The winter blues are a real struggle for some people – Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) is a condition that affects people every winter. Affected people experience heightened depression, withdrawal from social interaction, and a lack of energy and concentration.
If you suffer from S.A.D., consider getting as much sun as you can, taking vitamin D supplements, and watching things that keep your spirits up.
Below are 24 different happy anime series that covers a wide range of tastes from a demon working at ‘McRonalds’ to a caligrapher escaping his old life to an iconic light music club.
You’re sure to find at least one or two series that can help you survive the winter.
24. Gintama
Studio: Sunrise / Bandai Namco Pictures
Genre: Action / Comedy / Drama / Historical / Parody / Science Fiction / Happy Anime
Episodes: 334 + 2 OVAs + 4 Specials + 2 Movies
Quick Pitch: The Amanto is an alien race that invades Japan during the Edo Period and prohibits the use of swords. Gintoki Sakata is a samurai that makes a living performing odd jobs for customers.
Kagura and Shinpachi are his employees. Together, they face off against the Shinsengumi, rebels, assassins, and the looming threat of cancellation.
23. Carnival Phantasm
Studio: Lerche
Genre: Comedy / Fantasy / Parody / Happy Anime
Episodes: 16 OVAs
Quick Pitch: Every 10 years, the “Carnival Moment” occurs, which pulls characters from the Fate and Tsukihime worlds to put them into a game show.
22. Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance / Happy Anime
Episodes: 24 + 8 OVAs
Quick Pitch: Yuuta suffered from “chunibyo syndrome” during junior high, in which he believed he possessed supernatural powers. He attempts to start high school with a clean slate, but it proves difficult as a cute, yet delusion classmate learns of his past.
21. Kiniro Mosaic
Studio: Studio Gokumi
Genre: Comedy / Slice of Life / Happy Anime
Episodes: 24 + 1 OVA
Quick Pitch: Shinobu Omiya once participated in a homestay with a family in England. Despite the language barrier, she becomes friends with Alice Cartelet and becomes penpals with her after returning to Japan. Years later, Alice transfers to Shinobu’s Japanese school and stays with Shinobu’s family.
20. The Devil is a Part-Timer! (Hataraku Maou-sama)
Studio: White Fox
Genre: Action / Comedy / Fantasy / Happy Anime
Episodes: 13
Quick Pitch: Demon Lord Satan Jacob seeks to conquer the world of Ente Isla, but is thwarted by the Emilia Justina. Satan and his general Alciel escape through a portal, which takes them to modern-day Japan.
The world’s lack of magical energy depowers the duo, who must adapt to survive day-to-day life. While Alciel looks for a way to return home, Satan takes up a part-time job at a fast-food restaurant.
19. Tari Tari
Studio: P.A. Works
Genre: Music / Slice of Life / Happy Anime
Episodes: 13
Quick Pitch: Konatsu Miyamoto wants to sing in her last high school recital before graduating, but the vice principal has barred her from participating in the school’s choir. At the last second, Konatsu devises a plan to create a singing club with her friends, but recruiting members is proving to be difficult.
18. Bunny Drop (Usagi Drop)
Studio: Production I.G.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Slice of Life / Happy Anime
Episodes: 11 + 4 Specials
Quick Pitch: Daikichi learns that his recently deceased grandfather has an illegitimate six-year-old daughter named Rin. Family members refuse to adopt Rin due to her illegitimacy, so Daikichi decides to take her in. Even though Daikichi has no experience with children, he is determined to be a good father towards Rin.
17. Barakamon
Studio: Kinema Citrus
Genre: Comedy / Slice of Life / Happy Anime
Episodes: 12
Quick pitch: Seishuu Handa is a young, handsome, talented, and narcissistic calligrapher living in Tokyo. When an elderly curator criticizes Seishuu’s technique for being too generic, he loses his cool and gets exiled to a small rural town.
He must deal with the eccentric villagers (which include crazy children and a fujoshi) while developing his own calligraphy style.
16. Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun (Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun)
Studio: Doga Kobo
Genre: Comedy / Parody / Romance / Happy Anime
Episodes: 12 + 6 OVAs
Quick pitch: The story follows Sakura Chiyo as she tries to confess her feelings to Nozaki-kun, a student who is a renowned shoujo mangaka. Thinking Sakura is a fangirl, Nozaki gives her an autograph and allows her to work as his assistant.
15. Cromartie High School
Studio: Production I.G.
Genre: Comedy / Parody / Happy Anime
Episodes: 26
Quick Pitch: Takashi Kamiyama is an average, mild-mannered student. However, he has decided to enroll at the infamous Cromartie High School, which is home to notorious delinquents. But are they really violent?
14. FLCL
Studio: Gainax
Genre: Action / Comedy / Science Fiction
Episodes: 6 OVAs
Quick Pitch: Naota Nandaba is a 12-year-old boy confused about life who meets an eccentric woman named Haruhara Haruko.
After running down Naota with her Vespa scooter and beating him with a bass guitar, Haruka discovers that Naota’s head is a portal that can cause giant robots to appear.
The discovery pulls Naota into the middle of a three-way battle for the portal in his head.
13. Yuyushiki
Studio: Kinema Citrus
Genre: Comedy / Slice of Life
Episodes: 12 + 1 OVA
Quick Pitch: Yui, Yuzuko, and Yukari are members of their school’s Data Processing Club. Despite the complicated title, the trio spends most of their days looking up obscure topics and dealing with life in surreal ways.
12. Teekyuu
Studio: MAPPA (seasons 1 – 3) / Millepensee (seasons 4 – ongoing)
Genre: Comedy / Sports
Episodes: 108 + 6 OVAs
Quick Pitch: The Kameido High School tennis club is home to four members: Yuri, Kanae, Nasuno, and Marimo. Despite their love for the sport, they don’t spend much time playing tennis and instead find themselves befriending an alien, getting arrested, and finding the joy in insane situations.
11. Plastic Nee-san
Studio: Barnum Studio / TYO Animations
Genre: Comedy / Slapstick
Episodes: 12
Quick Pitch: Despite being a short, third-year high school student Iroe Genma is viewed as an “elder sister” of the school’s Model Club – which only has two other members. While the trio tries to build plastic models, they find themselves distracted by life.
10. Hidamari Sketch
Studio: Shaft
Genre: Comedy / Slice of Life
Episodes: 58 + 3 OVAs
Quick pitch: Yuno has always dreamed of attending Yamabuki Arts High School, but is afraid of moving away from her parents.
Luckily, her neighbors at Hidamari Apartments are fellow art students, and they are willing to do their best in showing Yuno the odd world of art.
9. K-On!
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Genre: Comedy / Music / Slice of Life
Episodes: 39 +2 OVAs + 1 Movie
Quick Pitch: Yui is an imaginative, carefree girl entering high school and is instantly attracted to the Light Music Club.
She signs up, assuming the club is about listening to music and eating snacks but is surprised to learn that the club members have their own band.
The group needs Yui or they face disbandment, which leads to her learning to play the guitar.
8. Good Luck Girl! (Binbougami ga!)
Studio: Sunrise
Genre: Action / Comedy / Parody / Supernatural
Episodes: 13
Quick Pitch: Ichiko Sakura has always been lucky thanks to her body being able to draw “Fortune energy” from her surroundings.
To combat this, a God of Misfortune named Momiji is sent to steal Ichiko’s Fortune energy in an attempt to bring balance to the world but they’re not always evenly matched.
7. Inferno Cop
Studio: Trigger
Genre: Action / Comedy / Satire
Episodes: 13
Quick Pitch: Jack Knife Edge Town is the edgiest city in the world, and it’s up to Inferno Cop to dispense justice before society TEARS ITSELF APART.
Inferno Cop has dedicated his new life to blowing up Southern Cross, the crime syndicate responsible for the city’s high crime rate.
6. Daily Lives of High School Boys (Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou)
Studio: Sunrise
Genre: Comedy / Slice of Life
Episodes: 12 + 7 Specials
Quick Pitch: Hidenori, Yoshitake, and Tadakuni are three close friends attending Sanada North High School. These everyday boys use their vivid imaginations to pass the time with dramatic reenactments, trying out girls clothing, and getting caught doing dumb things too many times to count.
5. Wagnaria!! (Working!!)
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Genre: Comedy / Romance / Slice of Life
Episodes: 40
Quick Pitch: Souta Takanashi is enamored by small things and mistakes Popura Taneshima for a lost child. Upon learning that she is a year older than him, he agrees to work at a Wagnaria restaurant with her.
He quickly discovers that his co-workers are a bunch of eccentrics and wonders how the restaurant manages to stay open.
4. Flying Witch
Studio: J.C. Staff
Genre: Comedy / Fantasy / Slice of Life
Episodes: 12
Quick pitch: Makoto Kowata moves to the quiet town of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture to live with her second cousins as part of her witch training.
The abundance of nature is ideal for helping Makoto hone her skills, which seem peculiar to her family and new friends.
3. Non Non Biyori
Studio: Silver Link
Genre: Comedy / Slice of Life
Episodes: 24 + 2 OVAs
Quick Pitch: The small village of Asahigaoka lacks the conveniences of the city: their school only has a single classroom! But the five girls of different grades never fail to find an adventure in their rural community.
2. Nichijou
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Episodes: 26
Genre: Comedy / Slice of Life
Quick Pitch: Yuuko Aioi, Mio Naganohara, and Mai Minakami are high school friends whose seemingly normal days are filled with comically absurd moments.
Their bizarre lives intersect with the eight-year-old inventor Hakase, talking cat Sakamoto, and the robot Nana Shinonome.
1. Silver Spoon (Gin no Saji)
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Genre: Comedy / Slice of Life
Episodes: 22
Quick Pitch: Tired of trying to meet the impossible expectations set upon him, Yuugo Hachiken enrolls at Ooezo Agricultural High School, which is far from the city life he has always known.
With no plans for the future, Yuugo uses his high school years learning about agricultural life and how it affects the lives of his new friends.
