Interest Stacks

Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy, or, as I usually call it, Gekihatsu.
This is my ultimate comfort anime. I watch it like, twice a year? I may know the jokes by heart, but I still chuckle every time I see it. I always notice new details. And most importantly, it always makes me feel warm and gooey inside, and it always cheers me up.
Gekihatsu is odd in some ways: it embraces some tropes, but subverts others. Said subversions are... more subtle than not, and can be easy to miss, which I believe helped the low rating in MAL. At it's core it is a slice of life, a story about helping others even in the simplest ways. It's about being a hero even when you're a normal person. We can all do little things to make days brighter, and sometimes, the only thing keeping us from doing so is our ourselves.

A story chock-full of idiots, looking for their place in the world, this is THE serotonin-booster when you are me.

Also has an extra episode, which keeps the same goofy vibe but does take back a little of the character development. It is still very fun, though!

The misadventures of a widower who wants to keep his daughter from learning about his job. Soft and warm, but also very comedic in nature. Has a bit of sadness at times!
Also has a movie, which is a bit of an abridged version but includes a few new scenes.

I believe this is what a power fantasy really looks like: "Oh, to move into an isolated island village and get adopted by its inhabitants, while slowly learning about compassion and hard work with my adopted family (which is a bunch of kids and teens)."
If you agree, Barakamon is for you.

The manga follows for quite a long ride after the end of the anime, and it gets even better somehow. I cried when I reached the last page, not because it was sad or anything of the sort, but simply because I was overcome with emotion - mostly about it being over, and having to say goodbye to it.

Aaaah, Peeping Life.
When I watched some episodes for the first time, I did so with a friend over video call. This gave birth to what we call my "peeping life face" - a grin like no other, in which the corners of my mouth reach my nose or something.

Later on, I found out Peeping Life is made out of impro, and it all made sense. Of course it's all etudes, of course I (former theater kid) fell in love with it, of course it is great! It is so natural, does not feels staged, aand its basically banter. Also, the ending is a bop.

Disclaimer: not sure if there are other people out there who can get serotonin outta Peeping Life. But for me? This is straight-out therapy.

Animegataris feels like several anime rolled into one. It is primarily a slice of life, but it is so, so self-aware, you can't help but chuckle as you see lampshade after lampshade. They even discuss the three episode rule in the third episode.
Of course, you may have heard about how it... kinda changes by the end. If you haven't, just ignore this: the heart stays the same, it just goes a bit crazy. But Animegataris is, at it's core, a love letter towards anime, and that never changes. It makes me giddy all the way through too, by the way!

Found family, distinct aesthetic, a pretty much neurodivergent cast and a funky funny man. Was there any doubt?

This is a weird entry! What is this doing here!
The misadventures of a high-school boy who gets adopted into an evil organization that wants to conquer the world! And they become his family! It's found family with twists and stupid people! I love it!
Extremely self-aware! Extremely stupid! Extremely charming!
You'll catch me doing the hand gesture with them!

May the light of Zvezda shine throughout this world!

Iruma!!! Iruma is an anime whose second season I have on hold because it was too much serotonin and I wanted to save it for when I need it! The cinnamonnest cinnamon roll gets adopted by a doting grandpa and his enby butler, makes friends at school, and saves the day! Ok so all of this may happen in hell, but trust me: my son was in hell beforehand. Now? Now he's home.

Well look at that, another found family entry. Shouldn't be much of a surprise by now.
This one is about finding your place in the world too, with an adorable tanuki/child/son to help you.
Also good for when you need to cry - the end is so good, it is the only acceptable way of finishing, and it hurts so well.

I feel like somewhere, a team said: "I bet I can make this rando care about a whole team in 12 episodes. Bet I can make them cry with a cheerleading routine."

They won the bet.

Ok so - Blood Lad. Another one that may look out of place, but it is here for a lot of reasons, I promise!
My relationship with Blood Lad is... interesting. Years ago - maybe ten years or so - I started the manga, adored it, caught up, and forgot about it for the longest time. Then, years ago (but more like two or three), I saw a picture of the anime, I went back to the manga, I read it fully, adored it, cried, and set some pages as backgrounds on my phone. Even later on, I saw the anime, which is just an incomplete adaptation that nonetheless captures the vibe perfectly.
My manga and anime list have a panel of Blood lad as a background (but its a screenshot of the anime in the anime list). It is the first panel that made me think "wait, this is cool. I wanna read more!" Actually, no, scratch that. It wasn't anything that big or grand. But it made me think, "huh", grin, and feel happy without reason.
Blood lad is supposed to be a battle shonnen, but instead is the cutest romcom, and has its greatest moments when it embraces this. That is all, your honor.

Toshokan Sensou has made it so that every time I hear the word Sensou, I think of libraries. It has made it so that chamomile, the most classic stomachache remedy, is now an epic symbol for me. It has made me think about censorship. It has disabled characters talk about how, if you think censoring media that has to do with disabilities is "for their own good", you're pretty damn ableist.

It's pretty damn great.

This is the one I mentioned! The one I started rewatching on a whim and said, "wait, isn't this comfort anime in a nutshell?"! The one that made me create this stack!

It does have some heavy moments, specially in the beginning, but the gambits are great, the characters are great, and the park shall live on!

If you don't know what it is about, I recommend going in blind. It ain't a requirement for enjoyment, tho!

I... actually haven't seen this yet! But Tales of Phantasia is an INCREDIBLY charming, oldschool jrpg, and my favorite among the Tales of franchise, which in turn is probably my favorite franchise of the sort. So I have this "abridged, 2-hour version, they move!" edition as the ace in my sleeve for when I have a bad day in the future :)
(Characters-wise, my favorite among the ones I have played is Tales of Destiny, but when it comes to charm and atmosphere, Phantasia can't be beaten!)