Why Slice Of Life Is The Best Genre

Image Source: Hyouka

Imagine it’s the last day of school. You’re sitting at your desk, pensively gazing out the window at a beautiful, sunny sky. Your classmates effusively exchange contact information, sign yearbooks, and revel at the end of a school year–a chapter of their lives filled with friends, adventure, and memories. You avert your gaze from the window to the classroom, now bathed in golden sunlight. You are blissfully overwhelmed as the entire year flashes through your mind. Even if the year has been filled with tribulations, you can smile for this one moment.

Did my story cause you to reflect on your life? Did you look fondly upon your childhood recollections (even if I did a shoddy job of writing)? In my opinion, Slice of life media invokes all of these exhilarating feelings and is, in my opinion, unparalleled in storytelling. 

The slice of life genre is not limited to anime and manga, including TV shows, movies, videogames, and books as well. It also includes all media that focuses on aspects of routine life. Stardew Valley? That’s slice of life. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer? That’s slice of life. The Shawshank Redemption–you guessed it–is slice of life too. 

It’s not a coincidence that numerous masterpieces contain slice of life elements. Daily life is often more relatable than grandiose narratives, eliciting a more meaningful emotional attachment. While I do love fantastical elements in fiction, it’s more immersive to ground those elements in reality. Slice of life is constantly grounded in reality, keeping it as riveting as many action flicks. Give me a world domination plot and I usually couldn’t care less. Give me a confession at the end of a heartwarming episode and now we’re talking. 

Although slice of life typically has a simple plot, this empowers its worlds to focus on fleshing out characters. Some may argue that slice of life characters have little character development, but that isn’t always the case. Several slice of life media breathe gradual development into its characters through gentle pacing, recognizing that people don’t metamorphosize after a poignant speech. I love shonen battle series as much as the next guy, but come on?

Finally, slice of life is enjoyable. I’ll admit that the genre has its shortcomings, but the bottom line is that I consume fiction primarily for entertainment, and slice of life has got me there with witty dialogue, humor, and escapism. At the end of an arduous day, I can collapse in my chair, play a couple episodes of slice of life anime, and happily go to bed.