#A SLICE OF LIFE TV#

Kobayashi is basically a female version of the geek slacker, but with better personal hygiene. It revolves around Miss Kobayashi, an almost middle-aged programmer who lives by herself and occasionally goes out to drink with her co-worker.

The title of the show pretty much says it all. This is another fairly recent show that’s really raised the bar for the genre in my opinion. There’s doesn’t seem to be much of a middle ground here. On the other hand, people that love Azumanga Daioh REALLY love it. If you want at least a moderate pulse in your relaxation, viewing it may not be for you. However, Azumanga Daioh takes a seriously chilled attitude towards pacing. The program itself follows their daily struggles and is admittedly quite funny at times. Each of them has some sort of serious adjustment problem or personality quirk, which is the main source of comedy in the show. The story centers on six school girls and two of their female teachers.

For example, the term “waifu’, which is now a standard part of the lexicon, comes from the creepy Kimura-sensei. You can’t deny the cultural impact of Azumanga Daioh on anime fandom, though. On the other hand, I don’t particularly care for it much myself, mainly because it’s too “kawaii” for even a hardened anime fan such as myself. In many ways this show is THE slice-of-life anime – the one that mainstreamed the genre in the West, at least. I have a real love-hate relationship with Azumanga Daioh. As I write this there has only been one season to watch, but I’m confident this will go down as a classic of the genre. It’s an off-beat concept, but boy – does it work! This anime is beautifully animated, has great character design and a fresh approach to telling interesting small stories that all connect in some way. Restaurant to Another World is replete with interesting characters, each with a little vignette that helps you form an attachment with them. Each episode focuses on two dishes and uses them to tell the backstory of the world and the people that live in it.

It’s a simple yet imaginative concept, and the creators of the show go to a lot of effort when describing and depicting the food. Here, they come and experience some of the finest dishes the chef can muster. It appears in several places in the fantasy world, which means the patrons are medieval humans, fairies, elves, and all manner of monsterfolk. once a week on Saturdays) the door opens up into a fantasy world. The thing that makes Nekoya so special is that every “Day of Satur” (i.e. Basically this means they don’t serve native Japanese food there, but only food imported into Japan. The setting for this anime is a “Western style” Japanese restaurant by the name of Nekoya. This is one of the most recent shows that I’ve seen myself, but it made such an impact on me that I felt it had to be on this list. Here are ten shows I think together offer something for everyone. Each episode only being a few minutes long. Alternatively, some slice-of-life anime is very short. It’s not uncommon for one episode to actually consist of two stories. Story arcs tend to be short and self contained, with less emphasis on continuity. Slice-of-life anime are, however, NOT like sitcoms and don’t follow their genre convention.

#A SLICE OF LIFE TV#

The closest equivalent I can think of on American TV would be something like Cheers – a sitcom set in a bar where the story is told as the character’s experiences intersect with it. A school, a particular shop, or some other framing device. Often these shows are set on a very narrow stage. These are shows you can just chill out on the couch and watch without fear of being grabbed too hard. Slice-of-life anime lets the drama take a back seat and turns the stakes way down. Even lighthearted fare has some sort of semblance to classic story structure and writing. We’re used to our entertainment being plot-driven with fairly high stakes and climactic drama. Slice-of-life anime can be a really weird genre to many Westerners.

A slice of life