5 anime series about friendship to watch on World Friendship Day
Like the worn-out yet timely saying goes: "No man is an island."
One of the most important things in life (aside from money) is having a group of wonderful and caring people who will always be there for you through thick and thin. True friends are hard to find nowadays, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic isolating everyone from building strong ties with one another.
In celebration of the International Day of Friendship on July 30, PhilSTAR L!fe has compiled a list of anime about the bonds of camaraderie to binge-watch with your close-knit group.
Komi Can't Communicate
Have you ever heard about "communication disorder"? It's a type of impairment where a person has extreme social anxiety, resulting in them struggling to communicate with others even though they want to. It's a difficult condition to have, and no one knows this more than Shouko Komi.
Komi's communication disorder is so severe that she struggles to voice out the simplest of words and even her own name, choosing instead to write her thoughts on paper or, if all else fails, shivering uncontrollably out of fear and anxiety.
She desperately wants to change herself and make more friends. Luckily, on her first day at a private high school, Komi meets Hitohito Tadano, her rather plain-looking seatmate who promises to help her with her goal of making 100 friends. But Komi's disorder proves to be quite a hurdle to overcome.
One Week Friends
If you think Komi's communication disorder is bad, then Kaori Fujimiya's condition is even worse—she has anterograde amnesia, a type of memory loss where a person can't create new memories.
Because of this, Fujimiya chooses not to make friends, completely isolating herself from her peers as she always loses memories concerning friends at the beginning of the week. But that doesn't stop Yuuki Hase from approaching her everyday after she piques his interest.
With fierce stubbornness and determination, Hase endeavors in breaking Fujimiya's stone-cold walls and warming her lonely heart with his desire to be friends with her.
Kotoura-san
Here is another anime about a girl with no social life and struggles with an unfortunate condition, only this time, it's not medical—it's supernatural.
Haruka Kotoura is a fifteen-year-old girl who was inexplicably born with the power to read the minds of others. While some may think that the ability is cool, Kotoura thinks otherwise. After accidentally blurting out other people's thoughts after she read them, she became an outcast from those around her, even being abandoned by her own mother.
Since then, Kotoura has taken it upon herself to avoid other people for fear of getting hurt again, but her efforts to build an impenetrable shield around herself is proven useless against Yoshihisa Manabe, one of her classmates who has a perverted imagination.
Unfazed by her mind-reading capabilities, Manabe offers to be her friend and promises to stand by her no matter what happens.
Fairy Tail
If you and your friends want a much longer series to watch, then try out Fairy Tail. This 300-episode fantasy anime about wizards and magic has everything—exciting adventures, fantastic locations, flying cats, and loyal comrades.
Fairy Tail follows Lucy Heartfilia, a budding mage who joins the Fairy Tail guild after a fateful encounter with Natsu Dragneel and his cat Happy. Together with other wizards such as the powerful knight Erza and the ice wizard Gray, they embark on numerous quests and adventures while also thwarting dark guilds from enacting their evil intentions.
While the show is both praised and criticized for emphasizing the characters' strong bonds over and over again, there's no denying that you can appreciate its many life lessons about how you are never alone, that even the worst enemies can become your greatest allies, and how you should always treasure the people who care for you.
Aharen is Indecipherable
To summarize this hilarious anime in just one sentence, it's about two socially-awkward persons hanging out together and having a lot of misunderstandings.
Aharen is Indecipherable is about first-year high school student Reina Aharen literally being indecipherable. With her blank face, emotionless eyes, whispery voice, and puzzling antics, Aharen is a mystery to her seatmate and new friend Matsuboshi Raidou, who also seems to lack the skills of an extrovert.
Day by day, Raidou is continuously perplexed by Aharen's actions and struggles to understand her, all the while slowly building an inseparable connection with the small wallflower.
Happy World Friendship Day!