Uchouten Kazoku

Anime collected in this stack have stories which focus on the struggles of maintaining, repairing, or building family bonds. These relationships should be between the main characters and must be non-romantic in nature.

Series which focus primarily on taking care of infants to pre-teen children will not be included in this stack; please use the Childcare theme to find these stories. However, if the childcare component is only one relationship of multiple in the family, then these anime will also be added here.

Worldbuilding - "the process of constructing a world, originally an imaginary one, sometimes associated with a fictional universe." These kinds of shows are usually set in a fantasy and/or sci-fi world, and excel at establishing & showcasing the rules/history/economy of their fictional universe. List was created through collective data from multiple websites of people's answers as to what shows are considered to have great world building.

Critics & Connoisseurs was a club that was founded in 2008 and ended club activities on the 31st of 2022.

The goal of the club was to come up with a list of highly recommended quality shows that are exemplary either within its genre or universally. An anime needed a 70% approval rate in our voting to get on the relation list. The following anime are all part of said list.

You can see the club page here:
https://myanimelist.net/clubs.php?cid=2913

Anime Relation List Part 1: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/324
Manga Relation List: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/334

If the other kind of Slice of Life is more drama heavy, of course there are light ones. The shows will make you feel comfortable, lighthearted, and giggle at the same time. These are the fun Slice of Life shows you might actually enjoy. If there's a rich-flavored cake, of course some people can enjoy or prefer plain vanilla ones.

A list of anime I believe share a similar style of storytelling to the works of highly revered author, Haruki Murakami.

I drew upon the subject matter and allegories frequently covered by Murakami in his stories. Those of escapism, eroticism, surrealism, loss, depression, loneliness, identity, and redemption.

More titles will be inducted over time, suggestions are welcome.

What I look for the most in an anime above everything else is high-quality writing. That's not to say that manga, visual novel, and light novel adaptations are written poorly; in fact, there are some that have incredible, masterfully-crafted storylines. I have simply personally found that some of the most unforgettable series for me have been novel adaptations.

Given that there currently exists no anime search option for this, the basis of this interest stack is to provide a list of full-length novels that have been adapted into series or movie format.

*Disclaimer: not enough space to add children's classics to this, go check out Nippon Animation's studio page if you want more!

Anime featuring tanukis.

A collection of shows for those who love supernatural critters.

Wacky and Trippy Anime

Anime with unique art-style/premise and or surreal/dreamlike sequences

Anime either based on, heavily influenced by or drawing key aspects from folklore. Folklore encompasses the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, people or culture passed down through the generations by word of mouth and later often recorded in written form.

While the majority of works listed in this club have their origins in East Asian folklore (for obvious reasons) also included are examples of folklore ranging from portrayals of the mythology of Ancient Greece, stories featuring local spirits, legendary folk heroes, adaptions of Brothers Grimm fairy tales and narratives featuring the Gods of the Norse pantheon as characters. Modernised interpretations and retellings have been largely excluded.

As MAL currently sadly only allows a max of 50 entries on interests stacks this list prioritises the stand out and most high quality examples of folkloric anime. For a more comprehensive list which also includes manga, I direct you to my accompanying folklore club of the same name.

Shows/Movies of all kinds that are either meant for or can be enjoyed by an older audience. A treasure trove of excellence covering a wide range. Story-driven thrillers, well researched historical shows, brilliant world-constructions, poetic narrations, gripping thrillers, dark comedies, complex future visions, tightly packed action, avant-garde art, solid entertainment, tear-jerking dramas to light-hearted slices of lives.
No big-boob dumdums, high-pitched VAs, fan-/lip-service or plot-around-the-holes-type shows. Teenage angst and school-settings are rarities in these two lists.

Beyond Gender Binaries 2: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/35988

Anime with yōkai⁠—spirits from the Shinto religion and/or Japanese folklore. Popular types include kitsune (fox spirits), shape-shifting tanuki (raccoon dogs), kappa (river monsters), and oni (ogre-like demons).

In this collection, I tried to highlight titles in which the emphasis is not just on Japanese folklore and culture, but on the mysticism associated with it.

This is not exhaustive collection of titles that have Japanese folklore wibes, it's just my collection of essential titles I would recommend to anybody who will ask me for recommendations.

Sometimes, the tropes get tiring, so here's a list of romance anime that put a little twist on it, by adding a bit of occult, with supernatural beings and powers.

Anime with visually appealing and unique art style and animation that make them stand out as "eye candy." Their vibrant and colorful aesthetics are just as charming as actual sweets too!

Anime with clever word plays and dialog that require thinking to get the jokes