Summary
Sometimes, the biggest adventures don’t require saving the world from evil aliens, fighting mountain-sized men to a standstill, or punishing fools in the name of the moon. The daily routine can be testing enough, as job deadlines, relationship woes, and family trouble can feel just as dramatic as the direst situations in any shōnen manga.
The best slice-of-life manga can capture all that and turn it into a tragedy, a comedy, or provide hope in seemingly hopeless situations. Particularly the seinen ones as, by being aimed at an older audience, they can spell out their put-upon protagonists’ situations in rawer details. Curious readers who want to know where to start with this genre can check out these recommendations.
1Solanin
Couple Give Up the City Grind to Chase Their Dreams
Nearly any ofInio Asano’s workscould count for inclusion on this list, as even when they have a surreal premise, they focus on the down-to-earth details.Nijigahara Holographtalks about a cursed beast, only for it to become a metaphor for a self-fulfilling prophecy that dooms everyone involved. Likewise, the demon haunting Tokyo inSolaninis the crushing grind that made Meiko lose sight of her dreams.
So, with her sleepy boyfriend Naruo’s approval, the two leave their jobs behind to do what they always dreamed of: get their old college band back together and head toward a more exciting, unpredictable future. However, while it may offer fresher experiences than the “demon” of Tokyo, it can bring them tragic, painful lows as well as thrilling and fulfilling highs.
2Genshiken
It Can Be Healthy To Be Nerdy Sometimes
It’s easier to sayGenshikenthan it is to say “Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyūkai” (“The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture”). But then, it’s also easier to say that it just meansit’s a club for otaku. Whether it’s comics, anime, plastic figures, or cosplay, the Genshiken has it all, much to the displeasure of Saki Kasukabe, a girl who isn’t into otaku culture at all.
She’d rather her boyfriend, Kosaka, grew out of nerdy interests and hobbies, while their mutual acquaintance, Kanji, is torn between following his heart and joining the club or doing something more socially acceptable. But through their time in the club, Saki gets to know her boyfriend better, Kanji learns to accept himself, and the group learns to be friends as well as colleagues.
3Non Non Biyori
Schoolgirls Live A Humble Life In The Countryside
Not all slice-of-life stories are as heavy asSolanin. Some of the best ones can be surprisingly gentle, easy-going tales that are meant to comfort their readers. They’ve caught on well enough to become a subgenre of their own, known as iyashikei (“healing”). So, if readers don’t fancy having their nerves frayed or heartstrings plucked, they could check out a story likeNon Non Biyori.
It’s about Hotaru Ichijo, a city girl from Tokyo, getting used to rural life in the countryside after her father gets transferred to the humble town of Asahigaoka. She had visited the town before to see relatives, but living there was another prospect altogether. Luckily, she makes some new friends who help show her the ropes while getting into sweet, lighthearted and funny mishaps.
4Planetes
The Ugly, More Likely Side Of Space Travel
How could ahard sci-fi storylikePlanetesbe a slice-of-life tale? By going very hard on the science part, as it doesn’t involve colonizing the solar system or seeking out new life and civilizations. Instead, it follows the crew of DS-12 “Toy Box,” who are tasked with clearing the space debris surrounding the earth. One could say they’re basically garbage collectors. Only people’s trash doesn’t risk building up and damaging satellites and space stations.
It’s a job that has its ups and downs, yet for each surprising event (foiling a terrorist plot by ramming a satellite), some twists and turns are more terrestrial than extraterrestrial. Like dealing with the loss of loved ones, the undue attention activism can bring when they try to raise awareness for a cause, and the toll spending days and weeks in space can take on the human psyche.
5My Girl
Grieving Man Mourns His Ex While Raising Her Daughter
How far would a person go to help their exes? Depending on the break-up, it might be as far as the horizon or less than the tiniest measurement possible. Many times, it can be more complicated than that, asMy Girlshows. In it, Masamune finds himself pining for his ex-girlfriend Yoko, even five years after they broke up.
It only gets worse when Yoko’s mother calls him out of the blue to tell him Yoko died in a car accident. On top of that, she had Masamune’s child and raised her in secret by herself during that time. Left grief-stricken but unwilling to leave his daughter behind, he takes her in and raises her himself, learning how to be a single father while dealing with his pain in the process.
6Our Dreams At Dusk
Gay Teen Enters A Drop-In Center And Finds Hope
Genshikenshowed how people could develop healthy ways of handling their niche interests without becoming social outcasts. But being bullied or ostracized for liking anime is different from, say, being gay, trans, asexual, or any other part of the LGBTQ umbrella. The pressure and punishment they can get for being themselves can be too much.
Our Dreams at Duskcaptures this, as Tasuku is left contemplating suicide after he’s outed at school. But he stops when he sees someone else take a fatal fall from an office building. Or so he thought. The person turns out to be okay, and the building is a drop-in center for struggling people to share their woes. Through their help, Tasuku learns to accept himself and gain a new lease on life.
7Hirayasumi
Humble Worker Gains A House And Shares It With His Cousin
People don’t always live lives as grave as those inMy GirlorOur Dreams at Dusk, nor as light as inNon Non Biyori. Usually, they end up being somewhere in between, like inHirayasumi. It follows Hiroto, a guy who spends his days in Asagaya working at his job and chatting with the locals. He even managed to befriend Hanae, a grumpy but kind elderly woman.
However, when she passes away, he discovers how close he got to her when she left him her old bungalow in her will. Then, three months later, his cousin Natsumi needs a place to stay while she attends art school. So, he takes her into his new home and, despite their differing personalities, tries to make the most of living together.
8Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
Android Serves Coffee To What’s Left Of Humanity
The world as people know it is over. With the rising sea levels and Mt Fuji suddenly erupting to catastrophic proportions, humanity is left on the decline. It won’t be long until the entire human race goes extinct. So, how did this cheery premise makeYokohama Kaidashi Kikou(“Yokohama Shopping Log”) one of the most famous slice-of-life iyashikei strips out there?
It’s because it’s about its castaccepting that nothing lasts forever. Alpha, an android employee of the Café Alpha coffee shop, will outlast the remaining humans around her. But she befriends them and helps them out anyway, even as they age, move away, or die. Their limited time together doesn’t make it any less worthwhile. It’s all about appreciating what one has while it’s there.
9March Comes In Like A Lion
Reclusive Shogi Player Makes His First Genuine Friends
GenshikenandOur Dreams at Duskshowed that hobbies, sexualities and identities don’t make people worse than anyone else. But some people’s problems aren’t as straightforward as accepting those traits. It can be more traumatic and innate. Like Rei inMarch Comes in Like a Lion, who’s such a genius shogi player he was able to go pro at the game while in middle school.
However, he’s gotten so good at it that he’s under pressure from the shogi community to go further in the game. Then, after losing his parents and little sister in an accident as a child, he has emotional baggage keeping him from socializing or getting on with his foster family. But when he meets the Kawamoto sisters, he makes his first true friends in a long time, and they put them on the path to overcoming his issues.
10Oyasumi Punpun
Young Boy Loses His Innocence And Idealism As He Grows Up
Slice-of-life doesn’t mean it has to be a present-day story with no fanciful twists or turns. Otherwise,Planetes,Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, and anything by Inio Asano wouldn’t exist.Solaninwas relatively grounded, butOyasumi Punpunuses a lot of colorful figures and stark turns to tell its story. On paper, it’s about a boy called Punpun as he grows up with his dysfunctional family, and deals with his feelings for his classmate Aiko.
Asano just illustrated it by depicting Punpun and his family as crudely drawn birds. Then, to dissociate from his disintegrating family life, he seeks guidance from a photorealistic head called “God,” whose advice is anything but divine. Punpun got a bad start in life,and it only gets worseas he gets older.
