Slice of Life: A series of moments
Life is messy, hectic and unpredictable. So, at the end of our long day when we try to forget about our hustle waiting just outside our front door many of us turn to a media called anime. A media that gives us a detachment from our miserable reality. And there comes a genre what offers the perfect escape from reality. A genre with more of a realistic setting. Which gives a sense of calm we all struggle to find in our ordinary life. If you are familiar with anime or weeb culture, you’ve without a doubt stumbled upon a “Slice of Life” anime.So, What is a Slice of Life anime? And how is it so popular and appealing to so many yet being called cancerous to the medium itself by many others?
What the heck actually is a slice of life anime? When I started writing this story, I realized even I’m not quite sure what the genre really is.
The more conventional definition of slice of life is, “A narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence of events in a characters life are presented, often lacking plot development, conflict and exposition and often having an open ending” which is quite accurate if you ask me.
Simply putting, shows of the ordinary or the mundane but not dull. This shows tend to be grounded in reality and doesn’t involve any supernatural elements. Instead what drives these shows are the characters and the setting of the world. The plot heavily depends on the setting, mostly set in a high school. And the most important element are the very unique characters. The story isn’t driven by the plot. The plot is driven by the personalities. Because one doesn’t simply right the jokes of a comedy series. They write the characters. And when the personalities are put together, the jokes come in themselves. To me the theme ‘slice of life’ feels more of a sub-genre because most if not all of them involves another supporting genre like comedy or shoujo-romance. When the characters and the use of the setting is done right, you as a viewer get to experience a very relatable, fun and ultimately heartwarming yet simple story.
I like slice of life because they tend to avoid drama and action. Instead present a more grounded and relaxed ultimately a more heartwarming experience. So they often have no climax at all. “Exactly. That’s the PROBLEM!” I hear you say. But before you file this one as uninteresting let me tell you that [ordinary ≠ boring].
True that there are a lot of slice of life that doesn’t work. It’s hard to distinguish them just by looking at them. They all are very fuwa fuwa and cute to look at. But there’s a fine line between them. The good ones feel truly good thanks to their relatable characters and situations. Dealing with the frustrations of falling in love for the first time while maintaining good grades and balancing social life while trying to figure out what you are going to do with your life after high school all the while trying hide your surprise boners. *sighs* This all actually occurs in real life and also by watching the characters go through similar experiences. These makes the genre all the easier to put yourself in their shoes.
Slice of Life is just that. What you see is what you get. There’s no deeper meaning behind them. And if you don’t find these simple fun times appealing, oh well. But if you see a show as a show about nothing or just a lolicon bait and start hating about it on the internet, you are most likely to not appreciate the genre. So, my advice to you is going to be to calm down, and watch something else and stop the cringe. And go watch nichijou.
Slice of life, is my favorite genre because of many reasons. Its audio-visual soul food. The day-to-day life of its numerous protagonists and its significantly low stakes compared to their more mainstream counterparts at least, lend these shows an ebb and flow of emotional investment and payoff that can’t be found elsewhere in the media. The characters are free to explore romance and friendship with enough dept. Characters grow as we watch them. And as we find out who they truly are, they do too. This theme is mostly warm and fuzzy, but it often comes in heart break.
Slice of life understands that life can be messy but it also understands that life is just a series of moments. Some wonderfully calm, some heartbreakingly cruel and some that are just fuwa fuwa. It’s a series of snapshots of life in an effort to take us out of our own moments.It offers you to explore a life far safer to invest in than our own. It’s escapism, pure and concentrated. It’s not for everyone. But maybe its for you. Because you don’t always need supernatural actions or a murder book or a sailor uniform. Sometimes you need to chillout and have a comfy time. Sometimes you need to slice of life.
