The glorious rise of the slice of life anime
Anime, like any entertainment industry, is subject to trends and fads. As the things that people seem to be enjoying change, studios and publishers look to capitalise on these new appetites by giving the people what they appear to want. Right now, what people want is more slice of life anime to get them through the chaos of the world around them.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t still a market for the isekai or the shounen properties that have dominated the anime rankings for years now — but there has certainly been a shift in the kind of shows that have generated the most excitement among fans.
Welcome to the golden age of slice of life anime
While returning shows like Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer have remained powerhouse properties in anime, they’ve had an unexpected level of competition from shows like My Dress-Up Darling, Spy x Family, and Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie. These slice of life anime feature lower stakes and more personal drama, usually focusing on the small victories and failures of a friendship group or family unit.
Shounen titles like Demon Slayer have always been popular, but in previous years their main competition came in the form of the countless isekai titles that came out every year, each with a more ridiculous title than the one before it. I’ve enjoyed many of the isekai shows we’ve seen over the past few years, but there was a definite sense that the market was getting saturated with them around the time someone got reincarnated as a spider.
Isekai titles can provide much-needed escapism from a real world that is increasingly chaotic and unpleasant, but slice of life anime allow for that same escape without completely ignoring the realities of our world. Instead, they shift the focus from the big, world-ending conflicts that we as individuals have very little control over towards smaller obstacles we can personally overcome.
My Dress-Up Darling contains no external conflict at all; everything that drives the plot forward comes entirely from the crippling anxieties and insecurities of Gojo and Marin. It is one of the most wholesome and sweet slice of life anime that has been released in recent years — and it works precisely because it lets the viewer focus on the small moments between these two massive nerds. The fanservice probably didn’t hurt things, of course. (The boorus would seem to agree with you on that front. 2k entries for Marin and counting – Ed.)
Slice of life anime isn’t just about school kids, either. Spy x Family, which uses the backdrop of a Cold War situation between two rival nations, is more about family than spies. The main character isn’t the superspy or the deadly assassin. The show is all about Anya and her struggles at school and at home. Even with the supernatural elements on display throughout the show, it is much easier to classify it as a slice of life anime than anything else.
One show that has been a pleasant surprise this year has been Love After World Domination. This show takes the trappings of the tokusatsu genre, but instead of being focused on saving the world from the forces of evil, the plot is more focused on the intimate moments between Fudo and Desumi. Yes, the world is always in jeopardy, and we will get to that in a moment. First, let’s show these two adorable and lovesick kids on a rollercoaster. Gotta have our priorities straight. (I’m here for it – Ed.)
It is hard to say what causes new genres and trends to become popular. Perhaps the chaos of the past few years has led people to want more intimate stories with smaller stakes. Maybe the market did get saturated with isekai titles and people just needed a break from going to a new world. Whatever the reason, the age of the slice of life anime is upon us, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
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