The argument that’s often made against anime classified as slice-of-life and iyashi-kei is that “nothing happens.” In other words, the shows are plot-less, which to some makes them boring and stupid. As someone who enjoys these kinds of anime as much as anime in any other genre, I’m going to examine why this is so…
From a Western perspective at least, fictional TV series are expected to “tell a story.” A story in the traditional sense has many parts – a beginning, middle, and end, in which there’s character development, plot exposition, rising action, various kinds of conflict, etc,. In other words, we expect things to happen throughout the series that will eventually change it from how it was at the beginning before giving us some kind of conclusion. We look forward to a story unfolding and payoff at the end. However, anime like K-ON, Lucky Star, Hidamari Sketch, and Ikoku Meiro have little to none of these elements. Conflict, the crux of just about every story, is virtually nil in these shows, and any summary of their “story” could be written in a single sentence. But are these kinds of anime as plot-less as they seem, and what is it that brings them a strong wave of hate?
I think one of the reasons slice-of-life and iyashi-kei anime get a lot of dislike from English-speaking fans is because, again, they don’t follow the traditional method of storytelling that relies on conflict and character/plot development. Anime is rarely episodic, and when it is, it’s often these genres of anime that are the examples. I’ve found that English-speaking fans with a dislike for slice-of-life often expect anime to always be “intelligent” entertainment, which comes from overarching, ongoing plots with little to no episodes that don’t contribute to this plot. They come to think that no plot equals no entertainment. But I think it’s a bit unfair to say that these kinds of anime are utterly plot-less. They may not have dynamic, overarching plots, but they have individual, episodic plots that may or may not lead to continuity in future episodes, such as introducing new characters. But one could even say that they do have overarching plots, such as “girls trying to get through high school” (Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star), “girls trying to form a music band” (K-ON), or “girls trying to become good Undines” (Aria). The episodic plots of each individual episode are often emphasized more than these vague overarching plots, but either way, these anime have some plot. You couldn’t have a show with no plot whatsoever or it would just be characters standing around and literally doing nothing. Whether these shows have character development or not is another debatable topic for another post.
Then again, the problem people have with these kinds of series is that, even if there is something happening in them, because there’s no major plot there’s no payoff in the end. But you can’t expect a show that’s mostly episodic to suddenly have some intense ending. That would be more unnatural then letting the show end with just a regular episode, or an episode that’s just slightly more sentimental or conclusive than the rest. K-ON, AzuDai, and Lucky Star all ended with the girls graduating high school, so you couldn’t say there was no closure to them. Most slice-of-life and iyashi-kei anime are light and comedic, so again it would be unnatural if they suddenly had heavily emotional endings. And lastly, my personal philosophy with anime is that how enjoyable the journey was is usually more important than whether the ending pays off, especially for a series with no ongoing plot.
I’ve often found that some slice-of-life and iyashi-kei anime are deemed more worthy than others. Usagi Drop has gotten great acclaim from fans who usually don’t like cute, slice-of-life anime. But in terms of the genre, is Usagi Drop really that different from, say, K-ON? (and is someone going to yell at me for trying to place these two on equal ground?) Both are episodic with fairly static plots (one is “girls trying to form a music band” and the other is “bachelor trying to become a good father to an adopted child”), both have some slight plot-advancing things happen (like introducing new characters) but nothing extreme enough to alter the status quo, both have arguably anticlimactic endings (talking about anime, not manga), and both are focused on being cute and slow-paced. Story aside, in terms of the genre the main differences between the two is that one is a comedy and one is a drama, and one has more traditional moe character designs and the other has unique character designs. I think the reason K-ON gets way more hate than Usagi Drop has nothing to do with being plot-less; K-ON is massively popular, and anything that popular will always bring about a ton of hate. But mostly, it has to do with how they’re marketed. K-ON is marketed as a seinen moe anime for male otaku (though it also has a much broader audience). Just the fact that it’s moe is enough to turn certain fans away, not because it’s “plot-less,” but because they don’t want to be associated with that “creepy otaku moe stuff.” Usagi Drop, being marketed as a josei series on Noitamina, doesn’t have this stigma. The fact that it’s more dramatic than comedic helps its universal appeal too.
Mushishi (again, anime not manga) is another example of an iyashi-kei anime that’s gotten near universal acclaim despite the fact that there’s no ongoing plot and it’s very episodic. When compared to another iyashi-kei series like, say, Ikoku Meiro, their main difference in terms of genre is that Mushishi’s themes are whimsical, supernatural, and dramatic, while Ikoku Meiro emphasizes cuteness and historical fun. Both are comprised of episodes with mostly individual stories (though I think Mushishi’s stories are more stand-alone than Ikoku Meiro’s), both are slow-paced, and each of their final episodes is more or less a regular episode. But like with K-ON and Usagi Drop, I think a lot of what drives Ikoku Meiro to get more hate than Mushishi is, again, English-speaking fans’ aversion to being associated with moe and the fact that entertainment through cuteness is an acquired taste.
To conclude, I don’t think that any anime series is completely without plot. For the slice-of-life and iyashi-kei series where plot is very de-emphasized, their appeal comes from outside the traditional means of conflict-centered storytelling. As I’m sure I’ve stated before, I like these kinds of shows because they’re relaxing, soothing, and just plain friendly. I feel like I’m just hanging out with silly friends or visiting a pleasant, uncomplicated world. Intelligent, intense, and suspenseful anime is great, but I also like going to the other end of spectrum where I can be entertained with something light that doesn’t require me to use my brain to follow a complex plot and I don’t have to deal with anything bad happening. I totally agree that this type of show is not for everyone. But I feel it’s appropriate to say you simply don’t prefer a genre rather than say an anime is bad simply because “nothing happens,” which isn’t even the goal of this type of anime to begin with. Rather than deride it, I think that relatively “plot-less” anime like K-ON and Ikoku Meiro show just how much anime expands its boundaries of unique entertainment methods.
I’m not one that generally likes slice of life and and for me the reason is cookie cutter characters. they have to be interesting to me and likable. i don’t care if they have a huge development but if the character doesn’t make me care about them right from the start of the series there’s a good chance i won’t enjoy the show regardless of it’s plotless plot.
Comparing Mushishi to Ikoku Meiro isn’t really a fair comparison because Mushishi isn’t really a slice of life show where all the other titles in your post are. sure episodic shows can have a lot in common with slice of life because most generic slice of life shows can be viewed as episodic but something like Mushishi and say Kino’s Journey bring in new elements to their surroundings to draw people into viewing them unlike a slice of life episodic show which is always going to be about people doing people things.
I agree that characters don’t necessarily need to be well developed in slice-of-life anime as long as they’re likable and fun to watch. After all, for this genre it’s about wanting to “hang out” with these characters – don’t need to know all about them but you have to enjoy their company so to speak.
I brought up Mushishi because I feel it has elements of a iyashi-kei anime, not slice-of-life. It has a soothing and slow-paced kind of atmosphere, like Ikoku Meiro, which I wouldn’t really call slice-of-life either so much as historical. Both are indeed very different, but I wanted to point out that they both have iyashi-kei elements even though their other themes are different.
I have no problems with shows that are calm. And I like a bunch of slice of life shows. (Paradise Kiss and Usagi Drop being the first that come to mind.) But I am very sick of seeing so many shows about girls in high school. At least HanaIro focused on the inn most of the time. But when the primary, or only focus of the show is cute girls doing cute things, that’s when the hate flows. K-ON! relied on its moe for humor. Moe antics are not entertaining for me.
I also like episodic series. Two of my top ten are episodics: Cowboy Bebop and Mushishi. But each of their episodes have a beginning, climax, and conclusion. It’s not just random discussions or characters having fun for twenty minutes.
But I think it really comes down to preferences. I happen to love material with substance. I just won’t grow attached to characters who do nothing but talk or play around aimlessly all the time. (Then again, slice of life generally isn’t something I can easily get excited for anyway.)
And yes, I will yell at you for trying to place Usagi Drop and K-ON! on the same ground. :)
Yeah, the overflow of high school girls in anime is obviously because the primary audience is male otaku, and that’s what they want to see. I certainly don’t find moe humor good all the time – I actually prefer to call it character-driven humor, and I feel K-ON does it well, especially in the second season. It’s about poking fun at characters’ flaws and the quirky ways they relate to each. But yes, not a humor for everyone and I only like it if it’s done right.
You’re right that even though Cowboy Bebop and Mushishi are mostly episodic, each episode itself is a contained story. In comparison, episodes in Lucky Star and AzuDai are just a series of vignettes. Both are viable methods of entertainment though, and it just comes down to which you prefer.
To me, there always IS plot, even in iyashikei.. just not necessarily an over-arching one.. the focus is on telling a vague story through sub-stories, not one over-arching tale (be it purely episodic or not). But curiously, the closer to mundane reality a givne plot is, the less recognizable it is as “plot”.
For instance, to me K-On’s plots following the mundane lives of a bunch of normal schoolgirls were so close to reality that it felt like nothing memorable was happening. I could still enjoy it of course, but it sure didn’t feel like there was much “plot” going on, even if I knew it was there.
Croisee had the same issue, but sometimes it became quaintly old-timey and atypical, and suddenly it felt like there was plot going on, even if it was just about watching a really old-school animated projector/light show.
Aria excelled at this, because it was set on a future Mars, was about gondoliers of all things, and episodes often seemed to be building to something – even just finding a mysterious treasure, finding a spot of pure beauty, etc. The less like my mundane life it felt, the more plot I noticed.
And then there’s Mushishi, which had uncomfortable breaks between “reality” and “unreality”, such that each episode’s simple plot suddenly shook free of that mundane simplicity and became quite obvious and “plot like”.
I’ve found a number of people share that experience the same way I do.. the less of a given plot we’ve seen in our lives, the more like a plot it seems. It doesn’t matter if it’s an over-arching plot in the narrative, or just episodic, or just a disjoint character growth arc.. it’s still the “plot” of a particular story.
Interesting idea that the more separated from reality an anime series is, regardless of whether it’s episodic or not, the more plot there seems to be. I’m not sure whether I feel the same way or not. In something like Aria (just talking about the first season as that’s all I’ve seen), it feels like there’s more plot because of the sci-fi elements you have to pay attention to, such as the names of places and unique terminology in Neo Verona. We have to follow these fictional elements and perhaps it gives the illusion of plot. But because K-ON takes place in the real world and there’s literally no fantasy elements we have to learn, our brains have pretty much no strain and thus don’t find any plot. This is just my own theory of course and I’m not even sure if anyone but me would find it true ;)
Yeah, that’s more or less what I was trying to imply.. it’s not the easiest concept to get across when you try too hard like I do. It’s fun to speculate on WHY people don’t consider a story to have a plot when they pretty much have to have one to be a story.. in fact I can’t quite figure out if I’ve ever watched a “plotless” anime (just ones I wouldn’t consider to have a “noticeable” plot).
I have a strong preference for having plot in my series. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I would reject any other storytelling than the standardized western order that’s most common in media today. It all boils down to the series proving that ‘there was a point to it all’.
The moment when everything becomes clear usually comes with the last episode. High school slice-of-life tends to end on graduation ceremonies for a reason – it’s a time of natural contemplation which brings the personal growth and changing relationships of characters to the surface. If the characters had any depth to them to begin with, the final episode should bring out the best in a slice-of-life series. But look also at the final episode of the first K-On! series, which couldn’t rely on a graduation ceremony. The confrontation between the Yui drifting through life with neither ambition nor direction and the Yui racing at breakneck speed through the town to reach her battlefield is very direct, put as it is into words, and entirely unapologetic. It’s as if the director was telling us “You want to know what happened this season? This happened.” I can recognize and appreciate the thought and effort that went into making the series a self-sufficient and complete story.
As you note, the marketing/target audience is a very important factor in how series like K-On! are received in comparison to works like Usagi Drop. Though the series are also significantly different in their contents – K-On! is a 4-koma manga, after all, with the specific kind of humor that comes along with it, and Usagi Drop attempts to present a realistic social commentary. The goals the two have are quite different.
Also, while I can see slice of life elements in Mushishi (it is certainly an atmospheric piece often dealing with ‘normal people and their problems’, even with the pervading fantasy elements) I wouldn’t call it an iyashi-kei story. There are plenty of episodes that remind us that yes, the world can be pretty nasty, and there’s nothing we can do about it. While it is possible for difficult themes to be presented with a positive spin, see this season’s Tamayura for a good example, I can’t say Mushishi attempts to be particularly ‘healing’ about some of its blunt messages.
I agree that having some sense of closure in the end of a slice-of-life series makes it all the more memorable and satisfying. If AzuDai, K-ON, and Lucky Star had a final episode that was just like any other, I don’t think I would like the series less for it, but that extra effort at the end, whether it’s in the form of character development, nostalgic sentiment, or any other feeling, definitely leaves an impact for a show that otherwise isn’t impacting.
You’re right that Mushishi isn’t totally iyashi-kei, as it does have some very horrifying moments at times. But for the most part, it has this slow going and gentle acceptance of things, even showing the beauty in terrifying things, that I find very soothing.
My head snagged on “seinen moe anime” for a moment, and then I realized what you were saying. ;)
As you know, I don’t care for the slice-of-life animes. Actually, every anime (or novel or manga or movie or TV series) tells a story and has a plot; the slice-of-life ones just tell a story in which not much happens and that moves very slowly. This can (sometimes – rarely) be done effectively, as in Hourou Musuko, which had well-drawn characters and a serious dilemma faced by the main boy and main girl, namely gender identity. One became invested in the characters and what they were facing, and looked forward to how it would resolve and what they’d learn in the process.
I think that it’s no accident that your main examples are anime series featuring young girls. For me, there’s almost a political statement in the differences between shonen animes and these moe-type girl-focused animes, especially the ones that are also slice-of-life. The Japanese have a terrible saying: “Men do, women watch,” and it seems to me that this set-up gets started early in life over there. As an anime fan, I don’t want to watch young females doing nothing of real consequence in a 24-minute anime episode because it reminds me of the divisions between men and women in Japan and how women tend to disappear into domestic home life after getting married – while men keep “doing” out in the world. Moe/female slice-of-life stories feel to me like precursors of the Japanese woman’s life path, which I find slightly depressing.
It comes down to personal preference, as you say, and we all find different things entertaining. For me, it’s not difficult to choose animes with action, strong plots and good-looking guys over most other kinds of animes. ;0
Hourou Musuko is a good example of a dramatic slice-of-life anime, which usually does focus on conflict and character development even while the overall status quo of the story remains. The series that I mentioned in the post, Usagi Drop, is also of the same genres. It’s the comedy slice-of-life series like K-ON and Azumanga Daioh that are less universal in their appeal.
I can understand what you mean by feeling a sexist vibe in moe anime, but from having seen quite a bit of them, I can’t say I feel the same. The main reason is because the girls are in high school, not yet adult women out in society where their social statuses can be compared to men. Also, how they act in these shows is pretty much how high school girls act anywhere, even in the US – hanging out with friends, studying for tests, going to after-school clubs, etc,. I don’t see anything emphasizing that women aren’t supposed to do anything. There often aren’t even any main male characters in these shows to compare them to. They’re still in school so there’s not much they could be doing in the real world compared to men at this time. And though it’s not the focal point, the K-ON girls are shown to have dreams, aspirations, and talents. To me, they’re just friends in school having fun and being silly together, much like any group of young people. Japan is all about cuteness, whether it’s cute girls (K-ON, Lucky Star), cute boys (Hetalia, Ouran), or cute animals (Pokemon), and which you like depends and what you find cute and pleasant to look at. When I watch these shows, I get nice high school nostalgia and feel like I’m just hanging out with friends and joining them in their funny daily lives. I personally don’t get any vibes of sexism from them. I actually think some shonen shows are more sexist because we actually see the women, who often don’t do much, in contrast to the men who are the center of the action in a fast-paced story. Now if a slice-of-life show was about adult women who were just the yamato nadeshiko to their husbands with nothing else going for them, then yeah, I wouldn’t like that either.
I would agree with the basic thrust of what you’re saying, except that teenage boys in shonen animes are *already* doing things that impact not only their own lives but others’ lives, like making decisions to become involved in events that are bigger than themselves (usually involving grown-ups, so they’re out of their depth) and fighting against injustice, as well as experiencing emotional and psychological growth arcs as they discover more about who they are through what they do and the choices that they make. So the point about “they’re still in school so there’s not much they could be doing in the real world” doesn’t really resonate with me since shonen characters (boys) are still in school as well, but their activities and story arcs are much more active and involve high stakes, for others as well as for themselves, and in the real world. That’s what I find engaging about their stories, and why little if anything engages me about moe/slice-of-life stories.
That is a good point, but I can’t help but think that the reason the boys in shonen series are doing so much despite still being kids is because these shows are very ground into fantasy. So in the fantasy world of Naruto, 12-year olds are already learning superpowers and going on daring adventures, high schoolers are using spiritual powers and fighting monsters in Bleach, and pretty much any kid of any age can go on seafaring adventures in One Piece. Mecha anime are similar in that they bring sci-fi elements into play that force the ordinary school boy into a life-changing adventure (Code Geass, Evangelion, Guilty Crown). But moe/slice-of-life anime have the goal of not utilizing any fantasy or sci-fi, and instead giving us a setting of real-world Japan and experiencing a slightly glorified and more humor-filled high school life where kids (boy or girl) are enjoying the end of their youth before moving on (to college or wherever). So whether you like this kind of anime or not just depends on whether you find enjoyment in the sentiments it brings out in everyday life (and if you find the humor funny). It definitely is an acquired taste so there’s nothing wrong with finding it boring and preferring anime with real stories and character development ;)
I’m sure there are plenty of exceptions to what I said too, though the only one I can think of at the moment is Bakuman. Bakuman has no fantasy elements and is set in real-world Japan, yet the boys already get their dream going while still in school. Most of the girls don’t do much in the series either, though I think that has more to do with Obata/Ohba not being good at writing strong female characters than anything else (especially in Death Note). But yeah, like everything really, it comes to down to what you find entertaining. Action, conflict, and story/character development in a dynamic setting? Or a static but soothing, funny, and cute immersion into everyday life where focus is on poking fun at character flaws and finding wabisabi in daily living? Both can be enjoyable depending on what you’re looking for ^^,,,
Yes, there’s a difference between plot-driven and plot-less anime, as some of the previous comments have pointed out. A series like ARIA is definitely not without plot, but it’s not driven to complete each story/plot arc like, say, Fullmetal Alchemist. Interestingly, one might even say that the classic Cowboy Bebop is not plot-driven, since there is an overarching backstory (Spike vs. Vicious) but so many episodes don’t involve that main plotline. Slice-of-life / iyashi-kei anime is about mood and tone, and those occasional glimpses of insight, tenderness, and beauty that don’t often occur in more action-packed, plot-driven series. And I don’t think it’s necessarily true (as someone suggested above) that just because an anime has young girls and is slice-of-life it somehow implies passivity — for example all the girls in ARIA are hardworking, ambitious, compassionate, and form their own encouraging and mutually-inspiring group of friends as they train to become fully-fledged undines. (With the best cat mascot character in the world.)
It is tricky to say whether Cowboy Bebop is episodic or not. I think that’s what makes it so appealing – it’s episodic but often alludes to just the right amount of character/plot development to keep you interested in watching more, even if it continues to be episodic. Not everything is wrapped up by the end but enough to feel satisfying.
I also agree that because slice-of-life/iyashi-kei anime are slow-paced, we can “take the time to smell the flowers” with them so to speak, and they can focus on transient moments of beauty, inspiration, and tenderness without seeming out of place. And yeah, having young girls in a story with no ongoing plot doesn’t necessarily express that girls should be passive, as you pointed out with Aria.
With slice of life my favorite RIGHT behind horror, in fact probably rivaling it, I never understood the hate. It definitely is unconventional. As you said there’s no… Antagonist or conflict beside the menial, everyday oppisition and worry that every human inherently accumulates simply because they breathe and exist. There’s no explosions or action for the most part. But I like slice best BECAUSE I can relate. Sane reason I like horror, with it being I think the most interesting of the human conditions.
I basically enjoy the portrayal of lives and his people get through it. I was more touched and emotionally commiserative of Honey and Clover and K-ON! Than I will EVER be an episode of Naruto. Or 5cm per second for that matter. I like a show where I feel I could find those people in real life and understand their woes and what they go through like graduating and leaving friends behind. Though I also see the other side of the coin. That were all ready living why bother with more of the same when I live my own life… Still I’m helplessly in love with Slice. I’m a HUGE advocate of Tamayura Hitotose too! So beautiful!
Good points. Because there’s no fantasy and action, slice-of-life allows us to focus on the fun, beauty, and introspective things in life that fast-paced series would overlook. Sure, it’s about things that happen in our every day lives in reality, but at the same time in emphasizes little tendernesses and emotions we often gloss over in life, or it stylizes things like graduations and friendships to bring out the best these events can be, and that’s where its charm comes from.
Slice of life anime have the same amount of plot as the vast majority of Western cartoons about school-age kids (what ‘happens’ in Recess? Or Hey Arnold!?), and US sitcoms can only call upon the development of romances to make it seem like there’s an overarching plot. I really don’t think it’s an anime-exclusive thing, it’s just a humour thing – you put a group of amusing characters together, be they Azumanga Daioh girls or Simpsons characters, and let their interactions carry weekly plots.
And I’d much rather nothing happens except cute/hilarious interaction than something like Lain, which tries to be deep and profound by showing you almost nothing happening at great length.
I was almost going to mention the many Western sitcoms and cartoons that are devoid of an overarching plot. You’re very right that comedy and complicated, ongoing plots rarely go together (it does occur in a few anime like Slayers, but not many). So I think English-speaking fans’ aversion to anime sitcoms as opposed to American ones is again because these shows are often about moe girls and they don’t want to be associated with that creepy otaku stuff. Plus American humor and Japanese humor is vastly different, with the former most reliant on sarcasm and slapsticks and the latter poking fun at character flaws.
I have covered Iyashikei in a post almost a month ago and I tend to enjoy that genre of Slice of Life a lot. The slow moving story line isn’t a big deal since it gives a remembrance of what makes life great, even the small things we tend to take for granted. The reason the genre tends to get a lot of flak because western people prefer action and a lot of drama rather than slow development, thus completely miss the point. Perhaps the reason why these shows are popular in Japan since it looks back at the good times that happens at high school. The power of friendship and the various touching moments is probably a feeling that you can’t really get in shows like Naruto and One Piece.
Yes, the concept of wabisabi and the transience of life is big in Japan, hence the popularity of slice-of-life shows that focus on the beauty of life’s moments and the sentiment of emotions. This concept is not a part of American culture so naturally it takes an open minded American to at least appreciate it even if they don’t find it enjoyable.
Oh ho ho! Interesting topic indeed! Very interesting…
I agree about the introduction/development/ending part that we, as westerners, are used to. The other part is that we use television and movies as a way to escape reality. So while a real CSI may not like a show like CSI, the rest of the people probably will. It puts us on some completely different shoes. While many slice-of-life anime will normally present a high school environment, and some very normal circumstances, it is very likely to turn many people off automatically. “Why would I want to see a show about some high schoolers doing X or Y?”.
Actually, looking back on it. we do not have shows any more like “saved by the bell” or some of those older shows. That show could be an almost direct comparison to many slice-of-life anime out there. Just high schoolers having fun, completely plot-less. It seems the western crowd is moving away from those type of shows and more to the conflict/action ones you mentioned.
I personally like those shows. I loved K-On, I found it really refreshing. I completely loved Usagi Drop. It was simply magical. I watched Mushishi, and while I enjoyed it, I would have liked a little more plot through it. I guess I’ll never stop thinking like a westerner :)
Anyway, I think it goes back a lot on the “escape reality” part as well. We can cope with something more sci-fi, or fantastical. But when placed on a high-school, or something more mundane, many people may get turned off pretty quick.
Oh, and Merry Christmas :)
For older fans past high school age, shows that focus on the daily lives of high schoolers are both nostalgic and wish-fulfilling in the sense that they present a glorified version of the high school experience we all hoped to have – having great friends, having every day filled with fun and personal growth, possibly getting the boy/girl of our dreams. You’re right that Western media has shifted over the years to coerce us into only preferring fast-paced action and comedy that rarely focuses on a scene for more than a few seconds. Overwhelming us with jokes or fantasy elements is made to keep us in that escapist world. Bringing out beauty and fun in the mundane as a form of entertainment seems to be more of a Japanese thing, especially with slice-of-life and iyashi-kei anime.
A nice topic indeed.
I agree something that could be called a plot can be found for each episode of these kinds of shows. How else do people manage to give a summary of the events of a single episode in just a few lines? The fact that people are able to do so means the rest of the events not included in the summary are related to that particular event and thus are not completely random.
It’s usually the comedy and/or likable characters that keep me watching these kinds of shows. Hidamari Sketch is the prime example of one such show. Usagi Drop did have the extra punch of some genuine emotional moments. That’s pretty impressive for a show without a hard and progressive plot. The recent I watched, Working!! is kind of a hybrid. Yes, there are certain main points in each episode, but you never have the feeling the characters are really concentrated on that and/or working towards solving something.
The comedy and likable characters is what I like about these kinds of shows too. Nice animation helps, such as KyoAni’s top-notch animation for K-ON and Shaft’s interesting style with Hidamari Sketch. Working!! to me seems kind of like Azumanga Daioh in that each episode is sort of a series of vignettes that may or may not contain one main plot for that episode. And then the show has some ongoing plot, such as the relationship between Takanashi and Inami. I think that’s one of the reasons I enjoy – it’s a bit all over the place but still manages to have good humor and characters =)
Personally, I can’t stand most slice of life shows (with the exception of Bakumen). It’s the same reason I dislike much of American television, the episodes stand on their own with little overarching story to keep me glued to my screen. However, I can easily see why people enjoy these series, there is certainly merit to be found in a show that you can watch and relax, rather than get consumed in an overall plot. There is usually some kind of story, but it’s fairly minimal, instead favoring a laid back atmosphere.
A large amount of these shows do receive hatred because of their reliance on “cuteness”, to draw in viewers and produce sales. I have heard other fans say that shows like K-ON have ruined anime, which is an overreaction to say the least. Slice of life shows do tend to depend on cuteness to draw in the otaku fanbase, but these shows usually feature other redeeming values as well. It can be argued that the “moe” movement of the last several years has influenced the overall quality of anime, but it isn’t restricted to slice of life by any means.
I’m glad you can at least see the merits in slice-of-life despite not liking the genre yourself. I agree that saying moe has ruined anime is a total overreaction. I’ve covered the topic numerous times in various posts, but each time I say that there are still plenty of moe-free anime being produced, many of which are good shows. It may seem like more simply because more anime is being produced in recent years then, say, the 90s, and a lot of it is indeed moe. But certainly not everything is moe, and like you said, these shows have good to offer too (such as clever humor in Lucky Star and exceptional animation in K-ON).
“Usagi Drop has gotten great acclaim from fans who usually don’t like cute, slice-of-life anime. But in terms of the genre, is Usagi Drop really that different from, say, K-ON?”
I could be wrong about what I’m going to say depsite having seen both shows and kind of having this opinion myself. But I think the difference between K-On and Usagi Drop is that K-ON has a bit more of a tongue-in-cheek feel to the way the characters act and interact. With Usagi Drop, the Daikichi naturally acts like a parental figure who was initially a fish out of water but soon adapts to it and Rin and her friends like naturally like their age. With K-ON, not that the characterizations are entirely unnatural, but these characters are in high school and yet seem to behave more like middle school/elementary school kids who don’t have a care in the world. Like kids and their hobbies, they end up semi-motivated about their band. Tests, homeworks, and earning money through part-time jobs all seem to be stuff they don’t need to stress out “that” much over. They don’t have issues with their families to worry about. And I suppose that carefree element in the life of a bunch of highschool girls may not be necessarily appealing and thus uninteresting. Not that they think it’s creepy, just uninteresting.
I mean I’ll be frank, I’m basing much of my answer off of what Zac Bertschy and Justin Sevakis said about Usagi Drop in their recent “Holiday Special: the Third, part 1 of the ANNCast.” They briefly mentioned how Usagi drop is genuinely nice and heartwarming and “legitimately” sincere and not “ironically” sincere. Though I don’t think they were referring to slice-of-life specifically since they also compared Usagi Drop to the Muppets in terms of being genuinely heartwarming, so I wouldn’t exactly take my word for it.
Anyway I want to comment on something slightly different. The more I think about it, the more I feel annoyed over how there is this clear-cut division between the way anime is being watched and made. It’s either you watch shows that attempt to be totally serial in plot and with character development and a conclusive ending or I watch something SO lightweight and relaxing and with no conflict or motivations out of the characters that I risk getting bored out of it. There’s no third option and whatever anime shows that have that 3rd option seem to appear infrequently.
Like what’s wrong with me wanting character depth sometimes instead of pure character development where a likely cliche’ would be the main character coming-of-age or lack of characterization where the character could be a stereotype? Or what’s wrong with me preferring something episodic but still be engaged with a beginning-middle, and end to the story in which the main character attempts to accomplish a goal and struggles through simple conflicts (don’t need to be life-threatening ones).
Maybe such anime titles do exist but are not talked about frequently among most anime fans like Sazae-san or something. I feel like resorting to American animated content where the story is simple but not too simple where it lacks direction in telling a story. I get to see characters fall into deep situations and be amused seeing how they struggle to get out them. Like for example, since July there’s been this programming block called the 90s Are All That featuring shows that aired on Nick from the 90s in 4 hour programming blocks (and there is a high demand for it too). One such show is Hey Arnold and I like how in any of those episodes, Arnold, Helga or some other kid or even adult deal with situations in each episode. Not only that but there were episodes where depth in that character and his/her life was revealed like how the reveal about Arnold’s parents.
Anime fans might complain how that’s not really attention-grabbing compared to something more serial, but I’m not concerned about that. I feel like I’m going off of a tangent or something, but I basically just find it weird that at least with anime fans there is such a strong divide with choose what type of anime show you watch. Either serious/character development or slice-of-life/atmospheric. No in-between. You could argue what I’m about to say is my nostaglia talking, but even with growing up watching anime as a kid in the late 90s or early 2000s I didn’t sense such a strong division. I didn’t feel episodes of Pokemon were ever completely serial or completely slice-of-life either.