Comedy, slice-of-life, sports, or an adventure, this trope has a focus on a mostly, if not all, cute female cast doing various activities, even those considered mundane, in a cute way. “Cute Girls Doing Cute Things”, or CGDCT, is a beloved trope among many a fan, whether it’s dudes looking for their moe fix, chicks looking for feminine camaraderie, or whoever just wanting to watch cute girls just hanging out, doing cute things, and just being, well, cute girls.
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Considered to originate in the late 2000s, the genre is typically closely related to, but not inherently part of, genres such as gag comedy and slice of life. CGDCT also tends to be closely linked with iyashikei, or the genre revolving around being soothing with little to no conflict and emphasizing beauty and comfort in the more mundane things in life. But whatever the preferred overarching genre, this trope tends to be beloved among many just searching for comfort in a group of girls having fun together doing whatever activities they find enjoyment in.
Azumanga Daioh
When 10-year-old academic prodigy Chiyo Mihama begins high school, it turns out she isn’t the only misfit in a whole class of oddball girls. Headed by the strange homeroom teacher Yukari Tanizaki, or Yukari-sensei, Chiyo meets the other equally strange students: Tomo Takino, an energetic tomboy who’s not exactly the sharpest crayon in the box; Koyomi Mizuhara, Tomo’s temperamental best friend; Sakaki, a tall, gentle, athletic beauty who loves cats; and Ayumu Kasuga, a daydreamer who enjoys theorizing about Chiyo’s pigtails. Together, the eccentric girls experience a weird and wonderful high school life.
Distinctive for being arguably the anime that began the CGDCT trope, Azumanga Daioh follows a cast of cute high school girls getting into absurd high school mischief together.
Azumanga Daioh can be streamed on HIDIVE where available.
K-On!
When Ritsu Tainaka and her friend Mio Akiyama hear that the Light Music Club is on the verge of disbanding, Ritsu takes it upon herself to dub herself as the club’s next president and guilt Mio into joining. Although they soon find Tsumugi Kotobuki as the third member to join, the club desperately needs more members to avoid being disbanded before even beginning as a band. When their saving grace, Yui Hirasawa, walks in, expecting to find a club that focuses on simpler instruments, the group literally bands together to not only convince Yui to stay despite being intimidating, but also to inspire her to dive head-first into a fun new venture.
K-On! is a much-beloved CGDCT classic with its characters growing in band member numbers, rocking musical skills, and cute girlhood camaraderie.
Laid-Back Camp
Pitching a tent, collecting firewood, and eating simple meals, Rin Shima enjoys going on solitary camping trips as a hobby. But when Nadeshiko Kagamihara falls asleep on her way cycling to see Mount Fuji, she stumbles into Rin’s campsite to seek help after being stranded after dark. After a wonderful experience of sitting around a campfire, eating ramen, and chatting, Nadeshiko takes it upon herself later at school to invite Rin to join the Outdoor Activities Club. With club members and friends, Chiaki Ōgaki and Aoi Inuyama, they keep the good camping times going.
Beautiful scenery, low-stakes problem-solving, and cozy camping atmospheres — this slice of life lays on the iyashikei genre thick for those seeking an anime with the chillest of cute girl vibes.
Laid-Back Camp can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
Girls und Panzer
Senshadou, the sport of battling in World War II era tanks, has become a worldwide phenomenon upon being advertised as the ultimate feminine art form for ladies seeking to participate in cultural activities and become more appealing to men. Although Miho Nishizumi was once a well-respected senshadou specialist herself, having come from a family of revered tankery pros, a traumatic event led her to disengage from tankery and become distanced from her senshadou-obsessed family. Upon transferring to Ooarai Girls Academy, a school whose senshadou program was abolished, to avoid the sport altogether, her family’s legacy unfortunately pressures her to return to the sport as the school reinstates tankery in light of the impending world championship to be held in Japan.
While many CGDCT anime may lean toward creating comfort or absurdism in the mundane, such as in school clubs, sports like fishing or golfing, or various careers in adulthood, Girls und Panzer takes the trope up a notch by pitting cute girls in, uh, cute tanks.
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Asobi Asobase
When Olivia, who looks like a foreign transfer student, playing “look-the-other-way” with her airhead friend Hanako Honda, begins to get on the nerves of fellow classmate Kasumi Nomura, Kasumi becomes annoyed to the point of being challenged into playing, too. When Kasumi wins the round, she demands Olivia tutor her in English and, in return, will teach Olivia different Japanese pastimes. Unbeknownst to Kasumi, Olivia isn’t actually a foreigner — she’s a blonde-haired, blue-eyed native who doesn’t know any English. With a trio making up the Pastime Club, daily hijinks and hilarious antics ensue.
In the realm of turning the mundane into absurdism, you could say Asobi Asobase can be dumbed down to just being about cute, dumb girls being, well, dumb together.
Asobi Asobase can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
Is The Order a Rabbit?
Kokoa Hoto, upon moving in with the Kafuu family to attend high school away from home, works at the family’s café, Rabbit House, in return for room and board. As a waitress, Kokoa befriends Chino Kafuu, the granddaughter of the cafe’s founder; Rabbit House’s talking rabbit mascot Tippy; part-time fellow waitress Rize Tedeza; rival café waitress Chiya Ujimatsu; and another waitress, Sharo Kirima, from a different café. Together, the girls work hard to learn how to serve coffee alongside each of the cafes’ adorable rabbit mascots.
Within the scope of cute girls doing cute things, it doesn’t get much cuter than cute waitress girls serving coffee at a cozy café featuring fluffy cute rabbits.
Is The Order a Rabbit? can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
New Game!
After recently graduating high school, Aoba Suzukaze is hired on at Eagle Jump as a character designer to work on a new installment in her favorite game series, Fairies Story. Under the supervision of lead character designer Kou Yagami, Aoba meets and makes new friends in the office workspace: monster designer Yun Iijima; shy Hifumi Takimoto who struggles with in-person communication; animation team member Hajime Shinoda who collects figurines; art director Rin Tooyama; game director Shizuku Hazuki and her cat; and tempermental head programmer Umiko Ahagon. Together, the team works toward both overcoming the struggles of making a video game and becoming good coworkers and friends.
Although many anime in the genre tend to follow groups of cute girls at school, New Game! makes a refreshing reminder that the trope can also be found in adulthood, with cute coworkers working to cutify the workplace.
New Game! can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
What’s your favorite anime of cute girls doing cute things? Let us know in the comments what your top picks are with this beloved trope!
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