mdchan

I read the beginning of some reviews before I watched this, but even so, I was surprised at how little character development there was.  Slice-of-life anime doesn't necessarily have to have a "plot", per say...most of that "plot" is in day to day antics that the characters get up to.

However,  I was quite surprised that not only was there no plot, but there was little to no character development.  The characters were fairly flat and remained the same throughout the series.

That said, it was cute and charming.

Plot

There really is no plot.  The story revolves around a teacher whose wife passed away six months ago, which left him to raise their preschool aged daughter by himself.

He decides he wants to let his daughter have some good meals since he isn't good at cooking, and winds up getting cooking lessons from a lonely student of his whose mother is constantly working.

Characters

Kouhei Inuzuka is a math teacher at at unnamed high school.  He's typically soft-spoken,  patient, and kind, and wants to do the best he can for his daughter particularly after his wife passed away.

Tsumugi Inuzuka is a preschool/kindergarten aged girl and the daughter of Kouhei.  She's bright, cheerful, and loves to watch her father cook.

Kotori Iida is a girl in Kouhei's class whose mother is constantly busy with work.  She's soft spoken and has a fear of knives, but is interested in cooking and after an incident which led Kouhei and Tsumugi to the restaurant her mother used to run, began to give Kouhei cooking lessons.

Other characters appear in the anime, though they aren't as prominant and a couple don't start to really show up and become "regulars" until about midway through the series (out of a 12 episode series)

This includes Kouhei's friend Yagi, and Kotori's friend Shinobu.

There are occasional scenes from preschool/kindergarten which feature Tsumugi's friends (Yuka and Hana) as well as a boy named Mikio who starts out as a bit of a bully.

Animation and Sound

Not including the episodes I saw where the quality was obviously low, I don't really have an issue with the animation for the most part.  The colors were bright and as they should be for a carefree slice-of-life anime.  I didn't see much of any repeated footage, either. 

The sound was fine for the most part, and the songs are cute...but there are times when Tsumugi's voice just cuts through my ears like a foghorn.  I've seen plenty of anime which had little kids in it, and none of my favorites ever annoyed me with the voices.  Tsumugi was a little overdone in some points, but if I turned down the volume, the other characters would be too quiet.

Overall

There's nothing spectacular nor unique about this anime; I'd say it's about on average.

To be honest, the one who showed the most character growth in the series was probably Mikio, who barely got any screentime as he went from a bully to having a crush on Tsumugi.

There was some character development on Kouhei's part as he learns to cook, but it's really just him learning a new skill and bonding with his daughter that way.

The other character who grows is Kotori, as though she does remain soft-spoken and quiet in her class and at school, there is one instance where her classmates do need her advice on something.

Regardless, for an anime with no plot, to have characters remain pretty much the same from start to finish was a disappointment.

There was no explanation on how Kouhei's wife died or why; illness?  Accident?  We're never told.

Kotori is afraid of knives after an accident with one when she was little, but (SPOILERS), she never removes her bandaid nor gets over her fear.

It's pretty much a show about cooking with some character "drama" thrown in to attempt to make it interesting.  Now, I've seen anime about cooking and baking, and they did a much better job.

Granted, they were also longer than 12 episodes.  The episodes are also rather short, as they're only about 17-19 minutes long rather than the standard 23 minutes (after subtracting opening and ending songs).

If the episodes were standard-length and perhaps there were more of them, maybe some of the character issues could have been addressed, and it wouldn't have felt like I was watching one-dimensional characters continue to be one-dimensional for 12 episodes.

There's no sense of conclusion or "finale" in the last episode, either.  Kotori's mother does make an appearance and says something profound, but it's really no huge secret and really didn't make a huge impact on me by then.

Too little, too late...especially combined with little to no character development.

I would have loved to see some more scenes from Tsumugi and how she got along with her classmates and friends (particularly the interesting change made in Mikio's character, and particularly near the last couple episodes when she had a dispute with a friend there.

Slice-of-life anime typically teach important lessons, or develop characters as they learn and grow.  When Tsumugi had a conflict with Yuka from he class, rather than any sort of emphasis on it, the episode just switched to "let's cook and everyone smiles again". 

I know little kids forgive each other easily, but it just felt like any sort of drama created (such as in this instance, and when Tsumugi's mother is brought up) is too quickly brushed aside for smiles and laughter as soon as they start cooking rather than allowing the drama to let the characters learn something and face said issues.

All in all, it's cute and endearing, but it's certainly not the best slice-of-life anime I've ever seen.  I wouldn't call it the worst since I sat through all 12 episodes, but it can be easily marathoned and is extremely lighthearted.

If you're looking for a quick anime to watch or something cheerful and lighthearted, this is a good one to go to.  Just don't expect a plot, nor much of any character development or growth.