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I am a bit of Japanophile, ever since watching NHK World as a child. I became fascinated by Japanese culture, customs and etiquette, having found the reserved and polite nature of the people to be reminiscent of myself. I am fond of plants/trees and some of my favourites are important in Japan, for example the East Asian Flowering Cherry tree. I would love to observe Hanami if there was a grove of Cherry Blossom trees near me. I am still a regular viewer of NHK World and I have committed to learn Japanese seriously over the past two years.

I love to watch Iyashikei, romance / drama and also a bit of action/adventure. I live for Ghibli movies, they are like a medicine for me. Wonderful verdant opalescent forests, sea blue skies with puffy clouds, very elegant possibly Edwardian style clothing of which I am very fond, and the slow meditative scenes sprinkled amid the activity. I also love light-hearted slice of life mostly in the CGDCT category, although I am quite selective with these as I want something with feeling and not too much fan service.

I like to watch romance between women, although I have seldom found shows that I am happy with, since so many are either unrealistic and fanservice-laden or they are depressing.

I like anime that has life lessons and touches my heart in some way. My favourite anime franchise of all time is probably Aria. It is just so enchanting, beautiful and magical. You might say it has a Ghibli-esque quality. The scenery relaxing and beautiful, which is further enhanced by a sophisticated exotic, sentimental, and sometimes intensely emotional score, with many recurring catchy pieces. The music, like the scenery is instantly memorable. The characters are lovable and realistic, their emotions and past-baggage in particular are very identifiable. A highlight for me is the purity of the characters’ friendship and their passion for the intricate art of gondola sculling and related skills like canzone and customer care. The pacing is excellent, every episode has a spiritual centre and usually a message or life lesson. The emphasis on mono no aware (pathos of things), which many anime have, is moving and also relaxing in Aria. If there one word to sum up the general vibe of Aria, it is sentimental. All in all, for me it is the Gold standard of iyashikei anime (probably my favorite genre), followed by Tamayura, Natsume's Book of Friends, Flying Witch Non Non Biyori and maybe Amanchu 1st Season.

Favourite anime in no particular order:


K-On - Funny, easy-going story with exciting and sometimes touching moments. It follows an unlikely rock band and their exploits as they develop. Mostly they drink tea and talk, so there is a slice-of-life feel. It has funny relatable characters that are definitely missed when the show is over. It leaves a legacy of catchy songs, realistic band performances and the warmth of friendship. A genuine feel good anime.

Tamayura - If I was looking for an anime that came close to Aria, Tamayura would be it, with regard to characters, setting, and theme. The only thing it lacks is the more spiritual and occasional supernatural elements that I loved to see. Overall, excellent series, just a shame that there weren't more of them.

Natsume's Book of Friends - If I was looking for a series that came close to Aria in terms of the supernatural and life lesson side, it would have to be this. Natsume's book of friends is one of those rare anime with great characters, setting, plot, theme, music and character development that actually has a decent number of episodes. So many anime are either brilliant but short, or mediocre but long.

Encouragement of Climb - This was an unexpected hit with my partner and I. Another perfect example of a good slice of life iyashikei anime, complete with lovable characters, beautiful landscapes, slow pacing, life lessons and brief humorous moments. It felt a lot like Tamayura with the great characters, school life and coming-of-age themes. My only criticism is that the first season, with 13 2 minute episodes, was just not enjoyable for me unless binging them. Back-to-back without the repeated EDs, would total only 42:14. This was improved from Season 2 on when the episode length increased to 13 minutes, but full 24 minute length wasn't introduced until season 4, the last season, and the first 4 episodes of that were just condensed edits of the first 3 seasons. Still, this is one of my favourite shows and wish that they would make another season or Movie.

Kobato - Colourful world, gripping drama and life lessons. This took me on a real emotional roller-coaster, destroying me and then uplifting me supremely. Very well written with realistic, deep characters and believable narrative. A gold standard for romantic drama anime with a supernatural twist. A bonus is the catchy Katsutoshi Kitagawa (Round Table) theme song, sung by Maaya Sakamoto. I am a Round Table fan.

Fruits Basket - Much like Kobato, we were left mourning this after finishing it. At 63 episodes in length, it is one of the longest anime (by number of items) that we have watched, surpassed only by Aria and Natsume Yuujinchou. An emotional roller-coaster, a kind of supernatural romance like Kobato with spiritual content, many life-lessons and deep moments. Many realistic, complex characters, captivating story with many intricately crafted twists. My partner who majored in screenwriting at University says it is a masterpiece of screenwriting. It also has Maaya Sakamoto as a voice actor, I hadn't realised that she had acted in things before, since I have known her as a singer.

Flying Witch (A wonderful feel good show, great characters, insightful stories, similar to Aria in a way).

Lucky Star (A classic, well observed observational humour, and a masterclass in how to write a CGDCT slice of life comedy).

Aria (A Masterpiece! in the words of my partner. Mono no aware and many life lessons condensed into an anime). Seriously, they say we enter this world with nothing and you leave with nothing and If I could take one thing with me into the afterlife it would be Aria. I just adore it! Characters are so familiar and warm they make the room feel like a relaxed family gathering, the music is just out of this world and the life-lessons, character development, plot setting, supernatural and spiritual themes I just can't praise enough. This is without doubt one of the best anime I have ever seen. It is like a benchmark for me for other shows.

Amanchu - From the author and director of Aria, the first season of this show was a lovingly crafted experience, much like Aria. It had the friendly, loveable characters, the magical moments, breath-taking scenery, life-lessons and all of that. The two main characters seemed to fit together so well and when I started watching season 2 I yearned for more fun, but then a new character was forced into the mix and while season 2 has some moments, mostly it revolved around jealousy between the new character and Futaba, forever entering competitions to prove how much they like Hikari. Even when there are touching moments, the new character is jammed in somewhere to break it up. At the end of the show the resolution felt so unrealistic and forced. Honestly, the second season was the most disappointing continuation of any anime I have seen. A third season was planned, but due to the fan disappointment with the second season, it was cancelled. I don't have solid evidence of this, but some people say that the author was uncomfortable with the yuri shipping of the two characters, and intentionally tried to prove that no romantic relationship existed. Ironically, regardless of how viewers saw the relationship, this move ruined the story.

Tonari no Kyouketsuki-san - This show was a little contrived, unrealistic and has a little fan-service, but it was nevertheless romantic, funny, touching and warm. It is a shame there wasn't another season.

Kiniro Mosaic (I hoped it would have more substance, but it was a warm, friendly bit of fun).

Someday's Dreamers (Many relatable feelings and situations and lovable characters. This was so moving).

Sora yori no Tooi Basho - This was a mixture of slice-of-life CGDCT and a more serious, moving drama. I loved this one and was sad when it ended. I want to see more Anime like this.

Pokemon - Exciting episodic action adventure comedy with funny, likeable characters, but way too repetitive and lacks character development. Show rapidly becomes 2-dimensional and predictable. Great for kids but as an adult it feels too simple.

Sailor Moon (I love this show! As an episodic kids' anime it is one of the best. Characters, Plot, Music, overall feel, all brilliant). Still it suffers from some of the issues of being a long-running anime.

Yuru Camp - This is similar to Encouragement of Climb, expect that it is about camping, not mountain climbing. It also focuses evenly on four characters rather than mostly on two. We really enjoyed this one as it had delicious scenery, fun characters, a relaxing slice-of-life feel and many humorous moments. This also reminds me of SuperCub, due to Rin's motorcycle rides.

Haruhi Suzumiya no Yuutsu / shoushitsu - This show was among the first anime I ever watched, in late 2012, along with Steins;Gate and Squid Girl. I used the term watched loosely as I only saw the first episode, I then watched the first 14 episodes the next year and then I didn't watch the whole series until very recently. It’s hard to rate this show objectively as for me just hearing the OP makes me feel fuzzy. It represents the beginning of a new era of my life since it was part of my introduction to anime, and also it is a cult classic and an iconic show, but here it goes.
A classic comedy Sci-fi anime, containing some notable references to and inspirations from Sci-fi and other famous shows including outside of anime. Much of the plot concerns time-travel and space-time disturbances (reminds me of Doctor Who). There is a degree of social commentary too with discussions about moe and some of Haruhi's activities in the SOS brigade highlight common tropes in anime. It has a slice-of-life feel but includes some action and in some places violence. The characters are instantly recognisable and memorable, although Haruhi can be annoying at times, particularly in the way she treats Mikuru, which ceases to be funny after a while for me. The show is quite unique, at least compared with anime I have seen, as Haruhi has powers akin to a god and the lore that is progressively told and the supernatural elements make the show remind me of various Sci-fi cult classics. The soundtrack including the songs is first-rate in my opinion and it remains one of my favourite anime soundtracks. The only negatives for me are the unlikeable aspects of Haruhi's character, the strange mixing up of the episode order which leads to one having to watch episodes from both seasons out of sequence for the show to make sense and the plot feels at times quite convoluted. Endless Eight, in which the characters are caught in a time loop, is perhaps an example of this. In the light novel, only the final loop is featured and the Eight in endless Eight refers to 8th of August, but in the anime there are literally 8 episodes, representing 8 out of the many thousand loops, featuring the same period of time and same events, only with minor differences. As with other 2000s anime such as the Girl who leapt through time and Steins;gate, there is a time-travel focus. It seems that this show was wildly popular in the late 2000s, it was frequently rated one of the best anime and the Hare Hare Yukai dance inspired many fan recreations effectively inventing a genre of dance cover video. Due to being contemporary with the advent of prominent video sharing sites and early social media, there was a run away effect with many video clip uploads, fan parodies and homages, a landmark for a Japanese anime series. It was also one of the earliest anime to bring a voice actor into mainstream media, making Aya Hirano one of the first idol voice actors, giving birth to a whole new celebrity culture of VAs.

Hyouka - This one was a surprise for me. It was originally recommended in a mailing list I once subscribed to, but I never expected it to be so good. It is one of many examples of anime that are not about what they appear to be about. In a nutshell, the setup is four students who join the Classic Literature Club to save it from closure (this seems to be a trope of KyoAni also used in K-On and Haruhi). Oreki was forced to join the club by his sister and is incredibly lazy, but turns his hand to uncovering a tragedy in the club's past, in which Chitanda's uncle is connected, and from there, the club grapples with several other mysteries, with characters developing along the way. A brilliant premise and, as a fan of Sherlock Holmes and mystery novels in general, I think a very stimulating watch. On the face of it, you might think it is just about students reading classical literature in a school club, but in reality, this virtually never happens. The shows main story is really about four high school kids socialising and working with Oreki to solve mysteries. I really enjoyed this anime, but, while it was a two-cour show with 22 episodes, it felt like our time watching it flew by, and we were left wishing for another season.

Kanon (2006) - This story was really heartwarming and the characters are so lovable. I really enjoyed watching this one, in spite of its rather sombre atmosphere. I was originally drawn to this after many years of wondering where the famous 'uguu' meme came from. I realised that it was from the landmark visual novel Kanon, which was subsequently adapted several times. I remember people talking about in my group of friends about 10 years ago, but I didn't watch it until now.

The show reminds me a lot of Haruhi. Both are two-couer shows from the 2000s made by Kyouto Animation, with a very similar looking male high school student protagonist, voiced by the same actor, who meets several female characters who are in some way extra-ordinary while encountering supernatural happenings. There is even a moe red-head and a blue haired cold character who knows more about what is happening than the other characters. These overtime have become tropes it seems.

It also reminds me heavily of Kobato. Without giving too many spoiler, there is series-long arc of a female character who appears in a supernatural way, whom has befallen some tragic event, and with whom the male protagonist falls in love. Similarly, the story starts harmlessly enough before eventually developing some serious drama and eventually a rush to do something that will ensure a character's wish to be granted.

The show was adapted from a kind of dating sim, with several distinct complex character arcs involving Yuuichi, the main protagonist and one girl, each having their own endings. This is one of many famous VNs to be adapted for anime, Steins;Gate, Clannad and Air being other well-known ones. Due to this, adapting as one story leads to many of the characters having arcs that start and complete at certain points in the series, and therefore characters seem to appear and then disappear from the narrative, and not share many scenes with the other characters. This can make it confusing or feel a bit clunky. It is also very dialogue driven, with many one-on-one conversations between Yuuichi and one of the girls.

Overall, the music is great, despite being repetetive and a bit dated, the scenery is captivating and the characters are rich, often goofy, and certainly memorable. The story has some sad, teary moments, which I love, but there is a lot of sombre tone to the show overall. One of the big themes is loss of memory, several character appear to have some form of amnesia including Yuuichi. There are also many occurences of love and bereavement, changing of the seasons, repression of past trauma. It is not a largely fun, story with an air of slice-of-life, as are K-On, Tamayura, Sound Euphonium or even to some less extent Haruhi. These shows defintely have drama and emotional moments, but lack the overall air of tragedy that Kanon has.

I would say that this for me was a classic and thoroughly captivating experience to watch. Just seeing the characters is a treat, and settings and supernatural overtones are for me very appealing. This is definitely a favourite, but like Kobato, is one that requires a certain mood to watch I think.


I am going to say this as a global comment that quite a lot of anime that I loved watching felt a bit too short. With the exception of Pokemon, the anime on my favourites list have around 2 and a half seasons on average, but that is going by the mean (sum divided by number), going by the mode (most frequent values) the average number of seasons is just 1! Some of those single season shows were incredible and I believe would have benefited from at least one more season.