Iyashikei

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This entry makes use of Japanese characters and will require Japanese language support to be installed on your computer in order to avoid the characters being replaced by question marks, or blanked out.

Iyashikei (いやしけい) or "Healing" refers to a small, but specific sub-genre found within the realms of anime and manga.

Iyashikei is most often considered a to be a sub-genre of the so-called "slice of life" series, because all iyashikei series feature the same character-centred themes depicted in slice of life. There is no real sequential plot and in many cases there is no definite conclusion to the story, which is rather made up of episodic, self-contained story arcs, depicting people’s everyday lives, without the usual drama or suspense normally associated with anime or manga.

However, where iyashikei differs from slice of life in its healing effects. Iyashikei is designed to calm the reader (or viewer) and thus leave them feeling somewhat light-hearted, although hints of melancholy and nostalgia are often present. Typical characteristics of iyashikei are a few characters who feel sympathetic towards one other; close, slow-developing relationships, bereft of conflict; a focus on nature and the small, simple and beautiful things that make life so special.

The term "cathartic" has often been applied to explain the genre and here the most important similarity between catharsis and iyashikei is that the medium the reader or viewer is subjected to exerts a psychological influence on their state of mind. In both cases, the individual is drawn into the world of the play (or the anime or manga) by feeling and relating to the characters’ emotions. The effects of iyashikei cannot be described as escapism, as rather than the individual "losing" themselves in the story, they bring the state of mind of the story into your own life.

Iyashikei stories are often set in worlds or time periods that are not our own, much as the ancient Greek tragedies and Shakespearean plays were set in vastly different environments to those of the viewers. The Greeks who watched the tragedies were not noble, nor were the commoners who sat in the gods at the Globe watching Shakespeare's plays royalty; just like we are not gondoliers on another planet (as shown in Aria). However, the contrast is vital for both - in the tragedies, the characters have to be noble so that people can feel pity for them, instead of self-pity; likewise, the higher a character is, the further they can fall, allowing the masses to relate to them. Iyashikei, with its gentle depiction of day to day life, is similarly geared towards showing us that despite living in noisy, polluted, over-crowded cities and being burdened with a hectic, pressured and often unfulfilled life, life can be simple and beautiful.

Although the underlying concepts stem from different origins and the ultimate aim of the story differs, the purifying effects of catharsis and the healing effects of iyashikei are somewhat similar.

Examples of Iyashikei Anime and Manga

Sadly, due to their very nature and slow, gentle story-telling, very few iyashikei have been picked up by commercial companies for translation and distribution in the West, as they prefer action or romantic shounen and shoujo series. A few series have been translated unofficially by fans and these include:

External Links

Aria Japanese
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
Windy Tales
Sketchbook
Ai-Ren

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