I kinda didn’t get much love during childhood, so I kinda get obsessed about it. I recently watched Spy x Family and holy hell, I get so jealous of the wholesomeness of their family dynamic, I cried. I need more of that.
Hmm… It’s an adoptive family dynamic, but I think you’ll like Anne Shirley. You can watch the recent remake or the original anime depending on preference.
As a dad with a daughter I absolutely bawled my eyes out during the Mitchell’s VS the machines. It’s a daughter going off to college story and the dad trying to connect.
My daughter is only 11 but I know some of that is not to far off down the road
That fuckin moose, man. I’m a dad, and that shit killed me.
Right? My daughter and I have connected with the Incredibles, MVM, anything Spider-Man especially the animated movies w/Miles and currently stranger things. Just finished our rewatch of all four seasons in the last month.
But I remember going to across the spider verse with her and seeing that moose on Miles’ shelf. Instant quiet tears
- Digimon Adventure (1998) – Contains: Divorced parents who deeply love their children and are willing to put their differences aside for their sake, adopted son learning that his parents really love him and that he really loves them, cool older brother who tells overly-pressured kid to stop trying to meet expectations and go do what makes him happy. (also – Kaiju fights, of course) – Plus, christmas miracle, ALL the family members are alive at the end!
If you’re willing to tank a whole heap of tragedy around the wholesomeness –
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brothehood (and the Manga. Actually I prefer the Manga) is a classic about a pair of brothers who face many difficulties together. It’s really sweet how much they protect each other. Shout out also to their not-sister-childhood-friend for being an honorary third sibling. Then there’s their father, absentee for most of the show, but once he appears he’s fully ready to sacrifice himself for their sake and all that.
For anime: Sweetness and Lightning.
It’s about a single father cooking different dishes for his daughter with the help of one of his students.
Long Story Short - it’s not all rainbows and butterflies, but a realistic family working to get by.
Modern Family - Antics of an extended family. Since it’s a comedy it’s usually pretty wholesome and each family unit brings something different to the table.
While there are definitely more out there, I figured these would be good suggestions as they really focus on family dynamics.
Uncle Buck
The Paddington movies are absolutely delightful.
A show I forgot from my prior post because it’s so new is Joe Cappa’s Haha You Clowns on Adult Swim. It’s very loosely modeled after the classic sitcom My Three Sons and follows the loving and earnest adventures of 3 beefy Chad teens and their love for their equally beefcake father who recently became a Widower as they lovingly try to fill his broken heart with love. The sincerity rounds the bend to being absurd and funny, but the relationships on display are all loving and healthy.
Steven Universe, from beginning to the end. The last (fifth?) season was called Steven Universe Future; it’s a timeskip several years into the future.
The Incredibles and Inside Out both portray realistic, flawed, loving family dynamics. As a parent, they’re hard and beautiful to watch.
Figure 17
Loving dad. And what if you suddenly had an identical twin that’s trying to better you and helps you get out of your shell?
We should setup a watch party thing around some kind of FOSS friendly deal. At a minimum we could watch and discuss for a day+ of open conversation. It might be fun?
PeerTube stream?
Sid the Science Kid
Addams family (Movies)
Malcolm in the Middle(dysfunctional, but deep down concern)
The Mummy (movies)
My Neighbor Totoro!
Whispers of the Heart, From Up on Poppy Hill, and Arête also have good child/parent dynamics. Among most other Ghiblis. I just wanted to mention some of their lesser known ones.
The original Naruto series has its moments. The first two or three arcs hit me throughout several times.
Hunter x Hunter has friend dynamics like that and can turn up the feels with missing father throughout.
ouch the trauma of HxH
though yes the family relationship in those few episodes are best in anime. i dare say you see alot of physical and emotional and psychological and sexual trauma for the “rest” of the 50 something episodes. that doesn’t make it a better of anime to comfort by if you’ven’t seen it before. having peeked at the manga & the 2012 anime i’m confident i like the 1999 anime best because it strays from the harshness. HxH 1999 is the varmest.
though anime wise: World Masterpiece Theatre is the varmest family dynamics without the trauma. for example Little Women 2 Jo’s Boys
