Highlights
- Slice of life anime showcases the lives of child prodigies in various fields, highlighting the challenges they face to reach the top.
- These anime series delve into the journeys of musical, artistic, athletic, and shogi geniuses, providing heartwarming and inspiring narratives.
- From finding one's sound and people to overcoming trauma and building chosen families, these slice of life anime offer comforting and relatable stories.
Slice of life anime is a classic genre that provides viewers with a glimpse into the lives of others, often far different from their own. Some of these shows transport viewers into the life of a child prodigy. While many anime protagonists are prodigies with respect to their academics, or even more commonly, with respect to their battle-shonen powers, a few series focus on geniuses of another breed.
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With comedy, drama, romance, and more, slice-of-life anime brings day-to-day moments to a whole new level.
From teenaged mangakas to musical, athletic, and shogi geniuses, these slice of life protagonists go above and beyond in their respective fields. All of them have shown aptitude at a young age, but these stories tell the audience about the hurdles child prodigies must overcome in order to make it to the top.
Most of these anime slot into other genres as well, but they have enough slice of life moments to qualify.
9 Setsu Sawamura
Those Snow White Notes
Studio | Shine-Ei Animation |
|---|---|
Release Date | April 3, 2021 |
No. Of Episodes | 12 |
When his grandfather, a legendary shamisen player, dies, Setsu Sawamura moves to Tokyo in order to re-find his sound. There he joins the shamisen club at his school and teaches a group of friends how to play the instrument in preparation for a local competition.
This story is about finding your sound and finding your people. It is a heartwarming tale of an introvert finally experiencing school life to its fullest, as well as exploring the mentality of a musical genius as he gains confidence in himself and surpasses his predecessors.
8 Chihaya and Arata
Chihayafuru
Studio | Madhouse |
|---|---|
Release Date | October 4, 2011 |
No. Of Episodes | 76 |
Chihayafuru is another club anime, but this time about the traditional Japanese card game, karuta. It follows Chihaya on her journey of becoming the best female karuta player in the world, while helping her school's club train for the high school competition.
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There are two prodigies in Chiahyafuru, and while the main focus is Chihaya, her friend and rival Arata is a more traditional genius type. Both characters must overcome difficulties while remembering why they both love the game, respectively.
7 Rei Kiriyama
March Comes In Like A Lion
Studio | Shaft |
|---|---|
Release Date | October 8, 2016 |
No. Of Episodes | 45 |
Although March Comes In Like A Lion takes place during Rei's early adult life, he was a genius shogi player from a young age and came to become a competitive player in middle school. Now that Rei is old enough to live on his own, he moves out of the home that raised him as both a person and a shogi player.
March Comes In Like A Lion is a mellow slice of life anime about overcoming trauma, making new friends, creating a chosen family, and playing shogi. It's great for those looking for a comforting anime to cozy up to.
6 Nozaki
Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun
Studio | Doga Kobo |
|---|---|
Release Date | July 7, 2014 |
No. Of Episodes | 12 |
Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun is a romcom slice of life anime about Chiyo Sakura and Nozaki. Nozaki is a prodigy mangaka who makes a popular shojo manga, and Chiyo is a student who helps him ink his manga.
While Chiyo confesses her feelings early on in the story, Nozaki mistakes her reveal as a confession of being a fan of his manga. When she starts inking his manga due to the miscommunication, the two get closer. Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun isn't a typical child prodigy story, but it's incredibly funny and Nozaki is a genius nonetheless.
5 Kosei Arima & Kaori Miyazono
Your Lie In April
Studio | A-1 Pictures |
|---|---|
Release Date | October 10, 2014 |
No. Of Episodes | 22 |
Kosei Arima was a prodigy piano player who played everything perfectly. When an accident happens, and he experiences great trauma, he loses the ability to hear himself play. When Kosei meets Kaori Miyazono, a genius violinist with a secret, he finds himself reconnecting with the piano.
Your Lie In April is a total tear-jerker about loss and overcoming. It is a romantic drama that will hit fans in their feels while inspiring them to never give up on their passions.
4 Kakeru Kurahara
Run With The Wind
Studio | I.G. |
|---|---|
Release Date | October 2, 2018 |
No. Of Episodes | 23 |
Run With The Wind is about a genius track athlete named Kakeru as he starts university and moves into the track club's dormitory. There he meets Haiji, a fellow athlete who injured his knee and is finally able to run again. Together, along with the rest of the club, they prepare to run the Hakone Ekiden relay race.
This slice of life dramatic comedy is based on a novel by Shion Miura. It takes place at Kansai Univeristy, and it has been adapted into a live-action movie.
3 Haruka Nanase
Free!
Studio | Kyoto Animation |
|---|---|
Release Date | July 4, 2013 |
No. Of Episodes | 37 + 5 Movies |
Free! follows Haruka Nanase, a prodigious swimmer, as he and his friends collaborate to rebuild their school's swim club in order to compete against other schools. Haruka is a freestyle swimmer who feels his best in the water. He is the typical genius type who is more focused on outdoing himself than others, but when he meets his rival, Rin Matsuoka, he starts feeling more competitive.
The three seasons of Free! follow Haruka through to high school and university, as he competes at a higher level, makes new friends and reconnects with old ones, and learns to overcome his intrusive thoughts about not being good enough.
2 Kai Ichinose
Forest Of Piano
Studio | Gaina |
|---|---|
Release Date | April 8, 2018 |
No. Of Episodes | 24 |
Kai Ichinose is a young boy from the wrong side of the tracks who loves to play piano secretly in the forest. When a new kid, Shuhei, comes to Kai's school, it turns out he is an aspiring pianist and he and Kai hit it off as friends. Kai shows him the piano in the forest, and he is in awe of Kai's piano playing.
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Forest Of Piano is the story of Kai a piano prodigy, Sosuke Ajino, a retired pianist who lost everything in an accident, and Shuhei Amamiya, a skilled pianist who aspires to surpass Kai.
1 Takashi Natsume
Natsume's Book Of Friends
Studio | Brain's Base & Shuka |
|---|---|
Release Date | July 8, 2008 |
No. Of Episodes | 74 |
Natsume is an atypical prodigy since his genius comes in the form of an uncanny ability to see and interact with spirits, or, yokai. Since childhood, he has had a way with yokai that exceeds those of his age and older, but this skill comes with a lot of trouble.
Together with Nyanko-sensei (Madara), an inugami that takes on the form of a cat, Natsume must protect his "book of friends" from evil yokai, while helping other spirits that need to be released from their confines. This is a relaxing, low-stakes slice of life about friendship and helping others.