By Taylor Smith
“Healing Anime” as a subgenre is not necessarily a new topic, however it has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. It is believed that the covid 19 lockdowns at the start of the decade is what brought about its popularity as we developed a remarkable appreciation for the things we once thought of as normal and boring. After all, we learned it does not take much to take away that sense of normalcy. Healing anime, or “iyashikei” often highlights the beauty and entertainment we find in things that we consider to be boring. It depicts average moments of silliness, friendship, and more in a whole new perspective. These shows, even with the addition of magical creatures and unlikely scenarios, highlight moments that are often deeply connected to reality.
Do It Yourself!
This 12-episode series follows the adventures of Yua Serufu, a first-year high school student who is a complete klutz. One day, she finds her way to the decrepit shed that acts as the clubhouse for the school’s DIY club, which is in danger of shutting down because it only has one member. Intrigued by this, she decides to join the club despite her own clumsiness making it difficult for her to make crafts. This series explores the beauty of overcoming personal obstacles and the joys of developing friendships through shared interests.
Poco’s Udon World
After the death of his father, Souta Tawara, a 30-year-old man, returns home to his family’s udon shop with the motive to shut down the shop and sell it. While he is there, he discovers a young child sleeping in one of the pots. After asking around and finding out that nobody knows who the child is or where he came from, he decides to send them to a foster care facility. That is, until the child suddenly grows the ears and tail of a Tanuki. With that he decides to accept responsibility for the child and as they spend more time together, acting as father and son, Souta begins to understand the perspective of his own father more and more, leading to a revelation of what the love of a parent actually means.
My New Boss is Goofy
This anime follows Kentarou as he deals with moving forward after escaping a toxic workplace, and mistreatment from his old boss leaves him feeling traumatized. He lands a role in a marketing firm where the man in charge, although listless and often unaware of his surroundings, genuinely shows care and compassion for his employees. This anime shows the beauty of moving forward, developing new friendships, and improving your craft as you find a place that allows and encourages you to experience that growth.
Delicious in Dungeon
This anime has gained a lot of popularity as it breaks down one of the most asked questions in the history of dungeon crawling adventures. “What on earth do they eat?” This anime follows the adventures of a group of adventurers, Laios who is the leader of these adventurers, Marcell an Elf with strong magical powers, Chilchuck a half foot with lock picking abilities and trap detection, and Senshi, a dwarf with a talent for cooking and vast knowledge of monsters. As they descend into the dungeon with the mission to rescue Laios’ younger sister Falin, who was eaten by a dragon. As they descend deeper into the dungeon, they learn more about the monsters, what they are, and how they can prepare and eat them. Although this anime is not realistic, the solutions and the methods they show in this are based on realism and offer a decent amount of closure for those who are skeptics even in the face of fantasy.
Laid Back Camp
This anime follows the adventures of a group of five girls as they develop friendships and bonds through a mutual love for camping and the outdoors. Rin Shima, a solitary type who prefers to camp alone, along with the members of the outdoor activities club which consists of the founding members Chiaki Ohgaki, and Aoi Inuyama, as well as their newest member Nadeshiko Kagamihara, and Ena Saito. This anime focuses on the adventures these girls have together as they explore the beauty of the Japanese countryside through camping and develop a strong bond with each other.
Healing anime finds beauty and entertainment through things that most people find to be boring by focusing it through a different lens. Series like these can help us develop a new appreciation for normalcy and make it so we want to try doing these things. Creating recipes, finding ways to move forward in our careers, making friends, going camping, and developing love and appreciation are not new or even exciting. But we crave these things and seeing them happen for others makes it easier for us to find the resolve to do them ourselves.
