One thing that I've begun to give up on is the news. No matter what the news station, whether it's Fox, MSNBC, C-SPAN, even the local news (which I used to love), it's become insufferable to watch. It seems like every moment is either some stupid thing Trump or his supporters said, or some disaster occurring. Even listening to other Democrats is getting tiring! Even people that I agree with. I can't take it. I just want it to end! Every time politics comes up, I try to change the conversation to something else, but people keep wanting to discuss it even though it tears people and families apart like mozzarella sticks. One can only take so much. To those who are hardened enough to keep up with all this, good on you, but for me, I gave up months ago.
One way that I escape a news-obsessed world is through anime. If you're like me, and you're getting tired of the news, I've made a list of animes that can help you escape the constant arguing, angst and negativity on both sides of the political spectrum. These are heart-warming animes about people coming together, communities overcoming conflicts and endless creativity.
1. "Clannad / Clannad: After Story"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_Ho5K6pS-A
"Clannad" has gotten me through so many hard times. When my father was dying, and even afterward, even to this day, I watch this show because it allows me to cry. It's been so hard for me to cry since my father's death, but this anime, it's amazing characters--characters you believe are real--touch you in such a way that truly gets at what it means not only to be in a romantic relationship, but also platonic ones, and how a community is like a family and can get you through rough times, whether it be illness, death, insecurity, alcoholism or abuse.
The story starts out with Tomoya, a high school student who's stereotyped as "a delinquent." On his way to school one day, he comes across a sickly girl standing at the foot of the hill to the gates of the high school. Her name is Nagisa, and her one wish is simply to put on a play based on a story that her parents told her when she was sick as a child. Other characters start to come into play and help out like Kotomi, a shy, genius girl whose parents died in an airplane crash but begins to open up to others through the efforts of Nagisa and her friends. Another character that Tomoya and Nagisa help is Tomoyo, a classmate who wants to help save the trees in the neighborhood that she and her brother, who nearly drowned in emotional distress over their parents nearly getting divorced, bonded over.
Unlike a lot of anime, it doesn't end just with high school. In "Clannad: After Story," we get to see the relationship between Tomoya and Nagisa blossom into marriage and even having a child after graduation. We also get to see what happens to the supporting cast, like twins Kyou and Ryou, who become an elementary school teacher and a nurse respectively. Kotomi travels to America to continue where her parents left off on their work about advanced physics. Tomoya finds a job working as a mechanic, and Nagisa works for a short while as a waitress at a small diner.
This anime is filled with a lot of heart, and even non-otakus should give it chance. Just remember to bring lots of tissues!
2. "Nagi no Asukara" (A lull in the sea)
Like the newest Disney hit "Zootopia," there is some actual political commentary on racism. However, it's done in a settle manner that doesn't bang you over the head with it. It's still filled with a lot of heart and both sides of the community aren't totally blameless.
The story takes place in a small seaside community in rural Japan. In this world, there are villages that exist on the floor of the ocean. When the school underwater closes down due to lack of enrollment, four teenagers who live in the underwater village--Hikari, Manaka, Chisaki and Kaname--must transfer to the school on the surface.
However, tensions begin to rise as Manaka and Hikari's older sister, Akari, begin to have romantic feelings for surface-people--a taboo in the sea community. As they anger the sea-god, the underwater community gets buried, five years pass, and Chisaki, the remaining sea-dweller of her group who narrowly escaped the sea-god's wrath, must find a way to cope as the curse that froze the sea-community starts to wane, and her friends who haven't aged wake up. Both communities must overcome their prejudices and mistakes in order to move on.
Chisaki is easily one of my favorite female characters--not just in anime, but in general. She's strong, but insecure, and unsure of herself at times, which makes her believable and relatable.
Definitely, definitely check this show out! (Warning: You may be blown back by Chisaki's awesomeness. Also bring tissues).
3. "Anne-Happy"
Why do people give Moe such a bad rap?
"They're nothing but the same recycled tropes!" But isn't there issues like that in every genre?
Anyway, "Anne-Happy" is perhaps one of the underrated animes of Spring 2016. It's literally about a show about girls using the power of friendship to overcome their own flaws and help each other get through rough situations. Just because it has lots of moe doesn't mean it's a bad show!
These girls have been branded by their school as "unfortunate," so they've been placed in the "Happiness Class," in which they're forced to try to overcome whatever bad karma they have. My personal favorite is Ruri (maybe I have a thing for cool-colored girls, but whatever she's awesome). Ruri has the unique misfortune of having romantic feelings for a construction sign. Yes, you read that correctly.
Good job, Japan.
The others are Anne (the main lady), a girl who has the worst misfortune in the class. One of her most common misfortunes is tripping into rivers and manholes or getting bitten by cats. Botan, who has the misfortune of terrible health (though rarely misses a day of school?). Hibiki, who was basically the female version of Chuuya from "Bungou Stray Dogs" in a short skirt minus the ability to walk on ceilings. In fact, they're just the same person the Port Mafia just hasn't noticed yet. Ren, who has the misfortune of being stalked by female animals.
Other notable characters are Timothy, the robot bunny and token mascot of the series. He can also rap. Not that badly. I think he should team up with Kendrick sometime.
STRAIGHT OUTTA MOE.
4. "Flying Witch"
Unique in its characters, its story-telling, its themes. The story, much like "Kiki's Delivery Service," is about a young witch named Makoto who moves into her extended family's house in a new town with her familiar Chito, a black cat. It reminds me a lot of Studio Ghibli in how it relies more on just the characters, the heartwarming atmosphere, with whimsical touches of fantasy. If you like Studio Ghibli, you'll like this show.
Makoto soon becomes a big-sister figure to her cousin Chinatsu, who decides to become a witch herself. However, there are plenty of other characters worth mentioning just because of how quirky and unique they are. There's Akane, Makoto's older sister, who's a well-known, respected witch who travels the world but often gets drunk. There's Akane's friend, Inukai, a fortune-teller witch who accidentally came under a curse while drunk. There's Nao, the daughter of the owner of a liquor store who's often bewildered by the world of witches. Also along for the ride (no pun intended) is Kei, Chinatsu's older brother, Kenny, Akane's anthropology-studying familiar (also a cat) and Kenny's student Anzu, a witch whose mother owns a magical cafe.
5. "Waiting in the Summer"
Another under-rated anime that no one ever talked about, aside from its spread in Newtype. This anime had the misfortune of being one of what I like to call "The Titan-Free killed," animes that were sadly looked over because they came out around the same time that "Attack on Titan" and "Free!" came out. Sure, I was an "Attack on Titan" fan when the craze was at its peak, but what was sad was that so many great animes were suddenly overlooked because of such a giant hype.
I thought that this anime was very heartwarming. It's a 12 episode long show about a young alien named Ichika who, after crash-landing on Earth, transfers to a high school and soon befriends a small group of students who plan on making a film over the summer break. One of said students is Kaito, a boy who finds film as a means to cope with the passing of his parents. Ichika starts to having feelings for Kaito, but is conflicted because aliens aren't supposed to have relationships with lifeforms from "underdeveloped" planets. Things become more complicated as Kanna, Kaito's childhood friend, begins to realize that Ichika has feelings for Kaito. Meanwhile, Tetsuro, a friend of Kaito, secretly harbors feelings for Kanna, but doesn't realize that Mio, another one of the group of friends, has feelings for him. Finally, there's Lemon, a secret agent of "Men in Black" who helps Ichika return to Earth so she can reunite with Kaito and her new friends.
6. "No-Rin"
"No-Rin" is a light-hearted show about an agriculture school in rural Japan. When pop star Yuka retires from her show-career to attend No-Rin school of agriculture, everyone is shocked, including Yuka's biggest fan, Kosaku. It's revealed that her real name is Ringo (make your Beatles joke here), and she's actually really shy. The one not so happy about this is Kosaku's childhood friend and crush, Minori, who dreams of starting a large family with Kosaku. As always, thrown in the mix is Kei, who decided to attend No-Rin in order to support organic products over the pesticides that killed his mother, and his love interest, Yoshida, who works with livestock.
Other quirky characters are Suzuki, who tries to promote her yogurt, Kaoru, the flamboyant representative of the landscaping class, Rinataro, the head of the forestry unit with an obsession of trying to bring more girls into their class and Becky, the insane teacher of Kosaku's class fixated on finding a husband.
7. "Princess Jellyfish"
One of the most unique shows in recent memory, "Princess Jellyfish" is about a young woman who lost her mother, but finds comfort in jellyfish, living in an old apartment with other nerds. This all changes when one day while trying to save a jellyfish from being killed by a reckless pet shop owner, the son of a politician who loves to dress in drag, helps her out but then shortly afterward falls unconscious.
They soon find out that their apartment building is going to torn down in place for a new hotel--and have to find a way to save it while being true to themselves!
8. "Kokoro Connect"
This is another "Titan-Free-killed" anime.
"Kokoro Connect" is about a group of friends who met because they had no other choice, and were thrown together in the "Student Cultural Research Center" club. However, their friendship and bonds are put to the test when a strange creature called Heartseed begins to mess with their lives. They learn more and more about themselves, and their darkest secrets--and how they can help each other combat them.
9. "Sakura Trick"
Yes, Maximus, it is--but not the only reason.
"Sakura Trick," like "No-Rin" and "Anne-Happy" gets an underserved rap just for being moe. "Sakura Trick" also has a damn catchy theme song and ost, great animation and lots of heart.
"Sakura Trick" starts out with Haruka, who in fear of being alone and losing her best friend Yuu, decides to get a little closer to her by kissing her. This leads to a relationship of two teenagers exploring their sexuality. However, Haruka and Yuu are not the only ones exploring who they are. Yuu's older sister, Mitsuki, starts off against the relationship, but realizes that the reason why is because she has feelings for Haruka. Haruka and Yuu's friends, Kotone and Minami, have a relationship as well, despite the fact that Kotone has an arranged marriage coming for her after high school. Also along for the ride is Kaede and Yuzu.
10. "Bunny Drop"
This covers something that not many animes do: parenting. The only other anime on this list that really dives into depths about this is "Clannad."
"Bunny Drop" is about a 30 something named Yumi who finds out, upon his grandfather's death, that said grandfather fathered an illegitimate child named Rin with his maid, who often abused her, and then left them to become a manga artist. As the family is about ready to send Rin to an orphanage, Yumi decides to take her in. It shows the changes in both of them as Yumi adjusts from being a single guy to a single father, and Rin begins to learn how to be more sociable, not only with children her own age, but other people in general.
