Non Non Biyori Repeat OVA - Reviews

Of the first two Non Non Biyori OVA, the one that made up the semi-unofficial 13th episode of Repeat is by far the better effort.  Of course, the third season Nonstop will develop its own OVA now that the third season is complete, but it will have to work hard to  match the NNB magic in the episode entitled 'Hotaru Has Fun.'

This OVA is a tale of four stories, for the simple reason that the year has four seasons.  Starting with winter and ending with autumn, we watch Hotaru and her friends do stuff typical of girls their age, but with a style that is delightful.

Winter: Hotaru and her pet dog Pechi know how to have fun playing in the snow, doing fun activities that leaves Komari in their wake of 'white-death.'

Spring:  Hotaru is anxious that she can't talk with Candy Store, but she soon learns that baking cookies is a great conversation starter.

Summer:  While doing summer homework, the girls experiment with a sleeping Komari to see how they can affect her dreams and moods.

Autumn:  While picking berries in the forest, the girls learn the ways of nature through the antics of a musasabi, a Japanese flying squirrel.

The animation shines best when it deals with natural settings, the vistas and use of the many shades of green (okay, there was a lot of white in the winter segment, so what can you do ... sue Mother Nature?).  The technique for the OVA was not as dominating as in the series or the next production of the Vacation movie, just a touch more subdued.  And the music followed that of the series.  They were tunes that were hard not to like.

OVA's are like musical etudes, little character and design studies which help develop the cast for future endeavors.  With such polish on this one, I can't wait to get through Non Non Biyori: Nonstop.