I really enjoyed Ruri Rocks, and not just because of the “character designs”

It spoke to a part of me that just wants to take a walk by the river and look for cool rocks.

Sora No Manimani is basically propaganda for your local high school’s astronomy club. You know it was made by space nerds because they get all the visuals right. Never seen a show so faithfully recreate the actual night sky

Not sure exactly what is meant by “resonated with you”, but I really liked Chihayafuru. It’s about an old card game that’s niche even in Japan where someone reads out the first half of a poem, and then each competitor tries to touch the card with the second half of that poem first. Sounds boring, but this show is proof that execution is what really matters.

Similarly, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is a great story about aspiring rakugoka. All you need is some good human drama and suddenly anything can be extremely interesting (no offense meant to the art of rakugo).

You might be surprised to hear that there’s a lot of anime/manga about mahjong. I’m aiming to watch/read all of them (or at least what’s available in English, there are even more manga series that are still untranslated).

Akagi is without a doubt the GOAT of this weird little subgenre.

Ping Pong the Animation is about Ping Pong but also so much more. Fantastic characterization.

NegaPosi Angler - though about fishing, it’s largely about forming human bonds, and plays off of the fact that people who fish tend to share an instant bond with each other.

Hanayamata -five girls who form a Yosakoi dance team - easily one of the most adorably uplifting and satisfying anime I’ve ever seen.

Sabagebu! - Survival Game Club - combat games with AirSoft guns - very stylized and often surreal and very funny in a sort of Nichijou vein.

• Bakuon!!
• Haruka Receive
• Joshiraku
• Saekano
• Dagashi Kashi
• HaNaYaMaTa

The currently airing Akane-banashi is actually pretty great, gave me a new appreciation for rakugo

I’ll second Chihayafuru, and add Hikaru no Go (different game, very shounen anime, still manages a surprisingly good emotional payoff if you stick with the show long enough).

I’m going to add a couple of more dubious ones: Princess Tutu, to the extent that it’s about ballet and not fairytales. And the old series Ayatsuri Sakon, which is primarily a mystery series, but often uses backdrops that relate strongly to Japanese culture (mostly bunraku, since the main character is an apprentice bunraku puppeteer, but there’s also one arc that deals heavily with Noh theatre)—to be honest, those were more interesting than the whodunnit bits.

Chihayafuru, one of the greatest anime ever.