Aug 9th, 2025 Saturday Cloudy
This snapshot captured a seemingly typical moment of Yuuki & Sesame’s life.
One of the plants that we tried growing in our garden is catnip. Being a relatively weedy species – as many in the mint family – means low maintenance and high yield. Although I would not consider our catnip patch to be particularly productive, especially compared to the couple of spearmint that threatens to take over the whole yard if let be, they consistently provide fresh catnip, which my husband picks regularly to tease our kitties.
Despite the reputation, not all cats react strongly to catnip. For Yuuki, the catnip is treated with the same curiosity as any other branches brought into the house – she clearly thinks it is a cat toy (or rather, her toy), and always ready to practice her hunting skill with it. The difference between a catnip and a blade of grass is virtually nonexistent for her. For Sesame, on the other hand, the catnip is of course an appetizer, chewed and swallowed with equal enjoyment as a piece of cabbage leaf.
So what you are seeing here is when Yuuki was done pouncing and swatting, and Sesame was considering a second serving of his salad but feeling lazy to move after gobbling down the first serving ten minutes ago.
These types of “slice of life” constitute an interesting common theme in Japanese anime/manga, and sometimes other Asian shows. Its defining characteristics is how relatable the scenarios and the characters are. Even though they are technically fictional, the characters are not heroes/heroines, and the plot lines do not evolve around defeating some heinous monsters or saving the world. Rather, they are depicted in such realistically ways that you may easily imagine meeting the characters next door (if the setting happens to be a town like yours), or going through the same narrative yourself.
Slice of life is not necessarily low drama. To be fair, you are unlikely to have soaring adrenaline while watching it (unlike a horror movie or a suspense series) or be prevented from sleeping well afterwards, but there is drama to keep every episode (or a few episodes grouped together) an independent story, with background, development, climax, and resolution. Thanks to the low-access of the framework (no need to attempt to understand a completely different world view with magic, wizards and/or wars), they are generally relaxing and engaging at the same time.
Honestly speaking, a lot of slice of life works might seem mundane – that is, not exciting – yet the size of the audience (worldwide) and the popularity/prevalence of the genre suggests that people love them. We love observing other people’s daily life and experiencing their little challenges, embarrassment, victories and disappointment. We empathize with the protagonists, because we can see a little bit of ourselves in them.
Somehow when we are the ones on the spot, it feels less interesting. Each day is so similar to the next, that weeks, months, or even years go by without us being able to recall anything memorable.
Would that change if a certain writer suddenly decides to make an anime about our life? After all, all the slice of life shows are based on ordinary people, just like us. And I bet most, if not all, of us, have enough going on with our classmates, teachers, coworkers, managers, spouses, in-laws, children, and friends… to fill several seasons, at least.
Perhaps switching to a third-person perspective from time to time could help us appreciate our life better. It helps us to take on a new viewpoint, and analyze it from another angle. We might realize that after all, our life is just as fun.