Opening Songs
OP 1 - The 5 Ways I Know To Become Happy (Maaya Sakamoto)
Ending Songs
ED 1 - I Get A Smile On My Face (Rina Satou, Asuka Ogame)
Genre: Comedy, Slice Of Life
Episodes: 12
So I'm one of those few guys that actually WATCHED "Koufuku Graffiti" before I went onto "Shougeki No Soma", because every damn person was telling me "IF YOU WANT A SHOW ABOUT FOOD, WATCH THAT". Well, I'll listen to my heart for this one and move on to "Koufuku Graffiti", an entire anime dedicated to the wonders of nicely animated food. And Shaft's animation...and cute girls...but those are beside the point. If you want a show centered around food and discovering the secret delicacies of all the delicious things in life, I think "Koufuku Graffiti" does an amazing job. There's no anime out there quite like it at the moment (Yes, its very different from "Shougeki No Soma", people should stop comparing the 2), so it might not be for anyone, but for those with an open mind and want something new, this might be it. Don't expect anything too ridiculous out of "Koufku Graffiti", instead, a consistent journey of comedy and the beautifully animated cooking is what you should look forward to.
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| Well, I'd like to join in on that. |
The opening theme is "The 5 Ways I Know To Become Happy" by Maaya Sakamoto, who has been doing quite well as a singer nowadays. Anyways, its a fairly fast, light hearted song with her using her slightly "cuter" vocals to keep up with the pace. It's certainly a unique song and for a unique show, I'd say it fits, but it's not really something that I enjoy too much. The ending theme "I Get A Smile On My Face", is sang by Rina Satou and Asuka Ogame, the seiyuus of Ryou and Kirin respectively. Once again, its a fast paced song with cute-sy vocals that's meant to be catchy. Its not as good as the opening theme, and it's not my kind of song in the first place...a skip for me.
Rating: 7.5/10
"Koufuku Graffiti" actually ends up being quite good for the right reasons. For an anime generally about slice of life, it does a good job with its 3 main characters. Also, the comedy, while somewhat inconsistent, manages to hit the right notes most of the time, and I ended up enjoying myself most of the way through. "Koufuku Graffiti" focuses on food for its main point of attraction, in terms of aesthetic, I can actually buy that. The show does a good job of...showing how our characters cook delicious food. Sounds really ridiculous, but the stuff on screen DOES look good, and Shaft did an amazing job on those...fried chicken pieces and rolled omelettes, I shit you not. More than that though, the anime has only 3 main characters, because of that, a lot of time is spent on these 3, and we quickly grow attached to them. Their characters vary quite a fair bit, giving us some great diversity when seeing them interact with one another. While there isn't much of a development in one of the 3 characters (sorry Shiina), the other 2 do change drastically throughout the entire show, and how everything ties to cooking really makes this series a satisfying one to watch.
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| Oh Shaft, you guys keep doing what you're doing, you rock. |
Machiko Ryou is a middle school girl going that attends a special art school on weekends. For a majority of her life, her grandmother had been taking care of her, and she always cooked wonderful home-made meals for her...meals that she would come to remember for her life. Her grandmother passed away, and Ryou inherited her cooking prowess, turning her into one hell of a middle school chef. Anyway, since she had been living alone, she obviously felt lonely from time to time since her parents are always away on business trips. That was until a cousin of hers, Kirin, started to come over to her house on weekends to stay, since she attends the same special art school that Ryou goes to. Ever since her first visit, Kirin had been tasting Ryou's cooking, and she loved it. Ryou then understood that eating together with somebody else made her meals all the more tasty, and that with Kirin's appetite, she could cook a lot more than usual. Thus begins their weekly journeys of indulging into the wonders of the culinary arts.
"Koufuku Graffiti" is enjoyable enough in my book for a slice of life anime. Its unique theme and approach make it refreshing to watch. Its honestly nothing too ridiculous or out of this world as many would like to think, and that's actually one of its good points. Its a show we can relate to, and we can only how Ryou learnt to become such a godlike chef at the age of 14.
Peace.
