Countryside and bucolic settings have some charm that big cities can’t provide. The beauty of nature, the mundane life and hard work are the most important main elements of working in rustic areas.
Anime do a pretty good job of representing the countryside, even though just around 8% of the Japanese population live there, according to World Bank.
This listicle is subjective and based on our opinions and knowledge of the subject.
Table of Contents
21. The Young Innkeeper Is a Grade Schooler!
A movie based on a collection of children’s stories and novels. Although to be fair, it doesn’t adapt any of the stories from the original product but tells an untold one.
The original story features Oriko Seki, an elementary school girl who lives in her grandmother Mineko’s spa hotel located in the countryside.
There she begins her training as the owner of the hotel, partly with the help of a ghost boy named Uribo and other mysterious friends.
An excellent movie that needs the original context to be understood. In this regard, we recommend you first watch the animated series based on the same novel, called The Young Innkeeper Is a Grade Schooler!.
20. Like the Wind
A very unusual movie released in 2016, so rather recently, animated with an unusual technique that looks both modern and vintage at the same time.
The story of a very young beekeeper, Sanpei, the only survivor of an accident in which his entire family was killed. Sanpei meets by chance Chiyo, a girl who is stung by one of his bees, beginning their relationship. He thus moves to his quiet country village and begins a new life.
A quiet production with a relaxed atmosphere that is very enjoyable but does not disdain dramatic elements and scenes.
19. Shiki
An anime with pronounced horror scenes and atmosphere, with some nice heavy splatter moments as well.
In a remote rural village in Japan, the lives of the inhabitants are suddenly disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious epidemic.
As Toshio, the village doctor, tries to discover the causes of the disease, the number of deaths begins to increase and how these occur become increasingly strange.
Is this an epidemic or is the truth related to the world of the supernatural?
As already mentioned, this anime is marked by very gruesome and horror scenes, with intense splatter moments. Not for weak stomachs.
18. The Dog of Flanders
With an exquisite vintage flavor, The Dog of Flanders is a 1997 movie.
Based on an old Flemish novel, this film tells the story of a small country village in Belgium. Here lives Nello, a poor boy who lives alone with his grandfather and has a passion for art.
He is friends with Aloise, who comes from a wealthy background and supports him in his artwork. The two will find a dog named Patrasche, with whom they befriend as Nello continues to pursue his dream.
A movie with a vintage flavor, it is very smooth flowing and will be able to thrill you and make you empathize with the two boys and their dreams.
17. When They Cry
When They Cry is an anime based on a sound novel of the same name published in 2002 by 07th Expansion.
The plot chronicles the lives of Keiichi Maebara and his friends who live in Hinamizawa, a small country town plagued by a macabre curse linked to the worship of a local god Oyashiro.
After the protagonists begin to investigate the mysteries surrounding the quiet town, the situation will begin to escalate, with various characters committing terrible acts as the truth is revealed.
An anime that has the virtue of constantly keeping you in a constant state of anxiety with the tension sky-high between one gruesome scene and another.
16. Your Name
A real media phenomenon, hated by some but loved by many more. We are talking about Your Name, one of the most famous Makoto Shinkai movies.
Mitsuha is a high school student living in a rural town in the countryside, nestled in the mountains who dreams of life in Tokyo.
Taki is a student living in downtown Tokyo in its hustle and bustle. One day, they both dream of being in each other’s bodies. But is it really just a dream?
Your Name features a beautiful setting between city and countryside while boasting solid and fluid animations.
15. Dagashi Kashi
In an out-of-town town, You Shikada runs a small candy store and hopes that one day his son will be able to continue his business. Kokonotsu, however, isn’t at all intent on doing so as he dreams of becoming a mangaka.
One summer day the beautiful Shidare Hotaru, heir to a famous candy business, comes to visit the Shikadas, proposing to incorporate You’s small business into her large company.
You is willing to accept based on one condition: that Hotaru convinces his son to succeed him in running the family business.
An unpretentious anime to watch for relaxation and laughter.
14. Ghost Hound
Ghost Hound is an anime released between 2007 and 2008, consisting of 22 episodes. At its core, it brings in horror elements with a very bare and deserted rural setting that will keep you anxious.
In the small town of Suiten, located in a remote mountainous region, paranormal phenomena occur due to the encounter between the real world and the spirit world.
These events are perceived especially by Taro, Makoto, and Masayuki, three boys who have experienced traumatic experiences in their childhood. They will then have to solve the mystery.
A thriller, at times horror, full of psychology and psychoanalysis, through scientific, pseudo-scientific, and religious themes that do not disdain heavy and disturbing scenes.
Not a light viewing without commitment, requiring a good deal of attention and an analytical eye.
13. Silver Spoon
Winner of several awards, Silver Spoon is a slice-of-life and comedy genre anime released in 2013.
Young Yugo Hachiken is a city boy who desires to be independent of his family and as soon as he can he enrolls in an agricultural school, where he has to live in a dormitory.
Convinced of his study abilities, he thinks he can manage here as well, but he will often be proved wrong. Indeed, country life is not for him and it will prove to be a real challenge.
An excellent anime that is very enjoyable, thanks in part to the excellently characterized protagonist, and will have a very good development. In fact, the Manga Taishō award was won because of him.
12. Barakamon
Seishu Handa is a rather arrogant calligrapher who is shocked when an established critic calls his works stiff and bland.
Unable to take the insult, he punches the elderly sensei arousing deep outrage. Regarded by all as an ungrateful fool, he is forced by his father to move to a remote island nestled in the countryside.
Will he be able to adjust to the new way of life, with peasants, humming tractors, and a strange little girl annoying him?
An anime that belies in comedy and slice of life, real-life lessons, and morals, capable of making the viewer think even if that is not its primary goal.
11. Heidi
Heidi is one of the first animated series directed by Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. The anime is based on the novel of the same name by Swiss author Johanna Spyri and was produced by the studio that later became Nippon Animation.
The story is set in the Alps of Switzerland during the 1880s.
Heidi is a little girl orphaned and cared for by her aunt, who can no longer care for her now having found a job in Frankfurt. The woman then decides to leave her with her only other closest relative, her grandfather.
He’s a gruff and shy person, who lives in a mountain cabin isolated from everyone. The old man unwillingly takes custody of the child, but Heidi’s sympathy and innocence will manage to penetrate his rough mountain bark.
A series that does not follow much of a developed plot, but rather simply follows the girl’s life as she makes new friends and adjusts to her new living environment. But that is precisely its strength, after all.
10. Summer Wars
From director Mamoru Osoda, Summer Wars is a 2009 movie. You may already be familiar with Hosoda from his previous work in Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!, with which the similarities are very pronounced.
The story revolves around Kenji Koiso, a math genius boy with social problems who spends most of his time in Oz, a virtual world.
At the beginning of the summer Natsuki, the most popular girl in school offers him an unusual job, which is to play the part of his future spouse in front of his grandmother.
Unfortunately, a mishap caused by Kenji himself will unleash a powerful computer virus called the Love Machine, which attacks Oz and makes a series of disasters all over the globe. It will then be up to Kenji to stop the threat and restore peace within the network.
The country setting will be the main focus of this movie, which has as its pivotal theme the risks that technological advancement can bring to our world if left unchecked.
9. Totoro
One of the mother works of the esteemed Ghibli studio, released in 1988 entering undoubtedly on the list of the most important anime movies ever.
Satsuki and Mei are two little sisters who have just moved with their father to a small country village to be closer to their hospitalized mother.
Little Mei, exploring the surroundings of her new home, comes across a majestic camphor tree surrounded by strings of rice straw.
Inside lives Totoro, a forest spirit, who turns out to be good and friendly and befriends the girls.
A must-see show if you are a fan of long Japanese animated movies, which in their way made history.
8. Haibane Renmei
Yoshitoshi Abe, the same creator of Serial Experiments Lain, created it in 2002 after the success of the just-mentioned work Haibane Renmei, an equally profound anime that needs very careful viewing.
Rakka is a girl with angelic features who lives inside thick, stifling walls together with her fellow humans, called Haibane.
None of them remembers who they were before they were there, why they have this strange appearance, nor why they live inside this wall, isolated from the outside world.
An anime thick with mysteries and twists and turns, with a plot that will gradually solve the mysteries keeping you glued to the screen. A countryside setting mixed with supernatural elements will be just that icing on the cake.
7. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
A movie that adapts one of the popular legends of Japanese folklore, that of Princess Kaguya, into animation.
An elderly couple lives happily in a small country village. One day the husband, while cutting bamboo logs in the forest, sees one that gives off a strange light.
He approaches and cuts it: inside it, there is a tiny baby girl, just born.
Surprised, the man picks up the baby and takes her home. They will raise her as if she were their daughter, until one day, now grown, she decides to leave to discover the world.
A film that goes against the classic canons of animation, adapting a popular story making this feature movie pure poetry, capable of inspiring the one who views it.
Moreover, its animation style is quite unique and fascinating.
6. Natsume’s Book of Friends
An underrated slice-of-life anime with supernatural elements released in 2008 in 13 episodes, based on a shojo manga.
Natsume, like her grandmother Reiko, has the gift of being able to see spirits.
The woman used to propose a variety of challenges to them, and if they were defeated, she would take possession of their name by writing it on what she called the Book of Friends.
Now that Natsume has inherited it, a new adventure begins for him, among spirits who want revenge and others who ask him for help.
A very light-hearted and distinctive series, set in an atmospheric country setting, which deviates from the usual slice of life making the formula more interesting.
5. In this Corner of the World
Another 2018 Best Picture award-winning movie, In this Corner of the World tells the story of a family trying to start over in the context of a world ruined by the war.
The protagonist is sunny and honest Suzu Urano, who marries a naval officer.
Driven by the best of intentions, Suzu becomes animated by the idea of starting a new life with Hojo and his family. After leaving her hometown, the young woman begins to adjust to her new life in Kure, a small country town.
A film with an excellent graphic compartment, very heavy and touching that tells us without veils the raw reality and fear faced by an ordinary family in times of war.
4. Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light
Into the Forest of Fireflies’ Light tells a story of pure feelings, capable of breaking through to even the most hardened people.
It tells the story of Hotaru, a little girl who gets lost in a country forest and meets a human-like yokai named Gin.
The two immediately befriend each other but Gin warns little Hotaru that, because of the Mountain God’s curse, he cannot touch or be touched by humans or he would disappear forever.
The deep relationship that will arise between the two will be the pivotal theme of the story, with a poignant ending.
3. Mushishi
Mushishi follows the story of Ginko, a serious and composed character, and also a Mushi. This term refers to strange creatures whose origin or habits no one knows.
What is known is that coexistence with them is complicated for human beings. For this reason, there are the Mushishi, experts in the field who know how to deal with them.
This is especially because since certain Mushi may be small and harmless, on the flip side certain turn out to be real terrifying monstrosities.
It must be said that the episodes are very slow, reflective, and if we want to use a misnomer, artistic.
But the anime is deliberately so, to create a fantastic atmosphere that is almost hypnotic and lulling, also thanks to its country setting characterized by dense forests surrounded by nature.
2. Wolf Children Rain and Snow
A movie released in 2012, in the fantasy genre but with slice-of-life features.
The story follows the life of Hana, a student just 19 years old who falls madly in love with a man-wolf.
The young people marry and the protagonist gives birth to two wolf children: eldest Yuki and youngest Ame. The family leads a peaceful and reserved life in a country setting to hide the children’s less-than-human nature.
The pacing is very slow, following a cadenced pace, because it’s something you should savor and taste in its extreme simplicity.
1. Non Non Biyori
A purely comic anime of the slice-of-life genre released in 2013 in 12 episodes.
The main character is Hotaru Ichijo, a girl who moves from Tokyo to a country town and adapts to the slow pace of the place. Here she will meet her new companions, with whom she will spend her days in a very quiet countryside background.
An anime that is ideal for relaxation, aiming to simply tell the girls’ everyday life in a bucolic setting with comic scenarios.
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