In a similar vein as our last "education through entertainment" title, Laid-Back Camp, is Encouragement of Climb (Yama no Susume), another cute-girls-doing-cute-things series, this time about mountain climbing.

As with Laid-Back Camp, Encouragement of Climb features real-world locations, gear, and conditions as pertaining to hiking (such as keeping fed on the trail, and dealing with altitude sickness). The learning imparted by the series is limited to Japanese geography and information about hiking, however Encouragement of Climb features such accuracy and passion about the topic as to land the series squarely in the "educational" category. A successful manga series, it has been adapted into multiple anime seasons as well.

The last four series I highlighted in my "education through entertainment" series were a bit dour. Let's go way lighter for this entry with Dagashi Kashi.

Surprisingly, this manga-turned-anime may arguably be one of the "most" educational series out there. Much like in Cells at Work, each chapter (or half-episode in the case of the anime) centers around a different example of the premise's topic; in the case of Cells at Work it was parts/functions of the human body, and in Dagashi Kashi, it's the various products available at a Japanese sweets shop/snack store.

As the series explains, the Japanese word "dagashi" doesn't really have an English equivalent, as it can refer to candy, snacks, drinks, and even toys... basically anything small, cheap, and (typically) appealing to children looking to spend their pocket change. Dagashi stores were once plentiful in the Japanese "showa" era (~1920s-1980s), but are much more of a rarity now, having been replaced by convenience stores, 100-yen shops, and online shopping. So while this series takes place in the 21st century, it has anachronistic vibe to it, mixed with a taste of historical fiction, stirred into a gag format, and served with a dollop of fan service.

Personally I find this series engaging because I love Japanese nostalgia fiction (I'm also a sucker for ultra-niche manga/anime, regardless of the topic), thus I've genuinely enjoyed the romp through literally hundreds of Japanese snacks (only some of which I even recognize, despite having spent years in Japan). However because Dagashi Kashi doesn't offer much in terms of overarching plot, action, or character development, I could see where this series may prove dull for most audiences. (Granted trying to appeal to a mainstream audience has undermined many educational and "educational" series, so I see this as a positive trait.)

Is the "education" Dagashi Kashi provides trivia-heavy? Yes. Is the topic superficial? Definitely yes. Will I probably go the rest of my life without ever directly benefiting from having gained the knowledge? Probably also yes. Does the series sometimes feel like one long advertisement/propaganda effort to promote Japanese snack brands? Admittedly yes. But must I admit that I walked away from Dagashi Kashi knowing more about the world than I did before walking in? Undoubtedly yes.

Next up on our tour through educational animation and comic series is another two-fer, as a follow-up to my previous two-fer post (so a four-fer?): Wandering Son and That's My Atypical Girl.

Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko) is a manga and anime coming-of-age story about gender identity, and That's My Atypical Girl (Asper Kanojo) is a manga about two neurodivergent people struggling through young adulthood.

Same as the previous post, these two series are educational less in terms of facts and more in terms of understanding.

What series have helped you understand marginalized populations? Are there any series that portray a medical condition that you're personally familiar with that made you go, "ah! they get it!" or "oh no, that's not what it's like at all!"?

Otherwise known as Tenmaku no Jaaduugar or A Witch's Life in Mongol.

Next up on our tour through educational animation and comics is Jaadugar. This historical drama manga and anime series follows a captured Persian slave girl as she maneuvers through the Mongolian Court during the time of Genghis Khan and his progeny, bearing witness to (and getting herself wrapped up in) court politics while the Mongolian Empire quickly conquers Asia and beyond.

As with all historical fiction, I of course question the historical accuracy of the work (doubly so with any works about cultures other than the creator's). However my impression is that the series is at least somewhat accurate, and given that I walked into the series knowing almost nothing about 13th century Asian history, I'm filing this series in the "educational" category, as I left it knowing much more than I did coming in.

I haven't seen the anime (currently airing), however I can attest to the beautiful aesthetic of the manga, drawn in a manner akin to Ranking of Kings meets Persepolis. Whether you're drawn by the history, the political drama, the tale of revenge, the art, or the fish-out-of-water story, there's a lot going for Jaadugar.

What are some of your favorite historical works in animation and comics? Is historical accuracy important to you? What examples of historical fiction had you walking away feeling more informed than when you went in?

Next up on our tour through educational animation and comics is the Korean webcomic, Dr. Kim of London.

While there are a number of medical drama comics out there, Dr. Kim of London presents an educational double-whammy for being both a medical and historical drama, both aspects of which appear (to my admittedly layperson eyes) to be generally well-researched.

In this series, a 21st century South Korean surgeon dying of cancer is reincarnated as a baby to Korean immigrants in Regency Era England. Thanks to his friendship with a wealthy merchant's son, he's able to enroll in London's most prestigious medical school... where he discovers the horrors of pre-germ theory, pre-antibiotic, pre-anaesthesia medicine. He embarks on a mission to educate his colleagues and introduce modern medicine into the past within the confines of available technology, and in the process teaches the webcomic's audience both about medicine of the past and of the present.

What other medical comics/animation have you enjoyed? Have you found them to be factually accurate and educational to the reader, or do these end up taking a back seat to entertainment?

I love a good educational series! The world of animation and comics can feel a bit superficial after a while, and I've come to really appreciate series that educate while entertaining. Over the next few days, I'll highlight some of my favorites.

First up on the docket is Cells at Work! and its (IMO superior) spin-off, Cells at Work! Code Black. Both series have released in manga and anime form. For the uninitiated, Cells at Work! personifies all the cells in the human body and reimagines the body as a (literally) living, breathing city. The series both follow the (mis)adventures of a rookie red blood cell as they learn the ins and outs of their job delivering oxygen around the body. Code Black takes the premise a step further, and places the cells in a "black" environment (in Japanese, this refers to a toxic, exploitative company with long hours and a stressful atmosphere), where the cells face down the realities of smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity, chronic stress, and more.

Possibly the most admirable quality of Cells at Work! is that the reader's learning is sustained throughout the entire work; unfortunately many "educational" series only pack a punch for the first few chapters/episodes, and then information gives way to plot and character development and turns into just another action/drama series. Not so with Cells at Work!, where every chapter explores a new bodily function and/or medical condition.

What are your favorite educational series? Comment below or make a new post!