I only learned of the existence of the term Galentine very recently. It’s Valentine’s Day for single ladies or ladies that want to get away from their partners for the evening! I’m fine of the idea. It was always so weird for me to see how targeted the holiday is at the women folk and that some of my girlfriends actually use to get bummed out if they didn’t have someone to get them flowers.
I’m rather romantically challenged so I usually need to be reminded to get something for my sweety as well, so as a tiny atonement, and a tribute to all the awesome single ladies out there, this year I figured I would put together a list of anime recommendations for your super fun Galentine evening!
And if you happen to be a boy, you can watch them too. Provided you enjoy shows full of cute ladies and strong female friendships. Not sure any guys are into that sort of stuff…
Anyways, these are my five favourite series for when you just want a girls night!
5) Shirobako
There are in fact a lot of important make characters in Shirobako which is why it’s on the bottom of the list. However, the main theme revolves around a group of young women who have been friends for a long time and are looking for some professional fulfillment.
It’s still not that common to find an anime that focuses squarely on women’s careers so Shirobako is refreshing in that way. Sometimes you need to be reminded that romance doesn’t define you and there are plenty of other aspects to explore and enjoy. Also to this day, the scene of Aoi tearing up at her friend’s performance out of pure joy that her friend is talented is one of the most touching illustrations of friendship I’ve seen.
4) Puella Magi Madoka Magica
I have a few issues with the series but I cannot deny that it’s a classic for a reason. And the fact is I still remember it and think back on it often. If you are the one person that has never heard of Madoka before, then you should probably know that the series can be a bit of a bummer. This isn’t a pick that will have you roaring with laughter.
Still, when you dig into it, it’s about how one young woman was willing to risk unravelling the very fabric of the universe for the sake of her friend! I am a little gifted that none of my friends ever defied the laws of physics for me but what are you gonna do… At least I can watch cute anime girls do it! That came out wrong.
3) Bloom into You
Speaking of cute anime girls, here’s my sapphic pick! There are an increasing number of good Yuri Anime to choose from and I am very excited about it. For a long time I use to default to manga for those types of stories. I finally settled on Bloom into you for it’s thoughtful and for lack of a better word “kind” representation of young love.
Full disclosure, I only read the manga but from all the reviews I’ve seen the anime adaptation captured what made the story so pretty. Even if you are not traditionally a fan of Yuri, I would give Bloom into you a try, it’s just such a sweet story.
2) Miss Kobayashi’ Dragon Maid
There are some aspects of Kobayashi that are less successful than others. However I still enjoyed the show tremendously and recommend it to adults that can parse through those aspects.
Kobayashi made my list for 2 very good and impartial reasons not because it’s my list and I really like this show. Reason 1, it’s a stirring take that shows you can be single and not remotely ready to mingle and still end up with an adoring dragon maid madly in love with you (I may or may not wish for my own Tohru every time I pass a well or fountain). And 2, I have recommended the series to my 3 anime watching friends in real life and all the ladies really enjoyed it. In fact only the ladies??? So naturally this is a ladies only anime. What other conclusion could I draw?
1) Yuru Yuri
I love Yuru Yuri, always have. I’m not sure I can quite explain why but this show had me literally laughing out loud on a regular basis and just seeing a pic of it makes me smile. There’s nothing particularly special about it on paper however comedy is very often about timing and delivery. And these are both strengths of Yuru Yuri. There’s also a good mix of exuberant and deadpan styles, some surrealist nonsense sprinkled in and even prop comedy so there’s something to suit every style. In short I think Yuru Yuri is funny. And what better way to celebrate one’s love for life than to laugh to your heart’s content.
I’ve often wondered if I’m the only one who found the series hilarious….
Anywho, these are 5 anime which I have thoroughly enjoyed that are all about the gals. Mind you there are some romantic themes to them so they still fit the marketing of St Valentine’s Day… Hmmm, next year I might do a list of horror anime instead….
Do you have a favourite anime to watch this time of year? Are you like me and completely oblivious to it until someone shove a box of chocolates at you and you realize you have 4 hours to make fancy dinner reservations on the busiest night of the year and wonder if you’ll get dumped for suggesting an evening of pizza and anime instead…
I wandered away from the point again! Do you have a favourite Valentine, Galentine, Ballentine anime to recommend???
Well, now, I’m a gruff and grouchy old family man, but I dearly love all of these series! So, what now? Do I still wait for flowers?
Why not?
Indeed
Yess! I’m so happy to see Yuru Yuri in your number one spot! I couldn’t stop wheezing and dying through out the entire thing. It’s nice knowing there’s another who got tortured by Yuru Yuri’s hilarious goodness. We are now secretly besties…
Score!
I can confirm that anime Bloom into You is great. Awesome visuals.
At a glance, I read that title as “Anime for gelatines,” and I didn’t what to expect. That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime?
I tend to ignore any and all yearly re-curring occasion, if I’m given the chance, so I’m going to spend Valentine’s probably completely unaware that it’s that day. That’s how it usually goes. I’ll probably be watching anime (as nearly every day), but if it’s themed its a co-incidence.
Also: Rolling Girls, Ichigo Marshmellow, Yuyushiki, Joshiraku
We have similar plans
I’ve read out the entire Paradise Kiss manga just recently and i plan on watching NANA soon as well.
I miss Ai Yazawa and i really do hope she does get better.
-K (rogueotakugamer)
Good choice for people who want more traditional romance stuff. I try to tackle that next week
Looking forward to it.
Yeah, real men don’t watch cute girl shows! This was something I actually believed years ago, even when I started watching this kind of stuff and hating myself for it. I’ve come around since then.
I’ll be doing the same thing for Valentine’s Day I did last year, minus the whiskey this time.
So just the vodka?
Exactly!
With regards with what I’ll be doing on Valentine’s Day, I’ll probably be listening to Eve’s latest song out on YouTube “Heart Forecast” XD
Good plans!
If you want an anime that focuses on women’s careers there’s an anime called “New Game!”. It’s a lot less realistic than Shirobako on the work aspect but hey, it’s more cute girls doing work things. On a side note, Yuru Yuri is definitely not something you can watch in a single day considering it has 3 whole seasons XD
I’m afraid I didn’t like New Game much.
Also thought I’d just put it out there that I’m a guy and have watched plenty of anime “full of cute ladies and strong female friendships.” Of course, that includes every anime you listed here as well as some others like Mya-nee (can’t rmb the actual name of the show), gabriel dropout, gakkou gurashi, girlish number, gochiusa, granbelm, hibike euphonium, hitoribocchi, wasteful days of highschool girls, kiniro mosaic, non non biyori, princess principal, release the spyce, a place further than the universe, k-on and yuru camp among others (at first i just listed off the top of my head but then i felt like looking through my MAL and ended up listing almost everything that had an all girl case). Although, most of those you listed can be enjoyed by the majority in my opinion.
I was joking of course. All the shows you named as well as those on my list are technically aimed at men. I think almost all are in the Seinen demo but that doesn’t mean much. Gender has little to do with anime enjoyment.
Ah my bad haha, I’m still not really good at telling what’s a joke when I can’t hear the person actually saying it. Anyways, it’s definitely true that gender has little to do with anime enjoyment. I mean, the tags shoujo or shounen rarely stop guys or girls respectively from watching whatever anime it is. XD