The ability to see spirits, or ayakashi, runs in Aoi Tsubaki’s family, and with her grandfather recently deceased, she’s aiming to avoid them and just finish her college degree. Plans change when she’s kidnapped to the supernatural Hidden Realm: told her grandfather used her as collateral on a debt, she’s to marry an ogre! Appalled, Aoi negotiates to work in the ogre’s inn to earn the money, pay off her grandfather’s debt, and earn her release.
Sometimes I look at a show and go, that’s for me, and sometimes I am correct about that first impression. And here, I was correct.

Supernatural. Bright colors. Action/activity, but not a fighting show. Mysterious and kind supernatural man. Opening themes that I need to acquire for permanent ownership.

Aoi is a likeable protagonist: firm while kind. Thrown into another world both literally and figuratively, she has to deal with the disadvantage of being a human (weak, delicious-looking) among a variety of supernatural beings, most of which are strong and many of which think she’d make a good meal.

No blushing schoolgirl, her standout trait is pragmatism: oh, I’ve been taken to the spirit realm? I can work with this. You expect me to marry you? Don’t be ridiculous, there are other ways to pay off a debt. You’re the master of the land and want to help me cook this big-deal meal? Sure, but you’re not allowed to touch anything until you trim those claws. You want to quit your job as an apology for something you did? Seems stupid, then we’d have to hire someone else.

She’s not crotchety, and she’s very kind, but she’s also practical. It’s refreshing.

The ability to see ayakashi runs in her family, and apparently being able to see them attracts them. To help, Aoi’s grandfather taught her how to cook food ayakashi like, giving her a valuable skill when dealing with the supernatural. And that’s the route Aoi takes at the inn: stumbling across an empty restaurant building and a friendly fox man, they partner up to open a restaurant, setting the stage for the rest of the series.

There are a lot of delicious-looking food shots, which is to be expected, and a lot of the tone surrounding it will be familiar to anyone who’s watched a food-focused anime before: lots of care and thought going into food pairings, delight at finding a rare ingredient, food that helps bridge interpersonal divides, etc.

(IDK, I guess that’s probably common in any media that revolves around food, but I watch a lot of anime, OK?)

But it’s not solely a food-focused show. The food is a tool, Aoi’s way to survive and then thrive, as well as a way to connect with ayakashi. Food as medicine–like when a snow woman collapses and needs chilled food–and food as connection–like when a tengu searches for a replica of his mother’s cooking. (And food that plays a big part various Big Story Plot Things, but I try to avoid spoilers.)

Aoi also gets to explore the world, taken on day trips by her fox friend or the mysterious master ogre, who quickly settled down into a friend and much less of a jerk than you’d expect from the initial abduction+marriage proposal.

There’s the big story (Aoi in the Hidden Realm, Aoi’s growing relationships), the other big story (the second half of the series, leading up to a big magical ritual), and then the multiple little stories: bits of Aoi’s or her grandfather’s pasts, backstories of other characters, the lives of other Hidden Realm denizens, the weird and charming stuff that happens when an inn caters to the supernatural.

Sure, sometimes an episode might have a fight with flaming arrows raining down on the flying boat where Aoi and company are, then other episodes will just be about Aoi making a new friend and having conversations. I hesitate to call something “slice of life” when that life involves giant spiders fighting in the hotel, or assassination attempts, but many episodes are less action-oriented, and there’s a kindness and domesticity that appears throughout.

It was the kind of show I looked forward to watching, actively watching, not just having on while I did other stuff. Plus, the main characters are enjoyable.

Verdict

English Dub? Yes

Visuals: Average, on average, but it avoids highlighting its issues by focusing on fantastic food shots, and by having a decent amount of movement/action and multiple characters in frame fairly frequently.

Worth Watching? Yes. This was the perfect balance between “engaging with plot” and “cannot make me feel tense during a plague,” and I portioned the 26 episodes out as a reward for finishing work each day, completing the series in a month.

I loved the world, based in folklore, and how we get to see more of it as the show progresses. I wish there was more, although what we have ends nicely. The light novels it’s based on are still ongoing (the 11th was published at the end of 2020, the anime apparently adapts the first 5), so Aoi’s story clearly hasn’t ended, but the main storyline’s events wrap up so you’re left wanting more without a cliffhanger.__