Amanchu

 Iyashikei is probably my favourite subgenre of anime. Iyashikei is a subgenre of a slice of life meant to relax the audience and unwind to the point it has a healing effect on the audience that has heartwarming moments and an escape from reality. One of my favourites of this genre that I feel like no one ever talks about or a lot of fans of the show is Amanchu!. The anime is sort of like Aria, with being heavily inspired by the anime, but also it’s different because it doesn’t have fantasy and is about diving. There’s something about combining sports or activities like fishing or diving or shogi or school band and slice of life really goes well together; as well as bringing you back to a more simpler time in your life where everything was easier, and I believe that is the purpose for slice of life. I love this anime to death, even though it gets an average score, but to me I actually don’t know why it’s like that because it’s amazing. The story is about a green-haired girl called Hikari who makes funny faces and makes frog noises meets a girl called Futaba, who is a new student at the school who loves the sea.

Hikari being a diving instructor and Futaba having a great love for the ocean and sea, they cross paths and become friends with Hikari’s overwhelming wholesomeness with extreme extroversion. This anime is the cutest because they give each other nicknames like Pikari and Teko, with a little LGBT themes between the two, but is not actually as Teko is shy and blushes a lot, but some people's interpretations may differ. As someone who has an extreme fear of the ocean, this anime for whatever reason made me love the sea because it has a soothing feel like being at the beach and captures this feeling so well that I felt so warm, that is why I love this anime. This anime is really about extroversion vs introversion, since Futaba being very introverted reminds me of myself and I can resonate with her character a lot because she starts out moving to a new place and a new school. Surrounded by unfamiliar things, she finds two things that help her, the ocean and Hikari. Hikari probably knew she was shy and made friends with her because she is the kind of person to be super kind to others. It really puts the feeling that Hikari is feeling through well to the audience and makes you feel their emotions from having it set up right from the makers, with the calm music and also the gentle nature of the anime.

This anime I watched early in my anime journey when it aired in 2016 and it was my first introduction to Iyashikei which made me so obsessed with it ever since because this anime really does have a genuine healing effect on the audience and can touch your heart. By showing this character who doesn’t have any friends and has the time of life diving because it’s something the character loves very much which is done so well in the anime to make you feel it. This anime may be very simple, but oh boy is it effective and has something about it that makes it a very special anime, which deserves its own wiki as for me it’s a near masterpiece in the slice of life healing genre. You go on her journey of getting her diving licence, and every episode has informative stuff about diving, when I watched it I actually learnt something. You see her work towards her goal and has a lot of emotions with friends and fun, experiencing this anime was a joy to watch every moment of it, with also this overwhelming serene feeling from the ost and slow, calming pace at time but not a slow boring pace; more of a relaxing pace that this anime does the best.

The comedy in this anime is also very fitting, along with the wholesome side of this anime that strengthens the friendship of the cast with introducing two other characters who are brother and sister, along with the low detail emoticon faces they do had me thoroughly enjoying every second of this anime. I loved the comedy in this anime because of Hikari’s eccentric nature and lack of social awkwardness; she can really be a positive force to her friends and is not afraid to be herself. Hikari is also super curious and wants to show the beauty of the world to people she knows. Her character is what made this anime with her interactions with Futaba, whose polar opposites are why the anime was solid every episode as you have yin and yang, which is a phenomenon that works having opposites becoming so similar which is the law of the universe. As Futaba comes out her shell around Hikari and Futaba both become two peas in a pod, sharing the same brain cell, resulting in making me laugh all the time when they copied each other. The siblings also add extra comedy to the anime as they always lightheartedly fight together, but the girl being a tsundere adds more to the anime as she gets overwhelmed by the positivity too. We have 3 character types now which makes the cast vastly different and original. Also, there's a cat just like in Aria that anything it does is cute and funny as it adds more enjoyment into the anime.

This anime really has good teachings as well which is always given by Hikari’s grandmother that I feel really speak for the anime and gives this show way more meaning than the average slice of life. Futaba being lost in a new place finds friends and lives in the moment and finds the great outdoors away from her phone. She treasures these memories in a box given by Hikari which shows that you don't take what you got for granted and to treasure what life gives you from the people around you and the experiences. That is what slice of life really is about to represent these sentiments and emulate these experiences through the power of anime. Which is why this anime is a must watch for anyone and I’m glad it had a second season as well.

Thanks for Reading!