Rating: Summary: A poor man's FLCL ... Review: I took a chance getting the first volume of this series, especially since there were ties to Lain's creative side. However, this series definitely has a cohesive story leading the viewer through an alternate dimension where aliens from a crashed mothership live among humans and carry out their goofy whims within a very confined Japanese society. NieA is a lively, lazy alien girl living in the closet of the dowdy but respectable human girl Mayuko. Both live in a leaky room above a local bath house which provides a certain amount of plot unveiling the world they live in during the first four episodes on this DVD. Sadly however, the series is slow and the voice acting really doesn't match the over expressive animation. Many of the expressions seem to be direct ....of FLCL, perhaps some of the staff worked on FLCL, except the animation isn't anywhere near Gainax quality. The ponderous character development leaves little bang for the buck, making NieA Under 7 a quaint anime for the shut in crowd or younger, more placid viewers wanting to avoid the violent or sexual aspects of anime. Good anime for a snowy day or a rainy afternoon, but nothing to write home about. Heed these words.
Rating: Summary: NieA_7... Excellent Review: I'm on the 2nd DVD now, and it is just as good. I'm finding it to be almost like a combination of two of my favorite Anime series, Maison Ikkoku and Urusei Yatsura plus alot of stuff that makes it it's own. I'm also a big fan of Lain and love the character designs. I'm looking forward to seeing the complete series.
Rating: Summary: This is by far a must see in the anime world. Review: I've been searching for an anime that brought me satisfaction with every episode. This one is definitely the highest on my list. Niea is the most hilarious character, in this side-splitting series, about a young girl, and an alien bum that lives in her closet.Oh, and you aint seen nothin yet! Niea is UNDER 7 and UNDERCLASS. It makes life hard for both Mayuko(the young girl) and Niea(the alien). This anime is very fast paced, and interesting, just what anime fans look for! Add this to your shopping cart!
Rating: Summary: A thoroughly enjoyable comedy with a darker underbelly Review: If there was going to be an anime version of the Odd Couple, this might be it. These first episodes do a great job of introducing us to the two primary characters and the supporting cast. Mayuko is a very interesting lead, and as an overworked poor cram-studying girl who was separated from her parents when she was young, has many facets to her character. Niea is, on surface levels, a stereotypical anime catgirl type, hyper energetic, extroverted, and constantly complaining about her stomach. These first episodes seem relatively self-contained and humorous in tone, essentially laying the groundwork for the episodes to come.The darker or more dramatic side of the show is hinted at in these episodes. Mayuko was separated from her parents when she was young. Niea is of the lowest caste of alien, and doesn't have an antenna. The bathouse where they live is in danger of going out of business. The boiler-room man has an unrequited crush on the bathouse owner. While these potentially more serious elements are kept in the background or touched on lightly here, there is room for them to expand in the future. The disc itself looks great. The colors are very rich and vibrant, and most of the times things are very crisp and clear. There are a few rare cases of artifacting, and sharp lines can appear slightly jaggy at times, but all in all this is a very visually appealing disc. This Lain-style of animation with clean lines and large blocks of strong ungradated colors really *pops* on DVD. The surreal cutaways that happen at high-tension moments (either to psycho-background SD madness or to surreal stills filled with extra scrolling text) also really jump right off the screen. So far, my only problem with the series is that Niea is coming across as rather one-note, and I haven't developed sympathy or compassion for that character yet. But the opening animation suggests darker currents (probably related to her bottom-caste status among the aliens) that will likely show up in future episodes and flesh her out a bit more.
Rating: Summary: Ed from CowboyBebop Review: If you've come to like Ed, the goofy (and very strange girl hacker in Cowboy Bebop) you should find NieA to be very very familiar - for me, this title is kind of like the "Ed Show". Ok enough of that, as I realize not all of you have seen Cowboy Bebop. The story actually has nothing to do with Bebop. What we have is a peculiar version of the Earth where Aliens have crash landed and have as best as possible integrated (or tried to) with human society. Nie is a freeloader living in a poor student's room. This poor thing dreams about eating her fill someday, and in the meantime works to pay tuition and basically to stay alive. Luckily the boarding house matron appears to have a really good heart and so does her right hand man, the janitor do it all. Nie isn't particularly liked by her young alien peers, because... well, she has no antenna . Yes, this is really a goofy series, lighthearted but with occasional out-of-nowhere stints like 2 story high man-eating plants coming out of the blue and trying to eat the main characters. It's really hillarious how the aliens try to emulate a wide variety of human cultures. I won't go into details, but it will be hard for you not to chuckle at the daffyness (if you are not somewhat shocked). Do not buy this if you expect anything serious, killer robots, spell flaunting wizards, or anything else you know - we need to hand it to the producers of this one - it is unique! Be warned that this is slow paced, and does not reveal any deep mysteries of the universe. You are just a passenger through a series of peculiar sketches where the fact that aliens have landed a while ago is now ho-hum. The characters can grow on you somewhat, and it's their development that holds this together - and of course the unexpected surprises.
Rating: Summary: Ed from CowboyBebop Review: If you've come to like Ed, the goofy (and very strange girl hacker in Cowboy Bebop) you should find NieA to be very very familiar - for me, this title is kind of like the "Ed Show". Ok enough of that, as I realize not all of you have seen Cowboy Bebop. The story actually has nothing to do with Bebop. What we have is a peculiar version of the Earth where Aliens have crash landed and have as best as possible integrated (or tried to) with human society. Nie is a freeloader living in a poor student's room. This poor thing dreams about eating her fill someday, and in the meantime works to pay tuition and basically to stay alive. Luckily the boarding house matron appears to have a really good heart and so does her right hand man, the janitor do it all. Nie isn't particularly liked by her young alien peers, because... well, she has no antenna <chuckle>. Yes, this is really a goofy series, lighthearted but with occasional out-of-nowhere stints like 2 story high man-eating plants coming out of the blue and trying to eat the main characters. It's really hillarious how the aliens try to emulate a wide variety of human cultures. I won't go into details, but it will be hard for you not to chuckle at the daffyness (if you are not somewhat shocked). Do not buy this if you expect anything serious, killer robots, spell flaunting wizards, or anything else you know - we need to hand it to the producers of this one - it is unique! Be warned that this is slow paced, and does not reveal any deep mysteries of the universe. You are just a passenger through a series of peculiar sketches where the fact that aliens have landed a while ago is now ho-hum. The characters can grow on you somewhat, and it's their development that holds this together - and of course the unexpected surprises.
Rating: Summary: NieA _7 slow but true Review: It will take some repeat viewings for you to get used to the slow pace. But the illustrations have such depth and beauty, you will not regret it. NeiA_7 is not for the casual otaku. Toonami watchers will say, "Hunh??" But for those of you who live and breathe anime, this series is very satisfying.
Rating: Summary: Nice change of pace! Review: Niea under 7 is a nice change of pace. There arn't any battle scenes with flying ninjas or battle mechs, but it's still enteratining. What makes Niea Under 7 refreshing is the realness of the charater's plights. Niea is a reject alien who has to deal with teasing, and Mayuko, is a starving student just trying to make it. In fact, it seems like all the characters face some type of obstacle to overcome. Even Mayuko's landlady has to worry about truning a profit at her bath-house.(the place where Mayuko and Niea live) The characters are silly at times, and the plot does move slowly occasionally, but overall Niea Under 7 is a nice reminder that plain life can be a challenge to overcome. The main reason for my four star rating, is the slowness of pace. But rest assured you'll probally still like watching Niea more than once. It's also interesting to watch it in it's origainl Japanese version. If your not sure if Niea is for you try to rent it first. If you've been thinking about getting it, give it a try. You'll be glad you did.
Rating: Summary: Excellent Creative Title Review: This DVD chronicles the life of a Japanese cram student Mayuko and her alien companion NieA. The plot is creative in many respects. Usually stories about alien arrival is full of conflict and X-files like mystery plots. When the aliens arrive on earth in NieA_7 nobody really cares. Mayuko struggles living on her working many part time jobs to pay for rent and food. It shows an aspect of non-ideal Japanese life that you usually do not see in anime. Characters are deep, interesting, and lively. That alone make this DVD a worthwile purchase.
Rating: Summary: Easy going, funny anime. Review: This is really a great anime to just pop in to the DVD player and cheer up to. The story is easy going, not to fast but not so slow that it looses your attention, and there are lots of engaging characters to hold your interest as well. The main menu is one of the best I've seen. Visually it goes for beauty in simplicity but when you select an option NieA flys by in one of her UFOs. All in all, I've enjoyed this DVD and I look forward to the rest of the series.
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