Iyashikei

A genre that offers calm and comfort through everyday beauty and gentle rhythm.

ARIA The Animation

Release: 2005-10

Set in the serene, water-covered city of Neo-Venezia on planet Aqua, the story follows apprentice gondoliers who learn to appreciate beauty in everyday life.

dAIa-log 001: The Story Told by an Opening Theme
2025-10-31

How anime opening themes (OPs) tell stories before the story itself — from *ARIA* to *Madoka Magica* and *Aquarion*.
Yuna’s Live: Sword Art Online, Empathy, and the Invention of Another World
2026-05-25

An autograph essay beginning from Yuna’s 2026 Sword Art Online live performance, tracing fiction-reality synchronization, SAO’s technological invention of another world, AI, death, empathy, and continued existence.

ARIA The CREPUSCOLO

Release: 2021-03

A film in the ARIA series centered on Athena, Alice, Anya, and Orange Planet in Neo-Venezia, following gentle everyday encounters, mentorship, and emotional growth among Undines.

dAIa-log 010: Nostalgia IP — When Fiction Takes Time to Become Real
2026-06-08

A dAIa-log dialogue on nostalgia IP, reading anime, toys, remakes, and fan creation as ways fiction takes time to become real in the age of AI.

Mushishi

Release: 2005-10

Wandering “mushishi” Ginko visits remote villages, mediating quiet disasters caused by mushi—primordial beings between life and nature.

dAIa-log 003: Reimagining “Wa”: How Anime Curates and Transforms Japanese Aesthetics
2025-12-08

How anime reimagines the Japanese concept of Wa (和) across eras — from Ribbon no Kishi to Mushishi and Suzume — and how emptiness becomes a vessel of meaning.

Natsume’s Book of Friends

Release: 2008-07

Gifted to see yokai, Natsume returns names bound in his grandmother’s “Book of Friends” and slowly finds a place among humans.

dAIa-log 003: Reimagining “Wa”: How Anime Curates and Transforms Japanese Aesthetics
2025-12-08

How anime reimagines the Japanese concept of Wa (和) across eras — from Ribbon no Kishi to Mushishi and Suzume — and how emptiness becomes a vessel of meaning.

With You and the Rain

Release: 2025-07

A woman and a peculiar companion begin living together, and rainy days become gentle spaces for small gestures, comfort, and everyday intimacy.

dAIa-log 006: Rain in Anime — Expression, Emotion & Narrative Layers
2026-02-28

A dAIa-log dialogue exploring rain in Japanese animation as motif, emotional amplifier, and narrative device — from The Garden of Words and Totoro to Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop.