Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko Review: Whimsical, Heartbreaking, And Anime At Its Best
Slice of life anime is often defined as cute girls doing cute things. A bunch of sickeningly sweet high schoolers start an after school club, open a bakery, or form a rock group all with a singular goal in mind. But the final narrative destination doesn't really matter, instead acting as a foundation for the usual hijinks this genre has been obsessed with for decades.
It’s all grown a bit tiresome, with only a few shows from each new season managing to shake up the formula and offer something new. So much anime nowadays hopes to break through the noise and catch our attention, keeping us entertained long enough that it can justify shifting Blu-rays and figurines to keep the profits rolling in. Yet so much of it can be thrown aside as forgettable sludge, falling victim to the worst possible archetypes and tropes.
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Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko is different. It isn’t cliched or wrought with fan service. It feels real in a way that is equal parts melancholic and charming, painting a picture of contemporary poverty in Japan as a mother and her adopted daughter try everything they can to maintain happiness in a world that often feels set against them. It doesn’t have an epic plot or a larger than life villain, instead finding beauty in the mundane everyday.
Releasing in UK cinemas on August 10 courtesy of Anime Limited, this charming little film from director Ayumu Watanabe (Children of The Sea) is one I desperately hope finds an audience. It doesn’t have the coming-of-age romance of Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name or the digital exuberance of Mamoru Hosoda’s Belle, instead choosing to weave a much smaller yarn with a pace that at times can feel
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