6 Anime Like Nichijou [Recommendations]

A trio of childhood friends, a genius, a robot caretaker and a talking cat are the characters that bring randomness and cuteness to Nichijou. This anime is gorgeous to look at. Its animation is crisp, and the dynamics between each character complement each other regardless of each one’s differing characteristics. This slice of life brings so much randomness, which to some extent is expected because of its genre. However, this is also one of the highlights of this anime since its bizarre approach to life’s moments kept us on our toes.

There are many slice of life out there. Admittedly, the typical story of a group of high school girls seems repeated over and over in many of these kinds of anime. So, picking six anime shows as recommendations was a bit difficult. Here are six anime like Nichijou that will at least remind of its best moments.


Similar Anime to Nichijou

1. Sansha Sanyou (Three Leaves, Three Colors)

  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: Apr. 2016 – Jun. 2016

Sansha Sanyou is about Nishikawa Youko, a rich girl who suddenly becomes poor, and now must live in a small apartment and go to school with normal kids. In the story, she meets two other girls, Odagiri Futaba and Hayama Teru. Youko has a hard time getting used to a normal life due to her past. Futaba loves food and Teru is a calm and collected girl who hides a darker side.

Sansha Sanyou and Nichijou belong to the Slice of Life genre and follow the daily school life of their main characters. Most of the comedy comes from the interactions between the characters and their varied personalities, another similarity between Nichijou and Sansha Sanyou. The comedic aspect is well done and the characters are enjoyable to watch. Sansha Sanyou takes advantage of the very contrasting personalities to bring out very cute and entertaining interactions.

Three Leaves, Three Colors PV


2. Lucky Star

  • Episodes: 24
  • Aired: Apr. 2007 – Sep 2007

Another Slice of Life, seeing a pattern here? Lucky Star follows a group of high school girls with very different personalities. We get to see the daily adventures of these girls as they survive school and develop their friendships. Lucky Star is perfect for those of us who are into Japanese tradition, otaku culture, and food. This anime spins the day to day into a comedic adventure. While Nichijou gets better ratings when it comes to animation, the dialogue in Lucky Star is superb.

There is no main plot, but that is to be expected. Like Nichijou, this slice of life sticks true to its form by not focusing on a main plot. Both Nichijou and Lucky Star take us through the daily lives of our characters. They both feature a group of school girls with contrasting personalities that somehow mesh to deliver a solid comedic element.

Lucky Star PV


3. Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (Daily Lives of High School Boys)

  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: Jan. 2012 – Mar. 2012

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou follows the lives of three boys that go to Sanada North High School. All three have very different personalities, a pattern that is seen on both Nichijou and the other two anime shows mentioned above. Hidenori, Yoshikate and Tadakuni are enveloped in stories full of color, giant robots, love and straight up weird episodes. This anime is purely about boys doing ordinary things and filling their lives with imagination and epic adventures, such as role-playing a videogame, or experiencing romance.

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou could very well be the male version of Nichijou. They both feature a group of high school kids, living and experiencing life’s journeys. They both spice the show up with sometimes awkward situations that provoke giggle after giggle. Just like Nichijou, Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou is highly relatable to your own school life.



Any Anime Like Nichijou ?

4. Kobayashi-San Chi no Maid Dragon (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid)

  • Episodes: 11+
  • Aired: Jan. 2017 - Ongoing

Kobayashi-San Chi no Maid Dragon is the most recent series on this list. This slice of life starts you up immediately into a rollercoaster of situations. For one; Kobayashi, one of our main characters, meets a dragon that transforms into a young girl wearing a maid outfit. It can’t get any stranger than that. This is a cute, feel good anime with gorgeous animation and very random encounters.

One similarity between Kobayashi-San Chi no Maid Dragon and Nichijou is that we see our main characters go through the very basic things of life. For example, our main characters go out on a shopping spree for school supplies for Kanna. Another similarity, is the variety of characters that are presented in the anime. Starting out with the first three: Ms. Kobayashi is a tired business woman, who has a very monotonous life until Tohru appears; and later, Kanna, the youngest of the group of dragons we meet.

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid - PV


5. Yuri Yuri (YuruYuri: Happy Go Lily)

  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: Jul 2011 – Sep 2011

Yuri Yuri revolves around four girls who are reunited on their second year of school. It’s a slice of life with no particular plot that follows the entertaining lives of four middle school girls. The animation is very cute and simplistic, the opening theme is catchy, and the humor flows surprisingly good for this kind of anime. An example of this would be a scene where our main characters do a tour of their leader’s house and then find a picture full of stalky photographs on the wall and panties that may have been stolen by the owner of the bedroom.

One of the things that stand out the most about Yuri Yuri is how well the characters’ personalities are portrayed. Granted, in the broader sense of things, you have your typical four-girl group living life with no concrete goal except to enjoy it. Like Nichijou, Yuri Yuri follows a group of girls and the show itself revolves around their daily lives. It also has some slight expressions of affection that are sure to make you giggle.

YURUYURI Trailer


6. Hidamari Sketch

  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: Jan 2007 – Mar 2007

Hidamari Sketch features a group of art high school girls living in an apartment and going through daily life. The animation is simple, yet effective; the characters are cute and the chibi look is used properly. Hidamari Sketch delivers with a sweet, funny and peculiar art approach. Some characters do have odd personalities but aren’t very versatile, a similarity shared with Nichijou.

Like Nichijou, Hidamari Sketch is a slice of life. Another similarity is that it is centered around a group of girls going through the motions of daily life. It also came out around the same time as Lucky Star with the latter becoming a little bit more popular than Hidamari Sketch. Hidamari Sketch, like Nichijou, has the ability to slow you down, relax you, and appreciate the simpler things in life.


Final Thoughts

Slice of life anime, such as Nichijou and the other six anime mentioned above, have difficulty when it comes to standing out due to their lack of plot. However, there is most definitely something appealing about following a group of heroines or heroes through their normal, daily life. We find situations that we can relate to through the actions of these characters, and even if they lack a centered plot, they are still very entertaining to watch. What are your favorite characteristics for these types of anime?

by E. Roman