Submitted 1 day ago by mo_lave@reddthat.com to anime@ani.social
What are some anime about a niche topic/hobby resonated with you?
Mine:
My Dress-Up Darling
Stardust Telepath
Kageki Shoujo
After-School Dice Club
Sora No Manimani is basically propaganda for your local high school’s astronomy club. You know it was made by space nerds because they get all the visuals right. Never seen a show so faithfully recreate the actual night sky
Not sure exactly what is meant by “resonated with you”, but I really liked Chihayafuru. It’s about an old card game that’s niche even in Japan where someone reads out the first half of a poem, and then each competitor tries to touch the card with the second half of that poem first. Sounds boring, but this show is proof that execution is what really matters.
Similarly, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is a great story about aspiring rakugoka. All you need is some good human drama and suddenly anything can be extremely interesting (no offense meant to the art of rakugo).
missingno@fedia.io 1 day ago You might be surprised to hear that there's a lot of anime/manga about mahjong. I'm aiming to watch/read all of them (or at least what's available in English, there are even more manga series that are still untranslated).
Akagi is without a doubt the GOAT of this weird little subgenre.
Literally coming in to say this. I have the whole Akagi manga set. I don’t even know Japanese, but love it so much. Ten, which Akagi is technically a spin off of, is also excellent.
I also own way too many mahjong sets now. I at least got some friends into the game, so they aren’t sitting unused.
Ping Pong the Animation is about Ping Pong but also so much more. Fantastic characterization.
The currently airing Akane-banashi is actually pretty great, gave me a new appreciation for rakugo
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju and Joshiraku are also great if you’re craving rakugo.
DIY is a niche topic???
I mean, building a tree house and fixing/reusing things instead of throwing them away? Sadly, yes.
NegaPosi Angler - though about fishing, it’s largely about forming human bonds, and plays off of the fact that people who fish tend to share an instant bond with each other.
Hanayamata -five girls who form a Yosakoi dance team - easily one of the most adorably uplifting anime I’ve ever seen.
Sabagebu! - Survival Game Club - combat games with AirSoft guns - very stylized and often surreal and very funny in a sort of Nichijou vein.
NegaPosi Angler is very underrated with a very solid story. It’s one of the shows that captured the chosen-family dynamic the best.
chosen-family dynamic
I should’ve realized there was a neat and tidy phrase for that. Thanks for sharing it.
And yes.
Space Brothers is all about what it takes to become an astronaut. One of my personal favorites.
I’ll second Chihayafuru, and add Hikaru no Go (different game, very shounen anime, still manages a surprisingly good emotional payoff if you stick with the show long enough).
I’m going to add a couple of more dubious ones: Princess Tutu, to the extent that it’s about ballet and not fairytales. And the old series Ayatsuri Sakon, which is primarily a mystery series, but often uses backdrops that relate strongly to Japanese culture (mostly bunraku, since the main character is an apprentice bunraku puppeteer, but there’s also one arc that deals heavily with Noh theatre)—to be honest, those were more interesting than the whodunnit bits.
Hazel@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 day ago Chihayafuru, one of the greatest anime ever.
If you liked My Dress-Up Darling, then you’d probably also appreciate 2.5 Dimensional Seduction.
Birdie Wing - Girls golf. It’s wild and amazing at the same time.
Super Cub - Girl buys a used motor scooter and it opens up her world.
Laid-back Camp - Cozy camping vibes where buying a single lantern is a whole event because it makes camping that tiny bit more fun.
March Comes in Like a Lion - Shogi
Sk8 the Infinity - Downhill skateboarding dialed up to 11. Not at all realistic but still a fun time.
Niche anime that stuck with me for all the wrong reasons: Burning Kabaddi The sport is so ridiculous that I can’t believe it’s a real thing. Only watched one or two episodes, but the incredibly niche topic stuck with me.
Faceman2K23@discuss.tchncs.de 1 day ago
I really enjoyed Ruri Rocks, and not just because of the “character designs”
Taco13@ani.social 1 day ago
It’s the best anime I’ve seen that approaches science the way it should too - as a meticulous and rewarding process. I think it might be the best science anime I’ve seen, period.