These Books, Comics, and TV Shows Are Perfect Comfort Food

Greg, with the teapot on his head holding his frog, and Wirt, in his halloween costume with the red pointed hat and a bird on his shoulder, sit on a wooden floor under the title text.

I almost never reread, rewatch, or relisten to anything, except music. At some point in my life, the concept of rereading or rewatching came to feel like a bad idea – isn’t it a waste of time when new books can help expand my options for reader’s advisory (I’m a librarian, hello) or the scope of what I can write about and review? But even a work-aholic like me has moments where I do reach for that comfort media.

When I was home sick as a kid, I often rewatched Miyazaki movies like Princess Mononoke or Nausicaa. Now, as an adult at the end of a year that was deeply emotionally exhausting, I find myself reaching out for comfort media again. It doesn’t hurt that it’s winter in the Midwest, and when I’m on the couch with blankets on top of me, I really don’t want to move! I reached out the WWAC crew and asked them to share their favorite comfort media. Maybe our cozy, snow day — or sick day, or mental health day — books, comics and shows can help you bid farewell to a long, taxing year.

On the left, the title text of the show in cute writing with little bowls and spoons and a cute pink border. On the right, Sumire in her full maiko outfit and Kiyo in her work clothes, in the maiko house kitchen.

Alenka Figa: I have three words for you: Cozy. Food. Anime! Kiyo in Kyoto is a sweet series is about two childhood best friends, Kiyo and Sumire, who dreamed of moving to Kyoto and becoming Maiko – apprentice geisha who perform traditional songs and dances at teahouses and parties. While Sumire is a prodigy and dream student, Kiyo’s natural clumsiness and spacey personality cause her to struggle with Maiko training. An unexpected turn of events lands Kiyo a spot as the house cook instead, enabling these two best friends to continue to love and support each other.

Everything about this series makes me feel warm and happy! Episodes are split into four sections — a story about Kiyo and/or Sumire in which Kiyo makes a special dish, a late night chat between the two friends and other Maiko housemates in which they discuss Kiyo’s food — including interesting regional differences between how it’s made in Kyoto versus their home in the Aomori Prefecture — another story, and another late night pajama chat. While the story offers a great deal of information about Maiko, there is also a focus on food and how love, care, and culture are baked into each dish. Kiyo and Sumire’s friendship is so pure and sweet, and each character has a warm and unique personality. Sure, Kiyo always wears shorts even in the dead cold of winter, but her food always warms the hearts and bodies of her Maiko friends!

Alenka: Sometimes you just need to laugh, and nothing makes me laugh harder than the bizarre hijinks the teens get up to in Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun. The series follows Chiyo Sakura, an earnest high school student who bungles her love confession and gets roped into being her crush’s manga assistant! Umetaro Nozaki, the densest boy to walk the earth, debuted his romance manga under a female pseudonym while still a teenager. Now he’s constantly on the lookout for other skilled teens to recruit as assistants. The motley crew he assembles is dysfunctional, chaotic and hilarious. Each has a love or crush of their own, and of course constantly bungle interactions or lack the self-awareness necessary to even follow through on a confession. It’s a great gag series as well as a loving send-up of the manga industry.

Louis Skye: Described as a ‘magical realist’ graphic novel, Kat Leyh’s Snapdragon has turned out to be one of my favourite reads of this pandemic. It’s a light, relatable story that’s also full of magic, wonder, and an amazing set of characters. You’ve got the titular Snapdragon, an eccentric child on the hunt for her town’s witch. There’s said witch, Jacks, who is all kinds of eccentric in her own way. Snap’s mum is a delight, true to single mums everywhere. The diversity is so effortless that I felt completely at home reading this book. There’s an unexpected forbidden romance that concluded in a way that absolutely warmed my heart. This is a perfect read for a cozy winter afternoon when it’s snowing outside.

Paulina Przystupa: I started reading Yotsuba &! so long ago I had no idea where I had stopped the series. So when a friend started posting about it I decided to restart the series from the beginning and it has been a delight. The series focuses on Yotsuba, a five-year-old girl, her dad, and their eclectic bunch of friends and neighbors. Each episode focuses on a specific thing, Yotsuba & something, and we get to share the world through the eyes of a child in a way that highlights joy and discovery. However, the series has been running semi-consistently since 2003 in Japan so there are some funny time and tech skips that have made the later volumes kind of funny. For example, Yotsuba’s grandmother arrives with a smartphone and, according to within time cannon, digital cameras just appeared on the market. That aside it’s been wonderful to get to have a cozy feel good read that accents how cool the world is just inside our own homes and neighborhoods.

Laura Grafton: Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, or really anything by Mariko Tamaki but this one is a winter favorite for me. On its surface it’s a prequel story of the Harley, Joker, Ivy love triangle. Taking place in a highschool setting and weaving typical YA drama themes in with an overarching commentary on gentrification. But, at its heart, Breaking Glass is all about finding your chosen family, fighting for what’s right, and standing by those who have stood by you. Even though the choices Harley makes are questionable, the found family relationships throughout give it some holiday feel good vibes you wouldn’t expect from the super villain genre and bring joy with every re-read on a snowy winter’s day.

Greg, with the teapot on his head and holding a frog, and Wirt, in his halloween costume with the red pointed hat, sit on a wooden floor underneath text bearing the name of the show.

Rebecca Y. Lee: I actually had never seen Over the Garden Wall until October 2020, in the midst of pandemic lockdown, but it was such a cozy, strange delight during a difficult time. I revisited it again a few weeks ago while it was raining outside and loved it just as much—there’s a sort of spooky dread underlying each episode and the overall narrative, but there’s also enough sweetness, care, and unexpected joy to balance that out. The dynamic between Wirt’s tired teenage angst and Greg’s happy-go-lucky demeanor is familiar and relatable, and knowing that this is a story that starts in mystery but is ultimately wrapped up by the end of one season really lets you enjoy the journey. The soundtrack really is a masterpiece, weaving a warm piano refrain throughout, and the short musical numbers interspersed in the series keep the plot points from becoming too heavy. The animation is gorgeous as well, especially the scenery used to evoke the cycle of death and rebirth. It’s just overall a lovely show that makes me want to curl up with blankets on the couch near a fireplace and watch it over again and again.

Rosie Knight: The stunning manga series Witch Hat Atelier is one of the coziest books around. Not only does Kamome Shirahama create an immersive and beautiful world filled with delightful hidey holes and sprawling nature, but this is also a story that leans into the kind of warm childhood dreams we all have. Coco is a young girl who lives in an idyllic world where magic is real but only a few know how it’s done. When her mother’s tailoring shop is visited by a real witch Coco breaks the rules to watch how he casts the spell. Once she learns the secret she’s whisked away to the witch’s atelier where she finally becomes a student of real magic. This is a gorgeous fantasy that has a lot to say about art, creation, magic, and friendship!

Rosie: Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory is the book that got me hooked on romance and it’s a perfectly seasonal read too. Guillory crafts an enthralling yarn about a young stylist and her mother who travel to England for Christmas after the former is invited to style a member of the royal family. Soon her mother is swept up in an unexpected romance with a member of the royal household staff. This is the kind of story that will fill you with the cheer of Christmas even if you’re the biggest Grinch. And it’s also a great introduction to the interconnected world of Guillory’s stunning romance series. Basically this is a must read this winter.

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Alenka Figa

Alenka Figa

Alenka is a queer librarian and intense cat parent. When not librarian-ing they spend their days reading zines and indie comics and listening to D&D podcasts. Find them on Bluesky @uprightgarfield.

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