Located five stations away from the booming nightlife district in Sapporo, one can find a small bar called Snack Bus.
Run by an older mama Basue and a younger, feistier mama Akemi, the pair deal with the slow trickle of eccentric regulars that come for conversation, drinks of varying strength, and poorly cooked, if available, food.
Stuffed with references and quintessential Japanese humor, Snack Basue isn’t for everyone, but is so good for those it is for. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Snack Basue, head on down below.
Anime Like Snack Basue
For Fans of Bars
Isekai Izakaya
There is a bar located in Kyoto called Nobu. However, its front door leads to another world. In Nobu, they bring Japanese food and drink to the residents of another world.
Similarities Between Snack Basue and Isekai Izakaya
- Both series are fully dedicated to Japanese bar service as a setting and plot
- Both series have, at least in part, that snack bar servicing clients from an isekai world
- Both series focus on a group of regular patrons and their stories and comedy
Differences Between Snack Basue and Isekai Izakaya
- Isekai Izakaya is more slice of life and food adoration than the conversational comedy and reference humor found in Snack Basue
- Snack Basue only has a few skits about its visit to the isekai world whereas Isekai Izakaya is all about that set up
Wakakozake
Murasaki Wakako is a 26-year-old office lady who enjoy going out alone at night to different establishments to enjoy food and drink. She particularly loves to treat herself after a hard day at work. This is the chronicle of her small adventures in delightful food combinations.
Similarities Between Snack Basue and Wakakozake
- Both series are about regulars visiting Japanese snack bars after work
- Both series feature cute and quirky blonde female main characters
- Both series get deeper into food philosophy and bar conversation than you expect
Differences Between Snack Basue and Wakakozake
- Wakakozake is a short-form series where episodes are two minutes long
- Wakakozake is more soothing slice of life and food and liquor adoration rather than comedy like Snack Basue
Bartender
Ryuu Sasakura is a genius bartender who is famous for his incredible cocktails. He trained in Japan, practiced overseas, and has recently returned home for unknown reasons to work in a small bar called Edenhall.
Seeking his Glass of God, individuals from all walks of life visit his bar to drink his cocktails, bend his ear, and, most of all, get help for their problems.
Similarities Between Snack Basue and Bartender
- Both series take place in a bar and follow the bartender
- Both series feature bartenders bonding and talking things out with their customers
Differences Between Snack Basue and Bartender
- Bartender is serious drama whereas Snack Basue is silly comedy
- Bartender works with the premise that the right cocktail can sooth any problem while Snack Basue is more about the bartenders fueling problems for comedy
Restaurant to Another World
The nondescript Youshoku no Nekoya is a cafe that has been in business for 50 years. However, while it serves salarymen and other workers most of the week. On Saturdays, it closes down to the public in order to serve special guests, mythical creatures that come from another world looking for comforting cuisine.
Similarities Between Snack Basue and Restaurant to Another World
- Both series follow the staff of a bar/restaurant as main characters
- Both series are about serving customers and conversation with them
- Both series feature, at least in part, serving isekai clientele
Differences Between Snack Basue and Restaurant to Another World
- The isekai in Snack Basue is just a small, but reoccurring skit whereas it is the whole plot in Restaurant to Another World
- Restaurant to Another World is more about character stories and food adoration than comedy like Snack Basue
For Fans of Random Antics and Reference Humor
Pop Team Epic
Popuko is small and quick to anger. Pipiumi is tall and serene. Together these two high school girls swear like sailors and get up to all sorts of insane and meta activities.
Similarities Between Snack Basue and Pop Team Epic
- Both series are reference comedy-fueled comedy anime
- Both series feature basic art, but excellent jokes
- The main characters are women who are non-wholesome degenerates
Differences Between Snack Basue and Pop Team Epic
- Snack Basue is reference comedy, but also primarily conversational comedy about daily life. Pop Team Epic is almost exclusively reference comedy
- Pop Team Epic is a short-form series so the episodes are only 5 minutes long
- Pop Team Epic moves at a rapid pace while Snack Basue is laid-back and casual
Grand Blue
Iori Kitahara is excited to travel to the seaside town of Izu for his first year of college. He moves into his uncle’s scuba shop, Grand Blue, but things don’t go according to plan.
Inside the shop is a bunch of naked and drunk upperclassman who get him drunk. After his cousin walks in, his college life starts to derail, but his work getting it back on track doesn’t go quite as planned either.
Similarities Between Snack Basue and Grand Blue
- Both series feature a manageable group of core characters that play off each other
- Both series are drinking comedies that enjoy comedy from drunken situations and conversations
- Both series feature comically degenerate main characters
Differences Between Snack Basue and Grand Blue
- Grand Blue is about a college diving club, and does have a diving-based plot, but its comedy is frequent and shines brighter
- Men and women alike are comical degenerates in Snack Basue while Grand Blue is more about comical men and the women who roll their eyes at it
Chio’s School Road
This is the story of Chio, a young bookworm, and her daily walk to school. Of course, she won’t be getting to school anytime soon as her usual route usually takes her weirdly off course.
Similarities Between Snack Basue and Chio’s School Road
- Both series are comedy anime that surround a single, small, super-specific set up
- Both series create a core cast of reoccurring characters
- Both series enjoy reference humor, but not exclusively
Differences Between Snack Basue and Chio’s School Road
- Chio’s School Road is about wacky things that happen on a girl’s walk to school, which is a bit different from the bar conversations in Snack Basue
- Chio’s School Road follows a primarily high school-aged cast while Snack Basue is following adults with more adult comedy
For Fans of Workplace Woes and Comedy
Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan
On the set of children’s show “Together with Mama,” 31-year-old Omota Uramichi is upbeat and cheerful to the children, but they are all ultimately put off as they get a taste of his adult angst and darkness that comes out in his cheerful voice.
Yet, failed gymnastics coach Uramichi isn’t the only one who is feeling the burden of a life passing him by. Others on the show suffer similar adult darkness.
Similarities Between Snack Basue and Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan
- Both series are comedy anime set in a workplace
- Both series feature comedy set around being an adult and the difficulties and disappointments that come with it
- All the characters are comically flawed and a bit eccentric
Differences Between Snack Basue and Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan
- Uramichi Oniisan is about a depressed guy working on a children’s show and letting those kids know how disappointing adulthood is
- Uramichi Oniisan is a darker comedy whereas Snack Basue is silly, but not in a particularly dark way
Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-San
This is the story of Honda-san, a skeleton that works in a bookstore. He mans the manga counter and fulfill requests for his strange customers like Gintama tentacle doujinshi and deals with his variety of equally odd co-workers.
Similarities Between Snack Basue and Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san
- Both series are comedy anime about the workplace
- Both series offer unique art styles
- Both series get their comedy from the quirky and eccentric reoccurring customers
- The premises and plot are very basic, but the comedy is well done and based on real life situations
Differences Between Snack Basue and Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san
- Skull-Faced Bookseller has all the characters designed to be anthropomorphized as different things whereas all the characters are just humans (or mascots) in Snack Basue
- Skull-faced Bookseller takes place in a bookstore rather than a bar
- The main character in Skull-Faced Bookseller is the straight man to all the eccentric customers while Snack Basue has the bar workers play both roles in the comedy at times
Working
Due to his love of cute things, Souta Takanashi ends up taking a job at the Wagnaria family restaurant in Hokkaido at the behest of the small and cute Popura Taneshima.
However, while he enjoys doting on Popura, he must stay on his toes while working with his more eccentric colleagues.
Similarities Between Snack Basue and Working
- Both series are workplace comedy anime with no overall plot
- Both series follow a core cast of reoccurring characters
- Both series get their comedy from real life situations and set ups
Differences Between Snack Basue and Working
- Working takes place in a family restaurant and has a younger cast than the bar-set Snack Basue and its cast of adults
- Working is often more slice of life than focused comedy like Snack Basue
Do you have more anime recommendations like Snack Basue? Let fans know in the comments section below.
