The bliss of day-to-day shenanigans, the carefree high-school
life and weekend sleepovers – that’s the simplicity and charm of the days of
youth. And that’s exactly what slice of life anime replicate. You won’t be
seeing action-filled moments or any intense battles instead the genre is more
fixated on the daily struggles, accomplishments and bonds one makes when
they’re young, naïve and budding into adults.
The slice of life genre has reached global heights and is
renowned among international anime fans as well. Anime titles like One Punch
Man, Boku no Hero Academia and Sword Art Online steal the limelight most of the
time. But if you just want to relax on a weekend and lazy around, slice of life
is the genre to pick. Here are some of the best slice of life titles every
anime fan should give a watch.
ReLIFE
If you ever got the chance to relive your life and amend your
regrets, would you take it? 27-year-old Arata Kaizaki takes the gamble. He
joins the ReLIFE Research Institute and is given a pill that can potentially
help him change his life. Arata consumes the pill and wakes up as his 17-year-old
self. Would his life be of a typical high-school goer or will he make the
necessary changes he wanted?
Daily Lives
of High School Boys
The 2012 anime remains a must-watch in the slice of life
genre. You don’t even have to follow the series from start to make sense of it.
Each episode is random and portrays the daily shenanigans of Japanese high
school boys. Tackling issues from puberty to questions raised on the spirit of
youth, the anime will leave you in fits.
Himouto!
Umaru-chan
You don’t always need a love interest to create a good slice
of life anime and that’s exactly what Himouto! Umaru-chan relays. Umaru Doma is
the high-school sweetheart. She’s good at sports, studies and is admired by her
seniors and juniors alike. However, she has a secret that only her older
brother knows. She’s a closet otaku and does nothing but laze around at home.
Fed up of her laid-back attitude, her brother tries to fix her unhealthy
habits.
Toradora!
The story centers around Ryuji, a second-year high-school
student who is feared by the school because of his feisty looks and Taiga, a
rebellious girl who is deemed the school’s ‘most dangerous animal’. The story
starts with Ryuji trying to set up his chances with Taiga’s best friend Minori
but things take a different turn for him and his potential love interest.
Ouran High
School Host Club
Haruhi Fujioka mistakenly enters the prestigious Ouran
Academy. All the wanted was a quiet place to study but what happens is the
opposite of it. She is confronted by the members of the Ouran Academy Host Club
who question her trespassing nature. Baffled and confused by their questioning,
she accidently shatters an antique vase. Her demeanor, outfit and short hair assure
the host club members she’s a boy and for that, she must stay at the all-boys
high school as their errand boy.
Where to
watch?
The primary hubs of watching anime are Crunchyroll and
Funimation. However, now other notable streaming services like Hulu and Netflix
have begun to air licensed anime content. Netflix has even affiliated with
anime studio to produce Netflix-original anime. Other entertainment mediums to
watch anime also include your local cable TV. If you view the channel lineup by
Wow
cable TV, you will find a bunch of channels that have the history of
airing acquired anime TV shows and movies such as Cartoon Network.
To Conclude
Slice of life is one of the widely celebrated genres in the
anime industry. Some stories wrench your heart in sadness while some can be as
random and comical as ever. Every year anime studios come up with novel slice
of life stories so let’s see what they have in store for us in the latter half
of 2020!
