

This underrated gem, besides Blue Orchestra S1, is my favourite among the anime I watched to catch up for their sequels for Fall 2025. I find it relaxing and love the slow pace.
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She doesn't allow herself to sound helpless. Her voice acting is on point. (She is voiced by Touyama Nao, who also voiced Ema from Sign of Affection.)
⚫ Kakuriyo's studio, Gonzo, began its operations at the start of this millennium. It has strong titles, such as Full Metal Panic!, Kaleido Star, and the now-obscure Kiddy Grade.
⚫ This is Okuda Yoshiko's directorial debut, but he has been working mostly as support staff since 1998. I love his directing for this anime as it has a slow pace, yet the good vibe is there. Suffice it to say, he is involved in some big titles such as Fairy Tail, Card Captor Sakura, Your Lie in April, and Blue Box.
⚫ The chief animation director is Suzuki Hikaru, who is with a team of nearly three dozen animation directors. This person would later be an animation director in Rent-a-Girlfriend, 7th Time Loop, and Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus.
This anime has some relatively good animation, but not to the point of being sakuga that big-budgeted battle shounen have. It's at least above mediocre animation.
⚫ The colours are handled by Iijima Takae and Utagawa Ritsuko. They don't exactly stand out and wow your senses, but if you look at them, the colour combinations are handled well. (It seems the staff who did Season 2 wasn't as successful.)
⚫ OP 1 is a lovely song sung by the seiyuu of Aoi, Nao Toyama. The TV version has good animation, but the MV for the full version is just as lovely. It assaults one's senses with its good production design.
This anime is effectively an isekai, even if technically, the Hidden Realm is part of the Earth.

I love how slow-paced this is. Unlike the typical isekai, it took her a few episodes before her eatery, the Moonflower, was operational.

Firstly, she wasn't transported to the other world through death or reincarnation.
Secondly, this anime takes its sweet time getting you to care about the characters. It has a slice-of-life vibe due to how low-stakes things are, yet you follow along with an event that usually mends misunderstandings.
Thirdly, there is barely any romance, but the direction of the story will lead there. The primary love interest, Oodanna-sama, is what people nowadays call 'green flag.'


But as far as I'm concerned, this is a strength. Aoi is the type of protagonist who wants to take control of her fate.

Those who love slice-of-life anime will love this, and those who don't mind that the romance takes a back seat.
A recurring pattern here is that a certain character would be rude to her at first, and then she would win them over through the food she cooks.




The two opening songs and the various ending songs are catchy. They have an energetic vibe behind them.
A supporting character is voiced by Ueda Reina. Her voice is so lovely for such a small, barely on-screen role.

When I started watching this, I was expecting just a decent watch. I did not expect to watch a hidden gem. I'm glad to have given this a chance.
NOTA BENE: A grade of 8 out of 10 [or 80 out of 100 in anilist] means that I find this anime is very good and three notches above average. I enjoyed watching it.
My enjoyment spectrum lies from 4 to 10. If I have scored an anime below 4, I actively dislike it.
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