There is a genre of anime that I find really interesting. Sometimes called "slice of life" or "daily life", these shows are meant to display the normal day to day events of regular people. The first slice of life show that I watched was called Piano, which I picked up thinking it might be something we could watch at the library anime club.
Piano: The Melody of a Young Girl's Heart is about a girl named Miu who goes to school and then to her piano lessons after class. Prior to this, my anime viewing was mostly sci-fi/fantasy/action shows with lots of fighting and explosions. So I kept on waiting for something really dramatic to happen to Miu. For her to get sucked into another world with elves and dragons or having an alien robot to drop in wanting to be her boyfriend or something. But the most tense moment was whether to invite a boy she kind of likes to one of her piano recitals. There were times when she felt she didn't practice enough, and other instances when she wanted back out on inviting the boy. But for 10 half hour episodes, that was the main story for Piano. But when I finished watching it, I found I kind of liked that it was slow paced and simple.
The next slice of life show I found was when I discovered fansubbed bittorrents could be found on the Internet. The show I found was titled
Kokoro Library piqued my interest because it was a show about a library tucked away in the mountain that was run by three sisters, the youngest being named Kokoro. Again, like Piano, nothing universe shaking happens. There is an episode where the city contemplates shutting down the library due to its lack of use and budget issues, but the sisters rally the people and the save the library from closing. Another episode has a patron looking for a book, but it's checked out and overdue. So Kokoro goes out, in the rain, to retrieve to book from the patron who has it out. Unfortunately, this show has not been licenced by anyone in the US, so fansubbed versions is the only way to watch this little gem.
A newer slice of life show I'm watching on the Anime Network and is called
Aria. There are two seasons and not much happens in either of them. Set on an artificially terraformed planet to resemble Venice, Akari is training to be a gondolier. Each episode has Akari discovering something new about the city and the people who live there. Though set in some future scifi world, all of the conflict comes from the characters and how they deal with each other and their surroundings.
Other slice of life anime include:
Strawberry Marshmallow - A comedy about 4 elementary school girls and an older sister.
Kamichu! - A fantasy tale about a middle school student who becomes a god in the pantheon of Japanese deities.
Azumanga Daioh - Another comedy about high school girls and their daily routines.
Clannad - A school drama about a bored boy who meets a strange girl that catches his interest.
There are many slice of life anime, and for the most part are suitable for libraries to own. But if someone checks them out expecting to see space battles, they might be disappointed.
Piano: The Melody of a Young Girl's Heart is about a girl named Miu who goes to school and then to her piano lessons after class. Prior to this, my anime viewing was mostly sci-fi/fantasy/action shows with lots of fighting and explosions. So I kept on waiting for something really dramatic to happen to Miu. For her to get sucked into another world with elves and dragons or having an alien robot to drop in wanting to be her boyfriend or something. But the most tense moment was whether to invite a boy she kind of likes to one of her piano recitals. There were times when she felt she didn't practice enough, and other instances when she wanted back out on inviting the boy. But for 10 half hour episodes, that was the main story for Piano. But when I finished watching it, I found I kind of liked that it was slow paced and simple.
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