10 best anime that show the beauty of nature

From misty woodblock prints of Mount Fuji to modern anime, Japanese storytelling has long treated nature as a silent character. Streaming services are overflowing with epic fight scenes and high-speed racing arcs, yet a quieter corner of this anime medium still lingers on rustling leaves, distant snowcaps, and open skies.

These visuals provide more than eye candy; they function as breathing spaces between the tension of daily life and the unknown of the spiritual world. Anime fans often seek two kinds of escape: the exhilaration of impossible superpowers and the relief of stepping away from digital overload.

The 10 anime that show the beauty of nature listed below satisfy both urges by embedding breathtaking natural settings at the center of their tales. From ancient forests to sleepy countryside lanes, these shows give viewers a slower heartbeat and remind us that the planet can be as fascinating as any quest.

Note: The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

10 must-watch anime that show the beauty of nature

1. Mushishi

Ginko, a wandering “Mushi Master,” studies mysterious, primordial beings that are more basal than normal life forms. Each self-contained episode sends him deeper into rural villages where the line between humans and wildlife grows thin.

His ongoing mission is to heal sicknesses born not from bacteria but from the quiet conflict between nature and its human guests. What makes Mushishi anime stand out is the way every forest path, moonlit lagoon, or mossy stone feels like an extension of the mushi themselves.

Backgrounds are painted with gentle watercolor styles inspired by traditional art, while the soundtrack often uses sparse, atmospheric tones, with its well-known opening theme led by a gentle acoustic guitar. It delivers tension that builds and fades naturally, leaving space to reflect on how all living things share the earth.

2. Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke (Image via Studio Ghibli)

Ashitaka’s arm is cursed by a boar god corrupted by an iron bullet from human industry, pushing him westward to the heartland of iron mines and ancient forests. There, the stubborn Lady Eboshi and her industrial settlement clash with San, a wolf-riding girl determined to protect her giant wolf gods.

The struggle pits economic survival against the literal soul of the wilderness in a fight that refuses simple good-versus-evil labels. The attention to Princess Mononoke anime botanical detail is legendary, as ancient cedars shade wild rivers and Kodama spirits appear in treetops.

Camera angles of this anime that show the beauty of nature place observers within bark crevices, underscoring how vast yet vulnerable an ecosystem can be.

3. Natsume’s Book of Friends

Natsume’s Book of Friends (Image via Brain's Base)

Takashi Natsume inherits a notebook filled with names of yokai once bound by his powerful grandmother. His goal is to release them from control while avoiding dangerous spirits harmed by generations of human fear.

Along the way, he settles in a humble rural town, where rice paddies and sunset-lit shrines serve as meeting spots between two worlds. Seasonal shifts mark each arc as surely as thunderclouds mark late summer; cherry petals fall gently in spring, and icy wind cuts across barren fields by winter’s end.

The atmosphere of Natsume’s Book of Friends anime is lightened by Nyanko-sensei, a rotund “lucky cat” who provides comic relief without cheapening the emotional respect given to every leaf-covered grave and forgotten stone monument.

4. Yuru Camp (Laid-Back Camp)

Shy high schooler Rin Shima plans solo weekend camping trips to quiet lakes in the foothills of Mount Fuji. An energetic classmate, Nadeshiko Kagamihara, accidentally crashes into one expedition with boundless excitement, forming the heart of a friendship that brings her into the orbit of the school's Outdoor Activities Club.

A trademark of the Yuru Camp anime series is its obsessive accuracy concerning real-world campsites. Viewers learn proper tent-pitching angles, stew recipes for portable burners, and the insulation needed to read manga in a sleeping bag under starlight.

Comedic slice-of-life dialogue and laid-back acoustic melodies keep the mood airy, yet each episode of this anime that shows the beauty of nature ends with a lingering shot of distant peaks.

5. Non Non Biyori

Elementary-schooler Hotaru Ichijo transfers from Tokyo to the hamlet of Asahigaoka, where the nearest convenience store lies five fields away. Her new classmates include a precocious first-grader, a middle-schooler who strives for maturity, and two sisters who often vanish into bamboo groves.

Together they explore paddocks, bike paths, and rivers glowing with fireflies. Despite the rural setting, boredom is nonexistent. Lazy summer afternoons stretch across watermelon-splitting contests, while winter brings the fun of building snow huts (kamakura) from packed snow.

The animation of this anime that shows the beauty of nature leans into soft pastel colors. Overlapping cicada layers and distant temple bells form a sound backdrop that refuses any urban soundtrack, allowing the natural setting to take center stage in Non Non Biyori anime.

6. Barakamon

Disgraced calligrapher Seishuu Handa is shipped off to the rural Gotō Islands after punching a critic. Isolated from gallery accolades and Tokyo’s neon buzz, the city slicker must relearn his creative spark while surrounded by local fields and moss-covered stone walls.

The rhythm of the waves mirrors his gradual, calm change, while the pace matches the island lifestyle. Mornings begin with fishing-pole tutoring, afternoons involve getting dragged into island shenanigans by the local children, and evenings yield ink brushed on paper still damp from ocean mist.

Barakamon's Side characters, like wise village elders and the spirited village children, frame Handa’s artistic rebirth as inseparable from the salt-tinged wind and starlit skies that soak his draft papers.

7. Aria the Animation

Aria the Animation (Image via Hal Film Maker)

Neo-Venezia on the terraformed planet Aqua (formerly Mars) is a gondola-filled tribute to slow exploration and gentle empathy. Akari Mizunashi apprentices at one of three companies that offer canal tours amid cherry-transplanted streets, and the company's president, a large Aqua cat.

Her day-to-day life consists of steering through foggy dawn channels and exchanging farewells on glass bridges. Each episode title prefix “Navigation” underscores the theme of a never-ending pilgrimage through man-made and imported nature alike.

Sunlight reflecting on canal water duplicates Venetian postcards, yet alien constellations peek through clearer skies to hint at an off-world future designed for contemplation. Those willing to drift under the moon’s light find a relaxing rhythm in the lapping of the oars.

8. Wolf Children

College student Hana falls in love with a wolfman and raises their two children in an aging farmhouse after his tragic passing. The narrative skips across seasons as the children, elder daughter Yuki and younger son Ame, choose between human obligations and beast instincts.

Fields of fresh vegetables and towering mountain trails serve as stages where identity is tested against snow squalls and the lessons of the wild. Director Mamoru Hosoda coaxes achingly vivid details out of every droplet on kale stalks or chalky frost lining forgotten nails.

The countryside is presented neither as Eden nor obstacle, but as a setting that provides both support and challenges in Wolf Children. When the mother teaches Yuki to plant cabbage rows, the camera lingers on earth-caked fingers to remind audiences that life cycles literally grow out of dirt and rain.

9. The Ancient Magus’ Bride

The Ancient Magus’ Bride (Image via Wit Studio)

Chise Hatori, a downtrodden orphan saddled with rare magical talent, is sold to Elias Ainsworth, a towering, horned sorcerer cloaked in shadows. Their shared abode stands hidden within an old English woodland, crammed with ivy-covered shelters and herb gardens for potions.

Gateways to fairy courts lie behind ancient oak trunks. Chise must accept her place as future “Bride,” binding her life to a man and a world that breathes ancient runes. From the mechanics of ley-line travel to forest spirits begging for sanctuary, nature and magic connect closely in The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

As the seasons pivot, leaves fall into pools with a magical feel, while winter’s first frost forces neighbors to huddle inside old stone cottages for stories by firelight. Danger is ever-present, curses, black dogs, fading dragons, but never breaks the romantic awe that nature is the living page, each chapter is inked.

10. Flying Witch

Makoto Kowata’s parents send her from urban Yokohama up north to rural Aomori Prefecture to refine practical witchcraft as part of mandatory training. Hosted by her cousin, she splits days between tomato-field weeding and broomstick aerobics, while offering an outsider view of a place where magic is ordinary.

In Aomori, talking crows and screaming mandrake roots are simply neighborly. The palette leans toward evergreen hues shot through with morning glaze, so viewers almost feel the fresh air and earth. Insert gags about friendly spirits and local magical customs to highlight how supernatural and natural coexist without fanfare.

Over its episodes, the fans of anime that show the beauty of nature catch themselves inhaling deep breaths alongside the characters.

Conclusion

Across these 10 anime that show the beauty of nature, forests, oceans, farms, and planets become more than scenic wallpapers. They operate as key elements that shape plot arcs, comedic timing, and emotional breakthroughs just as firmly as any human protagonist.

These stories are shaped as much by their environment as they are by the characters who inhabit them. Whether a viewer seeks mystical spirit creatures in cedar valleys or simply the crunch of autumn chestnut paths beneath sneakers, these anime provide open-door invitations.

They encourage us to rekindle our affection for the places that already decorate the real maps around us, reminding us of the everyday magic found in nature.