7 Shows To Show Love and Friendship in Anime
#1. Siblings: Grave of the Fireflies
Seita and Setsuko are the first pair of siblings I think of when pondering on a truly emotional story. Grave of the Fireflies focuses on the young Seita taking care of his little sister Setsuko after their house is destroyed by fire bombs in World War II. The film observes how young they are and the fact they can't take care of themselves, yet it also shows how strong Seita is in his perseverance to take care of his sister.
#2. Parent and Child: Wolf Children
Many anime series and films feature parents who are used as simple placeholders that fulfill the role of raising a child. But only a few stand out when it comes to parenting, andWolf Children shines as one of the strongest examples in years. The young college student Hana meets and falls in love with a man who is also part wolf, and sooner than later she finds herself a single mother with two wolf children. The film observes Hana's many trials in raising both Yuki and Ame, and it specifies the outpouring of love and support that she gives to them.
#3. Forming a Group: Wolf's Rain
Friendships and bonds are created to help one another get through rough times, but the concept in Wolf's Rain is taken to a different level. Kiba, Hige, Tsume, and Toboe find themselves coming together as a pack and traveling to find paradise. Along the way one wolf may leave or have insecurities about their destination, but they always find their way back to the group. With the help of the pack they were able to get much further than they ever could have on their own.
#4. Teenage Love and Romantic Comedy: Marmalade Boy
There are countless anime that focus on young love and the rom coms are everywhere, so I thought I'd narrow it back a bit with Marmalade Boy. It's a sweet series that focuses on the light-hearted and insecure Miki falling in love with the more closed off Yuu. The plot could be considered too long and it falls into that trap of unexpected feelings causing confusion between the two love interests. But at the end of the day isn't that what teen love is all about?
#5. Young Adult Romance: Golden Time
A time when you are young and free, open to the possibility of falling in love and gaining friends that will be there for you in the future. This sums up what Golden Time stands for as it shows us Banri and Koko's development into a relationship. This series stands apart from the rest in that it focuses on students in college as opposed to high school, and themes are just advanced enough to make a more mature difference. Where at times the series comes off as a full on comedy, it can shift into something serious that you were probably never expecting.
#6. Love and Friendship: 5 Centimeters Per Second
There is no denying that Makoto Shinkai has grown to be one of the premiere directors that focuses on love, friendship, and longing within his animated works. If we look beyond the excellently crisp animation, we see the basic fundamentals of relationships. 5 Centimeters Per Second focuses on Takaki and Akari finding and losing one another, more closely following Takaki as he grows into a young man who still has feelings for her. Each segment of the film stands on its own in observing a particular time of Takaki's life, pulling away from the constant tropes of modern day romance series.
#7. Love and Friendship: The Garden of Words
Shinkai's The Garden of Words deserves a mention in that it follows a 15 year old boy who falls in love with an older woman. It observes nature and how the rain brings them both together and apart. Shinkai takes the concepts of a relationship and visualizes them to a reality that resembles realism.
