Enjoying the Seasons No. 6: Autumn is here, the season of appetite!　Food is life. Gourmet anime that lets you taste the depth of it.

Each season has its own anime that can be enjoyed only at this time of year!　Here, anime writers introduce good new and old works related to seasonal topics.

The weather is getting cooler and the season is "autumn of appetite. Anime has been showing the enjoyment and happiness of food through various characters, dramas, and depictions that appeal to the five senses. Why don't you compare a wide range of works and enjoy their depth?　Start with your favorite dish!

Shokugeki no soma " (aired in 2015)

Souma Yukihira, the second generation owner of the restaurant "Yukihira," was admitted to the elite culinary school "Tohgetsu Academy" on the advice of his chef father. Souma, who possesses both the culinary sense and courage that he has honed on-the-job, meets rivals his own age and dormitory mates with whom he shares his life, and grows through cooking competitions called "Shokugeki. Soushin's goal is to become the first of the school's top students, the "Tohgetsu Juketsu"!

Based on a comic series published in Weekly Shonen Jump, this is a "cooking duel" and a school story centered on dormitory life. It is a royal road entertainment with "effort, friendship, and triumph" firmly in place.

The original story was known for its extreme depictions of delicious food, which were "unnecessarily erotic" because of the taking off of clothes and cumming, and this sense is still alive and well in the anime. The characters include both handsome men and cute girls, and both boys and girls can laugh and have fun. My personal recommendation is Megumi Tadokoro, who starts out as a bad cook but grows as a chef and a human being.

Koukibutsu Graffiti " (aired in 2015)

Machiko Ryo is a junior high school student who is an excellent cook, but after her beloved grandmother dies and she has to live alone, she can no longer enjoy any kind of food. But when his cousin Kirin Morino comes to stay with him, Ryo remembers how delicious and warm the food is. Ryo's friend Shiina joins the group, and the warm days of adolescence connected by food begin.

Based on a four-frame manga, this is a coming-of-age story about food filled with cute girls. The unique theme of the story is not the quality or taste of the food, but rather the warm feeling that comes from having a meal with someone when you are lonely. It makes us think about "the happiness of eating," which seems obvious but is the most important thing.

The scenes of eating are carefully depicted and have a glossy aspect to them. The book conveys the deliciousness of cooking seasonal ingredients by oneself and enjoying them with good friends.

Mr. Ajikko " (broadcast in 1987)

Yoichi Ajikichi is a junior high school student who runs the Hinode Restaurant with his mother. He is discovered by Genjiro Murata, aka "Aji-Ko" of the Aji-Ko Culinary Society, and goes on to compete with numerous professional chefs in a series of taste contests.

It is an undeniable masterpiece that can be said to be the origin of all gourmet anime. The Ajihito shouts, "Yummmmaiiiiiiiiiiiii! beams from his mouth, explodes, appears out of a flower, runs up a mountain, puts on a loincloth, and flies through space and across the deep sea in ecstasy. How can an animated cartoon capture the reaction of "Delicious! The 99 episodes of the series were a masterpiece of description and direction, and had a tremendous influence on later works.

The bright and fun series, full of parodies and amusements, takes a surprisingly serious turn toward the end. Ajihito loses his memory, the rivals scatter in disappointment, Yoichi's mother is proposed to by Chef Marui, and his childhood friend Shigeru is involved in a car accident. In the midst of all this, Yoichi finally arrives at the truth and the dish he has made. ......?　The ending of the anime "Mr. Ajikko," which differs from the original comic, is quite profound and profound, so if you have a chance, please watch it.

Meshinbo " (aired in 1988)

Shiro Yamaoka and Yuko Kurita, reporters from the cultural department of the Tozai Shimbun, decide to create an "ultimate menu" for the newspaper's 100th anniversary. Then, a rival newspaper, Teito Shimbun, launches a project called "The Supreme Menu," and a culinary showdown between the "ultimate" and "supreme" begins. The leader of the Gastronomy Club, Yuyama Kaihara, who supervises the "supreme menu," is Shiro's estranged father. The culinary showdown takes on the aspect of a father-son duel.

This gourmet anime started one year after "Mr. Ajikko," and this one was more realistic and adult-oriented in its depiction of "deliciousness. Yuko Kurita's emotional, but not over-the-top, "Delicious! makes me want to eat that dish.

The story is filled with a lot of poetic knowledge about food, and it is a popular work that has created such buzzwords as "supreme" and "makari". Episodes up to volume 36 of the original comic (Big Comics) have been adapted into an anime.

Toriko " (broadcast in 2011)

The world is in the "Gourmet Age," a time when gourmet food has spread throughout the world. Komatsu, a young man who works as a chef at Hotel Gourmet, meets Toriko, a gourmet adventurer in search of unknown ingredients, and accompanies him on his journey. While in pursuit of the most difficult-to-capture foodstuffs, such as the fierce beasts and plants that inhabit unexplored regions, Komatsu meets the "Four Heavenly Kings of Gastronomy," Toriko's friends who belong to the International Gourmet Organization, IGO. And everywhere they go, the group battles over foodstuffs with gourmets from the Gastronomical Society, an organization that is in conflict with the IGO to which Toriko and his friends belong.

This is a unique gourmet anime that directly links food to "adventure" and meat-and-blood combat-style "battles" and "heroes. The ingredients are monsters to behold, and the scenes continue with muscular men fighting with all their might to defeat them so that they can taste a rare delicacy or carry out a mission assigned by the client and receive a reward. The seemingly unprecedented setting is also connected to the truth that eating is the source of life and is connected to the wild.

Although this animation is full of exciting monsters and action, it is also an educational "good children's animation" that teaches children to join hands and say "Itadakimasu" before eating and to eat without leaving any foodstuffs out of respect for them. It is also an educational "good child's anime".

Yume-iro Pâtissière " (broadcast in 2009)

A 14-year-old girl, Ichigo Amano, is scouted by a top pastry chef, Henri Lucas, and transfers to St. Marie Academy. There, she meets the legendary Sweets Spirits, who are said to make dreams come true for those who see them. Her classmates are three boys called the "Sweets Princes. Together with Vanilla, the Sweets Spirit, Ichigo follows the path of baking sweets one step at a time. Her dream is to recreate the taste of strawberry tarts made by her late grandmother!

This is a girls' anime based on a comic series in "Ribon". Based on the theme of "patissiere (feminine form of "patissier," a confectioner)," which is the No. 1 occupation that elementary school girls want to become, this work is full of girls' dreams, featuring fairies, magic, and cool boys. The main character, Ichigo, strives hard and grows up, making this work a classic of girls' anime. Watching it, you can learn a lot of knowledge about sweets along with Ichigo.

A sequel, "Yumeiro Pâtissière SP Professional" (aired in 2010), was also produced as the second season, about Ichigo, who returns to Japan after studying abroad in Paris for two years and becomes a first-year student at a high school, and is put in charge of a new store with Kashino and her friends. There is a bit of a love story, and we can see a matured Ichigo.

Seiyo Kotto Yogashi Ten - Antique" ( aired in 2010)

Keiichiro Tachibana decides to quit his job and open a confectionary store, and his wealthy parents bring in a genius patissier, Yusuke Ono, who is a gay man that Tachibana left when he was in high school. The two become business partners once again, and the four handsome men, including Eiji Kanda, a former boxer and apprentice pastry chef, and Chikage Kobayakawa, Tachibana's childhood friend and chaperone, come together to form a confectionary store. The story centers on the store and the four men.

The story involves the love life of Ono, a "devilish gay man," but it is not a so-called "boys' love" story. No major incidents occur, but rather small dramas are depicted in which adults with some emotional scars try to look away from them or reevaluate them. The last part of the story revolves around Tachibana, who has a history of being kidnapped when she was a child.

Antique" is an authentic western-style confectionery store that quietly exists in the middle of a residential area and is open until late at night, allowing customers to drop by even after the last train. There, you can taste coffee and cakes served in authentic western antiques and served by handsome men. It is a dream setting for mature women and men who love sweets.

Ristorante Paradiso " (broadcast in 2009)

The setting is Rome, Italy. Nicoletta, a daughter who grew up with her grandparents because her mother remarried, comes out of the countryside at the age of 21. She plans to tell the owner of the ristorante where her mother remarried that his wife has a daughter. At the ristorante she visits, Casetta dell'Orso, the employees are all gentlemen wearing reading glasses. The restaurant was a bit unusual in that it was crowded every day with female customers who came to see them. Nicoletta begins working here as an apprentice chef, and soon becomes interested in a gentleman named Claudio.

He has experienced both the sweet and sour sides of life, has dignity and is not pushy, is kind and pretty to women, and knows both love and sadness. This is the anime adaptation of Ono Natsume's comic "Ristorante Paradiso" and "Gente: People of Ristorante," which introduced the world to the appeal of such "gentlemen with reading glasses.

The drama of each of these old gentlemen, who have gone through various experiences, is bittersweet in its own way. Nicoletta, who learned many things at the ristorante, gradually grew and changed. It is deeply soothing and makes you feel happy. And if you watch it, I can assure you that you will want to eat delicious Italian food!

These are the 8 gourmet anime that will make you enjoy the pleasure and happiness of food.

The act of eating food is truly a profound one. First-rate cuisine is to carefully select ingredients, prepare them with all of one's heart, technique, and body, and serve them in the best possible condition. There is no end to the culinary journey.

On the other hand, I feel that the origin of happiness is contained in the ordinary meal we enjoy every day at home with our loved ones. I think it is important to make delicious food with all your heart and soul for someone else. ...... I feel that if you master the story of food, that is where you will end up with the ideal form.

Compared to the original comics, the depiction of food is a true specialty in anime, where color, movement, and sound come into play!　Please enjoy with your eyes and ears the delicious "ingredients" and "dishes" that bring the characters to life and enliven the drama. However, we cannot be held responsible if you accidentally watch the anime on an empty stomach and become hungry.

（Text by YAMAYU)