Iyashikei: The Healing Genre Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gondoliering

The planet is now called Aqua, as befits its watery landscape, and the city is named for Venice, city of canals. All the gondoliers' names begin with "A": Alicia, Akira, Athena, and the protagonist Akari. Gondoliers are called Undines, which is fitting, as an undine is a mythical water spirit.

Iyashikei tend to contain very low-key conflict in order to de-stress the audience; this show's plotlines include a gondola race, an attempt to deliver a letter, and a search for the company's runaway president, a cat.

Answer: Bartender

Ryu, the bartender, is called the Glass of the Gods because he has a knack for mixing the right drink to help his patrons with the problems they've told him about. Slow jazz fills the soundtrack and supports the mellow tone. The end of each episode provides the recipe for the featured drink, including Margarita, Grasshopper, and Amber Dream.

Answer: A man stalking campers

As iyashikei, the series aims to induce a calming effect. A plotline involving a stalker or serial killer would be a great betrayal of the genre. Middle school girls form a camping club and spend their time researching supplies, earning money to buy supplies, learning camping safety, and, of course, camping, whether alone or in groups.

Other tense, nail-biting issues include choosing what type of tent to buy, finding alternate campsites when learning that certain sites are closed in winter, making a new meal after ruining rice, and finding an alternate driver when the adult chaperone forgets and drinks beer.

It also shows the importance of friendship while not discounting the validity of introversion, as Shimarin, an introvert, learns to enjoy group camping, yet needs to be alone sometimes.

Answer: There are only five students

The village of Asahigaoka is so small that all the students, each in a different grade, attend together. Hotaru moves to the town and makes friends with the schoolgirls. It follows the events in their lives, which include a field trip, finding an escaped rabbit (only to be locked in the pen themselves), and running their own festival.

Iyashikei originated in the 1990s after disasters involving an earthquake and a subway. People often want gentle entertainment after tragedy, and the genre filled the niche. Stories in this genre tend to emphasize the smaller incidents in life and find joy in the mundane.

Answer: France

"Croisée" means "cross" in French. Yune is taken to France in the 19th century to live in a Parisian shop with Oscar. Early on, Yune offers Oscar a kimono to sell; he does, but when he discovers it was her mother's, he tries to get it back. As with many shows following cute girls, the pace is leisurely and the plotlines contain little conflict.

Answer: Mushi-shi

"Mushi-shi" is slightly more intense than most iyashikei, with its mystery and slight horror vibe, but its mellow soundtrack, slow pace, lush backgrounds, and quiet stories still firmly place it in the category. Ginko, a Mushi Master, travels about solving problems related to Mushi, life in its purest form. While rarely malevolent, they cause problems for humans, like making a man's disturbing dreams come true, regressing adults in age, and replacing a woman's children with changelings. He endeavors to get rid of the Mushi while not killing them. Ginko wears 21st century clothing despite living in the 19th century. Fans theorize that Ginko once encountered a time travel Mushi (one of which appears in the second season) which sent him to the modern day, where he acquired his shirts and longcoat.

The incorrect answers all contain iyashikei elements.

Answer: Coffee

She works at the shop in exchange for living there. The Rabbit House doesn't only serve coffee: the girls also make latte art atop coffee and tell fortunes from the dregs. They have impromptu sleepovers on stormy days (during which they bathe with cocoa-scented bath powder), take ballet lessons, and dress up as Santa to deliver gifts.

The cafe's rabbit is sometimes taken over by the spirit of the Rabbit House's founder, whose granddaughter Chino works there. The rabbit looks more like a puff ball than a long-eared hare.

This show certainly relaxed me before bedtime.

Answer: Cat

Each episode of "Bananya" lasts about three minutes. The top half of each creature is a cat, which hops about on its bottom half, a banana. The first season follows the main Bananya on his adventures with other Bananyas in his quest to become covered in chocolate. Among other things, they watch TV, play in the bathroom, get stuck in a purse, play with balloons, and explore the house at night.

The second season, "Bananya and the Curious Bunch", takes place on a cat-shaped planet with no humans.

This is one of the cutest, most relaxing shows I've ever seen.

Answer: Someday's Dreamers

Yume (which means "dream") has magical power, which can only be used with permission from the Bureau of Magic, so no violence or cruelty abounds. The series charts her magical training. The final few episodes contain a more serious plotline: after hearing a customer regret a request to have her childhood home brought to life, Yume wonders if magic should even be used.

Answer: Post-apocalyptic

Two girls, Yuu and Chi, travel in a miniature tank through a cold, post-civilization wasteland. The only humans they meet are a pilot trying to repair a plane and a cartographer. They relax in improvised baths, bake ration bars, accidentally get drunk, and adopt an unusual pet in their quest to reach the top of the world.