A few years ago I would have laughed at anime. I thought it was nothing more than Japanese kids cartoons with that anime girl artwork the "weird" girls drew when I was in high school. Was never into any sort of comics so didn't have exposure to that.
That's until I got bored with western stuff being just not good anymore. At the time I didn't hate it for the wokeness because I hadn't paid enough attention to that, but I just knew the shows were getting really shit. So I decided to give it anime a try. Here we are at the end of 2021 and I'm not sure I watched a single series of anything close to a modern Western fictional series the entire year.
I got some mostly stale recs as someone else who doesn't keep up with anime very well. If you used to be into anime you probably know them, but if not then here's some sentimental slice-of-life flavoured offerings:
Uchoten Kazoku/The Eccentric Family - probably my favourite anime. On the surface level it's about 3 different factions in Kyoto based in Japanese folklore: tengu, tanuki and humans. On a deeper level (imo) each of these factions are metaphors for parts of the same human experience, and the whole show is about determining your role in the world, the inevitability of loss and death and the cosmic food chain. At the start it might seem like it's goofy and about nothing, but stick with it and you'll find it to be extremely character driven. The ears look weird at the start but you can probably get over them if I did.
Barakamon - anime about a snobbish city-born creative type (calligrapher) having to move to the country and find out exactly what makes life tick, with the help of cute kids. Unusually for this kind of setup, no surreptitious pedo undertones. Heartwarming.
Natsume Yuujincho/Natsume Book of Friends - a contender with Uchoten Kazoku for my favourite anime, but Natsume is shamelessly the more popcorn one. It's marketed under the 'shoujo' tag because it involves fat kitty and a cute sensitive boy whose main friend circle is boys - as my best guess - but really that yaoi bait is just a small sprinkling to keep the masses watching. It's about a teen who can see spirits and solves ghost problems (a la mushishi), but imo it's got more heart than mushishi which always zones me the fuck out. Extremely relaxing.
Erased/Boku dake ga inai machi('the town lacking only me') - quantum leap/time leap murder mystery setup. Guy becomes himself as a kid all over again to solve something that happened to someone else in his past. It falls into slice of life because it focuses a lot on the small details of what made him appreciate life as a kid. Better than most isekai because the threads of his present day life are not abandoned completely. Considered weak as a 'mystery' because the culprit is guessable very early, but to my mind it's not about that.
IMO Erased isn't something to be scared away from for fear of being put through the emotional wringer. There are some bleak and sad situations, but the main character's assertiveness gives the story a lot of momentum and positivity. But the scenes of childhood innocence may prick a tear duct.
It might be saccharine to the point of toxicity but I love Natsume. Nyanko-sensei is a great creation considering that cat-form is a larp which he becomes accustomed to, just as Natsume is initially a means to an end for him, but over time he comes to care about the noodle armed kid more than the book of friends (or so we can surmise - he never admits it).
A few years ago I would have laughed at anime. I thought it was nothing more than Japanese kids cartoons with that anime girl artwork the "weird" girls drew when I was in high school. Was never into any sort of comics so didn't have exposure to that.
That's until I got bored with western stuff being just not good anymore. At the time I didn't hate it for the wokeness because I hadn't paid enough attention to that, but I just knew the shows were getting really shit. So I decided to give it anime a try. Here we are at the end of 2021 and I'm not sure I watched a single series of anything close to a modern Western fictional series the entire year.
Any anime you would recommend?
I used to be majorly into anime, but then shit happened and I'm out of the loop with current stuff.
I got some mostly stale recs as someone else who doesn't keep up with anime very well. If you used to be into anime you probably know them, but if not then here's some sentimental slice-of-life flavoured offerings:
Uchoten Kazoku/The Eccentric Family - probably my favourite anime. On the surface level it's about 3 different factions in Kyoto based in Japanese folklore: tengu, tanuki and humans. On a deeper level (imo) each of these factions are metaphors for parts of the same human experience, and the whole show is about determining your role in the world, the inevitability of loss and death and the cosmic food chain. At the start it might seem like it's goofy and about nothing, but stick with it and you'll find it to be extremely character driven. The ears look weird at the start but you can probably get over them if I did.
Barakamon - anime about a snobbish city-born creative type (calligrapher) having to move to the country and find out exactly what makes life tick, with the help of cute kids. Unusually for this kind of setup, no surreptitious pedo undertones. Heartwarming.
Natsume Yuujincho/Natsume Book of Friends - a contender with Uchoten Kazoku for my favourite anime, but Natsume is shamelessly the more popcorn one. It's marketed under the 'shoujo' tag because it involves fat kitty and a cute sensitive boy whose main friend circle is boys - as my best guess - but really that yaoi bait is just a small sprinkling to keep the masses watching. It's about a teen who can see spirits and solves ghost problems (a la mushishi), but imo it's got more heart than mushishi which always zones me the fuck out. Extremely relaxing.
Erased/Boku dake ga inai machi('the town lacking only me') - quantum leap/time leap murder mystery setup. Guy becomes himself as a kid all over again to solve something that happened to someone else in his past. It falls into slice of life because it focuses a lot on the small details of what made him appreciate life as a kid. Better than most isekai because the threads of his present day life are not abandoned completely. Considered weak as a 'mystery' because the culprit is guessable very early, but to my mind it's not about that.
Natsume is so sweet. I used to have a keychain with the cat.
Erased scares me so much. Would I cry my eyes out? Most probable, though i love thrillers and true crime .
IMO Erased isn't something to be scared away from for fear of being put through the emotional wringer. There are some bleak and sad situations, but the main character's assertiveness gives the story a lot of momentum and positivity. But the scenes of childhood innocence may prick a tear duct.
It might be saccharine to the point of toxicity but I love Natsume. Nyanko-sensei is a great creation considering that cat-form is a larp which he becomes accustomed to, just as Natsume is initially a means to an end for him, but over time he comes to care about the noodle armed kid more than the book of friends (or so we can surmise - he never admits it).