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NieA Under 7 - Poor Girl Blues (Vol. 1)

NieA Under 7 - Poor Girl Blues (Vol. 1)

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $26.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: light hearted goodness from the folks that brought you S.E.
Review: 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!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: light hearted goodness from the folks that brought you S.E.
Review: 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!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Nothing like FLCL
Review: Although there are superficial similarities between the two, the execution is very different. I fail to see how anyone, having seen both shows in their entirety, could not recognize this. It would be a serious mistake to dismiss the one in favor of the other.

This isn't to say that NieA_7 is a perfect show, but it does some interesting things that make it worth a look. The first thing that must be understood is that it has very little of what you would call 'plot' (in sharp contrast to the heavily-plotted FLCL). There are things that happen that make you THINK that things are going to happen, but they really don't. Not that that's a bad thing; indeed, the show would have benefitted from being longer, in order to more fully explore the nothing that is going on. There are quite a few characters, and many of them just don't receive the level of attention that they deserve (Karna, who just sort of disappears after the eigth episode or so, is a particularly egregious example). It's also worth noting that just watching the first DVD will provide a misleading impression of the show, insofar as it switches gears fairly abruptly halfway through from comedy with serious bits to drama with funny bits. The two elements could have been integrated better, admittedly. Finally, I would comment that this would be an excellent title to rid you of the silly subtitle purist outlook--the dubbing here is awesome, and makes the show much, much more enjoyable that the original voice acting (and it certainly doesn't help that the subtitles are a bit on the Engrishy side).

Still, an anime that is entirely about character without sweating the plot is something that appeals to me, and it is done here, if not quite as well as I could have hoped, still well enough to be enjoyable. Go ahead and check it out.

And also check out FLCL--it rules.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Digi Charat meets lain - an interesting combo
Review: Being a big ABe and Lain fan, I was excitied to learn of Triangle Staff's new ABe creation - but what's this? a comedy!? from the people who did lain? Yes - that's right, a comedy.. well... a dramedy. NieA_7 is a story based around Mayuko, a girl living in a rented room of a bathhouse to attend college prep classes in Tokyo, and NieA, a little alien girl who decided one day to live in her closet. Even though most episodes are full of (visual) humor, A very subtle (usually sad) plot moves along slowly, showing you why the characters are the way they are in true Lain fashon - no monologues or knowing characters here. Even though most of the humor stuff isn't that unique (but it is funny), the fact that it is intertwined with these characters and plot is, and gives the show a very unique feeling, and one well worth watching

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Just do it : watch it, you won't regret it !!!
Review: First time I heard about NieA_7, I was not really sure it would be a great anime, however since that time I've seen it and, God, I can tell you it is one of the funniest anime, NO, the FUNNIEST anime I've ever seen. All the characters are wonderful, let me tell you this, if you feel depressed just watch it it is a good medicine against bad feelings and stress.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better than expected
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This show is like a melancholy clown
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Aliens who are hungry and cause problems
Review: I just watched the first four episodes (DVD #1) of the adorably funny NieA Under Seven series, the subtitle is Poor Girl Blues.  This series features the poor cram student Mayuko, and her free-loading alien roomate NieA.  Mayuko lives upstairs in a traditional bathhouse which has, like Mayuko and her extraterrestial roomie, fallen on hard times. 

The series is at times funny and thoughtful.  The way the characters interact and treat each other is quite Japanese.  There is some not-so subtle racism and classism going on, but it's not overwhelming. I really enjoy the style of art employed in this series; character design by Yoshiaki Yanagida is notable. 

Mayuko and NieA fight for and over food, as they are both nearly starving because Mayuko's at the end of her funds and NieA prefers to spend her time building spacsehips out of junk than looking for a job.  There are other interesting characters that inhabit this series including the female businesswoman thatowns the bathhouse, a rather nerdy schoolmate who is obsessed with the aliens that crashed into earth a few years before and the other wacky aliens NieA and Mayuko encounter. There is also some good traditional-style blues music employed during interludes and scene switches, and some respectable contemporary pop (not at all syrupy sweet and annoying like other anime music) during the opening and closing credits.

If you are an otaku who enjoys zany and cute comedies, than this series is not to be missed!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good anime, Slowly gripping, Yeah!!!!
Review: I love this anime!!!! It has the same slow, dramatic pace that made Lain gripping, but NieA will dropped the act and throw some unexpected comedy in now and again. Be Aware! This series is LAME! Intentinally lame.

The main character's life is lame, the jokes are lame and some of the animation is lame. However, the by the middle of the second disk, you desperately love everyone in it. There are no evil villains, no super powers, just a soap opera about a bunch of people in a post catastrophic (but not apocolyptic) world. It reminds me of the famous pre WWII quote about Berlin and Vienna.

In Lain, everything was serious, but not hopeless. In NieA Under 7, everything is hopeless, but not serious.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Silence & classism
Review: I really appreciated Niea_7-- the whacky humor, the meandering pace... and yet there's something wonderfully powerful about the series. It's a story of immigrants, of loss, of displacement, of alienation, of class oppression, of silence, of alliance building, of hope, of dogged determination to survive. Even the ending song resonates of tragedy-- but also of joy and hope.

When one's oppression is a systematic drive toward despair, sometimes whackiness and joy is the utmost resistance. Scratch a little beneath the surface, and you'll find some pretty interesting social critiques, of both Japan and of the effects of globalization, moderization, and urbanization.

As far as character development goes: the relationship that is built between Mayuko and Niea is built very much on things left unsaid, and it's the silence that can be both hurtful and powerful. Keep an eye out for it; most types of American relationships are based in verbal interaction, while silence plays bigger, and often multiple and contradictory roles in East Asian relationships (generally speaking).

While I didn't quite agree with the message the artist gives at the end about the alliance between Mayuko and Niea (but I ain't gonna give it away)... just watching the many critiques unfold within an insane story and weird characters really urge me to bow to Niea_7 once again as a deliciously whacky, complex, and profound series.


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