NieA_7
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| NieA_7 | |
 NieA_7 DVD cover vol4 | |
| ニアアンダーセブン (Nia Andā Sebun) | |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Yoshitoshi ABe |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| Imprint | Kadokawa Comics Ace Extra |
| Magazine | Monthly Ace Next |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | October 1999 – January 2001 |
| Volumes | 2 |
| Anime television series | |
| NieA under 7 - domestic poor @nimation | |
| Directed by | Tomokazu Tokoro (Chief) Takuya Satō |
| Produced by | Shojiro Abe Yasuyuki Ueda |
| Written by | Takuya Satō |
| Music by | Yoshio Owa |
| Studio | Triangle Staff |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | WOWOW |
| English network | |
| Original run | April 26, 2000 – July 19, 2000 |
| Episodes | 13 |
NieA_7 (ニアアンダーセブン, Nia Andā Sebun), also known as NieA under 7, is a doujinshi manga series created by graphic designer Yoshitoshi ABe and later published by Kadokawa Shoten on their monthly Shōnen magazine Monthly Ace Next from October 1999 to January 2001. The manga revolves around Mayuko, a poor, introverted student who lives above a Japanese bathhouse, and NieA, a freeloading, freewheeling alien who lives in her closet, who is considered an outcast by her own kind.
The manga is adapted into a 13-episode anime series by Triangle Staff and aired on WOWOW from April 16 to July 19, 2000. Much of the anime's staff also worked on Serial Experiments Lain, as producer Yasuyuki Ueda suggested the team work on a lighter anime as relief from the dark, heavily psychological Lain.[1] The character Chiaki, a UFO fanatic, shares a name with Chiaki J. Konaka, the script writer for Lain.
Plot
Set in a Retro-Future setting, the series revolves around Mayuko, a High School graduate who goes to Cram School in preparation for College. However, due to having no place to settle in, she decided to live in a Bathhouse in the countryside, which is in a Financial Crisis due to having no customers. Even worse, she has to live with an Alien girl named NieA, who has no antenna and is considered an "Under 7", a class despised by other Aliens due to being the lowest of their kind.
The series touches lightly upon issues of discrimination, stereotypes, alienation, city life vs small town life, and assimilation. Mayuko, who attends a cram school, is a young girl living away from her family and expresses a lot of melancholy. NieA, who is apparently placed in an inferior class by her fellow aliens due to being a physical minority among them, immediately accuses anyone who calls her a "stupid no-antenna" or the like, of discrimination. Other aliens adopt various stereotypical cultural styles, one chooses Indian dress and opens a convenience store, another chooses to associate herself with the Chinese Revolution. This theme of the outsider alien is carried through in the brief comic live-action sequence which ends each episode, "Dalgit's Tidbit of Indian Information."
Characters
- Mayuko Chigasaki
- Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese); Tricia Dickson (English)
- Mayuko "Mayu" Chigasaki lives in a room at the Enohana Bathhouse. She is hardworking, polite, honest, and very self-conscious. Mayuko spends all of her time and energy just making ends meet. She shares an apartment with NieA who she often refers to as a "free loader".
- NieA
- Voiced by: Yuko Miyamura (Japanese); J-Ray Hochfield (English)
- NieA is a lower-class or "under-seven" alien; she has no antennae. She lives with Mayuko and builds spaceships out of junk. She shares an apartment with Mayu who she often gets into arguments with about money and food.
- Genzo Someya
- Voiced by: Akira Okamori (Japanese); Josh Phillips (English)
- Chada
- Voiced by: Angelino Schintu (Japanese); Wil Castillo (English)
- Momo Enoshima
- Voiced by: Chieko Ichikawa (Japanese); Linda Bendik (English)
- Chiaki Komatsu
- Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese); Zarah Little (English)
- Shuhei Karita
- Voiced by: Hozumi Goda (Japanese); Patrick Seitz (English)
- Chie Karita
- Voiced by: Mari Ogasawara (Japanese); Lauren Bendik (English)
- Kotomi Hiyama
- Voiced by: Rumi Ochiai (Japanese); Robyn Nolting (English)
- Geronimo Hongo
- Voiced by: Susumu Chiba (Japanese); Justin Gross (English)
- Nenji Yoshioka
- Voiced by: Takayuki Sugo (Japanese); Eric Da Re (English)
- Karna
- Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami (Japanese); Casey Strand (English)
Media
Manga
NieA_7 was created by Yoshitoshi ABe as an independent doujinshi manga following the end of Serial Experiments Lain. The manga was picked up by Kadokawa Shoten, initially serialized on their monthly magazine Monthly Ace Next from October 1999 to January 2001 with a total of 14 chapters over 2 tankōbon volumes. An artbook titled NieA_7 Scrap was published in June 2001. The manga was republished in a single kanzenban volume on 26 October 2012, under the title NieA_7 Recycle.
Chapters
| No. | Release date | ISBN | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1 | July 1, 2000 | 4-04-713349-3 | |
| |||
| Volume 2 | March 29, 2001 | 4-04-713413-9 | |
| |||
Anime
The anime adaptation, titled NieA under 7 - domestic poor @nimation was animated by Triangle Staff, chief directed by Tomokazu Tokoro and written and directed by Takuya Satō. It aired on the Japanese BS Satellite channel WOWOW from April 16 to July 19, 2000. The opening theme is titled "Koko Made Oide" (ここまでおいで, Koko made oide, lit. Come On Over Here) by SION while the ending theme is titled "Venus to Chiisana Kamisama" (ヴィーナスと小さな神様, Vuīnasu to Chīsana Kamisama, lit. Venus and the Little God) by Maria Yamamoto. For episode 13, the ending theme is "KA MOA'E" by Yoshio Owa.
Geneon Entertainment licensed the anime outside Japan before it went out of print. Discotek Media have rescued the license and released it on DVD and Blu-ray on February 27, 2018.[2]
Episodes
| # | Title | Original airdate | English airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Alien and Launching UFO Bath" "Uchūjin to uchiage yūfō no yu" (宇宙人と、打ち上げUFOの湯) | April 26, 2000 | May 4, 2007 |
| 2 | "Alien and Violence Cosmic Bath" "Uchūjin to abare uchū buro no yu" (宇宙人と、暴れ宇宙風呂の湯) | May 3, 2000 | May 7, 2007 |
| 3 | "Alien and Radio Noise Bath" "Uchūjin to redio noizu no yu" (宇宙人と、レディオノイズの湯) | May 10, 2000 | May 8, 2007 |
| 4 | "Alien and Beginner Waitress Bath" "Uchūjin to sin'mai weitoresu no yu" (宇宙人と、新米ウェイトレスの湯) | May 17, 2000 | May 9, 2007 |
| 5 | "Alien and Super Dried Amusement Bath" "Uchūjin to gekikare amūzumento no yu" (宇宙人と、激枯アミューズメントの湯) | May 24, 2000 | May 10, 2007 |
| 6 | "Alien and Rival Bath-House Bath" "Uchūjin to raibaru sentō no yu" (宇宙人と、ライバル銭湯の湯) | May 31, 2000 | May 11, 2007 |
| 7 | "Mothership, Go-Con and Cloudy Sky Bath" "Bosen to gōkon to kumorizora no yu" (母船と合コンと曇り空の湯) | June 7, 2000 | May 14, 2007 |
| 8 | "Melancholy and Cast-Off Summer Bath" "Yūutsu to natsu no nukegara no yu" (ゆーうつと、夏のぬけがらの湯) | June 14, 2000 | May 15, 2007 |
| 9 | "Close Encounter and After the Rain Bath" "Sekkin sōgū to ameagari no yu" (接近遭遇と、雨あがりの湯) | June 21, 2000 | May 16, 2007 |
| 10 | "Glow of the Firefly and Nocturne Bath" "Hotarubi to yasōkyoku no yu" (蛍火と、夜想曲の湯) | June 28, 2000 | May 17, 2007 |
| 11 | "NieA_7 Bath (The Former Part)" "Nia andā sebun no yu (Zenpen)" (にあ・あんだーせぶんの湯(前篇)) | July 5, 2000 | May 18, 2007 |
| 12 | "NieA_7 Bath (The Latter Part)" "Nia andā sebun no yu (Kōhen)" (にあ・あんだーせぶんの湯(後編)) | July 12, 2000 | May 21, 2007 |
| 13 | "Time Flows by in Enohana Bath" "Enohana ni toki wa nagareru no yu" (荏の花に、時は流れるの湯) | July 19, 2000 | May 22, 2007 |
References
- ^ toco toco - Yoshitoshi ABe, Illustrator (Motion picture). toco toco (in Japanese). Archipel. June 1, 2018. Event occurs at 8:37. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
- ^ Sherman, Jennifer (August 13, 2017). "Discotek Licenses Cyborg 009 The Cyborg Soldier, Tomorrow's Joe, Project ARMS, NieA_7, Lupin III: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
External links
- NieA_7 (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- NieA_7 (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia