The Nameko Families

This is a strange little anime about a family of mushrooms. There's no dialogue and very little to have to read, and very little is explained, so I think this is probably aimed at younger kids. The family is made up of Nameko (regular mushroom), his mom (tall, regular mushroom) and dad (looks like a rock), his older brother (with the Kamina sun glasses), his little sister (who is a cat mushroom, but, yes she's his sister), his little brother (muscular mushroom), and his grandmother (looks like a pickled plum). This wasn't made clear in the first episode, and for some reasonCrunchyroll has separated the OP/EDs from the episodes that introduce these characters, so it's a little confusing at first. This is a cute, short slice-of-life anime. Nothing really major happens, but you get a really good idea of what daily life in an average family is like. Each family member gets their own featured time, so you get a better sense of what sort of person/mushroom each family member is. There's some humor - nothing that will have you rolling on the floor, but it's in keeping with the general tone of the stories and will make you chuckle. The music is pretty much low-key atmospheric stuff. It's light and cute and sometimes used for emphasis in certain scenes. Overall, I enjoyed watching this show. It was cute and would make a good palate-cleanser anime between heavier, darker stories if you need a break. Because of its laid-back tempo, its lack of dialogue, and mild storytelling, this is a pretty good anime for kids to watch. Since there are cultural differences, I think it's a good way to introduce kids to how people might live in Japan - so maybe pair it up with a trip to the library.