Line #218 Main/SliceOfLife


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4	[[quoteright:303:[[Webcomic/ApricotCookies https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/slice_of_life_apricot.png]]]]
5	->''"What adventures my friends and I would find this summer of 1965, I had no way of knowing, but I did know that summer's days were long and lazy, and when the sun finally gave up its hold in the sky the cicadas sang and the lightning bugs whirled their dance and there was no homework to be done and oh, it was a wonderful time."''
6	-->--''Literature/BoysLife''
7	Life, observed and examined. A cast of characters go about their [[DayInTheLife daily lives]], making [[SeinfeldianConversation observations]] and being themselves. [[WackyHomeroom School]] is perhaps the most common setting for these kinds of series, especially in animation. {{Coming of age\|Story}} is often a major part of their stories. They may have DeathByNewberyMedal.
8
9	What separates slice of life as a genre from the literal meaning of the phrase (which would encompass nearly all fiction) is the emphasis on the very moment, with the intent of focusing the audience on that moment rather than using that moment as part of a narrative. For example, a story about hilarious roommate hi-jinx may depict the mundane life of roommates, but these mundane events are usually the setups and punchlines of jokes or part of the conflict between the characters, which takes away their slice-of-life-ness and cements them firmly in the realm of comedy or drama.
10
11	Slice of Life series don't usually have much of a plot or, if taken to extreme, even the {{omnipresent\|Tropes}} {{Conflict}}, but they don't really need one, and many Slice of Life stories use a lack of conflict to serve peaceful {{escapism}} rather than realism. An example of this would be how in many slice of life school stories, parents are nearly non-existent. Most American newspaper comics that aren't simply gag a day strips are stories like this due to the simple fact that most people do not read newspapers every day and archives of comic strips are rare, so they need to be able to jump into the comic's world at any time and be able to appreciate it.
12
13	Slice of life also doesn't have to be set in the world as we know it. When it is, the TV industry in particular calls it "low concept" (in contrast to HighConcept). Several {{Webcomics}} are Slice of Life, while the ones labeled "RealLife" are usually not real life at all, but tend to fall into some brand of SpeculativeFiction, or at the least LifeEmbellished. Not to be confused with the JournalComic, although they may overlap. For a complete index, see SliceOfLifeWebcomics.
14
15	Surprisingly popular in Japan, so a lot of {{Anime}} fills this category. In longer-running action-based shows it is also becoming fairly common to incorporate Slice of Life episodes to flesh out the characters by placing them in a more mundane setting. This often gets combined with a MoodWhiplash when the pace of the action picks up. See SchoolgirlSeries for a specific type of Slice of Life. See also {{Iyashikei}}, which often overlaps with this trope. Compare and contrast with SoapOpera. This frequently overlaps with the CuteGirlsDoingCuteThings genre. Also compare BreatherEpisode.
16
17	In some ways, Slice of Life overlaps with stories generally considered LitFic in the west, since both genres cover ordinary human lives, motivations, and emotions, though Slice of Life doesn't always imply the stereotype of intellectual snobbery or elitism that surrounds works of Lit Fic, as well as the impression that Lit Fic somehow has to be "depressing" or have {{Downer Ending}}s.
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19	KitchenSinkDrama uses the "slice of life" approach to show a typical day in a working-class character's life: getting up early in a [[IndustrialGhetto grungy little apartment]], working all day at a factory, and coming home to make an [[PovertyFood inexpensive dinner]], all while dealing with the trials and tribulations of being in a lower income category (unemployment, living paycheck-to-paycheck, depression, etc).
20
21	Art films and indie/experimental films also often use the "slice of life" approach, as these films tend to have a looser, more open-ended structure and they are not goal-directed like Hollywood blockbusters (where the hero is always chasing a {{MacGuffin}} or trying to achieve a PlotCoupon). The art/experimental films would rather show the slow-moving textures and interactions of everyday life in a meditative fashion. [[note]]Newbies to art/experimental films may walk out of the movie theater in annoyance after sitting through 45 minutes of focusing on some Norwegian guy's expressions (or other Scandinavian nationality or German) as he washes his clothes or takes a bus to work.[[/note]]
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23	For the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' blog and webcomic, as well as the episode, [[Blog/SliceOfLife click here]] and [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E9SliceOfLife here.]]
24
25	----
26	!!Example subpages:
27
28	[[index]]
29	* SliceOfLife/AnimeAndManga
30	* SliceOfLife/ComicBooks
31	* SliceOfLife/FanWorks
32	* SliceOfLife/{{Film}}
33	* SliceOfLife/{{Literature}}
34	* SliceOfLife/LiveActionTV
35	* SliceOfLife/VideoGames
36	* [[SliceOfLifeWebcomics Web Comics]]
37	* SliceOfLife/WesternAnimation
38	[[/index]]
39
40	!!Other examples:
41
42	[[foldercontrol]]
43
44	[[folder:Art]]
45	* Creator/TerryAnanny's art focuses on children having fun in a realistic setting.
46	* ''Art/ASundayAfternoonOnTheIslandOfLaGrandeJatte'': Creator/GeorgesSeurat aimed to capture the everyday lives of rich Parisians, so the painting shows people milling about and relaxing on the riverbank.
47	* Several of Creator/TarsilaDoAmaral's {{paintings}}, such as ''The Fisherman'', ''Hill of the Favela'', ''Carnival in Madureira'', etc. depict mundane events from Brazil's day-to-day life from an idyllic point of view.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
51	* ''Animation/{{Akis}}'' is about the experiences of a ordinary (if [[GenkiGirl hyperactive]]) girl.
52	* ''Animation/BanzisSecretDiary'' - Banzi regularly writes in her diary about the experiences she has in her life.
53	* ''Animation/HappyFamily'' showcases the daily life of the Chen family in China.
54	* The second season of ''Animation/NoonboryAndTheSuper7'', titled ''Tooba Tooba Noonbory'', shifts away from the superhero stories they were telling in the first season and completely gets rid of the Borys' superhero abilities in favor of simpler slice of life stories.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
58	* ''ComicStrip/TheAdventuresOfPrudencePrim'', published and set during the 1920's, follows the adventures of a country girl trying to find romance and adventure in the big city while living with her up-tight spinster aunts.
59	* ''ComicStrip/DykesToWatchOutFor''
60	* ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'', although the slice got more and more [[{{narm}} overcooked]] as time went on.
61	* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' loved this. Of course, the lives we see slices of are weird beyond belief. This ''is'' Gary Larson.
62	* ''ComicStrip/TheFortunesOfFlossie'', published and set during the 1920's, revolving around a rambunctious flapper who simply lives to have her fortune told -- much to the dismay of her boyfriend, himself skeptical of all soothsayers and so-called psychics.
63	* ''ComicStrip/GasolineAlley''
64	* ''ComicStrip/OneBigHappy'' is about the life of 6 year old Ruthie. Unlike in other comics, the kids in this comic mostly act and speak their age.
65	* Charles Schulz's ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', in both comic and cartoon versions, was the story of a small group of friends walking around and dealing with each other's problems. Except with canine fighter pilots.
66	* Requested by ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} in [[http://garfield.nfshost.com/1992/03/20/ this strip:]]
67	-->'''Jon:''' I'll have the spaghetti, Irma\
68	'''Irma:''' Do you want that on a plate?\
69	'''Jon:''' Of course I do!\
70	'''Irma: Well excuse me, mister picky'''!\
71	'''Jon: Is it too much to be accorded the same amenities others get?! I'm a person too, you know!!'''\
72	'''Garfield:''' I'll just have a small slice of life, thank you.
73	* With the premise of ''ComicStrip/ScaryGary'' being that he is a retired vampire trying to live peacefully in the suburbs with his oft-violent henchman Leopold, the series is something of a supernatural slice of life that mostly runs on ''large'' doses of [[BlackComedy dark humor]].
74	* ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}''
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Manhwa]]
78	* ''Manhwa/NeedAGirl'': About four young men in their last year on High School, each trying to score a girlfriend.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Music]]
82	* A large number of CountryMusic songs can fit under this trope. A good example is "Just Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Vassar.
83	** Some are ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, like "Sounds Like Life to Me" by Darryl Worley, about a guy who is DrowningMySorrows, and when he tells his buddy why, his buddy tells him the things he's complaining about--bills, teething baby, broken appliances--are just normal life things and he needs to get over himself.
84	* [[Music/PinkFloyd "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast"]] is simply a collage of a roadie having breakfast and reminiscing.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Radio]]
88	* ''Radio/{{Fabulous}}'' is a radio sitcom about Faye, a young woman working in an ordinary office and while her daydreams and fantasies can get pretty surreal and she has eccentric family and co-workers the actual plots and events are down to earth and mundane like dealing with not being invited to her bosses' wedding or pulling a sick day to get out of work.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
92	* ''TabletopGame/ChuubosMarvelousWishGrantingEngine'' is based around playing characters like sun goddesses, mad scientists, ghost-witches and the like in a slice-of-life setting.
93	* In ''TabletopGame/GoldenSkyStories'' the player characters are magical animals in a quiet town, helping the residents solve their everyday problems.
94	* ''TabletopGame/{{Wanderhome}}'' keeps its focus away from the high-concept heroes of other fantasy stories, focusing instead on the day-to-day life of villagers. All of the playbooks revolve around more-grounded vocations; the only significant difference between the player characters and the [=NPCs=] is that the [=PCs=] are wanderers.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Theater]]
98	* ''Theatre/TheTimeOfYourLife'': Slice of life gathering at a San Francisco dive.
99	* ''[[Theatre/CompanySondheim Company]]'': Slice of New York City life, with a bachelor, his three girlfriends and a number of married acquaintances.
100	* Puccini’s opera ''Theatre/LaBoheme'' appeals to many people because of how down-to-earth and relatable it is. College students living in dorms may relate to Rodolfo and his friends as they goof off together, anyone who’s ever fallen in love may relate to Rodolfo and Mimì or Marcello and Musetta, depending on how their relationship is going. By Act III, anyone who’s had a recent break-up may, again, relate to either Rodolfo and Mimì or Marcello and Musetta, resonating with the quartet either way. And the final scene, [[spoiler: wherein Mimì dies of consumption]], may become a literal TearJerker for a recent widower.
101	[[/folder]]
102
103	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
104	* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' is set up like this... [[DisguisedHorrorStory until the horror elements begin showing up and it more or less drops the pretense by Kai.]]
105	* The first part of ''VisualNovel/KiraKira'' with the second part dealing with the casts struggle as a band and the third part being a bit darker.
106	* Shizune's route of ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' has elements of this, which the route's detractors frequently cite as shortcomings. It makes sense, though, as Shizune is said to compartmentalize events of her life and live in the moment, thus not realizing the implications [[spoiler:her rejecting Misha's LoveConfession has on their relationship, or how her developing relationship with Hisao might exacerbate the problem]].
107	* Many Moege's can feel like this during the common route when it usually is just the protagonist, potential love interests and other friends messing around with the plot only picking up during the character routes. Examples include ''VisualNovel/MyGirlFriendIsThePresident'', the ''VisualNovel/DaCapo'' series, ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvExtra'', and ''VisualNovel/SongOfMemories''.
108	* As a series of mini-novels that tell an overarching story, ''VisualNovel/HarvestDecember'' plays this straight for the most part. The primary exception is August's story when the major cast ends up [[spoiler:dealing with a veritable ZombieApocalypse on the island they're vacationing on.]]
109	* ''VisualNovel/PurinoParty'' has this style. It's set in present-day Japan and the main character is trying to find a cute girlfriend.
110	* ''VisualNovel/ExtracurricularActivities'' has the protagonist going through university classes and dating one of his tennis teammates ([[LikesOlderMen or coach]]).
111	* ''VisualNovel/VA11HallA'' is set in a cyberpunk world, and the protagonist definitely goes through an arc, but the majority of the game is about her serving customers and having casual conversation with them and her coworkers.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Web Animation]]
115	* The web animation ''WebAnimation/{{Brewstew}}'' is a series of videos detailing Tyler's childhood life, but in comedic form.
116	* Earlier episodes of ''WebAnimation/ChiknNuggit'' are like this, and involve the EnsembleCast getting themselves into silly and relatable situations. Even after [[spoiler:the [[CerebusSyndrome introduction]] of [[CosmicHorrorReveal Bezel]]]], a good portion of episodes retain this format.
117	* The original ''[[WebAnimation/RatboyGenius Ratboy's Kingdom]]'' centered around the title character's fairly peaceful life.
118	* ''WebAnimation/TheOdd1sOut'' recaps different events from his life with drawings he made himself.
119	* ''WebAnimation/JaidenAnimations'' same deal.
120	%% The following line has been commented out because it is a Administrivia/ZeroContextExample. Please add context to it, and make it a full-fledged example with appropriate depth, before uncommenting it.
121	%% * ''WebAnimation/ShareMyStory''
122	* ''WebAnimation/SekaiNoFushigi'' is mostly a RomCom series but it has slice of life stories as well.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Web Original]]
126	* ''Literature/DreamHighSchool'' focuses on connecting with other students and learning about the school. Though because it's a variation on the {{Gamebook\|s}}, it's possible that someday it won't be a Slice of Life anymore.
127	* ''Literature/TalesOfMU'' is a ''very'' detailed and [[NotSafeForWork NSFW]] first-person story about college life in a ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]]''-like setting.
128	* ''Script/ThunderAndFriends'' Surreal elements aside, the show mostly focuses on the daily lives of the six main characters.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Web Videos]]
132	* ''WebVideo/WithTheAngels'' is mostly about the protagonist making observations about the people she meets during her stay in California.
133	* ''WebVideo/TheTourettesGuy'' focuses on the daily antics of Danny.
134	* ''WebVideo/TheGumdrops'' is centered around college students and what they get up to in the house. The first episode is literally the protagonists preparing for a night out.
135	* ''WebVideo/{{Wolfgang}}'' is about a group of werewolves, specifically what they do to pass the time during the three days of each month that they spend locked in a bunker so that they don't hurt anyone while they're transformed. We only see the human side of their exchanges, with AmusingInjuries to show the results of their wolf escapades.
136	* ''WebVideo/SMPLive'' primarily focuses on the everyday occurrences of the SMP and whatever weird conflicts and problems the characters get themselves into.
137	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SliceOfLife