Like live-action TV shows, Japanese anime usually relies on conflict, drama, and suspense to drive the story, which will keep the viewer engaged until the very end. Some of the most famous and well-regarded series are like that, such as the seinen title Monster or the heavy drama of Fruits Basket, but sometimes, anime fans want lighter fare.
Plenty of anime series are designed to make the viewer feel relaxed, happy, and optimistic about themselves and the world around them. Many of them are known as iyashikei, or conflict-free anime that are about a premise rather than a plot. Most feel-good anime are true iyashikei, though a few others are comedy or romance with plenty of plot.
10 Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible
Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible is a high school rom-com anime that may feel conventional, but still has undeniable charm. This anime features the dandere Junta Shiraishi, a kind but plain boy who takes “face in a crowd” to the next level. He feels totally invisible, but his classmate Nagisa Kubo can see him.
Nagisa Kubo will swiftly befriend Junta and bring a little more joy and pizzazz to his life, all while they both develop a mutual crush. They’re too shy to admit their feelings for now, but they definitely make each other happy, and that’ll make viewers feel good, too.
9 Do It Yourself!!
Do It Yourself!! is all about the joys of woodworking and homemade projects of all kinds. Protagonist Yua Serufu is a goofy, clumsy deredere who’s determined to prove that in a high-tech age of robots and computers, old-fashioned manual labor is more relevant than ever.
Yua and her delightful classmates are hard at work in their clubhouse, building tables, birdhouses, benches, and even a treehouse with simple tools and their bare hands. Yua’s tsundere friend Miku is skeptical at first, but then she’ll realize there really is wholesome joy in “do it yourself.”
8 Aharen-San Is Indecipherable
Romantic comedy anime tend to have feel-good vibes to them—such as Aharen-San is Indecipherable—since they feature likable, relatable characters who embrace the power of love and friendship in a modern setting. In Aharen-San, meanwhile, these two lovers are both quiet but understand each other perfectly.
The petite Reina Aharen was lonely at first because of her whisper-quiet voice, only for her classmate Raido to befriend her and see the real Aharen for who she is. Now, Raido and his quiet friend will have all kinds of silly but heartwarming fun together, and true love may soon follow.
7 K-On!
K-On! is a popular example of the “cute girls doing cute things” concept, though it also has strong musical elements since the main characters are members of an amateur rock band. Protagonist Yui and her friends are the Ho-Kago Teatime band, but making it big as musicians won’t be easy.
Still, Yui and her friends aren’t too fixated on fame and fortune as musicians. They focus on the fun and friendship of being in a band, and they treat everyday life as a delightful adventure. This makes K-On! a pleasant contrast with movies or documentaries about musicians who push themselves too hard to reach stardom.
6 Aria: The Masterpiece
Aria: the Masterpiece is a “cute girls doing cute things” anime with a science fiction flair to it. This feel-good anime stars a squad of female friends on terraformed Mars, now called Aqua, and they are training to become gondola rowers in a replica of Venice.
Neo-Venezia is low-tech and rustic by design, and protagonist Akari Mizunashi loves it all. She is a cheerful and friendly person who sees the good in absolutely everyone and everything, and anime fans will enjoy seeing life through such a refreshing lens with Akari around.
5 Laid-Back Camp
Anyone who loves nature and camping will enjoy Laid-Back Camp, a feel-good anime with no drama and no conflict. Protagonist Nadeshiko Kagamihara is a delightful high school girl who wants to get serious about camping, and she innocently enjoys every moment of the great outdoors.
Laid-Back Camp is a cheerful and mildly educational “cute girls doing cute things” anime that swaps high school settings and crowded city streets for stunning natural vistas, which may help fans feel refreshed. It may also inspire viewers to go hiking or camping themselves and see what “forest bathing” is all about.
4 Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun is a wonderful slice-of-life rom-com anime with a shojo manga twist to it. Protagonist Chiyo Sakura was politely rejected by her love interest, Umetaro Nozaki, but she is welcome to be his friend and manga assistant, which is enough for Chiyo.
Chiyo and Nozaki will have all kinds of fun getting into wacky hijinks with their colorful classmates, and plenty of it may inspire new chapters of Nozaki’s shojo manga. Despite this complex web of relationships and misunderstandings, though, there is practically no drama at all.
3 Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-Kun!
Isekai anime are usually a form of escapism or power fantasies, but a few of them, such as Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-Kun!, actually do count among the best feel-good anime series out there. Despite all the magic, combat, and demons, this anime has a pleasant and inspiring tone, and there’s little drama.
In Iruma-Kun!, protagonist Iruma Suzuki will begin his new life in the vaguely cartoony demon realm, the Netherworld, and attend the Babyls school. Iruma’s adventure is filled with lovable characters, innocent humor, and inspiring messages about friendship and acceptance, all of which can make any anime fan feel great about themselves.
2 Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a popular reverse-isekai anime with mild fantasy elements. The plain office worker Kobayashi will find her life turned upside-down when the friendly dragon Tohru arrives in town, and Tohru, in her dragon form, is ready to serve as Kobayashi’s live-in maid.
Hilarity will ensue, and more and more supernatural creatures will join in the fun, such as the young dragon Kanna and the moody Fafnir, among others. Even with all these superpowered creatures around, though, Dragon Maid is a pure comedy that puts fun before violence.
1 Komi Can’t Communicate
Komi Can’t Communicate is one of the industry’s very best manga/anime franchises for an innocent, inspiring story about friendship and self-acceptance. Protagonist Shoko Komi is a total dandere who struggles to speak and is terribly lonely, but after befriending Hitohito Tadano at school, Komi’s life is transformed.
One by one, Komi will befriend all her classmates and find true joy in everyday life, more than she ever thought was possible. Shoko Komi’s positive influence will, in return, inspire her classmates and friends to get along better and feel better about themselves, too.
