Anime series are usually 12 episodes long, with each episode being about 23 minutes. While shorter than most Korean dramas and Netflix series, these anime may still be too time-consuming for busy working adults and students. As such, here are 12 short anime series that you can finish in a night so that you can indulge in anime while still meeting your deadlines.
Image credit: IMDb
Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san details the life of a bookstore employee named Honda-san. Honda-san bears a scary-looking skeletal appearance, but has a timid personality in contrast to his bold appearance.
Image credit: IMDb
He works at the bookstore with other similarly odd employees. This includes the Boys’ Love advocate Armor, who wears a knight helmet, the pumpkin-faced Lantern, who’s known to be a strict employee, and Kamibukuro, a frantic character whose head is covered with a paper bag.
Image adapted from: Dreamlink Entertainment
Each episode spans 11 minutes, and the anime follows a series of interesting events that occur in the bookstore. For instance, in the 1st episode, Honda-san meets a male foreigner who’s trying to find a NSFW Gintama doujinshi (同人誌; fan-made work).
As he has a poor grasp of English, Honda-san has to use his limited vocabulary to explain bluntly that it is a “special yaoi book” that’s unavailable in a typical bookstore.
Image adapted from: Dreamlink Entertainment
Many real-world bookstore employees found the show highly relatable. This is because the show accurately portrays what it’s like to work in a bookstore – an unsurprising achievement since the author of the series personally worked at a bookstore too.
Video credit: Asmik Ace Anime Channel
Genre: Comedy
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes, 1 OVA
Available on: Netflix, Crunchyroll
Image credit: IMDb
Combine bananas and the Japanese equivalent of “meow”, which is “nya”, and you’ll get Bananya. It’s a simple story about cats wrapped in banana peels. Each episode is around 3 minutes long.
There are many different Bananya, each with their unique personalities. This includes the carefree protagonist Bananya, the flamboyant Bananyako, and the amicable Grandpa Bananya.
Image adapted from: Studio Gathering
As a slice-of-life anime, Bananya’s plot revolves around everyday scenarios such as a Bananya watching the TV or finding comfort in a refrigerator. The story is told by an unnamed male narrator who speaks as if he’s voicing a BBC wildlife documentary.
Bananyako from Bananya
Image adapted from: Studio Gathering
Yet, this simple story also boasts a cast of famous voice actors. The voice behind the protagonist Bananya, as well as a few other characters, is Yuki Kaji, who’s famous for voicing Eren Yeager in Attack on Titan. Meanwhile, Bananyako is voiced by Ayumu Murase, who’s best known for voicing Hinata Shoyo from Haikyuu!!.
Genre: Comedy, Slice-of-life
Length: 2 seasons, 13 episodes each
Available on: Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video
Image credit: IMDb
Our nonchalant main character, Saiki Kusuo, has psychic powers. He has so much strength that he can lift a descending airplane, turn people into stone by looking at them, and retrieve all information and connect to the senses of any living being he touches. This list of powers goes on and on as the show unfolds.
Image credit: IMDb
To control his power, he wears special devices. These include a pair of green glasses to prevent people from turning into stone, 2 antennas to suppress his powers, and a pair of gloves to deactivate his psychometric powers.
Image credit: IMDb
Despite being capable of many things, all Saiki wants is to live a normal life and enjoy his favourite coffee jelly. Admittedly, that’s a little hard when he’s surrounded by other eccentric characters, ranging from the easily smittened Chiyo to the dull-witted Nendou, who has an accentuated butt chin.
Image credit: IMDb
Join Saiki in the ridiculous situations he lands himself in, and enjoy laughing at the hilarious monologues delivered with uttermost seriousness by Kamiya Hiroshi, a famous voice actor who’s known for his roles as Levi from Attack on Titan and Akashi from Kuroko no Basket.
Each episode is around 5 minutes long.
Video credit: Madman Anime
Genre: Comedy, Supernatural
Length: 2 seasons, 24 episodes each, 2 special episodes
Available on: Crunchyroll, Netflix, Funimation
Image credit: aurorawitch
Based on a series of 4-panel comics, I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying portrays the married life of an otaku and his non-otaku wife.
Image adapted from: Studio Seven
Hajime is a hardcore otaku (お宅; a person obsessed with anime and/or manga) whose vocabulary is filled with otaku lingo. His wife, Kaoru, is an office lady. While Kaoru invites colleagues over for tea, Hajime is busy looking at his anime “waifu”.
Image adapted from: Studio Seven
Nevertheless, Hajime and Kaoru care about each other despite their dissimilar backgrounds. Their chaotic but heartwarming dynamics show us that a relationship can work between individuals with vastly different personalities as long as both parties are willing to understand each other.
Each episode is around 3 minutes long, and each episode comprises multiple short stories of about a minute each.
Genre: Comedy, Slice-of-life
Length: 2 seasons, 13 episodes each
Available on: Crunchyroll
Image credit: IMDb
You may be familiar with the trope of main characters sitting at the back of a classroom, by the window. Well, our main lead Seki fits the stereotype, but he doesn’t have a deep backstory or an important mission to save the world.
Image credit: Sentai Filmworks
Instead, Seki is like the long-lost sibling of Phineas and Ferb. From making an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine with his stationery to conducting a dramatic shogi gameplay, Seki shows us the various ways you can kill time during lessons.
Image credit: Tenor
All of his weird antics are seen through the eyes of Rumi Yokio, our female protagonist. She represents us, the average viewer, who can’t help but be intrigued and bewildered by the boy.
Each episode is about 7 minutes long.
Genre: Comedy, Slice-of-life
Length: 1 season, 21 episodes, 3 OVAs
Available on: Crunchyroll
Image credit: IMDb
Aoi Bungaku is a compilation of 6 animated classic Japanese literary works. The list of works includes Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro and Dazai Osamu’s No Longer Human, which are 2 of the all-time bestsellers in Japan. Each adaptation spans between 1-4 episodes, with a 23-minute runtime per episode.
A scene from the No Longer Human adaptation
Image adapted from: Studio Madhouse
These classics are often heavy and laden with significant cultural and psychological explorations of the characters and their surroundings. The anime retains the tone of these decades-old stories while bringing a new flair by adapting them into animation.
A scene from the No Longer Human adaptation
Image adapted from: Studio Madhouse
Check out the preview trailer for the No Longer Human adaptation.
Video credit: hapanime
Genre: Psychological, Historical, Thriller
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Available on: Blu-ray & DVD
Image credit: IMDb
Pop Team Epic is essentially a parody of all kinds of pop culture references. This entails remaking famous scenes from popular works, such as My Neighbour Totoro and Your Name, with ridiculous dialogue and graphics.
The show stars 2 main leads, Popuko and Pipimi. Their appearances change according to the pop reference they are parodying.
(L-R) Official Your Name movie poster and parody scene from Pop Team Epic.
Image adapted from: Okaminarutofan999 and Studio Kamikaze Douga
As such, you’ll get to witness your favourite movie or anime scene being remade into a bizarre short clip, complete with crude humour and unexpected endings. Forget about the ethereal atmosphere of Your Name and its beautiful poster – Pop Team Epic turns it into a catastrophic scene of explosion, coupled with brutish Japanese dialogue.
Image adapted from: Studio Kamikaze Douga
At its core, it is a ridiculous anime meant to amuse its watchers through pure absurdity. Each episode runs for ~12 minutes.
Video credit: Funimation
Genre: Surreal comedy
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Available on: Netflix, Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video
Image credit: IMDb
Hybrid Child is a short Boys’ Love (BL) series about the intimate relationships between humanoids and their human partners.
Image adapted from: Studio Deen
These humanoids, known as “Hybrid Child”, are artificial beings that eventually gain human-like consciousness and emotions. The 3 stories showcase both the love between the Hybrid Child and their human partner, as well as the reason behind why Hybrid Child humanoids were created in the first place.
Image adapted from: Studio Deen
All the stories are set in the past, with the final story taking place during a fictional war.
Video credit: mediafactory
Genre: Historical, Shounen Ai
Length: 1 season, 4 episodes
Available on: DVD
Image credit: IMDb
Corpse Party: Tortured Souls is the anime adaption of the renowned Corpse Party horror video game. Be warned: the show contains explicit gore. Buckets of crawling maggots, exploding bodies, and decapitated limbs are some sights you have to stomach.
Image adapted from: Studio Asread
After doing a ritual that’s meant to safeguard friendships, a group of senior high schoolers descend into never-ending horror at the haunted Heavenly Host Elementary School.
Image credit: IMDb
At the elementary school, malicious spirits of dead children roam free, tormenting our characters physically and emotionally.
Image adapted from: Studio Asread
However, there lies a heart-wrenching story behind the children’s predicament, and it may make you sympathise with them.
Image credit: WntrFell
To add an extra pang of sadness, watch the short 11-minute Corpse Party: Missing Footage OVA. It captures the once-peaceful lives of the characters in Corpse Party before they got caught up in the occult.
Genre: Horror
Length: 1 season, 4 episodes, 1 OVA
Available on: Blu-ray & DVD
Image credit: IMDb
Imagine having a well-mannered husband who pampers you in every way possible – that’s the premise of Love is Like a Cocktail.
Image credit: skypophobia
Each episode spans 5 minutes, and the series revolves around a married couple, Sora and Chi-chan. Chi-chan loves alcohol despite being a lightweight, and her domestic husband Sora is always there to come up with different cocktails.
Image credit: u/Antixmage
The recipes for these cocktails and other drinks are shown in the show. You can try to recreate them in real life.
Genre: Slice-of-life, Comedy, Romance
Length: 1 season, 13 episodes
Available on: Crunchyroll
Image credit: IMDb
The 2021 winter anime season has been hailed as one of the most legendary seasons ever to exist by the anime community, with famous sequels such as Re:Zero and Attack on Titan airing concurrently. Yet, in Japan, Pui Pui Molcar has emerged as one of the most popular anime amidst these famous titles.
Image adapted from: Shin-Ei Animation
The show is a simple stop-motion animation of cars shaped like guinea pigs. It makes light of often serious and frustrating situations, such as a traffic jam or a bank robbery. Each episode clocks in at around 2 minutes.
Ambulance stuck in a traffic jam due to an inconsiderate road user
Image adapted from: Shin-Ei Animation
As a kids’ show that aired on Tuesday mornings in Japan, it was meant to teach children important values such as being considerate to other users who share a public space.
Nevertheless, the show also drove its way into the hearts of adult viewers through its simple designs and uplifting optimism, helping everyone unwind in an increasingly stressed-out world.
Genre: Comedy
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Available on: Netflix, YouTube
Image credit: IMDb
Set in Tokyo sometime in the unspecified future, Eve no Jikan explores themes of xenophobia and the implications of having Artificial Intelligence (AI) in society. This short anime won the OVA category at the 2010 Tokyo Anime Award.
Image credit: IMDb
In this world, domestic robots are essential helpers to mankind. However, they are governed by laws that deem them subservient to mankind. Those who consider these robots as equal to humans are frowned upon.
Image credit: IMDb
However, in a run-down corner of Tokyo, there is a secret cafe where the hierarchy separating robots and humans cease to exist.
Image credit: IMDb
The story follows our male lead, Rikuo Sakisaka, who stumbles upon the cafe after stalking his robot helper’s activity log. What follows is a heartwarming story about bridging differences and achieving acceptance.
Video credit: DIRECTIONSINC
Genre: Sci-fi, Slice-of-life
Length: 1 season, 6 episodes
Available on: Crunchyroll
Achieving work-life and school-life balance is easy with these short anime series. You can spend your pockets of time in between tasks watching these short episodes, or take a few hours to finish a whole story and still sleep on time.
For more anime to watch, check out:
Cover image adapted from (left to right): IMDb, IMDb and IMDb
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