Recently, I saw a review calling out the new release The Cat and the Dragon as a cozy fantasy anime. While that’s a fair assessment if you aren’t too familiar with cozy fantasy, I had an immediate “whoa!!” reaction. The Cat and the Dragon does have plenty of cuteness, cats, and dragons, three hallmarks of cozy fantasy. However, it also has some pretty shocking violence in its first episode alone. The necessity of safety and ease within the narrative is something that a lot of observers don’t notice if they’re only passingly familiar with the genre. It’s not just that there’s cute stuff; it’s that it has to be only cute stuff. I would hate for a cozy fantasy fan to stumble across TCatD and think it’s perfectly safe and comforting.
So, with that in mind, I thought I’d write up a few series that I think do qualify. These are only shows I’ve seen, and I have not seen every show that has ever been made. I’ll gladly update this post in the future; I hope to find more!
First, the definition of cozy fantasy is subjective. Here’s the rather strict definition I’m using.
- The most important element is to never challenge the audience in any way. The cozy fantasy fanbase has reported suffering panic attacks from any hint of stress, violence, discomfort, or awkwardness. The goal of the genre is to make them feel soothed and to never add to their preexisting enormous load of stress. Everything must be soft, easy, and soothing both to the main character and to the audience.
- This differs from iyashikei in that iyashikei contains room to depict sad situations that can then be healed from: for example, Natsume’s Book of Friends includes bittersweet endings to its anthology-style stories as well as references to Natsume’s unhappy childhood. This is not cozy, IMO. (I love that series, but I’m also not a strict cozy fantasy reader. I’m a messy goblin who revels in drama, actually.)
- The Slow Life subgenre is much closer to cozy fantasy. In no small part because a lot of iyashikei series take place in the real world!
- If this doesn’t sound interesting to you, that’s fine. Maybe this just isn’t your genre. We all like different things, and that’s okay!
- Fantasy: fantastical elements. Some cozy fantasy fans limit this to high fantasy worlds only, which is understandable considering the origin of cozy fantasy takes place in a D&D-style world. However, I’m also including contemporary fantasy here (fantastical elements in a modern world) for the sake of having more to choose from.
- No sadness, angst, anger, violence, or darkness. Nice things happening nicely to nice people.
- Simple and familiar worldbuilding. Nothing that requires the audience to figure things out or wonder about how things work. This might be a D&D-with-the-serial-numbers-filed-off world or a MMO-with-the-serial-numbers-filed-off world, for instance.
- Ideally: a plot about opening a cute small business and assembling a team to run it.
- Ideally: food and drink porn, and/or a focus on comfortable home or small-business spaces.
By the Grace of the Gods
An overworked salaryman is reincarnated as a child prodigy, and opens a chain of slime-driven laundry services in a fantasy world.
Cozy Elements: Business-oriented, and more importantly, management-oriented. Our newly youthful hero has natural talent, divine gifts, and a huge team of helpers both humanoid and slime, all of which means he never has to work too hard. The main character is beloved by all, good at everything, and praised at all times. No meaningful friction. Cute slime and beastkin supporting characters.
Less Cozy Elements: It’s a bit odd that the MC has a 10-year-old puppy-love interest, but after the first episode the show pretty much forgets that he used to be an adult. Don’t think about it too much, I guess.
Restaurant to Another World and its spiritual fraternal twin, Isekai Izakaya “Nobu”
Both of these foodie shows are about Earth restaurants that wow a fantasy world clientele with Earth dishes. RtAW takes place in a “Western-style” Japanese restaurant, while Nobu focuses on Japanese bar food. Both are episodic, as various guests discover their new favorites.
Cozy Elements: No major conflicts. Food and drink porn. Little focus on worldbuilding, especially in RtAW, which is a cute mishmash of fantasy tropes.
Less Cozy Elements: The main POV characters are the servers in the respective restaurants, rather than the managers/chefs, who are slightly mysterious figures. Japanese food might be unfamiliar to a Western audience.
Flying Witch
A teenage witch travels to a small town to learn magic while staying with relatives. Gentle hijinks ensue.
Cozy Elements: Charming, comfortable, episodic, never strays too far afield. One of the all-time iyashikei shows.
Less Cozy Elements: Modern day (see note above).
‘Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess
A warrior princess is imprisoned by a demon army and “tortured” for information, via such dastardly methods as eating delicious food in front of her and not sharing until she gives up some state secrets. She always gives in. Obviously.
Cozy Elements: Food porn, and later there are charming side trips to places like amusement parks and petting zoos. Stellar usage of the “supposedly evil army is actually nicer than the ‘good guys’” trope; the Hell-Lord is a fair boss and a doting dad. Even the “imprisonment” becomes increasingly comfy as the show goes on. This series is often compared to Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle for a reason, but Sleepy Princess hinges on a chaotic gremlin-y character, and Time for “Torture” tends to be sweeter. (Mind you, I enjoyed both series.)
Less Cozy Elements: Comedy is subjective. Can get a bit madcap. One cringe-comedy character (the knight) who only shows up in a couple of episodes.
With You and the Rain
An introverted woman finds a tanuki out in the rain and adopts it as the “dog” it claims to be.
Cozy Elements: About as gentle as a series gets.
Less Cozy Elements: Modern day. The tanuki is the only magical element.
The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-be Wife
In a modern world populated by elves, beastkin and other fantastical people, an invisible detective and his office manager fall in love. Some episodes fill out more about their coworkers and friends.
Cozy Elements: A sweet, charming little slow-burn love story. Touches on serious topics, but does so with subtlety and care. Soft, almost watercolor-ish art style.
Less Cozy Elements: Modern day. One plot thread near the end depicts discomfort in a sexual situation in flashback. (No one is doing anything wrong, but a character is distressed.) Mentions allegories for racism and colorism, as well as mentions of situations where the female lead has been condescended to because of her blindness. A couple of brief fight scenes in the course of the detective work.
Honorable Mentions
Tonari no Yokai-san: Weird pacing at the end, and moments of darkness. But a charming show generally, with the bestest boy at the center, a cat who has recently gained sentience/magic.
Pass the Monster Meat, Milady!: This qualifies mainly because nothing happens at all. Unfortunately, the food porn is lacking, despite the title and setup. The leads have some charm, though.
Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits: Has an opening-a-business theme, food porn, and lots of mythical creatures, but also tons of cliffhangers and scheming/kidnapping by rival factions. However, most of it is immediately undone at the beginning of the next episode. If you keep in mind that none of the peril is going to stick, it’s pretty chill.
Kusunoki’s Garden of Gods: Would be perfectly cozy if it stayed in its lane, but it insists on adding a side plot with a band of exorcists fighting hostile spirits. Fast-forward through that, and you have a series of cute avatars of gods enjoying their favorite snacks/drinks. Would have been the perfect cozy fantasy series if not for that.