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This show actually changed my view of art
Everyone eventually finds The One. The One where you hold off watching the final episode so that it'll never end. The One that you could rewatch time and time again. The One that you're constantly reminded of. The One that you want to tell absolutely everyone about.
Most people I know don't watch anime, so forgive me while I use this space to tell you all about The One.
Around a year a half ago, when I started to get deeply into anime, I would never have expected a show that ultimately could be summed up as "four young girls play in the countryside" would end up being The One. Slice-of-life is a very hit and miss genre, difficult for me to get into initially because of the misses, not to mention a preconception that TV shows had to have a plot being constantly driven forward, because that's what the medium of TV is for, right?
Non Non Biyori blew apart that notion for me entirely. Not beholden to plot, its episodes are filled with time - time for slow montages of beautiful backdrops of the Japanese countryside, time to feel the impact of pregnant pauses, time to dwell on each touchingly poignant moment, time that reflects the long, lazy summer in which much of the show takes place.
This is a masterpiece of slice-of-life: leisurely but never boring, iyashikei but still able to coax out laughter and tears, showing us turning points in its characters' lives but also unafraid to have times where it shows us nothing but beauty.
It is an ode to countryside living and to childhood: not just to its joys, but to the sad or scary or otherwise memorable times too. As such, the show is often stolen by Renge, the youngest of the main four characters, in whose emotional, innocent mind, situations like the death of an animal or a fight between friends are world-shattering events, but to whom a new toy or a hatching of an egg are the source of unparalleled wonder. If I have one criticism of the show, it's that not all characters get to shine as much, but it's understandable that such a balancing act is hard to get right.
Slice-of-life is hit and miss, but when it hits, you'll find yourself hopelessly trying to convince your non-anime-watching friends that a "little girl cartoon" has more artistry and poignancy than any Western Prestige TV show you've seen.