Like so many other readers, I am frustrated by interminable series that never end. I complain. Loudly. Publicly. In print (well, HTML). I do this because it’s the right thing to do. I may have a twinkling of a hope that some authors will wake up and conclude their series. But that hope is as long-lived as a firefly. Alas.
I do make an exception for works in which the destination is never the point, in which the goal is simply to enjoy the journey.
Take, for example, Hitoshi Ashinano’s classic manga series Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō. Set in a world where a never-explained calamity raised sea levels and reshaped the world, a world where humanity is slowly dwindling away, YKK focuses on Alpha, an extremely humanoid android. Having inherited a teashop from her long-vanished owner, Alpha enjoys her extremely low-key life, occasionally venturing out to acquire supplies or explore the Japan of tomorrow. Humanity may be doomed, but nobody, human or android, seems to mind. Instead, they enjoy each day as it happens.
Jeph Jacques’ Questionable Content is set in a post-singularity world, one where humans must find some way to coexist with robots and AIs. One might expect to see carbon copies of Sarah Connor fleeing the Terminator against a backdrop of ruins. Those expectations would be dashed. Humans, robots, and AIs seem to co-exist peaceably, enjoying reassuringly mundane lives. The drama lies in each character’s search for gainful employment, romance, and self-actualization.
Amano Kozue’s Aria pictures the efforts of a young woman to become an elite gondolier on a terraformed Mars. There’s not much overt drama in this manga, just someone honing her skills, making new friends, and enjoying her life on Aqua, as Mars is now called. The lack of crisis is more or less the point, as the protagonist’s mentor, Alicia Florence, explains:
“If you get stuck in the memories of those times, you won’t be able to appreciate all the fun that’s happening right now. So don’t be thinking ‘that time was fun’, because you should be thinking ‘that time was also fun’ … Being able to find the fun that’s happening right now, is the best way to enjoy the present.”
Thanks to a conversation begun by this Ryan Consell post, aptly titled “The Genre You Never Knew You Needed,” I now know there’s a name for this genre, at least in Japanese: Iyashikei, defined here as “a term used for anime and manga created with the specific purpose of having a healing or soothing effect on the audience.”
Recommendations for other works in this vein would be welcome…
In the words of Wikipedia editor TexasAndroid, prolific book reviewer and perennial Darwin Award nominee James Davis Nicoll is of “questionable notability.” His work has appeared in Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times as well as on his own websites, James Nicoll Reviews and Young People Read Old SFF (where he is assisted by editor Karen Lofstrom and web person Adrienne L. Travis). He is surprisingly flammable.
I love Questionable Content! It’s too bad Jeph moved to Halifax right after I moved away — I’d love to hang out with him.
QC is great, but I kind of thought Alice Grove really put the singularity in post-singularity, personally.
For me, this post evokes Lois McMaster Bujold’s Sharing Knife series. While not so conflict free as the genre suggests, a lot of the books are just about getting along and surviving. Her Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen is perhaps a better example.
You may have seen the anime Genshiken (based on the manga which I haven’t read). It has much of the feel you describe, a lot of day-to-day experiences of members of a college club.
I nominate Kamichu! as tribute. The full Japanese name loosely translates to ‘Tales of a Fifth Grade God.’ The first episode starts in medias res with Kamichu telling her best friend during lunch that she became a god last night. The best friend’s reaction? To immediately put a morsel of her own lunch in front of Kamichu saying, “There’s your first offering then.” I love this show and it is intensely comforting.
I’d throw out the other series by Amano Kozue, Amachu! It’s a slice of life story involving a first year student, Ooki Futuba and her close friendship with Kohinata Hikari. It’s a fun series, and like many of Amano’s works, full of scenery porn. I just started watching the anime based on it on Crunchyroll. It’s a still an ongoing manga, but due to the author’s new motherhood, in 2010, she’s not as frequent with new chapters.
I haven’t read these, but being able to enjoy the journey is one of the reasons I reread. If I already know who murdered Roger Ackroyd, I can enjoy the afternoon tea along the way.
The word “idyll” may or may not apply. Are you thinking particularly of “the end of the world (as we know it)(and I feel fine)”?
There’s shenannigans on dying Earths merely due to the passage of time, with the end not necessarily -so- imminent; Michael Moorcock produced “Dancers at the End of Time”, who technically are interested – sometimes – in saving the universe, or at least themselves, from the end that they seem to have brought about themselves by acts of ultimate cosmic consumption.
On the anime front, my favourite iyashikei series is probably The Flying Witch. Sort of a Kiki’s Delivery Service with a witch who’s a few years older and has gotten a little more relaxed and comfortable with her identity. I’m also a fan of the reverse portal fantasy/food porn series Restaurant To Another World. In which wizards and monsters take a break from epic quests every week to come eat western fusion food at a restaurant in Tokyo. God I could go for some curry rice…
Outside Japan, I think M.C.A. Hogarth’s Dreamhealers series fits the iyashikei feel. It’s a science fiction series about a pair of telepathic psychology students becoming partners and inventing new therapies, and for the most part it’s very gentle new adult slice of life. It’s like a mug of warm tea (or kerinne) (ask me about my almond milk kerinne recipe) .
The webcomic Always Human by walkingnorth is a series set in a world where most humans can tweak their DNA at a whim. Most writers would immediately go all grimdark dystopia with this, but instead Always Human uses it as the background for a really sweet f/f romance and a lot of thoughtful discussion about disability. Also the art is gorgeous and there’s pretty music too.
I liked Always Human enough to nominate it for the Hugo. The author has a new series, Aerial Magic.
Since you mention Hitoshi Ashinano’s excellent Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, you couldn’t do wrong his other series Kabu no Isaki and Kotonoba Drive. And since you like Amano Kozue’s Aria you should definitely like her Aqua and possibly her current Amanchu! (as mentioned by someone above.) As for other authors, I don’t know if Otoyomegatari fits the genre exactly, but it is close enough and very good.
This is an excellent review site that has lead to many good finds for me. If you don’t find something you like, it won’t be the fault of the long, detailed reviews.
As far as anime goes, here’s a few that fit my definition of Iyashike:
Natsumi’s Book of Friends: Natsumi has been tormented since childhood by the ability to see spirits. He discovers his grandmother’s Yuujinchou, or “Book of Friends,” which contains the names of the spirits whom she brought under her control, and determines to free those spirits. Though it sounds like urban fantasy, it’s really a heart warming story of a boy slowly opening up to the people and world around him.
Laid-back Camp: High schooler Rin’s idea of a good vacation is to bike up to off-season campgrounds with a view of Mt. Fuji, and set up a well-prepared camp. Nadeshiko had the same idea, but was not nearly so self-sufficient, so she takes shelter with the only other person at the campsite- Rin. The result is an odd friendship, and the formation of a school group dedicated to camping. This is simply a low-key slice of life story about girls going camping, and doing it well.
Hyouka: Houtarou Oreki is determined to lead a low-energy lifestyle, but his sister forces him t join the Classic’s club to keep it alive. there he meets the highly inquisitive Eru Chitanda, who ropes him into solving mysteries. These are…not dramatic mysteries: why the room was locked, who keeps repeatedly checking out a library book for short periods, the secret past of the literary club… This is again, a slice-of-life story about someone making freiindships, and becoming an active part of the world.
I’m so happy to have seen this article. Last year I read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers and they both evoke this same sort of slice-of-life feel in a fantasy/sci-fi setting – where nothing much happens, but it’s glorious. I fell utterly in love with both books and have been looking for something with a similar feel to it ever since. I can’t wait to try out some of the recommendations!
YKK is one of my favorite manga. All of his other series have the same feel to them. I’m also reading Aria right now! I love iyashikei.
Here are some fantasy ones I enjoy:
There seems to be much more anime than manga in this category, at least for Western readers, but one I put into this category is Natsume Yuujincho, or Natsume’s Book of Friends. It’s about a lonely orphaned boy who sees spirits (yokai), and comes to find friendship with some of them, and with some of the people in his newest school, and also understands what a home is. Things happen, but there’s no specific arc, just individual stories that are cathartic in themselves, where he may take a step forward. I read a chapter or two when I’m feeling low.
Another that’s very slow-paced and meditative is Mushishi. Sometimes it can be dark, but it’s still soothing to read because everything that happens is on the edge of reality in a dream-like world where the lead character can see mushi, spirits-things that exist and occasionally interact with us, but that don’t care about us one way or another.
An anime that may or may not have an English manga is Flying Witch, the day to day activities of a witch on vacation at her parent’s house one summer. Very relaxing. There’s also Restaurant from another Universe (I think that’s what it’s called), where every week people from other universes can enter this Japanese restaurant and eat comfort food. They all have backstories, then eat food that makes them happy. Have food on hand while watching. There are actually several series like this now.
And though it’s not fantasy, if you haven’t read Yotsuba&!, do. It’s one of the best iyashikei manga ever written. Though Yotsuba is almost a little alien.