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Whether the season lands you in the rain, snow, or sun, cozy anime is a gateway into escapism, be it in the cottages of a deep mystical forest or simmering in the pot of a well-seasoned stew. These ten anime on Crunchyroll are just what the apothecary prescribed for the coziest anime currently available.
Cottagecore is a bit tricky to get just right due to its aesthetics being based on Western traditional living, and as a Japanese media, anime tends to focus on its own culture and heritage. However, these are the shows that we’ve managed to scrounge up that have whimsical themes sure to capture the perfect Cottagecore feel.
Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear
Based on the Manga by Masume Yoshimoto, and Animated by Kinema Citrus
Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear is a cozy, comedic anime that focuses on the young shrine maiden, Machi Amayadori, who reaches the ripe age of 14, so naturally, she must go out and experience the world. However, her caretaker, Natsu Kumai, is concerned about her safety and wary, but tries his best to be supportive. He’s also a bear.
As a mix between their cozy lifestyle at home and Machi’s exposure to city life, the series is an equally soft and exciting rollercoaster where audiences only wish the best for this family. However, the anime strayed too far from the manga, so before hitting that final episode, switch back to Yoshimoto’s book for a more satisfying ending.
The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent
Based on the Light Novel and Manga by Yuka Tachibana, Animated by Diomedéa
Cottagecore is all about escaping into a fantastical and traditional lifestyle, so what fits that image better than an isekai anime? The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent opens up with a very relatable female lead who is summoned to a different world. Instead of lamenting about being unable to get back, she’s ready to start a new life.
Originally stressed at work, Sei Takanashi finds this to be a great opportunity to take a step back and relax, taking up medicine and research at an institution. Only after she helps to save the life of the knight’s commander does she discover that she has a real aptitude for medicine, garnering attention just as her quiet life was beginning.
Laid-Back Camp
Based on the Manga by Afro, and Animated by C-Station and Eight Bit
Laid-Back Camp trades out the traditional cottage for a tent instead, as it follows Rin Shima, a young high school girl who really enjoys camping outside. During one of her expeditions, she encounters another student from her school, Nadeshiko Kagamihara, who prompts her to join the camping club.
Laid-Back Camp not only has an anime series, but a movie, a spin-off, a live-action adaptation, and a few video games for both console and mobile devices.
Both Laid-Back Camp’s anime and manga are positively adorable, as both storylines follow along with these young girls’ camping journeys around Japan with interspersed slice-of-life moments. The stakes aren’t high, but rather planted in the ground, ensuring the tents don’t lose their stability.
Flying Witch
Based on the Manga by Chihiro Ishizuka, and Animated by J.C. Staff
For some odd reason, witches often fall in tandem with cottagecore, and no other entry is as perfect as the Flying Witch since it combines both a cozy little house and a witch. Makoto is a young witch whose only abilities amount to flying on her broomstick, so she moves to Hirosaki to live with her family to learn more.
Through its numerous spells, potion-making, and introduction to many types of spirits, the anime carries the spirit of Kiki’s Delivery Service by Studio Ghibli, with its central focus on magic.
Flying Witch is a sweet and endearing, peaceful story that expands on both the supernatural as well as country living. Through its numerous spells, potion-making, and introduction to many types of spirits, the anime carries the spirit of Kiki’s Delivery Service by Studio Ghibli, with its central focus on magic.
Cinderella Chef
Based on the Web Novel by Ziyi 281, and Animated by Wawayu Animation and Yuewen Animation
Cinderella Chef
- Release Date
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2018 – 2018-00-00
- Network
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Tencent Video
- Directors
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Zhao Jin-Tao
- Writers
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Yang Zi Lip
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-
-
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Xianglong Meng
Yannian Wei
While technically a donghua, or Chinese animation, Cinderella Chef is a cute series that follows Ye Jiayao, a celebrity chef from modern-day China who is transmigrated to ancient times as the daughter of a magistrate. However, she doesn’t wake up in a warm bed, but rather in the middle of her own kidnapping.
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Cinderella Chef is quite similar to The Apothecary Diaries in that it follows a young woman with a specialty who occasionally gets involved in affairs much more complicated than the ones in her kitchen. While not witchy or located in the woods, the donghua goes back to a traditional era and is mostly centered on cooking.
Ascendance of a Bookworm
Based on the Light Novel by Miya Kazuki, and Animated by Wit Studio
No cozy cottage is complete without a reading nook, and Ascendancy of a Bookworm is the epitome of a bookworm’s dream. Urano Motosu was originally a college student on her way to become a librarian when a stack of her own books collapsed on her at her house.
When she woke up, she was in the body of five-year-old Myne, a frail young girl in a different world. Worst of all, Urano has no access to books since they are considered luxuries of the elite, so with a picture-perfect memory, she begins to create her own by writing them all out to supply herself with more reading material.
What starts off as a rather silly premise quickly becomes interesting as Urano’s only interest lies in books, and now that she’s been isekai’d to a new world, the potential for new subjects lies just around the corner. Till then, though, she’s stuck being her own author.
Natume’s Book of Friends
Based on the Manga by Yuki Midorikawa, and Animated by Brain’s Base and Shuka
Natsume’s Book of Friends, while modern in theory, portrays whimsy and comforting vibes like no other entry. Takashi Natsume is an orphaned teenager who is gifted his mother’s possessions after his grandmother’s passing. What he doesn’t initially realize is that there is a book in this collection that contains all the names of the local yokai.
The supernatural begins to break through into what was an ordinary life, starting first with the beast, Madara, who agrees to protect Yatsume from the ill intentions of wandering yokai if he hands over the book upon Natsume’s death. As yokai come to haunt him, Natsume begins releasing their names back to them, as atonement for his mother’s actions.
Natsume’s Book of Friends is a fantastic entry in anime that goes overlooked too often. Through its themes of loneliness, generational trauma, and the various somber stories of the yokai, it’s a phenomenal show that’s both sobering and fulfilling.
Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill
Based on the Light Novel by Ren Eguchi, and Animated by MAPPA
Since cottagecore is synonymous with dated cooking recipes and skills, naturally, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill had to make an entrance. Full of delectable foods that are all prepared to the best of Tsuyoshi Mukouda’s abilities, his talents are a tad limited in the new fantasy world he finds himself in.
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Assisted by the legendary wolfbeast, Fenrir, as long as Mukouda provides him with enough sustaining meals, he’s provided protection as well as an endless supply of cooking ingredients that may be harder to hunt for, like orcs. While it may be a fantasy isekai with game mechanics, Cooking in Another World provides some cozy vibes and delicious dishes.
The Ancient Magus’ Bride
Based on the Manga by Kore Yamazaki, and Animated by Wit Studio and Studio Kafka
The Ancient Magus’ Bride is not only a beautiful supernatural story, but a fascinating contender for cottagecore based on the sole concept that Elias Ainsworth does indeed own a cottage out in the countryside. Unable to take care of herself after being ostracized by her family, Chise Hatori sells herself at an auction house to find a new home.
Elias takes her under his care, revealing to Chise that she is a special kind of magus that is prone to weakness and premature death. Similar to Natsume’s Book of Friends, The Ancient Magus’ Bride introduces a plethora of intriguing characters and an introspective theme of connections and the power of acceptance.
Anne Shirley
Based on the Manga by Hanako Muraoka, and Animated by The Answer Studio
Anne Shirley is something of a remake of Anne of Green Gables, an anime series that was based on the books by Lucy Maud Montgomery, having aired back in 1979. Touted as the prime cottagecore fantasy on Crunchyroll, this anime takes place in a cozy hillside town, following Anne, a young girl recently adopted from the orphanage.
Simply a collection of stories throughout Anne’s life, the audience follows along with her journey, adapting to a home in a new environment, standing out for her vibrant red hair that’s as fiery as her temper. Friendship, romance, loss, and found family, Anne Shirley is the epitome of life out on the prairie side life like no other entry before it.
Cottagecore isn’t an easy theme to find in anime, especially when only using Crunchyroll. But there are themes that are birthed from cottagecore through soft, tender moments, the simple joy of cooking or enjoying one’s hobbies, in a quiet, peaceful haven that doesn’t take place in a modern era.
