Good morning, chums! I hope your week has been treating you well thus far! I must say that mine has been rather decent and productive, which makes me feel happy. 😊
Today, I am reaching out to all of you wonderful manga readers and anime watchers! I need your help. With the Spring season looming just around the corner, I find myself wanting to read and watch some feel-good, Spring-type otaku titles. They can be of any demographic (shōjo, shōnen, seinen, josei) and pretty much any genre as well. The only thing I don’t care too much for, or really don’t enjoy watching/reading is anything that is heavy with moe. I’ve noticed it more often than tends to not be my cup of chai.
Recently, I finished reading A Springtime with Ninjas, which is a shōjo, romance comedy manga series. It wasn’t the most mind-blowing thing I’ve ever, but I found the feel-good aspect and Spring aesthetics to be delightful! Anime-wise, I’ve been finishing up a series I began last Spring called Rokuhōdō Yotsuiro Biyori that has strong Spring-like vibe and cheery tone to it. Anime serials I’ve seen and adored are My Love Story!!, Kakuriyo, and Tada Never Falls in Love.
I’m usually pretty open-minded about trying out stuff, so if you can share any recommendations that you may have, I would be very, very grateful to you! They also don’t have to be limited to anime serials; they can be films as well.
I’ve also been in a mood for science-fiction (big difference amid the styles, I know 🙈), but between Scott and my cousin, I think I have more than enough recommendations to take a dive into that genre for now (but I’ll never turn away more recs for this either. 😹)
So, yeah, if you can help me out, I would be so immensely grateful to you, friends! Also, if you drop a recommendation and would like to see me review it, just let me know and I’ll make sure to do so. ✌🏾
Oddly enough, for your sci-fi + spring vibes I highly recommend the series ‘Chobits’ by CLAMP both the manga and anime. It’s about Persocoms or human-like computers and a human who happens to fall in love named ‘Chi’. It’s very sweet and really puts me in a spring-like mood thinking about it.
Other anime series I’ve thought of are…. Fruits Basket (the original), Honey and Clover, Garden of Words (Makoto Shinkai film), Whispher of the Heart (Studio Ghibi film), The Cat Returns (Studio Ghibi), and Only Yesterday (Studio Ghibi, directed by Isao Takahata).
For manga I do also recommend Fruits Basket and Honey and Clover, again. If it was good enough for me to both read and watch, that’s a strong recommendation on my part lol. My top recommended just as a manga is Aoi Hana (it has bisexual and lesbian girl’s coming of age story!), it’s just so sweet in my opinion. Other series are, Honey by Meguro Amu, Imadoki!, Here is Greenwood, Socrates in Love (this one made me bawl the first time I read it in full), and Strobe Edge. This is mostly shojo, somewhat Josei stuff… but when just reading over the titles alone I got really strong spring vibes from all of them.
(If you end up reading/watching any of these and are inclined to review I’d love to hear your thoughts!)
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Oh wow! Thank you so much for all of these recommendations!! Chobits is on Funimation so I’ll be able to watch it very soon! 😀 I’ll have to look up the Ghibli films, I think my library may have them.
I’m currently reading through the Fruits Basket manga and I love it to bits. I definitely need to read Honey and Clover though. I’ve written the others down and will try to go hunting for them. Thank you so much for taking the time to share some recs! ♥
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You’re so welcome! I had no idea that Chobits was on Funimation, so I hope the animation isn’t too dated. >..< I hope they do! They're so good~~
You're absolutely welcome! I love making recommendations so I tend to be a bit overbearing sometimes. ^^; I hope you're enjoying the stories with more to enjoy in the future!
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You weren’t overbearing at all. 🙂 I don’t mind dated animation. A couple of my favourite anime have such dated animation, it’ll make you laugh, but they’re still great haha.
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Lol, I’m glad I’m not coming off that way. Dated animation is both fantastic and sometimes awful. It’s such a good story that it’s worth it!
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You should watch ‘We Never Learn’!! (Bokutachi wa Benkyō ga Dekinai)
https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/chapters/we-never-learn
It is a slow kill rom-com.
Also, Senryuu Shojou!!
It is about a girl who uses haikus to communicate instead of talking. It’s so cute!!!
https://merakiscans.com/details/senryu-girl/
I have read the manga for these. And I liked them a lot!
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Thank you! These sounds great, especially the one with the girl using haiku. I don’t think I’ve ever come across anything quite like that one. 🙂
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It’s suuuuper cute!!
Like, REALLYYY CUTEEEE. AAAAAaaaaaaaa
Some people might have heard me fangirl while reading the manga..
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That’s awesome! I love fanhumaning to stuff haha. 😆😆
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Hmm…Hanasaku Iroha/Blossoms for Tomorrow feels like spring to me. Don’t know if you’ve seen it, but it’s about an overly optimistic girl who moves to the countryside to work at her harsh grandmother’s traditional hotel.
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I actually haven’t seen that one, but I’ve heard lots of amazing things about it. I looked it up and I really like the visuals! Thank you. 🙂
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i dont have access to my list of completed manga right now, but off the top of my head, i might recommend machida-kun no sekai (which i think has a fairly wholesome message) or aria (which has kind of a futuristic feel to it).
also, i dont have a good sense on what counts as moe, but my go-to is usually uchi musume (eng: If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord)
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Thank you very much!! I’ve written them down. I’ll check ’em out later today. 🙂 🙂
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Waiting for Spring was the first thing that came to my mind. Ao Haru Ride/Blue Spring Ride and Hatsu Haru continue with the “spring in the title” theme.
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I loved Blue Spring Ride!! I haven’t seen the others, but they sound very springy. Thanks for the recs!! 🙂
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Outside the titles you’ve listed already, I don’t think I’ve got too many titles which “feel like spring”. I guess for romance, I’ll recommend Magic-kyun Renaissance (it’s cheesy, but the heroine’s skill is ikebana and there’s a huge focus on colour and artistry which should make it appropriate) and, if you’re willing to learn all the characters’ names, a great SoL is Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru (there’s cherry blossom symbolism in it – it’s more in the 1st season than the 2nd though). Other shows I think you’ll like, even though they’re not finished yet, are My Roommate is a Cat (aside from the obvious, the main character is an author) and the Morose Mononokean (which has youkai and a very laid-back feel to it).
For manga, I’d recommend Orange (which also has an anime), Your Lie in April (only if you want to cry) and Fruits Basket (for the upcoming anime).
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I don’t mind cheesy at all! 🙂 I’ve added your recs to my list of stuff to check out. I’m currently watching My Roommate is a Cat and it’s so precious! I’ve read Orange, but haven’t seen the anime, sobbed my eyes out to Your Lie in April (twice, goodness), and I’m about halfway thru the Fruits Basket manga series right now. The anime is one of my most-anticipated, as I’m sure it is for lots of folks.
Thank you so much for all of these recs! They sound pretty great and along the lines of what I’m looking for. 🙂 🙂
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I wasn’t quite aware of what anime you were following this season (forgot to check, as one does when they’ve got 100 or so blogs on the Reader), so that was a bit of a stab in the dark. It does remind me out of all the seasonal anime I’m watching, the only one I haven’t talked about in any capacity is that one, though…probably because it’s that one chill show in the midst of busier shows.
I actually haven’t finished Orange (manga and anime) or Your Lie in April (manga only) but they’ve jumped to being favourites on the strength of what I’ve seen alone. Fruits Basket (manga), on the other hand, I have finished, so I’m looking forward to the 2019 anime as well.
You’re welcome.
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Oh no, no worries at all! I know it can be very hard to keep track of everyone’s stuff. I’m sorry if that came off weird at all.
It’s definitely a chill show for sure. It makes me feel very affectionate towards my cats, which they absolutely hate lol.
The Orange manga was fantastic; I loved it a lot. I got the anime during a sale last year, I just really need to sit down and watch it.
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The first anime I saw was Tokyo ghoul and then Death note. Both are pretty amazing. You should check them out.
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I’ve seen Tokyo Ghoul and I’m currently reading thru Death Note. 🙂 They are also pretty depressing and dark stuff. I’m more looking for feel-good titles at the moment.
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I have one anime suggestion one I watched recently called Inari Kon Kon totally adorable and hidden little gem 🙂
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Ooh, thank you! I’ll have to look it up. 🙂 🙂
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I recommend soloist of the prison as a manga and spirit fingers (it’s a Webtoon tho). For anime, definitely check out honobono log! It’s a short one that you can find on YouTube but it’s so cute, and of course the best anime (in my opinion) MEGANEBU! ヽ(^o^)丿 ヽ(^o^)丿 ヽ(^o^)丿 I hope you enjoy these if you ever read/watch em!
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Thank you so much for your suggestions! I’ve written them down and added it to the list of stuff to check out. 🙂 🙂
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No problem! 💚💚💚
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