At my anime club, I’m known for liking “everything” in terms of anime, but especially shows where “nothing happens”, as they say. It annoys me a little bit that I’ve earned that reputation for liking anime/manga such as Aria and YKK, but what bugs me a little bit more is that “nothing happening” seems to hold a negative connotation to it. I mean, stuff happens in those shows, but I guess the stuff happening isn’t what people want, or it doesn’t have any significance to them. However, that falls into a matter of taste, and I’m nowhere near cocky enough to complain about that. 
But I can talk about what I know, and I think that Manabi Straight episode 6 is a good example of what works for me.
This episode focuses on Mutsuki through the eyes of Mikan as our narrator. We see the start of their friendship, and some past and current experiences that they go through and have gone through along the short way. The bulk of the time, however, is spent on seeing attempts to study for an exam, and those efforts end up not succeeding to the best of their abilities. If there was a grand scheme of things currently going on (which apparently there will be later), it seems as if this episode isn’t very important. I mean, we all know (or should know) how stepping on a Lego block feels, but does it have any real bearing to something like the planning for Seiou’s school festival for example?
Not really, but it does serve a purpose to develop the characters. From their interactions with each other, their mannerisms regarding certain situations, and how they see life and where/how they fit into it (you can see this if you try hard enough ) in this episode, you learn more about the characters, and probably more about why they work like they do. This is important to me, as I really like to know where people are coming from, in real life and in fantasy. I get an idea of why they act the way they do, and how they might respond to situations that appear along the way, or just in their interactions with me and others. I get involved, so to speak, with the show more because of that and it’s how shows like Mai-HiME work with me more than they should.
Superfically, Manabi Straight 6 shows that Mutsuki and Mikan aren’t alike in many ways, yet manage to get along well. The episode helps define specific aspects of their characters for me, as Mutsuki is laid back in a lot of ways, while Mikan worries a lot about many things (more than I initially thought). While “nothing happens”, we do learn more about them by seeing them experiencing life regardless of what goal is achieved. Just like ARIA, where rowing gondolas and exploring Neo Venezia isn’t part of a master plan, but enjoyable fun. And that’s just as good as actually achieving that goal to me. :3
TheBigN
nomadotto
dm00
‘Nothing Happening’ is so so sooooo okay. ‘Nothing Happening’ means that the universe isn’t going to be torn apart by fluctuations in the 13th dimension unless the main characters learn to be honest with their feelings for each other…*snore*…
CHARACTER-DRIVEN FTW!!
Hmm, when they say nothing happens, what they fail to see is the character interaction between the various actors of the show. I do not agree with this statement since Manabi Straight is really a fluffy piece of work that is entertaining to the eyes, but lacking any form of true substance that makes it like Aria and the likes.
Perhaps how we describe and define human interaction is different, but I guess, to each his own, no?
2 cents coming up:
I think these ‘nothing happening’ animes are examples of the biggest difference in approaches to story presentation between east and west. They are the polar opposite of your typical western ‘action driven’ storyline, and as such I think are more difficult than any other type of show for the western mind to appreciate. Having said that, if you can acclimatise yourself to them, I think they often represent some of the best anime has to offer.
ojisan: I like a lot of different types of anime, including what you said (but it hurts that you didn’t like it
), but it would be nice if more people could appreciate shows of the “nothing happening” variety.
Impz: Manabi Straight has substance too, and I feel it more defined than Aria is. Besides, Manabi is a charismatic visionary whom /everyone/ likes for the moment, and how often do we see that in anime?
Babel: That difference in perspective is also something that I agree with, and yes, the key is to get people to get comfortable with them. More people need to check those types of shows out. More YKK for all! :3
It looks like Mucchi is having painful sex in all those pics.
Yeah… you could see it that way. But that also shows how ufotable is good with facial expressions.
UFOtable is good with just about everything, except coherent plot.
Plot? Who needs plot?
And that ties into anime where “nothing happens”. A lot of shows defined as that have little to no important plot. What matters is if people really care about that stuff enough to complain about it or just not watch it in general. But sometimes, it’s good not to worry about it at all…
Yeah, in UFOTable’s case I don’t care about plot much either because it has more than enough stuff to make up for that.
I just finished Kamichu. Would you classify that as show where nothing happens? It’s quite good.
Manabi beats Kamichu flat, stomps into a bloody pancake, such is the power differential between them. Where Kamichu promises much and delivers little, Manabi goes from strength to strength. And I saw more substance than I can take in single viewing. I foresee a few rewatches and blog postings.
I think what really captured me in Manabi is how forcefuly the characters are painted in it. I thought that I liked how Azumanga treaded light on it, and thought that fine-tuning the exposure would be good. But this is out of all proportions, and it it’s the best. And another thing, I like girls not being psychotic and neurotic wrecks. Mei took her transformation so well, coming out of her dark room. Even the frail Mikan’s mind keeps it together. So out of the ordinary teen-angst pampering anime of yesteryear. Go Manabi!
Kamichu is mostly good for the production values and the atmosphere it creates. The characters are nice, yes, but those things really dominate. Some of those episodes were very well animated.
I’ve only seen 9 episodes of Kamichu so far, and while I like it, it doesn’t grab me as much as Manabi does. The world that Yurie and friends live in is interesting, but I haven’t been drawn into into it, while Manabi is doing that for me in spades.
I think it’s fine for “nothing” to happen in an anime episode especially if it’s a slice-of-life series like Manabi or the many other ones out there. Flashbacks and backstory do fill in the plot somewhat and I seem to prefer those kinds of episodes over an obligatory beach trip, during which a lot of funny stuff may occur but no substantial information is conveyed to the viewers.
Some of the best shows seemingly have no direct “substance” in them. Honey & Clover, along with Kare Kano come to mind when I think about stuff like that.
However, you’ll find that many visual novels are much more centered around the characters than the plot. This is due to the limitations of words and CG frames; people expect to see more happen on screen due to the fact that its animated.
I believe that a good show lies somewhere in the middle, a good balance of plot movement and character development. Those seem to work out well, don’t you think?
Lainforce:I think that shows focusing on either as the main point work well for me, but I think your point resounds more with the majority of anime fans. I hope so. :3
I’ve only just started Tsukihime, and that’s about it in terms of visual novels, but what you said does make sense. For example, people get tired very quickly of shows like .hack//SIGN because despite being animated, nothing really dynamic showing off the animation is happening. And I guess that falls on what people expect anime should provide for them. It’s interesting.
CalAggie: But a beach trip with flashbacks? Sounds like the possible stuff of legends.
I only discovered this website a couple of days ago, but I am hooked already. I am really impressed with the storylines in the Nothing Happening animes. They put a different perspective on the usual animes that are presented today.