“K-ON!” by Kyoto Animation and “Non Non Biyori” by SILVER LINK are two examples of how much variety you can find in a single genre, in this case Slice of Life. Both of them focus on a group of cute girls and feature a lot of comedy with some powerful emotional moments in-between. Both of those shows are also among my all-time favorite pieces of media I have ever consumed. Yet there are some significant differences between them and which one of the two you might end up preferring really ultimately depends on what you value in anime more.

The biggest strengths of “K-ON!” lie in character writing and the way it manages to masterfully showcase the growth of characters and develop their bonds throughout the years of high school they’ve spend together and the memories they created. “K-ON!” is a blissful journey about growing up and finding out the power of friendship that was created thanks to a connected love to simple aspects of life. The show, to some degree, wants to set in stone and romanticize the most free segment of your life and relationships you made, creations of friendships that will never be lost. The variety of different ideas every episode might seem pretty standard, but what makes it work in almost every single case is the amount of details and love that went into creating these characters, like in the episode where Mugi and Ritsu are just hanging out together for most of the time, it’s not a duo you’d think would work based on previous episodes yet it did thanks to great comedy and how endearing both of them are. It might be this pure, even naïve look at the joy and happiness one can find in the most simple things in life that make “K-ON!” a show that’s equally as emotional as it is fun and endearing.

But while “K-ON!” might be a love letter to memories of bonds between people, “Non Non Biyori” has to be a love letter to memories of settings and places that brought you up. The mission of “Non Non Biyori” is also to bring out of the viewer the most dreamy and pure sense of joy imaginable, but while “K-ON” does that in a much more tangible and energetic way, Silver Link’s iyashikei seems to look at it from more of a nostalgic point of view. It’s less about revising beautiful memories of people you met and bonds you made, even though that is also a part of the show’s appeal, but more about falling in love with small elements of the world that are everywhere around you. The beautiful and colorful backgrounds of many seasons, the peaceful music, the long languid shots of the wild scenery, even the young and hilarious characters – they all give the show the elements of purity that you can’t find anywhere else. It’s a perfect iyashikei that oozes with innocence and peace on every step.

I do think that both of those shows are close to being perfect in achieving what they wanted to do and I love them for that, yet if I had to pick one show that I prefer over the other, it would almost undoubtedly be “K-ON!” Kyoto Animation’s show excels on almost every front, but what really puts it ultimately above “Non Non Biyori” has to be it’s production values and characters. That’s not to say that “Non Non Biyori” falls on those fronts, it’s the contrary actually. Even though it doesn’t have the most amazing animation, the backgrounds are among the most beautiful I’ve seen in any anime to date. Not only that, but the long static shots and gorgeous OST end up creating probably the most atmospheric and pure anime I have ever seen. The characters are very good as well, all of them are hilarious and their very well defined quirks make for a great base for many gags that sometimes reach the absurdist levels of insanity, which juxtaposed with usual peacefulness of the show makes them even funnier and it does a well enough job to make you invested in them on purely emotional level as well.

But the way Naoko Yamada and the staff at KyoAni manages to bring out the greatest out of it’s characters thanks to the excellent… really everything, is mind blowing. Almost every aspect of the production in K-ON is outstanding, from the fantastic mood-setting varied OST, to the playful and cute animation ending on goregous lightning and storyboarding in most shots that vary between energetic and calm. It also puts a lot more weight on the character arcs and the bonds that grow between them which results in the viewer getting more connected with them than in the case of “Non Non Biyori”. Even the most emotional moments in “Non Non Biyori” mostly work because of the nostalgic relatability the viewer might feel while watching the show, in result of which the few gut-punches here and there come more from your personal experiences than from your real bond with the characters. I’m not saying that this is in any way a bad thing, but in my opinion the skillfulness of “K-ON!” in making well-established and touchable bonds is much more admirable. The thing is, almost every single thing about “K-ON!” is perfect, yet it still managed to have a soul and identity on it’s own. The great structure and overreaching themes of memories and growing up that Naoko Yamada’s masterpiece works in so well into seemingly a simple story about “goofing off” creates a series that stands leagues above not only “Non Non Biyori” but also almost any other anime ever created.