Many of the most popular Japanese anime titles involve action and combat, such as classic shonen titles like Dragon Ball Z or even the shojo series Fruits Basket, which sometimes shows Kyo and Yuki Sohma fighting people. Some anime are famous for their creative and engaging combat, like Chainsaw Man, but an anime doesn’t need action sequences to be worth a watch.
Hundreds of excellent anime series have no violence or action in them at all, not even the “violent tsundere” concept or characters kicking each other through the roof for comedy’s sake. If an anime fans needs a break from martial arts, swords, and gunplay, they can tune into some outstanding anime where everyone uses their words, not their fists, to get ahead.
10 Bocchi The Rock!
Bocchi the Rock! was a surprise smash-hit of the Fall 2022 anime season, and some anime fans actually rated it higher than the ultra-violent, much-anticipated Chainsaw Man in the same season. This is a delightful musical anime with “cute girls doing cute things” vibes, no action or violence necessary.
In Bocchi the Rock!, the dandere lead Hitori Gotoh is terribly shy but excellent at playing the guitar, and she must overcome her own anxiety if she’s going to shine in an all-girl rock band. Hitori often finds herself overwhelmed, but her love of music will protect her, and she has wonderful new friends to support her, too.
9 Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible
Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, like many romantic comedy series, forgoes action and violence in favor of a gentle, wholesome narrative that shows how wonderful daily life can be. In this anime, the quiet boy Junta Shiraishi is used to being totally invisible to others, but at least Nagisa Kubo can see him.
Nagisa Kubo is a good-hearted, violet-haired girl who is determined to make Junta the star of his own story and support him however she can. They will have a great time sharing their low-intensity lives, with no drama or action to get in the way, and perhaps fall in love someday, too.
8 My Dress-Up Darling
Even if My Dress-Up Darling is a seinen anime, it has no dark, mature themes or graphic violence, though it does have some PG-13 fan service. This anime shows what happens when a shy but skilled tailor, Wakana Gojo, and an outgoing cosplayer, Marin Kitagawa, team up to make cosplay.
Marin and Gojo make a great team, and they learn plenty from each other about their personal lives and the world of fabric and tailoring. A wholesome friendship and romance will soon blossom, though even the cheerful Marin might feel pangs of jealousy when Gojo helps other girls with their cosplay, too.
7 Kakegurui
Although Kakegurui features plenty of intense and dramatic gambling scenes where everything’s on the line, there is no physical violence in this anime. Not even when characters are held at gunpoint do they get hurt, though it still makes for heart-pounding viewing.
In Kakegurui, the wild protagonist Yumeko Jabami unleashes her love of gambling on Hyakkou Academy, a gambling-oriented school. Yumeko will gladly challenge anyone in high-stakes games of chance, and her ultimate goal is to face the student council president – whether she wins or loses.
6 The Quintessential Quintuplets
The Quintessential Quintuplets stands as one of the best and most wholesome harem anime series out there. The series has no violence or action, not even where the tsundere Nino Nakano is concerned, because the real battle is fought on paper.
Futaro Uesugi must tutor the Nakano quintuplets and help them pass their exam this year no matter what, but the Nakanos are terrible and uncooperative students. One by one, though, they’ll appreciate Futaro and strive to make something of themselves, one exam question at a time.
5 Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma is all about competitive cooking, hence the title, and violence is not tolerated at the elite Totsuki culinary school. Protagonist Soma Yukihira is the newest transfer student at Totsuki, a creative and resourceful boy with experience working at his family’s diner.
Food Wars! trades physical action and violence for food battles instead, formerly known as shokugeki. Each chef will wager something of great value, and once the judges declare a winner, that winner takes all, creating some serious stakes for each culinary battle Soma finds himself in.
4 The Ice Guy And His Cool Female Colleague
The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague is a gentle romance series with a mild supernatural twist. The kuudere office worker Himuro will find true love when he meets the gorgeous, smart Fuyutsuki, who will be his co-worker from now on. She’s a kuudere too, so they understand each other.
What follows is a fairly typical but amusing romance between two lovers who use soft-spoken words, strong implications, and kind gestures to express the warm feelings that hide under their cool exteriors. Himuro even makes “cool on the outside” literal, since he inherited the yuki-onna’s powers.
3 Zombie Land Saga
Zombie Land Saga is an idol anime series with a twist, though it doesn’t have the same heavy themes or grisly murder scenes of its counterpart, Oshi no Ko. Instead, Zombie Land Saga is a comedy series where protagonist Sakura Minamoto will realize her dream to become an idol star – after her death.
Sakura and her fellow idols were brought back as zombies, and their manager/necromancer Kotaro Tatsumi is determined to make them breakout stars in the otherwise sleepy Saga prefecture. This anime is all about undead zombie fun and great music, no violence necessary.
2 Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War
Kaguya-Sama: Love is War stands as one of the best and most popular romance anime series out there. Even if Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane think of love as war and are depicted with knives and pistols, they would never harm anyone. They fight with words and tricks instead.
Kaguya and Miyuki are too proud to confess their mutual love, so they battle endlessly to trick each other into making a love confession first. Then things will get even more complex when their friend Yu Ishigami tries to find love once again, and Miko Iino will do the same.
1 After The Rain
The seinen romance anime After the Rain is more than a romance about 17-year-old 706z87″ title=”akira”>Akira Tachibana and her one-sided crush. 706z87″ title=”akira”>Akira may be infatuated with her middle-aged boss, but After the Rain is actually about healing, for the mind and body alike.
706z87″ title=”akira”>Akira feels terrible since her ankle injury prevents her from running track, her favorite pastime. So, she tries to soothe her heart with her kind boss, Mr. Kondo, and she may heal him in return. Mr. Kondo has lost his passion for literature, but with 706z87″ title=”akira”>Akira to cheer him up, he might rediscover his love of books – and help 706z87″ title=”akira”>Akira heal her own heart however he can.
