Not a lot happens in “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko.” And that’s OK.
If “Nikuko,” the latest anime feature from director Ayumu Watanabe (“Children of the Sea”) slots into any genre, it’s probably “slice of life,” in which stories of everyday existence rule the day. It’s refreshing, really. Not everything has to be about saving the world.
Based on a 2011 novel of the same name by Kanako Nishi, the film centers on Nikuko (Shinobu Otake) and Kikuko (Kimura Kokomi, aka Cocomi), a chalk-and-cheese mother and daughter who live in a houseboat in a small fishing town. They’re new to the place: Nikuko tends to fall for dodgy men, and this is the latest stop on a long trail of heartbreak that stretches across half of Japan.