Search - Niea Under 7, Volume 1: Poor Girl Blues (Episodes 1-4) on DVD

Digi Charat meets lain - an interesting combo

John Willis | San Diego, CA | 08/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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"

Good anime, Slowly gripping, Yeah!!!!

lostowl | Burlington, VT USA | 12/14/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Nice change of pace!

P. A Clark | San Jose, CA USA | 10/19/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

A thoroughly enjoyable comedy with a darker underbelly

Nowhereman | Boston, MA USA | 09/01/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."