The Weekly W: Whimsical

When I look for anime to watch, oftentimes I am looking for something lighthearted and fun.  There are many anime that fit that criteria, but I'll go over a couple of my favorites.  Here we go!


First on the list: Ouran High School Host Club

I've talked about Ouran in a couple of my previous posts, so I'll keep this brief. 

From the hilarious characters to the witty use of label-boxes, this series varies from semi-serious to outright ridiculous, often within the same episode.  While all of the characters have their shining moments, Haruhi's father (above) and Tamaki (below) are major causes of the fun and crazy.

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My favorite part of this series is how earnestly the characters are while being absolutely ridiculous.  The facial expressions are hilarious, and the whole things is hilarious.  The manga is longer than the series (and has an actual ending), where the anime branched off and did it's own thing after it caught up.  Either way, it's hilarious.

2nd: Nichijou

Nichijou is literally translatable to "everyday life", which is quite possibly the most misleading title ever created.  Chronically the everyday lives of inhabitants of a town, the sheer silliness of the series is staggering. 

Short skits skip between different characters, and many of them become staple parts of the show, continuing from where the previous left off. 

This series is nice, since the individual segments are easy to watch in fragments.  One of my favorites was the commercial break bookends that were a game of rock paper scissors.  Many of these skits were memorable, and not a single one depicted anything one would classify as "everyday life".  Only in Nichijou.

3rd: Hetalia

A parody of actual historical events... sort of.  Each "character" is actually a parody of a specific country.  It gets really whacky at times.  I didn't end up finishing it, since I caught up and then never went back to it, but what I saw was very funny.

The interactions between the characters were over-the-top, and each character is an exaggerated parody of the stereotypes about that country.  It gained huge popularity, leading to hordes of cosplayers carrying country flags in conventions.  Most of the events are based (loosely) on actual historical events (adjusted to reflect countries as people).  This is a crazy not-so-little series with legions of fans, and is definitely worth trying out.

Do you have a favorite series that feels whimsical?  Do you like that kind of anime, or do you prefer something a little more serious?  Let us know in the comments!

Hope Burns Bright