Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]

Tired of seeing people die in anime all the time? Or are you tired of seeing melodrama for no apparent reason? Do you want to watch anime and feel good, or even happy in the end? Thankfully, there are lots of anime that will give you a good time, and of course, I’m gonna list 10 of them here. How convenient!

Before we jump right in, the shows you are about to see are anime that will make any viewing session an enjoyable one. Here we go!


10. Joukamachi no Dandelion (Castle Town Dandelion)

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]
  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: July 2015-September 2015

The Sakurada's is your typical family of eleven people living in the typical suburbs. However, the head of the household is the king and each of the family members possess supernatural powers. In order for the children of the royal family to live a normal life, the king, Sakurada Souichirou, had his children attend school and do chores like everyday people, and installed thousands of cameras around the city just in case.

Everything about this show is so wholesome all thanks to its visually pleasing art style, and quirky and loveable characters. The show, well, shows each of the Sakurada siblings doing what they do best and at the same time, work hard to win the hearts of the people in order for them to succeed their father as new king. The show sorta leans towards Sakurada Akane (my personal favorite character, by the way), but the show managed to give every character a good amount of screen time. It’s hard to hate any of these characters and they’re so full of unique personality, you’re bound to pick one or two as your favorites.

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]


09. Wakaba*Girl

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]
  • Episodes: 13
  • Aired: July 2015-September 2015

Kohashi Wakaba is an elegant girl raised from a very wealthy family who has a fascination with the trendy “gyaru” subculture. The story revolves around Wakaba as she tries to adapt to the commoner lifestyle.

The ultimate intermission anime. Done watching a depressing anime and you’re about to watch another depressing anime next? Go watch Wakaba*Girl in between and I guarantee it will lift up your spirits in just 8 minutes.

Each episode is around 8 minutes long and it usually involves Kohashi Wakaba and friends doing all sorts of silly things at home, school, and around the city. And, darn, this show is so pleasing to look at. The character designs are on the cutesy side, the colors are vibrant, and the jokes aren’t typically slapstick and it never fails to give you a big smile.

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]


08. Shinryaku! Ika Musume (Squid Girl)

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]
  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: October 2010-December 2010

Man has polluted the oceans long enough and the creatures of the deep are fighting back to punish the air-breathers! Go forth, Squid Girl! Go forth and conquer the land in the name of the sea, and punish those who tainted our oceans!

The main draw of the show is Squid Girl herself. A supposed conqueror from the sea but was forced to work with the Aizawa’s. Squid Girl soon realize that humans aren’t really that bad after living amongst them. Like anyone living in a strange world, Squid Girl is curious about everything from playing video games, learning the concept of earning money, eating new kind of food, observing humans and finding a way to subjugate them, and hiding away from a persistent lesbian stalker. No, I’m not squiddi—kidding you.

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]


07. Sabagebu! (Sabagebu! -Survival Game Club!- )

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]
  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: July 2014-September 2014

Sonokawa Momoka got dragged into joining the school’s Survival Game club. There she meets the club members who specializes specific roles of combat, like Kyoudou Maya and her “heavy artillery,” Goutokuji Kayo with her information gathering and cospl—espionage, Kasugano Urara as… uh… decoy, and the club leader the beautiful Ootori Miou.

This is the fun version of that GAINAX survival game anime whose name I forgot. Yes, I said that. Sabagebu! is a parody anime that even pokes fun at movies like the Predator, Terminator, etc. And the story revolves around the Survival Game club and their daily antics, like survival activities in the rainforest, a one-on-one duel with Santa Claus, or stopping an entire army… with their BB guns…

The characters are, how do I put it, confrontational with each other. You won’t see them casually talking about stuff like in other anime, but this kind of treatment with each other isn’t as bad as it sounds. They’re still friends even after one of them gets beaten to a pulp for being a pervert.

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]


06. Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san (Inugami-san and Nekoyama-san)

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]
  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: April 2014-June 2014

The story revolves around a timid girl, Nekoyama Suzu, who loves dogs and is overly friendly, and an air-headed girl, Inugami Yachiyo, who loves cats. Upon their first meeting at school, they find themselves strangely attracted to each other, and with their everyday antics, Yachiyo’s friend Hiiragi Aki has to sometimes fix the chaos they’ve caused.

Another “intermission anime”, and so far these short anime successfully meet their role as something relaxing and fun to watch in between bigger and perhaps, tragic anime. InuNeko-san is very yuri in nature, and if you love yuri and need a good break before watching another tragic episode, this one will make you happy. Each InuNeko-san episode plays out mostly the same -- Inugami does something, Nekoyama reacts by blushing, and tries to figure out why they’re attracted to one another.

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]



05. Aikatsu!

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]
  • Episodes: Ongoing
  • Aired: October 2012-Ongoing

Tired of seeing drama all the time in your idol anime? Don’t you want to watch an idol show with nothing but fun and great, angst-free characters? Then look no further because Aikatsu! is the one you want.

Before you jump in though, Aikatsu! is very, very long with S4 (episode 171 and counting), so if you’re not committed to the huge number of episodes, season 1 (50 episodes) is more than enough to experience of the most light-hearted and fun idol shows around.

Aikatsu! has three main characters that you can’t help but love (I can vouch for this because Aoi is so damn cute!!!). The stories in the anime aren’t really complex because it’s a kid’s show after all, but the simplicity of the stories with the aforementioned loveable main cast makes every episode a joy to watch. No drama, just cute idols working hard to be the Top Idol. And of course the music in this anime are very good that leaves you humming along. Actually… I own… all… Aikatsu! CDs… Yeah, I love the music.

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]


04. Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka (Is the Order a Rabbit?)

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]
  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: April 2014-June 2014

Hoto Cocoa arrives at the cafe Rabbit House in a small Europe-esque town, expecting rabbits. Cocoa actually lives and works in that cafe, and along the way she meets new friends, new challenges and a brand new life.

This anime was number one in the Top 10 Slice of Life Anime 2015 mainly because, well, it’s statistically impossible to not like this anime. Everything about the anime is so relaxing like the beautifully drawn backgrounds, character designs, and the characters themselves. There is no convoluted plot and no drama to worry about. It’s the perfect show after a tiring day at work, so grab a cup of coffee, sit back, relax and enjoy maximum comfort by watching Is the Order Rabbit?!

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]


03. Girls und Panzer (Girls and Panzer)

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]
  • Episodes: 12
  • Aired: October 2012-March 2013

Unlike Western animation, Anime can make stories out of anything, and I mean anything. Anime about cooking and putting your life on the line? Bam, Cooking Master Boy. Anime about fishing? Bam, Super Fishing Grander Musashi. Anime version of Worlds of Tanks? Bam, Girls und Panzer.

Nishizumi Miho is born from the distinguished family of the Nishizumi Style of Sensha-dou, an art of operating tanks, but changed schools to run away from Sensha-dou after a traumatic experience. As fate would have it, Miho is drafted to her new school’s tank club. Tough luck, girl.

While the entire premise sounds like the anime is going to be filled with war, despair and all that, but thankfully that is not the case here. They don’t take everything seriously and everything is just light-hearted fun. This show has a ton of characters with personalities that match the war machines they pilot and you’ll have no trouble liking them. Who wants to take a break in a tank-themed cafe?

Anime fans and fans of World War technology will love this anime, for it remained faithful and nearly an accurate representation of the real life tanks: how they operate, how fast is the firing rate and turning speed, roles of each operator inside the tank, tactics, etc. To simply put, Girls und Panzer is just a group of girls who love tanks as they join competitions… to blow everyone to smithereens… but somehow no one was severely injured or killed in these events.

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]


02. Working!! (Wagnaria!!)

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]
  • Episodes: 13
  • Aired: Aired: April 2010-June 2010

Takanashi Souta has a strange obsession of liking things that are small like dolls, little girls, and even water fleas. On a snowy day, Souta bumps into Taneshima Poplar, a girl who is his senior and has a childlike height. Poplar was looking around in search for new workers for the restaurant. Souta has taken a liking to Poplar due to her small size and agreed to work at Wagnaria. There, he meets the colorful cast of memorable characters as they work together to keep the restaurant running. Welcome to Wagnaria!

We all know work isn’t really a fun activity, especially working overtime for weeks, and have your boss breathing down your neck. Working!! will show you that work isn’t really that bad and can be fun.

Lots of stuff are going on in the anime with intertwining character stories; like Takanashi dotting on Poplar for being small, Souma plotting something for his amusement, Inami trying hard to get rid of her androphobia, Satou having a crush on Yachiyo but is too much of a sissy to actually approach her, etc. With lots of stuff happening, Working!! usually follows a couple of main stories, especially the growing romance between Takanashi and androphobe Inami.

The best part of Working!! is how it cleverly avoids any drama. If something is about to go south, the anime throws a funny curveball at you. If you hate work, Working!! may perhaps give you a new perspective as you might learn a thing or two. Want to confront your boss and ask for a raise? Ha! Good luck with that!

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]


01. Azumanga Daioh

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]
  • Episodes: 26
  • Aired: April 2002-October 2002

Azumanga Daioh follows the stories of six unusual girls, Chiyo, Osaka, Sakaki, Tomo, Yomi, and Kagura as they live out their high school lives together.

This is the oldest in the list, but Azumanga Daioh still holds up even to this day. At first glance, it’s another typical slice of life show, but while you’re right about making that assumption, it’s one of the best ones that inspired lots of slice of life shows that followed that 4-koma-like humor on TV.

You’ll get to watch this funny group of friends as they live out their entire high school days, in a surprising realistic way. You get to see cultural festivals, summer vacation, etc., thrice, and it never gets old. The show gives you this feel connection with these characters and that’s all that you need.

What makes this extra special is this anime convinced US licensors that the slice of life format is popular amongst fans. Azumanga Daioh is one of the most watched anime in the online community, and it was a commercial success in the West that garnered lots of positive press and reviews. One of the prime examples of how it helped shaped the current Western anime industry we see today.

And finally let’s not forget the popular term/meme “mai waifu” originated in Azumanga Daioh. Yes, that very phrase that’s used to describe spousal affection toward an anime character came from this anime... that’s more than a decade ago! So now you know! ...Or the article before this…

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]


Conclusion

And there you have it. Listing anime with “happy” as theme is very broad, but in every essence of the word, this list fulfilled its goal. There are lots of other anime I didn’t put in the list, but what can you do when listing only 10 of them?

So what do you think? Saw an anime that put a big happy smile on your face? Please leave a comment below!

girls-und-panzer-wallpaper-625x500 Top 10 Happy Anime [Best Recommendations]

Writer

Author: Antoine Rizal

I've been an anime fan for as long as I can remember. Actually, anime is very much a part of me now for I have extended my reach beyond just watching them. I am a fansubber for more than 8 years now and contributed a lot to the anime community. Me and my group has translated shows, manga, drama CDs and doujinshi. Right now I'm learning Japanese so I can better serve the community and read interesting stuff about the Japanese culture as well.

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