Normal anime with normal plots for normal people
Anime
This interest stack is focused entirely on anime that take a break from the usual unrealistic, exaggerated, over-the-top tropes commonly found in the average anime show, and instead offer an entire show that's pretty much as realistic as any TV series with real actors.
These anime don't include anything exaggerated, they're as realistic as they get, and therefore they can be great to recommend to people who are not into anime due to the format being too unrealistic or trope-ridden to appeal to them.
These anime don't include anything exaggerated, they're as realistic as they get, and therefore they can be great to recommend to people who are not into anime due to the format being too unrealistic or trope-ridden to appeal to them.
TV, 2024,
25 eps
Me:-
Author:9
Astrology. It sounds boring but it's actually quite interesting, particularly considering that for a realistic piece of media, this really has a lot of drama, tension and action.
TV, 2014,
22 eps
Me:-
Author:8
Literally just a guy who plays piano and a girl who plays violin and two side characters, and they all live rather normal lives, well, I mean, the main protagonist is traumatized and there's some other stuff here and there that you may not consider entirely "normal" by modern standards, but, I mean, yeah, this is rather average.
Movie, 1988,
1 ep
Me:-
Author:8
This is literally just a depiction of a harsh reality. It's just basically the normalcy of two random kids in late-WWII rural Japan. Oh boy, it's depressing.
TV, 2018,
13 eps
Me:-
Author:10
4 girls go to Antarctica... Look, I know that "we're going to Antarctica" doesn't sound too "normal", you don't just wake up one day and decide to go to an inhospitable land of ice thousands of kilometers away from you, but trust me, this is otherwise very normal.
TV, 2016,
22 eps
Me:-
Author:8
Other than a few voiced thoughts by cats, this is so grounded that it bores you after just 10 minutes. Besides, unless you know about Shogi, you won't understand half of this anime's premise, hell, I didn't.
TV, 2024,
25 eps
Me:-
Author:7
Guy who plays badminton at high school falls in love with girl who plays basketball and oh my god this is just an average teenage drama.
TV, 2024,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:9
Apart from some unrealistic tears which are way too bright and are carried away by the wind in the most dramatic manner possible, there's nothing out of the ordinary here (except for the rather eccentric characters).
TV, 2009,
11 eps
Me:-
Author:7
Well, I mean, just saying, but an 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Tokyo would be out of the ordinary, we know that, but like, I mean, this is otherwise a standard story, you know?
TV, 2011,
26 eps
Me:-
Author:10
Jesus Christ, they somehow made something really ordinary into a GOATed anime. I mean, this is just some girls working at an inn, and they all have their problems, and there's literally nothing here that you'd say "well, this ain't normal", I mean, at least within reality, right? Just watch it, it's not that boring, I promise.
TV, 2024,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:7
If you ignore the fact that the female protagonist basically acts like she has a multiple personality disorder, there really is nothing out of the ordinary here.
TV, 2007,
24 eps
Me:-
Author:9
There is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary here beyond a few moments of parody. Like, this is just basically the daily life of high school girls.
TV, 2024,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:8
There's really nothing out of the ordinary here, just a Russian high school girl doing... uh... things that a normal Russian high school girl would do in Japan? I know the premise is out of the ordinary, but the anime in itself is very mundane.
TV, 2024,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:9
Do you like fishing? It's boring, innit? Well, this anime is also kinda boring; no action, no guns, no explosions, just fishing and working. Would recommend.
TV, 2024,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:7
Dude, this is so mundane and slow-paced that you might as well confuse it with one of them Turkish telenovelas. Listen to me, unless you REALLY like teenage household dramas, stay away from this, it is extremely tedious.
TV, 2024,
10 eps
Me:-
Author:9
Ignoring that the main characters are sociopaths and that the screenplay tends towards occasional surrealism, this is pretty realistic and standard.
TV, 2012,
13 eps
Me:-
Author:9
It's just a bunch of girls (and two dudes) who like to sing... ah, and one of the girls likes riding horses. There's hardly much more to this than that, it's really normal, all things considered, unless you're from some island in the Pacific without horses... or unless there's no singing in your culture... I don't think any culture like that exists, but whatever.
TV, 2008,
13 eps
Me:-
Author:8
Well, the protagonist kinda has a harem in his hands, which is never gonna happen to anyone (unless they're an Arab prince or businessman... or a criminal particularly good at kidnapping people and having them develop Stockholm Syndrome), but beyond that, this is rather regular, ignoring that the three heroines are kinda mentally unstable in their own ways.
TV, 2025,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:8
What if Dr. House was adapted into anime but House got replaced with an autistic hyper cute tsundere who likes solving crimes? It sounds far-fetched, but it's all rather grounded.
TV, 2025,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:8
It's just a romance. They even made a drama about it before they made the anime, so you can imagine how basic and normal this whole thing is, saving the humorous chibi parts.
Movie, 2018,
3 eps
Me:-
Author:7
Yeah, this is mundane, like, very mundane, but enjoyable. Like, all this is about is some dude reminiscing of eating noodles, some model, and some dude reminiscing about childhood, like, your average day.
TV, 2025,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:8
Daily life of a Tokyoite teenager in Okinawa; just a regular slice-of-life comedy with a few exaggerated fictional scenes to illustrate Okinawan culture. If you're not interested in Okinawan culture or in cute girls, you're probably gonna find this terribly boring.
ONA, 2020,
10 eps
Me:-
Author:7
Look, I know, this might be pushing it, okay? Like, this is sci-fi and has some weird moments he re and there, but it is otherwise quite normal, alright? Trust me on that.
