When I think of food porn in anime, I think of Food Wars – in part because of the risque reactions to the food, but more so because of the very involved dishes that are featured in the work – some of them are dishes that I feel I could make with some time and practice, but there are more than few others that I don’t think I could pull off, due to ingredients that aren’t available, or techniques that can be tricky to master (filleting a cut of meat, for example). Though there are a few other series that focus on food that is easier to pull off in the home, like Sweetness and Lightning.

The other anime I think of is the Fate franchise – combined with the fact that the dishes there are relatively not as involved (at least not for Japanese audiences, again – a traditional Japanese breakfast involves at least 3 dishes – the soup, grilled fish, and the rolled omelets – and I don’t know if I could consistently get all 3 done prepared before work.)

This leads to Today’s Menu for Emiya Family, a series that jettisons the darkness and bloodshed of the core series into the sun, and replaces it with a warm and fluffy experience with the core protagonists having family meals together.

Family meals are very much at the core of this series – most of the dishes of this show are generally very simple, with ingredients that would be easily available to Japanese viewers – and which would be doable for American viewers with a trip to a trip to a Japanese or Asian grocery. Additionally, generally, the dishes don’t require anything more advanced than some basic frying, and not requiring any dedicated pans or other kitchen gear that would only be used for one dish. It makes for dishes that work for comfort food, without being too involved.

Consequently, upon learning that the manga has the full recipes, I’m interested in picking that up (and as of when I write this I’ve already ordered the first volume), in order to try to replicate some of the recipes for myself – which is probably the highest praise I could give to any cooking anime.

The show is available for streaming on Crunchyroll and hasn’t been licensed for a home release as of yet. If you do want to get the first volume of the manga, it is available for purchase from RightStuf. Buying anything through that link helps to support the site.

If you enjoyed this review and would like to read future reviews up to a week early, please consider backing my Patreon. Backers get reviews up to a week early.

Or you can just toss a few bucks in my Ko-Fi Jar if you want to help out but the Patreon isn’t a viable option.