SLICE-OF-LIFE

Spy x Family gives you a spy, an assassin, and a telepath pretending to be a normal family — and then spends most of its time on breakfast scenes, school days, and a little girl discovering the world. It is the most purely joyful anime of the last five years.

Slice of life anime is about the small moments — the texture of daily existence, the warmth of friendship, the particular beauty of ordinary things. These are the ten series that do it best.

Shaft's adaptation of Chica Umino's manga is the most accurate depiction of depression in anime — and the most hopeful. Rei Kiriyama's recovery, guided by a family of three sisters who simply refuse to leave him alone, is the finest character arc in the genre.

CloverWorks' adaptation of Bocchi the Rock! is one of the most technically inventive anime of the decade — a slice of life about social anxiety, friendship, and learning to play guitar that refuses to be ordinary in a single frame.