Fate/stay night / First Impressions / Series Introduction

OP Sequence

OP: 「エプロンボーイ」 (Apron Boy) by DJ Miso Shiru to MC Gohan

「年越しそば」 (Toshikoshi Soba)
“New Year Soba”

With Fate/Apocrypha‘s end, Fate/Grand Order short on New Years, and Fate/Extra‘s anime on the horizon, there couldn’t possibly be any surprises could there? Guess again. An adaptation for Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan, a light-hearted manga dedicated to all of the times Emiya has cooked for Saber, is now a webseries. While it sounds completely shameless to give Fate a cooking spin-off with the advent of Shokugeki no Souma and other popular food anime, this anime is starting out on the right foot by offering a surprising amount of panache and effort within such a short time frame.

From the first episode, the production is on-point as Ufotable is able to pull off a minimalistic approach efficiently. The animation isn’t meant to be “Unlimited Budget Works”, but combines the polish they put into their Fate adaptations with a warm, stenciled aesthetic that works well with Emiya-san‘s slice-of-life trappings. The toastier color palette and the character designs (just take a look at their eyes!) compliment the show’s tone as well as set itself apart from the other Fate spin-offs as a comfy anime that isn’t defined by chibi antics or moe eroticism. The music has some effort to it as well with opening and ending sequences that sound as good as they look. Apron Boy and Collage don’t come off like the throwaway songs they could’ve been, as the former has a nice swing to it, and the latter revels in the mellow feel of the show that matches perfectly with the watercolor artwork of the ED.

The premise sounds cash-grabby, but it does work within the confines of the series well by showing us why Emiya is considered to be such a good cook, and how Saber’s newfound love of food emerged from eating what Emiya serves her. Whether any of this fits in the Fate/Stay Night timeline or if this series is it’s own thing is speculative, but it does give us a feel for what daily domestic life would be like with Saber and Emiya living together as she bonds with Emiya, Taiga, and Illya. Additionally, we see how much Saber learns in her interactions with Emiya and his friends as she picks up on New Years traditions like making Osechi boxes and huddling under the kotatsu from Taiga. The calmer moments of the initial “Fate” route showed Saber learning about the world around her as Emiya took her in during the Holy Grail War, so it is nice to see how everything would’ve played out had he summoned her in more peaceful times.

The anime’s greatest asset is that it doesn’t cut corners with how Emiya prepares every meal. It’s not like those show’s where we only see “why” they love something, but never “how” they express this love. When Emiya’s cooking, he breaks down a step-by-step process on how to make it. It was astounding to see Emiya go through the recipe for the food he’s making, delving into every single detail except for the measurements. In the first episode, the focus is on Toshikoshi Soba, a soup made to ring in the New Year. Anecdotally, I recently tried it in my travels last month, and the broth is absolutely something you need to try if you haven’t given it a shot. Fortunately enough, Emiya gives an accurate breakdown of the steps it takes to prepare Toshikoshi Soba from creating the broth as a fusion of a soy sauce broth and a dashi stock to frying up shrimp tempura after properly cleaning it, and finishing it off with rinsed soba noodles and the toppings that make it a complete package.

They could have easily made Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan in half-measures, slapping together a cheaply made series that some Fate fans would still eat up regardless. But the attention to detail, the effort put into the production, and the fanservice they have for the character’s we’ve gotten attached to during Fate/Stay Night go above and beyond to make for a fun, lighthearted series that has respect for its cast and the art of cooking. Sadly, this anime is slated to be a once-a-month web series, so we won’t be seeing another episode til next February. However, I’ll be anticipating the next episode’s release now that I know how well-done this offering has been. And with Fate/Extra coming soon, we have much more Fate on the horizon to look forward to this year.

ED Sequence

ED: 「コラージュ」 (Collage) by Sangatsu no Phantasia

24 Comments

  4. Just when you thought they won’t stop milking Fate franchise, here comes the slice of life version. But honestly, this version is calming after what happened in FSN.

    One Pinch Man
    Reply

  5. If you’re going to try the dashi recipe, be careful with how long you steep the katsuobushi for. One version I watched said 30-40 minutes, which is totally wrong, so I tried another version and that said 3-4 minutes. That’s better, but it will give you lower-quality “niban dashi”, so use more katsuobushi and steep for only 2 minutes before straining.

    Angelus
    Reply

    1. That could really work. Instead of actual battles, the servants would take part in shokugeki using recipes developed by their masters, with Ruler as the judge.

      And the winner gets the Holy Gruel, which has the power to award 3 Michelin stars to any restaurant of their choosing.

      Angelus
      Reply

    2. Shokugeki no Shiro rolls off the tongue better. 😛

      Besides, Souma and Shirou have the same dad (voiced by Rikiya Koyama) and Alice’s mom is a deadringer for Irisviel (same voice too). LOL

      Magnus Tancred
      Reply

  8. Carnival Phantasm reincarnated but as a cooking anime xD Is this going to be an actual ongoing show this season?

    Illya in kimono animated- I NEEDED IT!!!

    heh i wonder if someone could add in Shirou’s head to the Sakura and Rin image so it looks like Sakura is headlocking him xD

    Bill Plunderbones
    Reply

  10. A slice of life Fate was not what I was expecting. Yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’d almost think that this would be what it would be like if everything went correct and everyone could’ve had a happy ending.

    Also, I totally could see Lancer and Taiga being drinking buddies. I could also think of them as being sparing partners as well, because you just know Taiga would probably get mad and demand satisfaction in the dojo…

    …and not that type of satisfaction! Maybe.

    Dorian S.
    Reply

  15. somebody watches food wishes.

    but if what ^Snappycow^ said is true. and its like carnival phantasm minus the “WACKY”, what could be left???? that series was 90% wacky.

    guess i gotta watch to find out.

    BROOKLYN otaku
    Reply

    1. Did I hear someone invoke Chef John? Awesome! You all should watch Food Wishes IMO. Though then again, that’s optional and up to you. You are after all the servant-summoning master of whether you want to get better at cooking faster. But I suggest it. And I recommend this anime too.

      Stilts
      Reply

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