Top 25 Best Slice of Life Anime [2024]

“Slice of life” is one of the best anime genres in the world (easily)! Everyday living can be a world of magic and supernatural and can be in the daily life of anyone mixed up in drama and melodrama.

Going from comedic to dramatic, but it focuses on the mundane and daily lives of the characters and the rollercoaster of the life they lead, and what comes with it.

No doubt some of the big anime movies and series are just following characters through their messy journey in life!

Best Slice of Life Anime

25. Beck

14-year-old Yukio “Koyuki” Tanaka has never had a real goal in life. This changes, however, when Koyuki is harassed by a group of kids and saved by a dog named Beck.

The dog belongs to 16-year-old Ryuusuke “Ray” Minami, a guitarist who once belonged to a popular rock band!

Ray still dreams of leading the best rock band in the world, and Koyuki is determined to help him!

24. Nodame Cantabile

Shinchi Chiaki is a musician who dreams of playing in Europe! The only thing keeping him in Japan is his fear of flying!

Being enrolled at the top music university, Shinichi crosses paths with Megumi “Nodame” Noda.

She is a girl with her head in the clouds and no real direction in life.

This changes when Shinichi hears Nodame play the piano! It only worsens when Shinchi finds out Nodame is his neighbor and is in love with him!

23. Kino’s Journey (2003)

15-year-old Kino travels the world on a talking motorcycle named Hermes.

While traveling, Kino sees countless different countries and lands. All of these new places are full of unknowns.

Some are morally grey, tragic, and beautiful. Some are full of hardworking people, happy people, and daydreamers.

Through Kino’s journey, he will learn and believe that “the world is not beautiful—therefore it is.”

22. Natsume’s Book of Friends

15-year-old Takashi Natsume has a different problem than most boys his age. For starters, he doesn’t have any parents—and he can see youkai!

Being constantly chased by evil spirits, Natsume stumbles upon his grandmother’s “Book of Friends” she passed on to him.

The book contains the names of all of the spirits she was able to control. Now, all their names and all her powers belong to Natsume!

21. Doukyusei –Classmates–

Hikaru Kusakabe and Rihito Saijou are complete opposites! Kusakabe is a carefree rocker, and Sajou is an honor student and bookworm.

All they have in common is that they are in the same class.

One day, Kusakabe finds Sajou trying to sing alone in class. It turns out, Sajou is a terrible singer, and Kusakabe is more than happy to help!

Thus start the beginning of a beautiful friendship…or something more? But will their opposite futures tear them apart forever?

20. Komi Can’t Communicate

Hitohito Tadano hopes to go through high school without making any waves. Instead, he gets mixed in Shouko Komi, the most beautiful girl in school!

Although unapproachable, Komi’s beauty and second to none, and every guy is jealous that Tadano is sitting side-by-side with her!

That’s how Tadano discovers that Komi dreams of making 100 friends but her social anxiety and poor communication skills make it impossible.

Tadano agrees to help her and become her very first friend!

19. Romeo and the Black Brothers

In a small village of Switzerland lives a young and courageous boy named Romeo. His kind and brave heart get the unwanted attention of Luini, “The God of Death,” who buys and sells children!

When Luini injures Romeo’s father, he gives himself away so his family can afford a doctor to save his father!

On his way to his fate, Romeo meets another boy named Alfredo Martini. The two become fast friends and vow to meet again as they are sent to different masters!

Facing abuse at the hands of his master and his family, Romeo is able to reunite with Alfredo! Together, they will fight together and find a way to escape their abusive masters!

18. Erin

Erin lives in a small village with her mother, Soyon, the lead doctor. Her village is in charge of raising the Grand Duke’s army; lizard warriors are called Touda.

But when the army’s most powerful Touda dies under Soyon’s care, Erin’s life changes forever!

As Soyon is severely punished, she tries to save Erin’s life. Erin falls into a river and is carried away, and ends up in a whole new country.

Now, Erin has to find a way to rebuild her life surrounded by strangers and the threat of the Grand Duke’s lizard warriors still looming over her head!

17. Weathering With You

Running away from home, Hodaka Morishima ends up in Tokyo in the middle of the rain season.

Struggling to find a part-time job, Hodaka becomes working for a small-time publisher.

They are researching the “Sunshine Girl”: a mysterious girl who can clear the sky and bring back the sun!

While trying to find information, Hodaka runs into Hina Amano, a girl who lost both of her parents and worked to give her and her younger brother a roof over their heads. It turns out Hina is the one and only Sunshine Girl!

16. Given

With an old guitar in hand, Mafuyu Satou falls asleep on the staircase of a school gymnasium.

When he wakes up, he is scolded by classmate Ritsuka Uenoyama for not taking proper care of the guitar.

Amazed instead of insulted, Mafuyu pleads with Ritsuka to teach him how to play! Ritsuka introduces Mafuyu to his band: bassist Haruki Nakayama and drummer Akihiko Kaji.

When they all find out Mafuyu has an amazing singing voice, Ritsuka begs him to join their band!

15. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Jinta, Menma, Naruko, Chiriko, Tetsudou, and Atsumu have been childhood best friends all their lives and played every day together.

Everything changed one fateful day when Menma died in a tragic accident. Blaming themselves in their own way for Menma’s death, Jinta and the others stop being friends and try to move on.

Now in high school, Jinta finds himself haunted by Menma’s ghost! However, Menma isn’t there to scare Jinta.

She wants to move on and needs Jinta’s help in granting a forgotten wish! Together, Jinta and Menma try to get the gang back together again!

With all of them still struggling with their grief and guilt from the past, will Menma ever be able to pass on?

14. Bunny Drop

30-year-old Daikichi Kawachi has always lived the life of a bachelor with a well-paying and respectable job. However, this life changes after his grandfather passed away.

Daikichi returns home to attend the funeral and crosses paths with a young girl named Rin. The shy girl is the illegitimate daughter of Daikichi’s grandfather!

With none of the other members of the family wanting anything to do with the troublesome Rin, bachelor Daikichi decides to take her in.

Despite being young and inexperienced with kids or how-to-parents, Daikichi is determined to give Rin a better life! Maybe Rin is exactly what Daikichi needs in his life too!

13. Barakamon

A talented and narcissistic calligrapher named Seishuu Handa a dealt a severe punishment when he slashes out at a calligrapher veteran who calls his art “unoriginal.”

To get Seishuu to undergo self-reflection, his father sends him to the Goto Islands, far away from the easy city life Seishuu always knew.

Seishuu is thrown into the rural islands and told to make do. It’s here that Seishuu must find his own art style and find his own form of inspiration.

While Seishuu wants nothing more than to sit down and accomplish this, the Goto community wants him to get up from his lazy butt and work!

Being pushed by the stubborn and eccentric middle schoolers and old men of Goto Islands, Seishuu might find much more than he ever thought he would—something much more important than calligraphy…

12. March Comes in Like a Lion

Rei Kiriyama was once a shogi prodigy. Rei’s health becomes poor after pressure from the shogi community and his adoptive parents, and he quits.

At 17-years-old, Rei packs up and moves away from all his problems, and ends up in the big city of Tokyo.

Getting into the city, Rei crosses paths with the Kawamoto sisters. Working at their grandfather’s wagashi shop, Akari, Hinata, and Momo take in Rei!

Learning that the Kawamoto sisters have their own past troubles and problems, Rei opens up to this family and forms a strange familial bond.

Can just three sisters bring life and color back into Rei’s lonely world, or will his past come back to take it all away?

11. Grand Blue Dreaming

Moving to Izu to start university, Iori Kitahara becomes a resident of his uncle’s scuba diving shop named Grand Blue.

Hoping to live a normal college life, Iori finds himself suck in the Diving Club and all of their antics and alcoholic activities.

Trying to make a good impression on his new upperclassmen, Iori finally breaks and joins his new friends Shinji Tokita and Ryuujirou Kotobuki.

However, he is quickly caught by his cousin Chisa Kotegawa and earns her scorn. New friends and a new enemy, it seems.

Surrounded by eccentric new friends, Iori will have a new life as a college kid and member of the Diving Club and find the fun in both!

10. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.

Kusuo Saiki has psychic abilities, and he hates them! From telepathy to x-ray vision, Saiki finds his powers to be problematic and more of a curse than a blessing. Because of this, Saiki tries to live a life of ignorance and bliss.

Unfortunately, psychic powers don’t just stay hidden forever. Trying to stay normal and away from the spotlight, Saiki always accidentally catches the attention of his classmates—especially the weirdoes!

From the delusional Shun Kaidou to the airheaded Riki Nedou, Saiki hopes for an ordinary life is impossible with all the crazy characters around him—and his psychic powers, of course!

9. Nichijou – My Ordinary Life

High school girls Mio Naganohara, Yuuko Aioi, and Mai Minakami have been best friend trio ever since they were little kids.

After meeting genius Hakase Shinonome, their normal daily lives can be a bit crazier—especially when you throw in a robot caretaker and talking cat!

While having normal school days, these four friends also experience the insane and absurd.

Having arm wrestle contests to being bitten by a talking crow, the close friends never know what weird and average days they will be facing when they wake up in the morning.

8. Mob Psycho 100

Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama was born an esper: a being with psychic powers, but has always had a hard time controlling his emotions that are connected to his abilities. Because of this, Mob always kept a lid on his emotions, making him have a reserved personality.

Mob hopes that when he is able to fully control his powers, he will confess his feelings to his longtime crush Tsubomi.

To help him learn how to use his psychic powers, Mob seeks out the help of Arataka Reigen, a con artist Mob mistook for another esper.

Reigen agrees and uses Mob in his business of exorcising evil spirits. Although this new part of his life gives Mob’s life some color—will Mob’s lid on his emotions and powers inevitably open?

7. Nana

On a train to Tokyo, two girls, both named Nana, meet. Nana Osaki is a punk rocker who dropped her band to pursue a solo career as a professional singer.

Nana Komatsu is a naïve and bighearted girl who falls in love easily who travels to Tokyo to follow her boyfriend!

These two are complete opposites but find themselves on the same train to Tokyo without much of a plan.

On a whim, Osaki and Komatsu become roommates. Their friendship becomes unbreakable—but will dreams, music, and heartbreak might be what it takes to destroy their bond!

6. Space Brothers

In the summer of 2006, brothers Mutta and Hibito Nanba thought they saw a UFO fly to the moon!

That day, the two vow to become astronauts! Youngest Hibito dreams of reaching the moon while the oldest Mutta is ambitions to reach Mars!

Many years later, Mutta and Hibito are both adults. However, Mutta just lost his job at an automotive company while Hibito is going to become the first Japanese man to step on the moon!

Mutta might get the opportunity to join the next astronaut selection. He will do anything to fulfill the shared dreams he and his brother made all those years ago…

5. Josee, the Tiger, and the Fish

University student Tsuneo Suzukawa works hard every day to study abroad and explore his love for marine biology.

One night, Tsuneo is witness to an accident that sends a girl in a wheelchair crashing straight into his arms! Kumiko or “Josee” isn’t exactly grateful and is extremely rude to Tsuneo!

However, Josee’s grandmother thinks it would be a great idea if Tsuneo becomes Josee’s new caretaker! Tsuneo agrees and hopes to work through Josee’s sour and bossy attitude.

Tsuneo starts to learn more about Josee and her dreams of experiencing life outside of her wheelchair.

4. I Want To Eat Your Pancreas

Haruki Shiga has always been an aloof bookworm who never cared for human connection. When Haruki finds someone’s secret diary called “Living with Dying,” he realizes it belongs to Sakura Yamauchi!

The popular and outgoing classmate, Sakura, has been hiding her terminal pancreas disease from all her friends and classmates.

Only her family and Haruki know. Despite being nothing alike, the two share a connection.

Together, Haruki and Sakura spend their days together learning the true meaning of living until Sakura’s time is over…

3. Wolf Children

While in college, Hana finds herself drawn to a mysterious man she sees in class, but it’s a student. Getting closer to the man, Hana finds herself falling in love.

That’s when the man reveals his secret: he’s the last none werewolf in the world!

The two become a family and have two kids: Yuki and Ame. One night, Yuki and Ame lose their father in a tragic accident, and Hana moves them away into the countryside.

Learning how to live and raise her kids as a single mother, Hana also needs to learn how to raise werewolf children. It soon becomes clear that Yuki and Ame will need to make a choice: live as a human or a wolf?

2. Mushi-shi

“Mushi” is a being born without goals, dreams, or ambitions. They simply exist. Free or cursed without the weight of “good” and “evil,” Mushi can take on many forms to continue to live on.

Why do beings like Mushi exist then if they have no goals or desires? A Mushi researcher “Mushishi” named Ginko is determined to find out that question!

Ginko will follow the beings known as Mushi to find their place in the world and maybe find out his own purpose and reason in the process…

1. Great Teacher Onizuka

Ex-biker gang leader and huge virgin Eikichi Onizuka dream of becoming the greatest teacher in all of Japan!

Onizuka ends up as a homeroom teacher at Holy Forest Academy. Onizuka doesn’t know that his new Class 3-4 is infamous for being a complete nightmare!

These students have mentally broken all of their past teachers and quit their jobs!

None of these Class 3-4 students have dealt with someone like Onizuka before! Onizuka will be there unique for his new students who struggle with their daily lives.