Top 5 Best Anime That Accurately Describe Mental Health

Not just emotional, mental health also includes psychological and social. 

Mental health has become an important factor in everyone's life, from adults to even children. 

Therefore, mental health affects how a person uses thought, feels something, and takes action in everyday life.

If mental health is disturbed, mental disorders will arise. Generally, mental health disorders are obtained from past trauma, unpleasant childhood life, and great pressure from the surrounding environment. 

Because it is interesting to discuss, mental health conditions are often used as a theme for anime development. 

Of the many anime that promote mental health, here are five of the best anime that accurately describe mental health.

1. NHK ni Youkoso! (2006)

NHK ni Youkoso! follows Tatsuhiro Satou, a young high school dropout who is always trying to escape the machinations of evil hikikomori. 

After four years of cooping himself up in an apartment and only meeting food couriers, he wants to struggle to leave the apartment, then find a job. One day, he meets a girl named Misaki Nakahara. 

Misaki helps him to get out of the NHK trap, but he has to face his biggest fear, namely society.

NHK ni Youkoso! indeed did not communicate what Tatsuhiro experienced explicitly. 

However, it is clear that he has a phobia of crowds or agoraphobia. 

He was socially anxious to the point where he fell into a comfortable routine that was very unhealthy. 

Apart from that, what makes this anime feel realistic is that the mild relationship development between him and Misaki doesn't live up to fans' expectations.

2. Suki tte Ii na yo (2012)

Suki tte Ii na yo is considered a touching romance. 

However, most of this anime is centered on Mei Tachibana's anxiety that she no longer believes that friends can bring happiness. 

This assumption was born after she was continuously blamed for the death of a class pet by other students at the elementary school. 

As a result, she was deeply traumatized so she decided to be alone.

Mei's ordinary life begins to change when she meets Yamato Kurosawa, a popular boy at her middle school. 

She was constantly reminded about the good things that could be obtained from friendship with this man. 

After trying to make good friends with some of the other students thanks to Yamato's help, she feels that friendship isn't always bad. 

Mei also realized that she was willing to live with the fear of losing instead of living alone.

3. Orange (2016)

Orange raises awareness about mental health. 

This anime focuses on the emotional burden Kakeru Naruse feels through Naho Takamiya's perspective. 

Most of this anime shows Naho's fantastic ability which she uses to save Kakeru and reduce the feeling of regret that haunts her. 

On the other hand, this anime also has a real depiction of depression.

Naho and Kakeru actually have something in common. 

Naho feels guilty because she can't realize how much suffering Kakeru is experiencing, causing the boy to fall into a deep depression. 

Meanwhile, Kakeru is constantly trapped by feelings of guilt for not being able to be by his depressed mother's side. 

They show a real sense of regret that one of them, namely Naho, tries hard to change the past to save Kakeru.

4. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (2014)

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is one of the slice of life anime which is quite difficult to forget because it has emotional changes that suddenly hit. 

Apart from demonstrating the restorative power of music, this anime also talks about the grieving process that continues to haunt. 

This anime wants to explain that sadness has a frightening power that can make individuals see life as a meaningless cycle that almost always leads to death.

When Arima Kousei had to witness his mother's death, he thought that he no longer loved music. Therefore, he decided to stop playing the piano. 

He made himself sink into a gray life, without the slightest zest for life. 

However, all that changed after he met Kaori Miyazono. From this girl, he learns that life is more valuable than anything. 

However, the harsh reality came when he began to let go of his sadness so far.

5. Sangatsu no Lion (2016)

Following the story of a professional shogi player named Rei Kiriyama, Sangatsu no Lion has shown that mental health conditions can affect anyone. 

At a young age, he has been able to make good use of the talents he has, even though most other teenagers are still confused about determining life goals. 

However, he doesn't have any meaningful happiness because no one is by his side, and even his adoptive family puts pressure on him.

Gradually, it became clear that Rei was no longer feeling joy from playing shogi due to his perfectionism. 

He was always extremely dissatisfied whenever he failed to live up to the expectations he had created for himself. 

However, all of that changed slowly after he left his adoptive family, then met three brothers who only lived with their grandfather in a traditional wagashi shop.

If we look at the five anime that accurately describe mental health above, it is clear that mental health is not something trivial. 

Mental health disorders can be fatal if not handled properly. 

Someone who has poor mental health will feel that life is no longer meaningful until they decide to end their life. 

So, if there's someone around you like that, give whatever help you possibly can for him or her, OK?