(Unlicensed) Slice of Life Anime

[Manifold]

Hey guys,

Recently, I've been into Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=424) and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou - Quiet Country Cafe (http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=468). I find these 'Slice of Life' animations so soothing. The characters are very life like. It's really great how they are so captivating without resorting to any violence/quests. It's as if the portrayal of life is enough.

So, for anybody out there, are there any other unlicensed Slice of Life anime movies/series worth watching?

(It's such a shame that Mushishi was licensed. I must get it on DVD when I have some spare cash.)

[SeijiSensei]

Welcome to the NHK (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/850.html) should be at the top of your list.

If you like quiet, soothing, shows, you might want to give Windy Tales (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/482.html) a try.

Hataraki Man and Nodame Cantabile might also fit the bill, though both of these are comedies rather than dramas like NHK. You might also want to take a look at 5 Centimeters per Second (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/851.html); the first part of this three-part movie was released in subs yesterday.

[jedinat]

Aria the Animation (http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=2659)/Aria the Natural (http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4243) - Really nice slice of life, I believe you would love it if you liked Yokohama. While it's not licensed they've removed it from AnimeSuki, so you'll have to look elsewhere for it.

Lamune (http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=3414) - really easy-going slice of life/romance

[Manifold]

Welcome to the NHK (see my sig) should be at the top of your list.

If you like quiet, soothing, shows, you might want to give Windy Tales (http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/482.html) a try.

I noticed 'Welcome to NHK' is also flagged as comedy? Is it 'wetting your pants funny' or just mildly?

(Speaking of hilarious anime, I found Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu hilarious.)

[SeijiSensei]

Sometimes it falls into the wetting-your-pants territory, and the initial episodes are quite comic in parts. Don't be fooled, though; this is a serious program about people coping with some difficult, yet familiar, psychological issues. It goes into some dark places after a while.

[Matrim]

I second ARIA, one of the most soothing animes out there.

Welcome to the NHK! has some absolutely hilarious moments but can also be dead serious. I didn't find it to have a calming effect, though, so maybe it's not what you are looking for.

NANA is more or less slice of life series but it eventually got a bit too soap operish for my taste.

Hataraki Man is great, even though it's supposed to be partly a comedy it brings up serious issue in the life of overworked people in Japan. It's also one fo the few series without teenage or kid characters, so it gets points for originality. :)

[Theowne]

I'd also recommend trying Asatte no Houkou, fairly new series, unlicensed. It isn't strictly slice of life as there is the idea of a physically impossible wish being granted, but most of the series other then that is fairly realistic, based on good characters, and it has the "soothing" atmosphere you are looking for.

[Manifold]

I shall give 'Hataraki Man' and 'Welcome to NHK' a try. If there are any more suggestions, I'll still be here. Thanks. :)

[EphemeralDreams]

I.. I want to recommend you watch "To Heart" but I think thats just mean. Thats more slice of life than anything I have watched.. and I seen a good deal :P

[capture]

I recommend (it's on theowne's sig :heh:)

Honey and Clover (http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=2835)
Honye and Clover II (http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4422)


these 2 are very nice anime when it comes to drama and slice-of-life genre....

also adding

Bokura ga Ita (http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4441) ~ also a nice romance/drama anime (of course reaslistic also :heh: )

[Deathkillz]

honey and clover (and honey and clover 2) :)

also try Bokura ga Ita ~

edit ~ lol beaten on both suggestions XD

[4Tran]

I'd like to add Emma. It's an excellent depiction of life in Victorian England. It's also perhaps the most realistic show on the list, and the one with the greatest attention paid to detail.

[SeijiSensei]

Hataraki Man is great, even though it's supposed to be partly a comedy it brings up serious issue in the life of overworked people in Japan. It's also one fo the few series without teenage or kid characters, so it gets points for originality. :)

I totally forgot to mention Bartender, which can also be very soothing and also has adult characters; some of them are in their 60's! It does have a fantasy component, but it's expressed more in the direction and design than in the story line (though Ryu himself is a bit fantastical). It's still basically a slice-of-life show about the relationship between human memories and emotions and alcohol.

[Joojoobees]

Yeah, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou was great. The closest to that pace, aside from Aria and Bartender (which were already mentioned) are the first 4 episodes of Haibane-Renmei (which has been licensed). Another licensed title is Ichigo Mashimaru (Strawberry Marshmallow), which does a nice job of walking the line between comedy and slice-of-life; in fact, the comedy is often slice-of-life comedy, if that makes any sense. :D

[Manifold]

I totally forgot to mention Bartender..
Problem with that is the only group that look likely to complete Bartender (Lunar) released it in a massive resolution HD format. My P.C can't cope with it. I've tried. :(

[Joojoobees]

Problem with that is the only group that look likely to complete Bartender (Lunar) released it in a massive resolution HD format. My P.C can't cope with it. I've tried. :(

I wonder if Bartender is experiencing resistance based upon it's slice-of-life genre. It seems that, even when people aren't directly criticizing a show for being slice-of-life, they feel the need to say something like "It's slice-of-life, which isn't necessarily a bad thing." Of course it isn't necessarily a bad thing!

Do other folks get the same impression that people are dismissive of this genre?

I guess, with that kind of perception, there is no hope of Bartender getting an American release.

[SeijiSensei]

Problem with that is the only group that look likely to complete Bartender (Lunar) released it in a massive resolution HD format. My P.C can't cope with it. I've tried. :(

Heh. I just finished converting all ten episodes from Lunar's 1280x720+H.264 MKVs to 704x396+Xvid AVIs so I could put them on our new Cowon A2 (http://www.cowonglobal.com/product/product_A2_feature.php). For tasks like this, mencoder (http://www.mplayerhq.hu/) is your friend. I use the Linux version, but there are versions for Windows and Mac as well. Mencoder is a morass of command-line switches, but there are really only a few that you'd use in most tasks. I have a posting (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=757414&postcount=152) over in the Bartender forum which gives the commands I've used to convert the show from H.264 to Xvid; in that example I kept the size fixed at 1280x720.

These are, by the way, some of the most beautiful releases of any series I've seen. I'd have liked a little less clutter on the screen during the OP karaoke, but that's just a quibble. Great job, Lunar, even if I can't watch the episodes in their original format!

Now if I could only get the subs timing to work right when I apply the same technique to Welcome to the NHK. :mad:

@joojoobees
I don't think it's entirely the "fault" of the genre. The release format was certainly a limiting factor; many people like myself and Manifold were unable to watch this series in the format Lunar chose. Even for a slice-of-life show Bartender's a bit off the beaten track for most anime viewers. Many of them can't even drink legally yet and have probably never heard of a pousse-cafe styled drink (or perhaps even Ernest Hemingway) in their lives. I give the creators of Bartender and Hataraki Man a lot of credit for developing shows that are intended to appeal to an older demographic than traditional anime. In the case of Hataraki Man, the ratings (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=829168) indicate that there might be a bigger market here than most producers belleve.

I'd be happy to talk about the slice-of-life genre, but it should probably be in the Related Topics section; we're going too off-topic to continue in the Suggestions section.

[Manifold]

I'd be happy to talk about the slice-of-life genre, but it should probably be in the Related Topics section; we're going too off-topic to continue in the Suggestions section.
Here you go. I'd be very interested in seeing how many slice of life fans we have here: http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=850301#post850301 :)

[G. Zeus]

Yeah, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou was great. The closest to that pace, aside from Aria and Bartender (which were already mentioned) are the first 4 episodes of Haibane-Renmei (which has been licensed). Another licensed title is Ichigo Mashimaru (Strawberry Marshmallow), which does a nice job of walking the line between comedy and slice-of-life; in fact, the comedy is often slice-of-life comedy, if that makes any sense. :D

I second ARIA, one of the most soothing animes out there.

Haha. Seems like everybody who's been exposed to Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou would inevitably run into ARIA as well. In terms of characterization and themes, the latter is no match for the former imho but the two are probably even when it comes to music and visuals.

Also seconded is Ichigo Mashimaro. It's mainly about comedy and moe but the anime throws in some very subtle YKK-like themes about growing up in the later episodes.

Another title I'd like to recommend would be Shirley and Shirley Madison by MORI Kaoru, author of Emma. To quote the translators at IIChan:
Yet another maid-tastic manga from Kaoru Mori, "Shirley" is an evocative glimpse into the daily life of winsome, 13-year-old Shirley, a maid in turn-of-the-century England. It is often compared to Yokahama Kaidashi Kikou, as both mangas feature languid pacing, atmospheric backgrounds, and a female main character who works in a cafe.

If you like YKK, have a weakness for "cute," and/or have a maid fetish, this is the manga for you. No hentai, no fanservice, zero, zip, nada. Just pure maid-tastic moemoe.