How do I say "slice of life anime/manga" in Japanese?
I've tried looking this up. Perhaps it is only english speakers who categorize anime this way?
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What does this even mean in English?– istrasciJul 9, 2012 at 16:44
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2@istrasci - Anime that doesn't really have a plot, but is basically just about the day to day going on of someone's (or a group of people's) lives. Arguably Seinfeld could be considered to be "slice of life"– user51Jul 9, 2012 at 17:16
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@RobZ: I don't think there's anything arguable about Seinfeld! :D– istrasciJul 9, 2012 at 17:48
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You might look at 写生 particularly the part on 美術における写生 and relating to Shiki. Many of his haiku are described as "slice of life". And, in this context 写生 is translated into English as "slice of life"---for example, in Clark Strand's Seeds from a Birch Tree.– A.EllettOct 20, 2016 at 15:18
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@Tetsou The first time I ever heard the phrase "slice of life" was in a Japanese language class in Japan and then later in a graduate class on Japanese literature, taught in Japanese, when reading some of the works of Mori Ogai, Tanizaki, and Natsume Soseki. In retrospect, I have no idea why these works were considered "slice of life" (Tanizaki's Tattoo seems more Edgar Alan Poe than "slice of life"). But, at any rate, that was the context for me learning of this approach to film, novels, and short stories.– A.EllettOct 20, 2016 at 15:28
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2 Answers
I don't think there's a direct translation of "slice of life" into Japanese in the context of Anime genres, however I think 空気系{くうきけい} would be a close candidate. This genre is also sometimes called 日常系{にちじょうけい} (See also the Japanese Wikipedia article for 空気系).
It means something like "atmosphere type", and refers to Anime which doesn't have any dramatic developments or ongoing plot, and basically consists of everyday life. A lot of them are based on 萌え4コマ (or 4 cell Manga with 萌{も}え characters).
Doing some google searching, it looks like
日常生活を描くアニメ
might be a good translation, but since it is such a mouthful I doubt it is a common way to categorize anime in Japanese.