volume 1: Poor Girl Blues (Episodes 1-4)

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Many of the artists who worked on NieA Under 7 were also involved in Serial Experiments Lain, which explains the disjointed narrative and self-absorbed characters here. Mayuko, the heroine of this offbeat comedy set "sometime in the 21st century," is an impoverished student attending cram school, apparently unnecessarily, as she was ranked among the top 10 high school students in Tokyo. She rents a room over a public bath in a rundown section of the city and ekes out a living working odd jobs. NieA, an infantile "under seven" alien who has taken up residence in Mayuko's closet, sleeps, sponges off her diligent hostess, builds "UFOs" out of junk, and throws tantrums. Despite the grasshopper-and-ant setup, numerous explosions, and eccentric supporting characters, the comedy fails to gel. Mayuko comes across as a pathetic drudge; NieA's endless demands for food quickly cloy. Rated 13 up: nudity, minor profanity, racial stereotypes. --Charles Solomon

Description

As a starving student, Mayuko's life consists of many part-time jobs, a small apartment over a bathhouse, and sleepless study nights. Unfortunately for her sanity, this hard life is complicated by Niea. Niea is a young 7th class under-alien who is living in Mayuko's closet, building flying saucers out of trash, eating Mayuko's food and being a bum. Compared to this stress, the man-eating plants and the curry wars are nothing...

Customer Reviews:

Vive La Difference!.......2007-03-10

You know, the great thing about Niea Under 7 is, once you take away the antennas and superfluous flummery, the residents of Enohana could well be the residents of any city or town anywhere in the world. It's the characters' humanity and their weaknesses that set this series apart from almost any other anime I've ever watched. I highly recommend the entire series to anyone who hasn't seen it.

Better than expected.......2003-03-12

I decided, on a whim, to buy this after I read the back of the dvd case. It's really a lot of fun and much better than I would have expected. I personally prefer the subtitled version, as the English voice-dubs don't fit the character's actions quite as well. I recomend it for people who like animes such as Fruits Basket.

light hearted goodness from the folks that brought you S.E........2003-03-08

adorable, well crafted characters with kooky allusions to lain; Mayuko stands in the same place on the bus as lain. The aliens are even lovable, especial the attenna-less name-sake of the show, NieA. The other aliens have attenna, that's what makes her "under 7". Domestic poor animation is the coolest phrase i've heard in a long while. Savor the taste of India and the more earthly aliens, soo choice!!

light hearted goodness from the folks that brought you S.E........2003-03-08

This show is like a melancholy clown.......2003-02-05

I enjoyed Niea Under 7 quite a bit, but it's obvious that this show has sort of a strange split personality. On the one hand, it's a show about the hardships of being a poor student during an economic recession; while on the other hand it's full of slapstick comedy and goofy aliens. The best analogy I can draw is a sad clown. It tries very hard to remain upbeat and silly, but you know that there's this undercurrent of depression.

For all it's unusual plot structure, a few episodes of Niea stand out as being absolutely hilarious. I would buy the first two discs of this series for the comedy alone. However, if you're not interested in the more serious aspects of the show, you may want to pass on the later half of the series. I enjoyed the story, but I can understand that some people may be disappointed by the focus on serious topics in discs three and four.

I should also point out that this series has very high production values. It's well animated, and the DVD transfer looks perfect. I didn't see any problems with the picture, jagged edges, shimmers, or digital artifacts. From a purely artistic standpoint, it's another excellent job from the team that brought us Lain.

While Niea is not one of the few absolutely outstanding anime series, it does have moments of greatness and it's touching in many ways. Despite being a show about aliens, it captures the feelings of an overworked and poor student remarkably well, and perhaps even *realistically*. That's quite an accomplishment for any anime, let alone a comedy about a free-loading alien.

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