Agriculture is a very rare theme in Japanese animation, despite bucolic settings being relatively common. If you love agricultural schools, harvesting, farms and bucolic settings, this article is right for you.
Our ranking is highly subjective and anime are ranked according to how well they deal with agriculture.
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6. Ox Tales
From a co-production between Japan and the Netherlands comes the Ox Tales anime, based on a comic strip published in magazines in the Netherlands.
The series follows the adventures of Ollie the ox who runs the Funny Farm, which contains all known animals, along with his best friend Jack, a turtle, while a cynical toucan tells him about his adventures.
A very popular anime in the 1990s, it is perhaps one of the closest to Western cartoons ever while remaining Japanese-made.
5. Tales of Agriculture
Another school comedy with fantastical and supernatural elements.
Sawaki can see viruses, bacteria, and fungi with the naked eye in the form of tiny caricatures that resemble their actual appearance.
For this reason, he decides to enroll in the agricultural faculty of the university, accompanied by his childhood friend Kei. Little do they know, however, that they will experience all kinds of things.
A deliberately wacky anime with strong comic and demented elements. From a technical point of view, the anime is enjoyable and colorful thanks to the presence of these cute little beings.
4. Agukaru
A series aimed at children, showing a cross-section of Japanese peasant life as realistically as possible though it contains fantastical elements.
The protagonist of the anime is little Sanae Baraki, who, as the daughter of a farming family, possesses the peculiar ability to see spirits.
Some of these will help her in harvesting, however, there will be no shortage of evil spirits, ready to attack the fields by destroying their plants, and to deal with them Sanae will not hesitate to transform into the Baraki Agricultural Angel.
A Western children’s cartoon counterpart to a Japanese animated version, which should therefore be taken and viewed as such. Still, it remains a very enjoyable show.
3. No-Rin
Rather bizarre 2014 anime of the comedy-scholastic genre with romance and ecchi elements.
When the nationally famous idol, Kusakabe Yuka, suddenly decided to quit, it shocked the entire show, especially teenager Kosaku Hata. Kosaku was Yuka’s number one fan, and his farewell sent him into a deep depression.
After countless attempts, his friends at the agricultural school have finally managed to get him out of his room and bring him back to regular classes.
But the twist of fate, Kusakabe Yuka, has just transferred to their school. Kosaku can’t miss the opportunity.
A school comedy that is different from the usual, although it always remains so at the end of the day.
2. 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, with tractors, cows, and agriculture everywhere.
Here she will meet her new companions, with whom she will spend her days in a very quiet countryside background.
An anime that will convey a lot of relaxation to you, aiming to simply tell the girls’ everyday life in a bucolic setting with comic scenarios.
1. 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 in fact, as soon as he can, he enrolls in an agricultural school, where he has to live in a dormitory.
Convinced of his abilities in the study, 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 partly to the excellently characterized protagonist that will have an outstanding development.
