I thought for sure Koufuku Graffiti would be my favorite show of the season, but I couldn’t even get through episode 1. I’m not that crazy about Japanese food, but I like food (that’s why I’m still alive) and I enjoy cooking and cooking shows, so a food show should have been right up my alley. I also like slice-of-life and cute girls doing cute stuff shows so this should have been the perfect show.
And yet… this is the most boring thing I’ve watched all year! (Shh, I know it’s only February) Maybe the show just came on too heavy for a first episode, but it just wasn’t fun at all. First off, the whole ‘sexualized reactions to eating good food’ was completely off-putting. The minute the episode opened with the main character moaning and blushing over a bit of rice (complete with ‘sexy’ closeups of her lips) the show’s days were numbered. It was in dire straits, but then they made it worse with the main character’s boring voice. And her annoying introspection, boo hoo hoo, I’m all alone, I wish I had a boyfriend. Just shut up and eat your rice, you whiner!
After that her distant cousin (?) comes over to stay and she cooks her some stuff. I like nabe, but it’s just nabe, stop trying to make it sound like it’s anything special. That might be the problem with the show’s food – it’s hard to convey that everyday foods suddenly taste super-wonderful just because the some anime characters say so. “No, no, it’s really really good!” Uhhh… yeah. I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.
And then there was a long stretch without food, just with the cousin Kirin showing off her childishness and selfishness. Spoiled brats like her give only children a bad name. How old are these girls supposed to be again? Probably 3rd year of high school? Pssh, kids. Anyway there was a lot of talking about regular udon (it’s just udon, sheesh) and then another (!) scene of the main character slavering over inarizushi (it’s just rice and fried tofu, sheesh) and then blah blah my mom and blah blah my grandma… I think? I skipped around towards the end.
Same problem with other slice of life shows: I couldn’t find a character I liked and wanted to follow. And while life does involve just sitting around talking about our families, Koufuku Graffiti was trying way too hard to elicit certain emotions from the viewer instead of just letting them flow naturally. And a simple ‘getting to know each other’ show doesn’t need unnecessary blushing or sexualized images. And finally the food just wasn’t that special. Verdict: dropped like a hot bowl of kitsune udon.