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The epic, ongoing game of catchup!
Aug. 11th, 2010 12:34 amA subject near and dear to my heart: the slice-of-life genre. I wanted to try and throw some stateside stuff on this list, but it's kind of hard to pick out. Like, I can only think of a few things that really fit, like Charlie Brown and Hey Arnold!, and Doug for that matter, but none of those would make my top five (no matter how much I love Helga Pataki and her stalker-crush). King of the Hill is the only thing I can think of that comes close adult-wise, but then I realize that the whole point of the slice-of-life genre is to make the mundane compelling by sheer fact of its... beautiful mundanity. Er. Anyway, I don't think Western entertainment really fits that bill, except Charlie Brown (discounting, you know, Snoopy). All the other shows have elements that we recognize from real life, but they turn it into an event—e.g., Arnold spends an episode trying to have dates with two girls. It's a setup for a comic situation. Whereas in a slice-of-life show, the comedy/emotional response would arise out of the mundanity of him prepping for a single date, the awkwardness on that date, and the unrequited secret stalker-crush love that Helga has for him.
... For example.
Anyway, I later realized that I couldn't throw Western cartoons in there anyway because there was a specific call for anime (which I know, is simply the Japanese word for cartoon/animated material, but in the context of the rest of the world it means Japanese animation so there nyeh).
It was easy for me to come up with four; the fifth title was tied between three anime. I wound up picking the fifth for containing elements that are less present in the other four, even though I didn't have as strong an emotional response to it as the others.
( Top Five Slice-of-Life Anime )
Honorable mentions for ATASHIn'CHI and Genshiken, the former of which echoes the family-based humor of My Neighbors the Yamadas (with more cartoonish characters), and the latter of which is remarkably admirable for its portrayal of otaku as real people (while still acknowledging their, you know, “strangeness”). I'm especially fond of Genshiken because of the significant character growth over the course of the manga (the anime is good, but the manga >>>>>>> the anime) and its unwillingness to shy away from the fact that these otaku get involved in the real world.
Er. Trivia will follow tomorrow, along with whatever the hell else I want to post. (I've been busy!)
... For example.
Anyway, I later realized that I couldn't throw Western cartoons in there anyway because there was a specific call for anime (which I know, is simply the Japanese word for cartoon/animated material, but in the context of the rest of the world it means Japanese animation so there nyeh).
It was easy for me to come up with four; the fifth title was tied between three anime. I wound up picking the fifth for containing elements that are less present in the other four, even though I didn't have as strong an emotional response to it as the others.
( Top Five Slice-of-Life Anime )
Honorable mentions for ATASHIn'CHI and Genshiken, the former of which echoes the family-based humor of My Neighbors the Yamadas (with more cartoonish characters), and the latter of which is remarkably admirable for its portrayal of otaku as real people (while still acknowledging their, you know, “strangeness”). I'm especially fond of Genshiken because of the significant character growth over the course of the manga (the anime is good, but the manga >>>>>>> the anime) and its unwillingness to shy away from the fact that these otaku get involved in the real world.
Er. Trivia will follow tomorrow, along with whatever the hell else I want to post. (I've been busy!)
