Yokohama Shopping Log (1998)

The problem with taking a slow-burn manga about generational decline, the long twilight of industrial civilisation, and the subtleties of artificial consciousness—mostly portrayed through slow, deliberate depictions of daily life—and adapting it into a few anime episodes is, well, everything I just said. This OVA is really more an iyashikei mood piece, a series of pleasant moments occasionally attended by melancholy. It gestures at the bigger picture and feelings of the full story, but doesn't take you to meet them. At least we get a lotta shots of Alpha in her (20)80s swag speeding around on a scooter. Basically, if you like this anime, then play its gentle city pop + bossa nova + folktronic soundtrack while reading the manga.