You may think that Canada is the land of maple syrup and apologies but it’s not. Well it is, sorry. However, it’s also the land of colds! At the very least Quebec is. The constant humidity mixed with some of the fastest and most radical temperature variations year round means that if you go anywhere where there are other people, someone will cough or sneeze at you. And a week later it will be your turn to do so to someone else thereby perpetuating the great circle of infection! Montreal really is a beautiful city..you should visit!
And although this is true year round, it intensifies at the approach of winter where we can regularly to from 15C (59F ?) one day to -10C (14F ?) the next and back again. Also it’s fun if you Americans keep using the super weird feet inches and miles measurements but you gotta get on the Celsius train! I have no clue if I did that conversion right?
For me, a cold means having to breath through my mouth for a week, feeling and looking generally horrible and leaking from every orifice in my face. Isn’t that just a delicious word picture. For anime characters though, it means that they are at their most delicately vulnerable and appealing and true love is just around the corner. That’s what I want to imagine my colds like!
So for my compatriots that will surely be stuck in bed emptying Kleenex boxes in the coming months, and anyone else prone to colds (it seems Japanese people get them the second they get wet…) Here’s a great list of 5 anime you should watch to feel better.

5) Given
Sensitive boys have fragile constitutions. That’s just how it goes. The big hearts just wear the rest of the body I suppose. So of course Mayu would get a fever from…getting to excited and nervous about a live performance…. I kid but I’d probably need a week to recover as well.
Given’s “sick” episode played out like emotional fanservice for the audience, giving us a quiet and intimate moment between the two leads just as their relationship is starting to change. The bed ridden Mafuyu positively glows from his fever while Ueno gets a chance to portray quiet reliable strength. Awwwww.

4) Fruits Basket
I don’t know if this made it in the recent season of Fruits Basket but in the Manga Tohru eventually gets sick. Considering what the girl puts herself through its pretty amazing it doesn’t happen more often! And this is a rare chance to see the tender side of Kyo.
The little tsundere manages to put his hang ups aside just long enough to care for the bedridden Tohru, going as far as preparing food he personally hates for her. When in top shape Tohru can bring out the best in just about everyone around her but it took her getting sick to bring out the best in Kyo.

3) Tanaka-kun is always listless
You know what’s good when you’re sick, relaxing. It’s important to give your body rest so you can build up your strength. And you know what’s relaxing? Tanaka-kun! That show is a pleasant afternoon nap is soft sunshine. You can’t stress out while watching Tanaka-kun. It’s scientifically impossible.
If you’re going to have a sick mate, you should pick a nice calm one. One that has great friends to boot so they can take care of both of you. Enter Tanaka-kun. You know what, you should watch this show even if you’re healthy. It’s just a great show!

2) Cells at work
Being sick is not only unpleasant, it can be a little scary. Your body is turning against you and you have no clue what’s going on! However, a little knowledge can go a long way to soothe your worried mind. After that, getting better is a cinch!
Don’t believe me? You don’t have to. Cells at Work will show you EXACTLY what’s going on inside you when you get attacked by the dreaded influenza virus. And if you’re lucky, you might even get to see some platelets. They make everything better!

Anti recommendation
I live Ms. Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. I just do. There are bits of it I love less though and they were on full display during the shows Valentine’s Day Special episode 14. It seems that when Kobayashi gets sick she gets a bit …Woody Allenish (?) with her adopted daughter. It made me uncomfortable. I’ll just stick to my Kleenex and the first season of Maid Dragon, thank you very much!

1) Sailor Moon (season 2)
You know what’s better than true love or whatever…a good friend. One that will nurse you back to health when you’re feeling sick and weak. The flu is no joke man, it can take it out of the mightiest warriors.
Thankfully for the Sailor Scouts, Nurse Venus is right there in their time of need. Except not thankfully…Look out for Nurse Venus! She’s a destructive force of nature. And also a hilariously well intentioned friend. Because laughter is the best medicine, this is my top recommendation for get well soon anime.
I could not think of a better way to chase the mucus blues away!
Do you have a go to anime when you have a cold? probably not, it’s a weird thing to have. But maybe this post made you think of one? Let me know!
Surely Amazing Nurse Nanako is the default choice? 😉 😛
Wow I don’t remember that show at all. I know I’ve seen it but I couldn’t tell you a thing about it. Weird.
Same here. My memories are vague too. Wasn’t she a robot or some kind of genetic experiment?
In the manga when Miss Kobayashi catches cold Tohru has to take care of her, including lots of hot baths. It’s Miss Kobayashi’s only topless scene. That’s kind of, well, not creepy, but inappropriate, too.
Now I have to watch it to see if it really is inappropriate.
Go for it. It has an adult leering over their preschool adopted kid.
Yuk
Is that so. weird that they would take that out of the anime and add all the drooling over kids thing…
I think it’s in a volume that’s after the story told in the anime.
Good list. Fruits basket is a definite, and then I would add something like Pet Girl of Sakurasou which, if I’m remembering correctly, has a kind of sick day episode as well.
Interesting
Watching anime characters have a cold makes me feel mine’s not so bad.
You could also watch the second half of Ben-to. There’s Asebi who has a perpetual cold but doesn’t let it get her down. She’s awesome.
Ben-to has been on my to watch list for a while…Maybe I should push it up
Every fall I get sick. I am exposed to hundreds of different little petri dishes (called elementary students) as par of a secret DOD experiment to see which germs or more virulent for bio warfare. (Or at least that’s what it feels like.) I can usually count on being down for 2 weeks at the beginning of every school year.
OTOH, it has been in the 80s and 90s (F) here since September. Before that it was in the 100s. During the coldest part of winter it will be 60s and 70s with occasional rain. When I lived in Michigan that was typical late spring weather.
Always be sure to get your flu shot!
Good list, but I have to say, waking up to Saiki K mid-season with no context in the delirium of a fever and medication is probably the closest I’ll get to going on a bad trip with drugs.
Saiki rocks. I have a feeling your experience would have been largely the same regardless
“March Comes in Like a Lion” and “Psycho-Pass” are also suitable anime because I also had cold and fever that day. It might be weird if you watch “Psycho-Pass” when you had a cold. I never thought it would be a “sick” move I ever did.
I can see it. It keeps your mind off things and makes you realize it could be worse
lol I know right.
*writing down Given to my list of animes to watch* I always keep Natsume Yuujinchou in my first aid kit: colds, relapses, blues, gray winter days… I use it for everything 😂
Good idea. It does cure all