Food For the Soul – Episode 1

What’s it about? Mako had lots of friends as a child, but became more withdrawn and afraid of change as she got older. Now, in her first year of university, she loves the idea of putting herself out there and connecting with her peers, but in reality is too shy to even sit by herself in a restaurant—no matter how much the delicious meals on their menu call to her. But things change when she reunites with an old friend, Shinon, who is trying to start something called the Food Culture Research Club.

If you see someone lying on the ground wheezing “slice of life anime… save me, slice of life anime… slice of life anime, save me…” it’s probably me. Like many people around the world right now, I am, er, let’s say a little stressed out and craving some escapism.

Maybe I can’t ask Food for the Soul to singlehandedly cure my existential dread, but I do have high hopes for it. It’s an original series from PA Works, and those have been great sources of dynamic female leads and strong storytelling over the past few years; from the heartfelt coming-of-age story of The Aquatope on White Sand to the zany vampire antics of MAYONAKA PUNCH. Food For the Soul is tonally very different from both of those examples, definitely sitting comfortably in the hobby/club/girls doing stuff genre, but as we know there’s no reason it shouldn’t have the same chops in terms of character and narrative just because it’s here to be relaxing and funny.

You’ll notice that this series has made the bold—or at least, relatively novel—move and set its school club story in university rather than high school. This was one aspect that compelled me about this premise, though I have to say that the difference, at least for the moment, is mostly aesthetic. Mako attends a lecture rather than homeroom, the backdrop of the university campus is full of lovingly-drawn distinct details, and everyone gets to kick around in their street clothes rather than school uniforms. I want to say this adds to the visual language and gives the girls some extra personality, but unfortunately their fashion sense has a lot of crossover (hair clips and short skirts/shorts are in this season, evidently) and their character designs don’t feel overly distinct. As is common in anime generally, the roundness of everyone’s features also means you wouldn’t necessarily guess they were meant to be a bit older than the typical teen ensemble cast of one of these hobby shows.

Some viewers may also feel that these characters act much younger than they are, particularly with regards to Mako’s meekness. Some viewers, on the other hand, might find her painfully relatable. In my first year of uni I was definitely fixating on stuff like eating alone in restaurants, consumed with the anxiety that I’d be committing some highly-visible faux pas and some cosmic force would strike me down even if no other human called me out. Her yelling into her own pillow about how awkwardly she handled her reunion with Shinon is also a very I am 18 years old and new to this wide world and it’s all falling on my head mood.

Maybe there’s a certain aestheticized cuteness to Mako’s shyness, but it also makes sense as characterization for a sheltered, introverted teenager, and is a solid base for a character arc about her getting more confident as she pursues her foodie passion and bonds with other people. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before (last season’s Flower and Asura was built around this, for example) but it’s a classic for a reason.

The other characters don’t get as much focus in this premiere, except to establish that Shinon is fast and loud and impulsive to counter Mako’s slow, quiet overthinking; and to introduce Kurea as a mellow mid-point between the two of them who seems much more mature and sensible. If their interactions with the university admin are anything to go by, the group dynamic is going to be where the more comedic side of the show kicks in, so I’m looking forward to seeing how Mako deals with being tossed into the middle of that. Especially given the… well, “cliffhanger” seems a bit drastic given the chill-out tone of the show, but let’s say the end of the episode does introduce some silly but genuine conflict, and it will be interesting to watch poor introverted Mako work with it.

If you, too, are looking for something cozy to wrap around your shoulders like a big duvet, Food For the Soul seems to be hitting all the iyashikei beats—complete with some lovingly-animated tonkatsu that’s powerful enough to pull Mako out of her social anxiety spiral. It’s not as strong or defined a start as some other recent titles in the P.A. Works Originals bucket but it’s also inviting us into a much gentler genre and doing so pretty competently. It’s definitely also a liiiitle bit frustrating that this is functionally a high school club show wearing a university hat, and I hope the storytelling ends up doing more with its unique (again, relatively speaking) setting and stage of life for the protagonists. I remain optimistic, though, so I’ll be sitting down to at least a couple more servings to see where Mako’s culinary adventures progress.