IMO Totoro is fine as SoL (it's definitely fantasy too, but it's really laid-back and doesn't even have a real story), but yeah the rest absolutely agree.
I was initially going to say I'm fine with SxF as SoL as well, but then thinking about it, it doesn't represent a typical daily life at all XD
I was initially going to say I'm fine with SxF as SoL as well, but then thinking about it, it doesn't represent a typical daily life at all XD
Most slice of life anime don't represent typical daily life.
K-ON is slice of life but I don't think it's typical for most people to sit around all day eating expensive sweets as a cute girl with cute girls (if you have that life then I'm envious). Aria is a slice of life but I doubt anyone reading this has ever rowed a gondola in their life. Aikatsu is a slice of life but I doubt that climbing mountains and chopping down giant trees as a form of exercise and training for singing and dancing is something that people typically do.
Rather than it being a "slice in the average person's life", it's more like "a slice in this particular anime character's life".
This applies to Spy x Family, but it definitely dips into other genres enough that I'd agree that it's not something I'd put in this category. Comedy would have been a significantly more descriptive category for it.
Nah I get you, that's exactly why using "slice of life" to describe a genre is incredibly unhelpful. As a slice of life enjoyer I will almost always choose to describe an anime as a different genre before slice of life. Iyashikei, comedy, drama, etc are all way more descriptive and helpful.
Slice of life is a helpful descriptor because it communicates the plot/setting will be mundane and ordinary. An anime can and often does have multiple overlapping genres.
CGDCT (Cute Girls Doing Cute Things) feels like a more directly understandable genre just by the name alone. But even there it's a lot about an understood "vibe" about the genre, what to expect. And sometimes it's more sitcom. I guess that's every genre since barely any genre title is a literal description of what to expect.
One way to explain SoL that I usually use is that it focuses a lot more on character interaction (or the lack thereof) than plot or drama. It gets the point across that you're not going to have twists, will-they-won't-theys, resolutions, etc. The most intense story arcs might be "we are preparing for a big show or deadline", "we have traveled to a different setting", etc. There's not really gonna be a face-off with the villain (who probably doesn't even exist) or anything, and there's not gonna be a confession or "they finally kissed", etc. If there is, another genre tag like romance/drama/action will probably describe the show better in my opinion. SoL to me should be low stakes.
Thinking about how to accurately define genres, it's no wonder Anilist tags shows by % of user-submitted tags. So you can see "alright, it's primarily X, but has elements of Y and whatever else".
One extra thing that they didn't mention is that slice of lifes usually cover somewhat 'mundane' activites. To the average viewer, stuff like eating sweets isn't really 'exciting', leading shows to have a more relaxed feel. JJK would not be a slice of life because its premise is inherently exciting. Although, maybe if the show covered some random dude whose job is to explain the destruction caused by fights to the government, it would be a slice of life?
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u/maewemeetagain https://anilist.co/user/maewemeetagain 27d ago
Clearly we have different ideas of what is considered "accessible" to beginners.