Seeking slow-paced nature anime.

June 20, 2012 11:56 AM

I'm seeking a certain sort of anime--the slow-paced nature appreciation. Here is an extreme example.

When I was 11 I saw Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro. I couldn't believe that a filmmaker would spend so long looking at rain dripping from pine needles. What other anime films and TV have these elements, "slow pace" and "details of the natural world"? There can be plot beyond this, and violence, but those are the two requirements.

What I've found includes much of the rest of Miyazaki, especially The Secret World of Arrietty, and Only Yesterday, Mushi-Shi and Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. What else might there be?

posted by Tufa to media & arts (15 answers total)

Haibane Renmei may not be exactly what you're looking for but it's worth checking out. Calm, slow paced with lots of beautiful scenery and nature shots in it, especially further into the series.
posted by Requiax at 12:18 PM on June 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Came here to recommend Mushishi, but you beat me to it. My second choice would be Kamichu!, a show that has a similar gentle sensibility to Totoro, about a girl who wakes up one morning as a Shinto god and spends the rest of the series discharging her duties as such. It pays a ton of attention to making its setting as accurate as possible.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:21 PM on June 20, 2012

5 Centimeters Per Second isn't really about nature per se, but features some gorgeous nature imagery.
posted by El Sabor Asiatico at 12:22 PM on June 20, 2012

Mushishi -> Natsume Yuujinchou
Maybe spice & wolf but it's got some weird stuff in it
posted by MangyCarface at 12:25 PM on June 20, 2012

Oh and maybe Windy Tales but I can't find it anywhere so IDK how to judge it as a whole
posted by MangyCarface at 12:26 PM on June 20, 2012

Another person who clicked to recommend Mushi-Shi and then saw that you were already there.

I'd second Haibane Renmei for having that kind of gentle sensibility.

Kino's Journey is filed in the same place in my brain; I can't remember as much explicit nature-adoration but I did find it slow in that beautiful way, and a lot of the settings are rural. (It's a similar premise to Mushi-Shi in that it's a person travelling from one mildly-fantastical place to another, but Kino is even more of an observer and less of a fixer than Ginko.)
posted by tchemgrrl at 12:30 PM on June 20, 2012

Not anime, but the Korean animated film My Beautiful Girl, Mari might have what you're looking for.
posted by teekat at 12:39 PM on June 20, 2012

Another vote for Haibane Renmei. One of my favorite animes ever, and certainly one of the most lyrical and lovely.
posted by jbickers at 12:55 PM on June 20, 2012

Also, 5 Centimeters Per Second has been mentioned already, but I think you'll also love all of the work of its director, Makoto Shinkai. "The Place Promised in our Early Days" is heartbreaking.
posted by jbickers at 12:58 PM on June 20, 2012

Haibane Renmei
Neia_7
Windy Tales
Kamichu
Natsume Yuujincho
Zettai Shounen
Kino no Tabi
Mahou Tsukai ni Tasetsu na Koto
Aria The Animation

Movies/OVAs:
Makoto Shinkai's stuff
Piano no Mori
Yokohama Kidashi Kikou
Miyori no Mori
posted by Aliera at 1:33 PM on June 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for exactly, but the Seirei no Moribito author also did another series aimed at a younger audience but still good I hear. It's called Kemomo no Souja no Erin.
posted by Aliera at 1:41 PM on June 20, 2012

Whoops, it's Kemomo no Souja Erin
posted by Aliera at 1:41 PM on June 20, 2012

That Totoro image happens in real life sometimes.
posted by Sunburnt at 3:45 PM on June 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Just had to nth Kamichu, Natsume Yuujincho (four seasons worth!), and Kino no Tabi.

I seem to recall a fair amount of slow-paced appreciation of the outdoors in Kokoro Library as well -- a sweet, gentle series about nothing much in particular (much like Aria, except about a secluded library instead of gondolas).
posted by somanyamys at 9:42 AM on June 22, 2012

Of all things, the Rurouni Kenshin OVA (Trust/Betrayal), also sold in the US as Samurai X, has a number of nature shots interspersed throughout it.

Another which comes to mind, but mostly because it deals a lot with nature is Arjuna. I can't promise how much or if it really takes a lot of time to dwell on nature shots.
posted by Atreides at 4:05 PM on June 23, 2012