10 slice-of-life animes to watch when you need a will to live

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind? I do, most of the time. The pandemic isn’t helping either.

Sometimes, we can drown in our existential ennui if it’s cathartic. But it’s not the healthiest solution to kick that serotonin up. We need wholesome shit in our lives too, and we can turn into art and culture for that. Mostly, binge-watching films or series helps.

But how long can you watch “Legally Blonde” or “Sleepless in Seattle” on repeat? Rom-coms can only do so much, and I’m pretty sure Studio Ghibli’s filmography can only save you for so long. If you want to mix it up a bit, let’s introduce some slice-of-life animes to make you feel soft and human, even for 20 minutes.

“Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun”

This is a lighthearted rom-com anyone can enjoy. This story starts with a schoolgirl named Sakura, who tries to confess her feelings to the titular character Nozaki. When she reveals her feelings one school day, he mistakes her confession for an autograph request. It turns out that Nozaki is one of the hottest and youngest shoujo manga writers out there.

“Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai”

Mitsuyoshi Tada is an aspiring photographer who works in his grandfather’s coffee shop. One day, he meets Teresa Wagner, a transfer student from a fictional European country. It turns out she’s secretly a princess. She continues to hide her royalty status, while letting her feelings bloom for Tada—a teenager who’s never been in love.

“Asobi Asobase”

This sitcom style anime revolves around high school girls who are Past Timers’ club members. In this club, they don’t do a damn thing but goof around with each other while trying to survive their campus. It’s cute, a bit dumb and overall hilarious.

“Daily Lives of High School Boys”

The story is well…what the title indicates. We follow the lives of Sanada North Boys High School’s Tadakuni, Hidenori Tabata and Yoshitake Tanaka and their interactions with other students and their coming-of-age hijinks. It’s a comedic, slice-of-life you can turn off your brain to.

“My Little Monster”

She’s a studious girl. He’s the school rebel. Can “My Little Monster” be any more cliché? This romcom is another high school tale revolving around Shizuku Mizutani, your average career-driven nerd, who finds herself sitting next to the school rebel Haru Yoshida. It’s a slow burn love story we can all feel soft for.

“The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.”

Saiki Kusuo is a typical anime teenager with pink hair. That is, if you’re thinking of a normal teenager who has telepathic and telekinetic powers. He sounds like your ideal anime protagonist—except he just wants a normal life. Too bad life has other plans for him.

“Carole and Tuesday”

“Carole & Tuesday” is a heartfelt anime about two girls trying to make it big as musicians in the city of Alba. Set in the future, these two girls from different walks of life come together to make music, regardless of the music industry’s bias on AI-created tracks.

“Ristorante Paradiso”

Love Italian food? Love older men (age of consent required, of course)? Boy, do we have an anime for you. “Ristorante Paradiso” is a story of a daughter whose mother left her to marry another man. While searching for her mother, she finds her in an Italian restaurant in Rome where the staff consists of older men wearing glasses. She fell in love with her new surroundings and eventually with someone from the staff.

“Waiting in the Summer”

This sci-fi will make you feel all the feels. It starts with a freshman high school student Kaito Kirishima testing his high-speed camera. While taking it for a test run, he sees a blue flash of light that blew him away—literally. It turns out it was an alien from outer space. Little did he know, the alien is the new exchange student in his class.

“Sing ‘Yesterday’ For Me”

Rikuo is a fresh college graduate with zero ambition. He spends his days working in a convenience store, refusing to follow his dreams as a photographer. A strange high school dropout suddenly keeps popping up in his workplace, then everything started to make sense when this dropout turns out to be his college sweetheart’s former student.

Still from “Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun”