"Slice of Life" Anime Suggestions

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I've been trying to get more into anime lately. I like the "slice of life" genre a bit more than others, so I was wondering if anyone had any anime series that they like of that genre?

I love slice of life especially with supernatural elements.

Somali and the forest spirit


Natsume yuujinchou


Laid back camp


Ancient magus bride


Isekai izakaya


I can send more later, those are the first that popped into my head.

I can certainly pass on some recommendations, anime is my wheelhouse. Saying slice of life can be a good place to start, but what you have watched already and liked can do even more. There can be different parts of a slice of life to be into.

A general recommendation, since your your Legend of Zelda username, if you have not watched already I might pass a recommendation of Konosuba, it is not super slice of life, more often silly comedy. But it has its elements and the ED in particular is something I consider an epitome of a relaxed slice of life atmosphere, something nice and calming after an episode funny.


What I consider the absolute best representation of slice of life in anime would be Non Non Biyori, it is currently releasing its 3rd season, but it is hard to forget how great of a show it is. Set in a very rural Japanese town, following the little everyday adventures of a bunch of kids. It can be incredibly relaxing with its atmosphere, and also incredibly funny with how it uses comedic timing.


If we want to double down on the laid back sort of shows, then a show I think is a little less known, Tanaka-kun is Always Listless. It is about the most listless teenage boy ever, that is he is incredibly laid back, or just straight up lazy, if sloth is truly a sin he would be the devil, but is a very comfortable show to watch.


Going for something a bit more upbeat, and one of my favourite anime comedies that played around with things like gender expectations, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun. The general premise is of a girl who tries to confess to her high school crush, but then he gives her an autograph, a bit confused she finds out he is actually the author of a popular shoujo manga (manga for young girls), and she agrees to help him. A lot of the comedy comes from bucking expectations someone like him and others should be, especially in his inspirations for what would seem to be traditional shoujo characters. I have a lot of love for this one.


Looking for something different from so far, I would put a recommendation for Sakura Quest, it being about adults and not school. The premise of this one is a woman who has had trouble finding a career happens to get a request to be the (ceremonial) queen of a small town, an attempt to try and boost the tourism of said town. It is maybe a bit less relaxed, but I think that it is worth a fine watch.


Next, a little hidden gem that is criminally underrated, Hakumei to Mikochi. It is a little slice of life show about little people (really little), and it is just kind of hard to put things into words, it is just a super sweet show to watch that switches things up in this tiny world. It is like watching a picture book you might read before going to bed, but enough that of course adults would enjoy it, in fact it deals with adult topics so much it is more like such a thing for adults.


Mixing things up, I will put forward a recommendation of Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions. it is a little less of slice of life and more fantasy, you are going to have battling goblins, and it won't be cutesy. The general premise is some people teleported to a fantasy world (although they can't recall too much of their previous life), and they are convinced to become adventurers to act as heroes, but we don't follow the team of people who are naturally good instead we follow a team that are a bit dysfunctional and lag behind as beginners. It has dangerous scenarios, and maybe themes that take it out of being just slice of life, but it also has a deliberately slow pace and a focus on their everyday struggles that I think it could be an interesting recommendation. Just don't go in expecting instant heroes, and prepared to have a bit of sadness of people struggling.


A bit of a whim, I will say Blend S, the opening was a bit of a meme a few years ago, it is pretty catchy. The premise is about a girl who happens to have resting sadistic face wants to improve her people skills, and happens to get hired at a character restaurant, that is a place where the waitresses act like a tsundere or little sister, the heroine's character being sadistic. The humour comes from elements in how opposite it is from her personality despite how easy it comes to her, and many other small shenanigans. The series is also kind of famous for a particular character that is maybe not entirely sensitive or something, but they are also one of the reasons I like the show.


Perhaps going on the older side now, next I will put Daily Lives of High School Boys. The name of the show might be all you need, it is about everyday happenings of a bunch of High School boys, generally broken into little skits that can be mixes of the ridiculous to the too relatable, very funny.


And pretty much because of that I want to also say Wasteful Days of High School Girls. Somewhat reverse gendered, with a bit more focus on character chemistry, and some great anime idiots.


And finishing up with Watamote. This is not a happy slice of life anime, instead it is following a girl with social anxiety, and maybe other problems, who is horribly antisocial, and so decides to improve her school life by trying to make herself "popular". Some people find this show pretty hard to watch, especially with the idea that they think they are being made to laugh at the misfortune of a girl who has things just the worst, but I think that she is doubly relevant to this website as the heroine almost certainly has ASD/Asperger's, she is incredibly relatable to me. What I found great is a sort of acknowledgment of some of the problems that people like us can have, how we can even be little balls of contradictions of both wanting familiar comfortable and getting over our own loneliness. I have been reading the manga myself, which has gone into a far happier circumstances for Tomoko, as she moved past schemes and some of her toxic attitudes and made some friends. It might make you cringe, but I think there is something to get out of a story about someone actually needing to struggle to be able socialise, that we can come up with some dumb ideas, but also that those bad things might mostly be in our heads and there can be a happy future ahead.

I forgot to add the most calming show I've ever seen besides laid back camp is Aria the Animation. One of my dogs is named after it


And the same person did Amanchu!


And Bradleigh did you enjoy Watamote and non non biyori a lot. I couldn't get into either of them. People kept recommending non non to me, I've tried to watch it twice and ended turning it off. I thought I'd love it from the description but...Does it get better later? Maybe I'm just not getting the feel of the show For some reason it just irritated me, not sure why. I usually really love cute and calm shows. I love Shonen too but anyway. Just wondered what your thoughts on it were.

I am not sure about a question of getting better, as instead just getting used to its layout. Non Non Biyori often does its own thing with often cutting away to the environment, so the audience is just watching a river or something and soaking up the atmosphere, I can imagine if that might turn certain people off not used to it, or the way to punctuate a joke is just to linger on a shot. Or otherwise playing on logic that seems nonsensical (often Renge), or the opposite of what should be expected, and the joke could be a lack of one.

To enjoy you just kind of slow yourself down, put yourself in the shoes of a kid and let the show guide you. I personally can find it hilarious when a kid can do a dumb kid thing.



Watamote is kind of up to being able to laugh at how you might have been likely to do the exact same thing that Tomoko does. That you can laugh at the fact that you would count saying hello to your teach as counting as having a conversation after talking to literally no one for a period of time. Or freaking out from having to talk to a server, because you don't know what you are doing and you project these ideas onto what other people are doing, or you try something you think is cool and you just end up embarrassing yourself. It is an element from the outside you should see that people usually are not reading to your awkwardness like you think, and there is nothing more cringe than trying to act cool. I don't think that is for everyone, such as people who might not experience that sort of thing, or afraid of having a little laugh at yourself.

A part of comedy I have liked further in the manga is that these traits have kind of been shown onto other characters, their own little awkwardness and projection onto other people. An also increasingly relevant point that Tomoko is an in denial bisexual, that is kind of being held back by her internal homophobia. Early on it does look like she is just kind of twisted by the sort of media she consumes to think being a bit of perve to female friends is normal, but it becomes increasingly clear that she has no idea how to express or process feelings because she is stuck in think that she is "not a homo" (internalised homophobia). And I find it a bit relatable how it followed a slow process of maybe beginning to understand herself better.

Thank you two so much for all of your suggestions!

I watched the trailers for them and it was so hard to choose what to watch, all of them look very interesting. I did start watching Non Non Biyori and I'm going to try to watch Somali and the Forest Spirit next.

Bradleigh thanks for such a comprehensive answer! I retried to watch non non. I had only watched 2 episodes before. I actually enjoyed it. So I went back and realized why it irritated me so much before. It was the episode where the little one doesn't recognize the new girl in different clothes. It hit to close to home. One of my most humiliating moments involves me mistaking someone bc they aren't in their normal garb. A lot of people witnessed it, at a friends wedding of all places...and well anyway.

At the time I didn't realize I was on the spectrum and didn't realize I have a hard time recognizing people out of context. I compensated with my exceptional hearing. I always remember a voice. So I only have the problem when people don't speak first or have a bad cold etc. Everytime it happened I was so confused bc until about a year and half ago I didn't understand what was happening. I didn't understand why I confused people for others etc. I didn't put it together that voice was how I recognize everyone. I thought I was a smart person but it took 30 yrs to figure out the problem. Anyway, I watched non non around the time I was realizing something was wrong and I needed help. and i was in a severe burnout, grieving and deeply depressed, so I guess the show triggered very negative self hating emotions. Anyway, this time around I liked it, I'm coming to peace with who I am now that I understand more about myself.

Sorry that was a long response. Thanks for helping me refind a good show.


HeroOfHyrule: let us know what you think after watching em!

There can be times where one watches a show at the wrong time, a show can hit a sore spot. I think that can especially be for something like Watamote, where I had mostly come to terms with my traits, and yet a lot of things in that show hit way too close at times, although I kind of used it as a teach tool where I used it to explain to others it can be like.

I myself have a bit of what I would describe as face blindness, although I like to think I hide it alright, although I have generally thought that it partially came from me thinking that if I started paying super attention to other people's faces or memorising them, it would be some sort of violation of them. Sort of how I have a difficult time maintaining eye contact.

One theme I have liked in a lot of anime has been about people not having to be great at everything, people can just be themselves.

Thanks for the recommendations! Slice of life are good to relax to, and I have been interested in Non Non Beyori for a while, which I could relate to it a bit, but haven't watched it yet.


I enjoyed it, certainly I relate to it a lot, there are some people who criticize the anime, because the ending doesn't show Tomoko being magically cured of her SAD which this anime makes it more realistic.
Net-juu no Susume is a nice one with the character having SAD, although is not categorized as slice of life, Other slice of life with characters with SAD: Hitoribocchi no Seikatsu , which is a cute anime
Trailer: youtu.be/FCjtykwyN_8

and Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita!
Trailer: youtu.be/5tS0IFdOGyA

Other Slice of Life I would recommend:
Slow Start
Plot: Hana Ichinose, a high school student who is not only introverted, but also insecure and timid, has just moved and will be attending a new school. To make her situation more difficult, Hana is a "slow start," which means that she missed a year and worries about attending a class where everyone is younger than her.
Trailer: youtu.be/equqAM_Mbm8

Koisuru Asteroid
Plot: In a fateful childhood encounter, Mira Kinohata met a stargazing dreamer named Ao Manaka. Though their time together was short, Ao showed Mira the wonders of astronomy, from orbiting planets to distant stars. Before they parted, Mira learned that a star with her name exists, but there are none with Ao's. And so, she forged a promise: one day, she would discover a new asteroid and name it after Ao.
Trailer: youtu.be/ogIQ3d1w8Rs

Ascendance of a Bookworm
Plot: Avid bookworm and college student Motosu Urano ends up dying in an unforeseen accident. This came right after the news that she would finally be able to work as a librarian like she had always dreamed of. When she woke up, she was in a parallel world, a world that had a very low literacy rate and no real way of printing books, so books were scarce and belonged only to the nobles.
Trailer: youtu.be/Wo28IopG2WE

K-On
Plot: A fresh high school year always means much to come, and one of those things is joining a club. Being in a dilemma about which club to join, Yui Hirasawa stumbles upon and applies for the Light Music Club, which she misinterprets to be about playing simple instruments, such as castanets, unable to play any instrument.
Trailer: youtu.be/Twtii2D0xTQ

New Game
Plot: Having been inspired by the character designs of a particular video game when she was younger, Aoba Suzukaze, a high school graduate, begins working as a character designer for the game's developer, Eagle Jump. As she works on modelling and designing characters for games in development, she becomes acquainted with her colleagues in the character design department, as well as those from across the company.
Trailer: youtu.be/SO6v0DDXRjY