Aside from male dominated sports anime, rarely do I pick up a series with male lead characters and actually enjoy watching it. Nijiiro Days, or Rainbow Days, is one of the rare anime series led by four bishounens that I had a lot of fun watching.
So what made Nijiiro Days so special? How is it different from other male led slice-of-life anime?
I’m a sucker for romantic comedy shoujo anime series. Nijiiro Days is exactly that. There’s nothing fancy about its story and you can say that it’s the average, common story pieces you’ll get from other similar series but it manages to stay fresh, lighthearted with quirky humor and fun.
It doesn’t hurt that I found all characters likeable. Yes, Keiichi has an unusual taste for certain fetishes but he’s overall nice guy. I still find it strange on the cute nicknames the guys are calling each other but I guess they’re supposed to be cute? There’s very little to no character development, but in slice-of-life series one shouldn’t be expecting much in the first place and I’m okay with that. At least, some of the relationships is progressing…
As an added bonus, Nijiiro Days seem to spread out the focus on its characters. We know the characters, their love interests, their strengths and weaknesses, etc. Even supporting characters such as Tsutsui Mari gets some background. I’m not saying all the characters get equal screen time. I’m only saying that not one of any eight characters is neglected.
I love how the series paired up the (would be) couples. They complement each other pretty well and each pairing is different from the other. My favorite pairing happens to be Mattsun and Mari. I like them primarily because they’re much more hilarious to watch and compared to other pairings, there is a lot more tension going on in their current state of relationship. The other pairings are leaning more towards just being plain and fluffy (I’m not complaining).
If I have to pick up one thing to complain about the series, it’s the slow pace of relationship development. Given how short the series is, once again, it’s given. Although there are 24 episodes, it’s only roughly 13 minutes per episode. That’s not a lot of time there, unfortunately.
One thing’s for sure – I’ll certainly be waiting for the announcement of a new season!
World of Yamaguchi Hoshiko 