Skip and Loafer is a charmingslice-of-life animethat follows Mitsumi, a bright girl from rural Japan who moves to Tokyo for high school. She navigates city life, dealing with everyday adventures, friendships, and personal growth. Like Skip and Loafer, anime such as Barakamon, Silver Spoon, and Non Non Biyori, also beautifully explore themes of self-discovery and the contrast between urban and rural life.
RELATED:Best Anime With More Than 100 Episodes
These series offer heartwarming narratives that celebrate life’s simple, mundane, and extraordinary, providing viewers with both comfort and contemplation. Let’s look at the ten best anime that share similar themes and narratives to Skip and Loafer.
10Hanasaku Iroha
Hanasaku Iroha follows 16-year-old Ohana Matsumae, who is forced to move from Tokyo to live with her strict grandmother in the countryside due to her mother’s irresponsibility. There, she works at her grandmother’s traditional Japanese inn, Kissuiso. In this unfamiliar setting, Ohana struggles to adjust but gradually grows through her interactions with co-workers and customers.
She learns the value of hard work, camaraderie, and service excellence. The inn’s staff, each with unique backstories and quirks, make Hanasaku Iroha a beautiful coming-of-age tale that explores the dichotomy between city and rural life.
9Natsume’s Book of Friends
Natsume’s Book of Friends follows Takashi Natsume, a boy who can see spirits, a power he inherited from his grandmother, Reiko. He discovers Reiko’s Book of Friends, a ledger containing the names of spirits she defeated and subjugated. Takashi decides to free the spirits from servitude.
Accompanied by his self-proclaimed bodyguard Nyanko-sensei, a powerful spirit in the guise of a lucky cat, Takashi navigates his everyday life while interacting with the spirit world. Each episode explores a new encounter, often intertwining heartfelt, sorrowful, and uplifting narratives.
Tamayura is a heartfelt anime about a high school girl, Fu Sawatari, who moves back to her late father’s hometown. Reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, Fu finds solace and inspiration in the scenic coastal town. She takes up her father’s camera, capturing fleeting moments of beauty in her photographs.
RELATED:Visual Novel Tamayura Mirai Will Be Released In English This Spring
Through her lens, Fu learns to cope with her grief and embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Each episode showcases her experiences and the profound impact of the pictures she captures, making Tamayura a relaxing, slice-of-life anime.
7Kino’s Journey
Kino’s Journey chronicles the adventures of a young female protagonist named Kino and her talking motorcycle, Hermes. Kino adheres to a rule to only spend three days and two nights in every town, enough to learn about the place while maintaining her detached status. In each episode, Kino explores a different society with distinct customs and ways of life.
From democracies to tyrannies, the societies showcase the spectrum of human behavior, morality, and philosophy. Kino’s role is primarily an observer, neither passing judgment nor interfering with local customs.
6A Place Further Than The Universe
A Place Further Than The Universe is about high school student Mari Tamaki who yearns for adventure but struggles to take the first step. She encounters Shirase Kobuchizawa, a girl determined to find her missing mother in Antarctica.
Along with two other girls, Hinata Miyake, and Yuzuki Shiraishi, they embark on an expedition. The girls face numerous challenges on their journey. The story is a tale of friendship, bravery, and personal growth as the girls confront their fears and insecurities while experiencing the beauty and harsh realities of Antarctica.
5Flying Witch
Flying Witch is a relaxing slice-of-life anime that follows Makoto Kowata, a young witch-in-training. As part of her rite of passage, she relocates from Yokohama to the countryside of Aomori to start living with her extended family.
Makoto’s everyday experiences in this new environment weave magic and ordinary life together in charming ways, from tending the garden and exploring the woods to preparing spells and flying on a broomstick. The presence of supernatural elements is treated as natural, adding a whimsical touch to the laid-back atmosphere.
Mushishi is afolklore animethat revolves around Ginko, a wandering Mushi master who studies and deals with mysterious creatures known as Mushi. Mushi are neither plants nor animals, inhabiting a different plane of existence. However, they can affect the human world in harmful ways.
RELATED:Most Underrated Anime Series You Shouldn’t Miss Watching
Ginko is able to see these entities and travels from place to place, investigating Mushi phenomena and helping people suffering from their effects. The anime is episodic, each story showcasing a unique Mushi encounter with beautiful art and a calm pace, providing a uniquely contemplative and haunting experience.
3Non Non Biyori
Non Non Biyori is a charming slice-of-life anime set in the quiet, rural village of Asahigaoka. The story focuses on the daily lives of four girls of different ages: Renge Miyauchi, the youngest and a curious first-grader; Hotaru Ichijou, a city girl who recently moved to the countryside; and two siblings, Natsumi, and Komari Koshigaya.
With the nearest stores miles away and a school with only five students, Asahigaoka is far from convenient, but the girls make the most of it. Each episode captures their mundane yet delightful adventures in the countryside.
2Silver Spoon
Silver Spoon is about Yugo Hachiken, a city boy who enrolls in Ooezo Agricultural High School in Hokkaido to escape the pressures of city life. Unprepared for the rigorous and practical curriculum of farming, Yugo struggles with his new environment.
However, through hands-on experiences in agriculture and interactions with his classmates, he learns about the challenges of the agricultural industry. The anime showcases Yugo’s growth and understanding of life’s core values, with food production as its backdrop. Silver Spoon showcases hard work, friendship, and understanding where food comes from.
1Barakamon
Barakamon is a perfectsummer animethat tells the story of Seishuu Handa, a young and talented calligrapher exiled to the Goto Islands by his father after a public outburst. From being a city dweller, Seishuu must adapt to a rural life surrounded by quirky villagers and the lively, free-spirited girl named Naru.
Initially, the island’s eccentric community overwhelms him, but he gradually warms up to their intrusive hospitality. This newfound environment and the colorful cast of characters inspire his calligraphy as he learns to incorporate the beauty and energy of the countryside into his work.
