Have you ever wondered why people in cities are more likely to be depressed or suffer from mental and physical illnesses? It’s because that landscape is not our ideal habitat. Like every other species on this planet, humans co-evolved with their surroundings. And we need those surroundings to thrive. When we traded wide-open spaces, forests, and hills for concrete jungles and exchanged the warm glow of the sun for iridescent bulbs, we screwed ourselves. If you want to thrive, you need nature in your life. That statement may seem weird coming from an anime fan, but anime champions this statement. This is a huge part of why so many iyashikei shows are based around outdoor activities. With 2025 just a few weeks away, now is the perfect opportunity for you to explore nature-based hobbies through these outdoor-themed anime.
Outdoor Anime — Mountaineer with Yama No Sususme (HIDIVE)
Everyone has a show that introduces them to a world they know little about. For me, that show was Shiro’s Encouragement of Climb. Until I watched EOC, hiking and mountaineering made no sense to me. The act of willingly leaving your home to walk around in nature sounded like something hippies and hobos did. And as a Slayer fan, I don’t engage in hippie-like behavior. But anime is the only thing on earth that can get me to pay attention to something I dislike. So, I gave Yama No Susume a try. Now I sweat like a junkie that hasn’t gotten their fix if I don’t get in at least two hikes a month.
When Aoi and Hinata tag along with their parents on a hike, the sight that greets them overwhelms them. Seeing the sun rise over Japan’s rolling hills moves the two girls in a way they can’t understand. But they drift apart when Aoi leaves the outdoors behind due to an injury. Fate eventually reunites the two when they attend the same high school, and, at Hinata’s insistence, they return to the mountains.
With four seasons (of different lengths), Encouragement of Climb perfectly portrays hiking and mountaineering. And it’s one of the best outdoor animes out there. It’s not a constant stream of success. You’re vividly shown the bad side of the hobby. Anyone who failed to summit a mountain or hit a treacherously steep incline will fundamentally understand Aoi’s frustration throughout the series. Even the fittest mountaineer has hit a part of the ascent that made them utter a four-letter word that starts with F. With explanations on gear and how weather conditions affect your ascent, this show is an excellent starting point for picking up mountaineering as a hobby.
Cast a Line With Slow Loop (Crunchyroll)
You can categorize fishing gear into three main types: fly fishing gear, spin fishing gear, and baitcasting gear. In terms of catching fish, what you use doesn’t matter. The most noticeable difference between these three isn’t their usage but rather the ethos associated with them. Fly fishing, in particular, places heavy importance on environmental stewardship and the mental well-being of those who practice it. This makes fly fishing a perfect topic for outdoor anime for various reasons.
Although fishing shows convey excitement, they often fail to fully capture the emotions that come with the sport. Even legendary angler Jeremy Wade laments this in his River Monsters book. This is where anime shines, as it can uniquely cover what real shows can’t. A show that eloquently captures the emotions associated with fly fishing is Maiko Uchino’s Slow Loop. Arguably the best fishing anime ever, Slow Loop is a loving tribute to the ethos of community, nature, and solitude found in fly fishing.
Following the new stepsister duo of Hiyori and Koharu Minagi, the show focuses on family bonds and coping with loss. Before his death, Hiyori’s dad was an avid fly angler, and his love for the sport was passed on to her as something she personally enjoys and as a way to hold on to his memory. When she has to integrate into a new family, she finds the perfect way to bond is through fly fishing. If this show inspires you to pick up a fly rod, research what reels/rods you need to catch specific fish. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t do this and, with the costs of fly reels, this can lead to expensive incorrect purchases.
Iwa-Kakeru! An Outdoor Anime That Will Turn You into a Climber (Crunchyroll)
Everything I mentioned so far, unfortunately, requires one to have a decent amount of disposable income. Why? The gear you need to indulge in those hobbies is expensive. And traveling to places where you can do it is sometimes a luxury. But rock climbing is a hobby that you can do anywhere. While nothing compares to the majestic views you’ll see in nature, several cities have rock climbing facilities you can visit before making your way to the real thing. And that’s the plot of Iwakakeru! And, unlike the moe-filled anime that make up most of this list, this show brings the P-P-P-P-P-PLOT!
Iwa-Kakeru! -Sport Climbing Girls- centers on Konomi Kasahara, a first-year high school student addicted to puzzle games. Her addiction ends up having an interesting bleedover when she stumbles upon a rock climbing wall. Using her ability to discern the best moves to solve any puzzle, she quickly becomes a pro at rock climbing, much to the contempt of the veterans of the sport. But while her intro to rock climbing was based on a fluke, her passion for it is anything but a whim. So she enters the competition circuit to further excel at her newfound love.
A word of caution: while most outdoor anime simplify the effort and hazards of the hobby, this show does so to an egregious extent. A novice climber is 100 times more likely to dislocate something than they are to make it up a climbing wall. That aside, Iwa-Kakeru! serves as a steamy introduction to rock climbing. However, make absolutely sure to research this topic extensively before you try it. After all, it’s the most dangerous hobby on this list.
©Ryudai Ishizaka Saikomi / Hanamiya Women’s Climbing Club Cheer Team
The Stars Are the Limit with Asteroid in Love (Crunchyroll)
Do you know what the true hallmark of a show’s importance is? It’s not the accolades or a far-reaching fan base. It’s how it affects the real world. A hit show can bring little more than fanfare, while an overlooked show can inspire someone to the point they accomplish something few others ever will. And that’s the claim to fame that Quro’s Asteroid In Love basks in. The show’s premise decided it wasn’t content with being part of the 2D world and leaped into the real world to accomplish its goal.
Telling the story of the five girls of Hoshizaki High School’s Earth Sciences Club, the show mainly focuses on Mira and Ao, two girls with the outlandish dream of discovering an asteroid and naming it after Ao. Delving into astronomy and geography, it’s a fun watch for anyone interested in the heavens and topography of landscapes. The characters are adorable, and as a Doga Kobo animated show, the art style brings the kawaii. But be warned, if you’re looking for drama, you won’t find it here. Unfortunately, like many shows, this outdoor anime provides only a surface-level introduction to the field it explores. Though this is understandable, a show like this has to keep information accessible to attract newcomers.
How Outdoor Anime Inspires
Let’s return to my introduction of Asteroid in Love, as it holds significant importance and highlights the astronomical impact that outdoor anime can have. It’s 2017, and researchers from Come On! Impacting ASteroids (COIAS) are sifting through archived data from the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii. As they sift through mountains of data, it’s evident a recently logged sighting is, in fact, a new asteroid. And after the well-deserved celebration subsides, the naming process begins.
Naming anything in science isn’t as simple as slapping a moniker on it. There are stringent rules to follow, and if the greater scientific community disagrees with or finds fault with the name, you’re out of luck. Usually, scientific names and designations honor someone of note or who was involved in the discovery of the object/thing in question. Because of that, COIAS and the International Astronomical Union looked at Asteroid In Love‘s contribution to planetary sciences and decided mulling over a name was moot; a perfect one already existed. With that, Ao’s wish to name an asteroid after her came true. So know that somewhere in the vastness of space, asteroid 697402 Ao (2017 Bx232) carries a kawaii legacy.
Will you achieve something as grand because of these shows? Probably not. However, I would bet all my Gregory Mountain Products and Forclaz gear that you’ll gain something valuable by taking up one of these hobbies. There’s a lack of joy in modern-day life, and most people need something to help them get through the day. The outdoors is perfect for that, and hopefully one of these outdoor animes will get you into the wild.
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