The importance of comfy media is something that, I feel, everyone can agree on. In the age of the internet, it’s not uncommon to hear people talking about their comfort show or their comfort character or book. After all, it’s hard to disagree that getting cozy under one’s covers and watching kitsch cartoons or reading a good book is fun to do. Arguably, it’s not just fun, but even necessary. In my opinion, it’s not as simple as a want to be comfy: it’s a need. The need to relax, to feel safe, even momentarily, is something that I believe is critical to one’s mental and even physical well-being. We are hardwired to fight for survival, but that carries with it the need to feel safe and sheltered as well.

Related to the need to feel safe and relax is the need to be distracted. College life is stressful, and the quotidian struggles we all suffer need to be left behind sometimes. And it’s something we all do without realizing it, too. The need to be distracted, even just a little bit, so we forget the stresses of work, or the tragedies of our lives. So, yes, it is perfectly valid to procrastinate just a little bit longer on your paper or studying if you seriously need a break, even just for an episode of a show or a chapter of a book. One cannot simply force themselves through the week or even the day without just a little bit of distraction, and a little bit of relaxing. 

So, now that the fall season is in full fall swing, I thought it would be nice to highlight some comfy media that I enjoy, and I hope you do as well. 

Let’s start off with some anime and manga. For my manga supremacists, there is “Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou,” or “Yokohama Shopping Log,” a post-apocalyptic manga set in Japan about an android that runs a cafe. There is also “Wakakozake,” both a manga and anime about a young woman who just likes a good meal after work. Another one I can recommend is the “Working!!” series, which has also been turned into an anime series. It’s a slice of life about working in a restaurant. The running theme is blatantly apparent, especially since I’m about to also mention Ghibli movies, like my personal favorites, “Ponyo” and “Arrietty.” To end my choices of anime, my all-time favorite, “Samurai Champloo,” brought to you by the director of “Cowboy Bebop” with the sickest lo-fi hip-hop soundtrack featuring Tsutchie, Fat Jon, Force of Nature and Nujabes. It’s super chill, with the smoothest animation you’ve yet to see, and sick sword fights.

Moving onto music, a great comfy song is one my girlfriend showed me, “Dedicated To The One I Love” by The Mamas & The Papas, a comfy little sleepy love song. And I can’t mention sleepy songs without “Sleep Walk” by Santo & Johnny, probably the most famous example of steel guitar I can think of. Another song my girlfriend showed me is “Lonely (But Not Alone)” by Rob Cantor of Tally Hall and “Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf” fame, another comfy love song. To end this little section, I also recommend “My Friends Are Cosmonauts” by Duster, “san francisco” by MIDICRONICA, “Take On The World” by Wavves, “No Surprises” by Radiohead and really any track by J Dilla. 

Ok, honestly, I don’t have much in the way of shows. Best I can offer is the U.S. version of “The Office” and the MTV animated series “Daria.” So instead I encourage you to tell someone what your favorite comfort show is. Maybe tell that special someone you’d like to watch it with them. 

Now, with all that said, grab your mug, make your hot drink of choice, get into what I am sure are very comfortable Brandeis-issued beds, grab a blanket and get cozy.