Gourmet Girl Graffiti - Reviews

Ok, the plot isn't deep or overly emotional, I'll grant that. But if you want a fun and simple feel good time then Gourmet Girl Graffiti is wonderful. The mix of good food and friendship is just warm and welcoming and the simplicity of everything is good to relax to. I can't wait to read the manga.

The setting of the story is simple but sweet. It's a great to watch if your a food lover. this show  will enhance your appetite and make you hungry at the end of each episode.

This show is better than it looks, even though the first episode is quite slow. It follows the life of a girl who loves to cook becoming closer to her cousin who loves to eat after her cousin decides to attend cram school in Tokyo. The plot is very simple, but if you have any interest in Japanese culture and cuisine, or even discovering a new recipe, I recommend you to watch it. If you aren't too familiar with Japanese cuisine this anime will certainly be educational. The anime really did well at making everything seem appetizing and watching the two girls enjoy different meals is entertaining, especially when the animation focuses on their reactions- everything becomes sparkly and glossy, especially their lips and eyes. It seems quite unusual to have fanservice just based on their reactions, but it's tasteful and amusing to see. Every episode has a certain dish that she wants to cook, and we follow the instructions and recipes with her. The pacing of the anime is quite slow, the first few episodes are quite weak and probably not enough to make people want to finish the show. I feel that one of the biggest problems is that the main character Ryou is quite bland and although it's difficult to dislike anyone in the show, it's also really hard to find anyone loveable. The backgrounds are really well animated and the patterns on the clothes are quite eye catching. I think anyone interested in Japanese culture and cuisine would really enjoy this. And make sure not to watch this show when hungry, it can be a painful experience.

If you're a foodie, this would probably be one of the animes in your radar. It certainly was the reason I checked out the series. 

This anime has really good art, and glorious animation of the food prepared and eaten (but do not expect details of the cooking process like what you get from Shokugeki No Soma). That's about all the positive things I can say about Kuofuku Graffiti.

There's not much to the storyline. The characters are pretty straight forward, with Kirin being a particularly annoying character. The cutesy characters, with their sparkling huge eyes, head tilts and mini skirts may be entertaining to some. I found it all kind of grating. Not my cup of tea.

Gourmet Girls Graffiti has been categorized as an example of iyashikei, thoughtful stories leading towards some sort of healing, what I have usually equated to catharsis.  I have taken GGG as twelve stout doses of iyashikei, warm tales of two girls finding their individual ways in crucial parts of their lives.

Twelve overdoses of warm and fuzzy, which may be fine and may be lethal.

The premise of these twelve episodes is close to formula, offering a tight structure nearly every time.  You first get a short introductory snippet, sometimes surreal, sometimes sensible, every time suggesting what is going down in the episode.  The plot centers on two girls, Ryou, whose parents work away from home and who has recently lost her beloved grandmother.  Kirin is the reverse.  She wishes to break free from her parents and home and move from her rural digs to attend high school in Tokyo.  She has an opportunity to get supplementary art classes on the weekend at Ryou's school.  During these weekend visits, Ryou gains the company of her cousin and Kirin gets the luxury of a fine meal.  Ryou's grandmother was an excellent cook (by her efforts and determination to offer her granddaughter some legacy, as we find out) and the series explores fine cuisine and the proper enjoyment of the food we eat, and the people with whom we share our meals.  The episode ends at the train station as Kirin returns home, eager for the next weekend's adventure to come.  That is, until the last episode.  Then we’ll have to resolve something more permanent.

Gourmet Girls Graffiti reminded me to some anime techniques I noted in passing, first in BanG Dream! and then in other shojo offerings.  I simply call it 'skirtplay' though the technical term for it is 'zettai ryoiki.'  It is the distance between hem of skirt and upper sock, and the movement of skirt as a focus of attention.  First, and foremost, the characters of Ryou, Kirin, and friendly acquaintance Shiina are cute tinted with sensitivity, immaturity, and eccentricity respectively.  But get these girls eating.  Then cute becomes alluring.  As lips are licked or smacked as morsels of food are consumed.  In their delectable and sensual descriptions of the foods they taste.  There's a subtle sexiness in the aura that appears in the dining sequences.  Sure, there are the embarrassing episodes about the bath and other incidents that crop up during the twelve doses of sweetness.  But there is a comradery developing between the three girls and especially Ryou and Kirin.  And kawaii steers the humor, as it were.

But the iyashikei effect offers Gourmet Girls Graffiti its own set of plot problems.  The predictability of formula storylines makes watching tedious.  The character of Shiina is burdened by a family that are mere reflections of the girl.  I mean, it's natural that mother resembles daughter, but the household servant, too (and an extreme act of stoicism at that!)?  The bond between Ryou and her grandmother breaks without weakening as Kirin becomes the companion for the lonely girl, especially as Kirin learns she can't go it alone in the life she is seeking.  Ah, heartwarming, but too predictably so!

The theme of cooking reigns supreme throughout, as each title is a loose union of two cooking terms as sizzle ... pop, chewy ... melty.  And the experiences from basic meal to cookout to whatever they do to ramen as outdoor activity unify the stories without really finding a common ground.  You love how two unlike personalities get to respect each other, but it’s been seen too many other times.  This time it combines with a cooking show.

The animation is a soft collections of nature scenes entwining with kitchen work.  Gorgeous use of colors, especially as they lighten during the dining sequences.  Good work in these techniques.  The music, however, was light and airy without striking a special chord.  Good mood music.

Gourmet Girls Graffiti is an enjoyable half hour of good times and self-discoveries.  Just a little light on the drama, as iyashikei can be on occasion.