The foundations of the earth have broken.
- It’s not just this show that’s surprised me so much, but this season too. I’m still watching about 5 shows, plus Shirobako from last season; something I very rarely do nowadays. But we all know that every show in any format, may it be animated or not, needs filler, to pad the story out. This is never a bad thing, despite what people say…
- …but to be perfectly honest, I was completely in Kirin’s shoes for this episode. She had that perfect summer last week; visiting Shiina’s massive estate, eating as much as she physically could, setting off fireworks at night, and spending time with her waifu. And so now that that summer fun has been and gone, what is she supposed to do now? Just whittle away at cram school, twiddle her thumbs and do nothing? What I’m getting at is that this episode was the complete aftermath of Kirin’s fun time. All that excitement about an excellent Koufuku Graffiti episode, then we have something like this. No way I’m calling this a bad thing, though, but I did feel as restless as Kirin this week.
- While episode 4 had Ryo while both Kirin and Shiina were out of action, and episode 5, we got to know much more about who Shiina was, this week was Kirin’s turn to shine. It’s fair to say that, while it’s obvious that she has a massive appetite and she’s already become incredibly attached to Ryo, but aside from that, I don’t believe she hasn’t really made that much of a presence until now. I am however surprised at how SHAFT didn’t go all melodramatic with Kirin. Perhaps it’s because we’ve all pictured her as the happy character, the girl who never gets upset, etc. Well to be frank no one has really gotten upset so far in the show, but I actually would have thought that Ryo would’ve at least, since she was so completely attached to her grandmother. Perhaps an episode of her cooking something she especially loved making Ryo will come out, and she’ll go all teary-eyed, and Kirin will go and hug her and everything…then we’ll see that the show isn’t all about the food. But the single most moving moment comes right at the end. Ryo is trying to get over her stomachache by sleeping it off, then we get shots of her grandma fanning her as she sleeps. With her grandma’s absence, Kirin is now taking her place with that “We’re-cousins-but-we-can-still-be-lovers” look. Bring on the masses of fan-fiction, fan art, and every single anime forum that ever exists (especially the yuri ones). Oh wait…all that started the moment Kirin offered food to Ryo in episode 1!
We can all see what’ll happen next.
- So yeah, I did feel the same fatigue Kirin had this week. Watching this show, I was twiddling my thumbs, staring at the screen, waiting for something to happen. I knew (as we all do) that Ryo would put something together and we’d get our weekly dose of food porn from both herself and Kirin (and sometimes Shiina), but the episode really did have that ‘je ne sais quoi’. That’s such a cliche term, but it’s the truth. I think I felt the same way back in episode 3; Ryo felt her art wasn’t up to scratch, so to alleviate her problem, what does she do? Take a guess. Well, this may as well be similar, only Ryo’s art has been replaced by summer fatigue. I don’t deny that food is great during the summer; I already know that having constantly cold food during the summer makes you feel worse, so what was on offer this week?
- Broiled eel, ice cream in the shared bathtub (don’t ask), then azuki bean soup. This two truly are husband and wife: Ryo is the hapless wife cooking her husband Kirin’s food, who demolishes it without a single fuss. Even still, seafood, then ice cream, then bean stew. No wonder they all got stomachache.
- But I do hasten to add that every episode of Koufuku Graffiti makes me hungry. And in addition to this, it makes me a little sad how myself as a Westerner eats so terribly. I really do want to try out all of this stuff Ryo makes. I don’t like the idea of eel, plus I can’t eat mushrooms (allergic), but I swear once this show is all good and done, a fan (or a good few of them) will put together a cookbook. Unless SHAFT do it first.
…plus there’s Kirin’s other appetite…
