In recent years, I've seen a mild problem of sorts crop up with some degree of regularity. We've had some discussions on it as tangental discussions for other topics, but I don't think we've ever had a thread all about it.
What I'm referring to is the "Slice of the Life" genre label, a particular type of show that this label is now regularly applied to, and disagreement surrounding that. The "problem" is that this disagreement can leave shows in a sort of genre no man's land, where there's no clear idea of what genre the show should be listed under. This can make discussions about the show a bit more vague, while also potentially making it harder to promote the show (and this kind of "yet to be named" genre that I'm thinking about).
The type of shows I'm talking about share all of the following in common:
1) The main character(s) are all teenagers, or all teenagers except maybe one adult/sensei leadership figure.
2) A high school is the primary setting, or at least one of the primary settings.
3) The show has some drama, but also some more lowkey episodes.
4) The show may have some comedy, but it doesn't have enough comedy to really count as a comedy as primary genre.
5) The show may have romance (or a love triangle) in it, but it doesn't have enough romance to really count as a romance as primary genre.
6) The show has very few, if any, "action scenes". In other words, protagonists engaging in physical combat with antagonists is
not a significant element of the show. The show may have actual antagonists, but they generally don't physically fight people. It's nowhere close to shounen action, in other words.
7) The show attempts to replicate the daily lives of high school kids in at least a semi-realistic way. There may be a slight embellishment of cheese, or some fantastical characters, but the show is nonetheless hewing fairly close to being a show about high school life.
Now, I think that everybody reading this probably has a pretty good idea of the sort of show I'm talking about. They're fairly common in the modern anime world, but they're also fairly distinct. You wouldn't mistake Accel World or Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate for the sort of show I'm talking about.
This past season had three prominent shows of this yet-to-be-named genre:
Hyouka,
Tari Tari, and
Kokoro Connect. As such, there were quite a few comparisons made between two of, or all three of, these shows. It made for an interesting running comparison/discussion, imo.
In lieu of this yet-to-be-named genre being, well,
yet-to-be-named, a lot of people are calling it "Slice of Life". This is because it's somewhat similar to the classic Slice of Life shows of years past. But inevitably some people object to these shows being called "Slice of Life", and an endless disagreement crops up. Again, this can result in a show being in a sort of no man's land when it comes to genre classification.
Now, I don't think that my lyin' eyes are playing tricks on me. I
am seeing a new genre of sorts emerge here - A new genre that includes shows like Hyouka, Tari Tari, and Kokoro Connect.
Whatever we call it, I don't see the point in denying that this new genre of show exists, since I think it's a fairly important genre in the world of modern anime and also since I think that recognition of it can allow for smoother comparisons between two different works within that same new genre.
While I can understand people objecting to it being called "Slice of Life", I also can't help but think 'When's the last time we had a show that fit the classic, most purist definition of "Slice of Life" anyway?' That Aria-esque "It's all about the setting!" show... honestly, it's been a long time since I've seen one. If the classic Slice of Life type of show is fading into obscurity, may there be some value in using "Slice of Life" as the term for this new genre of shows that bears some similarities to classic Slice of Life?
And if we don't call this genre "Slice of Life", what should we call it?
One suggestion I can already hear is "Coming of Age". But "Coming of Age" is incredibly broad, and would incorporate loads of Shounen Action shows, and lots of other shows that don't really fit this "new genre" that I'm seeing arise.
Another suggestion I can hear is just plain, old "Drama". Again, I think that's just too broad to be useful. Not to mention that some of the shows I'm thinking of (like Tari Tari) doesn't really have enough drama for "drama" to count as its primary genre.
So what should we call this new genre? I've been half-jokingly calling it "Slice of High School Life" in some posts I've made over the past few months. While I haven't seen much opposition to me doing that, it's also not caught on, probably since it's a bit long and unwieldy.
Anyway, I hope that this post makes clear what I'm getting at with this thread. I'd be curious to get everybody's thoughts on it.
