This Week in Anime
Snuggling in with Cozy Anime

by Christopher Farris & Coop Bicknell,

Chris and Coop discuss their comfort watches for those days when you just want your anime to be the equivalent of a mug of hot cocoa.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.
Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead.

Laid-Back Camp, Dirty Pair TV, My Next Life as a Villainess, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, Pretty Cure are available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Call of the Night is on HIDIVE.
Dirty Pair: Project Eden and BanG Dream! PICO are available to stream on YouTube.
Promare is available to stream on MAX.
Tenchi Universe is available to stream on Apple TV.
That episode of the Transformers cartoon where Powerglide romances a human lady is available to stream on Tubi.
Takunomi. and The Transformers: The Movie aren't available to stream in the States.

@RiderStrike @BWProwl @LucasDeRuyter @vestenet

Chris
Coop, we're in the middle of one of the coldest cold snaps we've seen in a minute. People are freezing and snowed in, which can be miserable, but it also makes it the perfect time for cozying up with the entertainment equivalent of warm comfort food.
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Coop
No kidding, Chris. Whether you've been watching the temperature or the news, last week was chilling to the bone. As you mentioned, I could go for a hot bowl of soup or a pizza-shaped food object from Little Caesar's. Perhaps not Plastic Little Caesar's. That was last week's column.
The massive mommy milkers you and Steve had so much fun discussing probably would keep you nice and toasty, but we're aiming for the more earnestly wholesome. Your cozy anime, your comfort shows, the stuff you can reliably throw on for a pick-me-up while you huddle up under an electric blanket and multiple cats.
chris03
Granted, what's "comforting" necessarily varies from person to person, which makes this topic so potentially interesting in the first place. I know someone whose comfort movie is The Lighthouse, after all!
That's true! Everyone finds comfort in different places. What might be comforting for one person might put you on edge. When I think of what a "comfort show " is for me, I find myself gravitating toward titles that either remind me of my childhood or came into my life at an incredibly stressful time. Laid-Back Camp is a perfect example of the latter.
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At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was more or less confined to my apartment bedroom. If I wasn't toiling away at my stressful day job, I was constantly finding ways to get through it all. Thanks to a recommendation from a good friend, Laid-Back Camp ended up being the unexpected cup of hot cocoa I needed.
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Through Rin and Nadeshiko's camping trips, I experienced a facsimile of life's simple joys at a time when doing that was a tall order. Even if I wasn't watching the show, Akiyuki Tateyama's soundtrack felt like a kind reminder for me to loosen my shoulders and relax my jaw.
Laid-Back Camp is the standard-bearer for iyashikei, a genre of anime centered on the idea of slowing down and getting cozy. I've been watching it since it came out in 2018. At the time, I'd seen a few other iyashikei titles, but I feel like Laid-Back Camp was the one that made the idea click with me.
chris04
The tone of the series shows off the healing power of all this serene scenery, to say nothing of the food porn. It's a show where the vibes are almost always on point to help you relax at the end of a workday—even when it's doing an episode about almost freezing to death in the cold. Maybe don't watch that one if you're trying to escape this weather.
That food porn reminds me... I could go for a hot pot something fierce right now.
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Now, see, that would be an effective way to warm up. I think Laid-Back Camp works because it's escapism, in a pure, non-derogatory way. It's a series that serves as a virtual travelogue, letting us enjoy the experience of visiting places that might otherwise be more difficult to take trips to, extenuated by other things we'd rather take our minds off, as your pandemic story showed. It's also a generally nice, low-stakes series where you can throw on almost any episode irrespective of order, and be enveloped by this nice warm hug of an anime.
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I find the ability to randomly rewatch episodes is a key factor in what makes something "comfy" for me to regularly return to.
The virtual tourism aspect was on my mind a lot at that time, especially if you also look at the games I played then. I was running up and down the streets of Yakuza Kiwami 2's Sotenbori like a madman.
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I think a rewatch is in order, especially considering I haven't seen a lick of Laid-Back Camp past the first season. It might be just the right time for another cup of that cocca.
Any time is a good time for more Laid-Back Camp. If you haven't seen more of it, I'll take this opportunity to give a special recommendation for the movie. All the comfy camping times you expect from the series, now starring the girls as grown-ups with day jobs and heavy machinery certification!
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Potential forklift certification?! Sign me up coach! Speaking of movies, I'm reminded of a little flick that doesn't exactly stroll along at a Laid-Back pace. You could say that it goes... OVER THE TOP.
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If you know me, you know I'm a huge Dirty Pair fan. Rewatching the whole series throughout December for "Dirty Decempair" has been one of my favorite ways to stave off the cold of that winter month for multiple years. Easy, episodic, entertaining.
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The movie, Project Eden, is a pretty different style, though. So much of it feels like an extended music video, so I can get how you'd see it as appealing to throw on and just vibe to.
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You read me right away! Project Eden has always felt like a musical to me with how its tunes are so integral to the action on-screen. For instance, the sting that introduces the film's villain, Dr. Wattsman.

It's one of those flicks I'd recommend watching with the original Japanese audio mix. I dig the Streamline Pictures dub of Project Eden, but it takes the wind out of the score's sails. If it sounds like I'm making this film out to be Boomer Promare, I can't disagree with that assessment.
I can't disagree with it either, since Promare became a comfort film I regularly returned to after it was released here. Like Project Eden, it's anything but "chill" or "cozy," but there's something very invigorating to the spirit about its boldness and messages. Plus I just really like seeing Imaishi's side of Trigger work their magic, I could watch all the cool stuff this movie does all day.
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Another one with an exquisite soundtrack, too.
Promare and Project Eden just make smile right away... The music, the poppy visuals, and the fact that neither takes itself too seriously. Project Eden practically screams "We just saw Aliens and they ruled, so..."
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Finding comfort in sheer fun can be a prime factor for coming back to an anime for those kinds of healing purposes. I generally dislike the notion of something you "turn your brain off" to enjoy, since thinking about the stories I experience is one of my favorite parts of doing so. Still, I will acknowledge offloading mental exhaustion with the help of fun and familiarity. Big, loud, simple action spectacles like Project Eden and Promare certainly fulfill that.
chris12
Plus Promare's all about fire, so a rewatch would probably be good for warming up during the current big freeze.
The perfect time to warm up by the Yaoi. Or in the case of Dirty Pair, the Yuri.
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Yuri on ice, yaoi on fire, these have it all.
chris13
Before we move on from movies with dynamic visuals and rockin' tunes, I think we should mention our favorite converting robots, Chris!
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While not strictly an anime film, Transformers: The Movie might as well be one considering that Toei Animation served as the production matrix behind this classic. They helped traumatize an entire generation in the process.
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I watched TFTM way too many times growing up. It's so permanently lodged in my subconscious that I don't even need to watch it to enjoy its comfort. Speaking as someone who does occasionally throw on that episode of the G1 cartoon where Powerglide romances a human lady when I need a boost, I can confirm that the healing power of big, stupid cartoons transcends borders and mediums.
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I find that shorts tend to be better prospects for me when it comes to revitalizing rewatches because of the time proposition and our busy lives that build up all that stress in the first place. Hence my love for a series like Takunomi., which expertly combines some of my favorite ways of winding down: watching anime and drinking!
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It's not as nutritious as all the food in Laid-Back Camp, but it warms me up all the same.
Maybe it's not as nutritious, but any shot in the arm is better than one to the shoulder.
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Be it with beers or a hot pot, I can't think of anything better on a cold day than sitting around the table with good friends. That's part of why I occasionally return to Tenchi Universe. Unlike Tenchi Muyo!'s other incarnations or most harem shows I've seen, Universe landed with me as a show about found family. Especially the tranquil moments where we find ourselves whittling the time away with the people we love the most. Well, tranquil until your wily Aunt Ryoko starts slinging a little mud at Aunt Ayeka.
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Never let it be said that harem anime can't be comforting. There's a reason My Next Life As A Villainess was one of the most pleasant watches in recent memory.
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That's true! There are more than a few folks who have really, really, really, really, REALLY found some comfort in their 100 Girlfriends. Well, except for Kiyone... She can't stand her girlfriend.
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Their stormy relationship does make for one of the most relatable episodes in the whole series. Episode 6 is all about Kiyone and Mihoshi trying to survive the workday. After their day goes belly up, Tenchi and the gang show up at their apartment with a bundle of snacks to share around the table. I can tell ya, it's always nice to sit down with a friend at the end of the day.
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By the way, Hazel also covered this specific episode in-depth during her Tenchi Universe retrospective. I recommend checking it out for a nuanced dive into this series.
That kind of earnest enjoyment of at-home company makes any anime dealing with that subject an easy choice for unwind-watching. That's what I like about Takunomi., as we watch the main girl Michiru relax and imbibe after work with her gaggle of gal-pals.


The show plays up the mutual bonding activity of trying out different drinks together, rather than pitching alcohol itself as an escape from the stressors of daily life. Responsible, and the half-length runtime of episodes makes it easy to crack open and down a few of them in a row when I'm taking a load off.
That sounds pretty relaxing. It reminds me of how I was into trying new craft beer whenever I'd hang out with my friends in college. My selection these days is a little more limited since I don't drink, but I feel that same thrill whenever I discover a new nonalcoholic beer. Not exactly craft, but an NA Blue Moon or 0.0 Heine is pretty good at the end of a long day.
Like Laid-Back Camp, these kinds of activity-focused shows can allow for relaxation and vicarious enjoyment of a hobby you might not be into doing yourself, for whatever reason. They also focus on the communal aspect, and as shown by these or that Tenchi episode, experiencing things with others can be a key factor in comfort-watching.
chris22
That's all a long way of arriving at why BanG Dream! PICO is my favorite entry in the musical franchise for me to return to and relax with. The episodes are short, simple, and silly. I had a great time watching it with my sister as her introduction to the series. It all just hits right.
It's more high intensity and far from the bite-sized format of BanG Dream! PICO, but there's a bit of my heart that always melts when I think back to the opening cours of 2020's Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai.
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Over the past 5 or 6 years, Dragon Quest has been a warm blanket for me—a gentle reminder of my days playing PS2 games as a kid. Back when I didn't have to worry about the weight of the world around me.
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The Adventure of Dai ends up layering a "classic shonen anime" blanket on top of that first one. The series made me think back to when I'd catch a random episode of Dragonball Z or Naruto on TV but without the glacially paced battles. In a way, Dai's pacing reminds me a lot of Yu-Yu Hakusho, despite the huge episode count. Adventure of Dai made me feel like a kid again, using those warm fuzzies to provide a little insulation from the cold. It didn't make me cry like Dragon Quest XI's opening movie does, but it sure came close.
I talked about liking entries like Takunomi. or the Laid-Back Camp movie for how they speak to the adult in me when I'm kicking back after work but I see the childhood-recalling appeal in something like Adventure of Dai. I love tokusatsu superhero shows like Super Sentai and Kamen Rider, plus their magical girl anime counterparts in Pretty Cure. The classic Futari wa Pretty Cure is still a go-to choice for me to throw on some episodes when I need something to vibe with while staying up late.
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Generations of kids have been regularly brought joy by these shows, which is probably why they've now made multiple follow-up entries targeting adults who need a little comfort in the modern world.
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A lot of my comfort-watch picks seem to involve drinking to some degree. I'm sure that's not a flag.
Well, to quote a favorite manga of mine that recently wrapped up...
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Too true! The complexity there is that watching a lot of anime is something I do for work here. In that case, having dedicated relax-watch shows is only more important. Lord knows I've needed a pick-me-up after some of the stuff I've had to review...
chris25
Working with anime is a different beast than just watching it. It's nice to sit back, relax, and not worry about taking notes or screencaps on occasion. However, that might be a topic for another time.
Indeed. The entire point of the material here is to relax and I've found this discussion pretty warming. I also suspect this is a subject that could bring out a lot of commentators offering their comfort-watch faves. Gather around the virtual kotatsu everybody, and shelter from the cold with anime opinions.
chris26
Don't forget the roasted sweet potatoes either!
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