Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi Ni

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi is back, not to resounding success, but with a completely workable second season. For me, the heart of Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi is the idea that a mixture of pure-hearted sincerity and delicious food can warm the heart of anyone, and that key element is what carries this season. While this is a bit of a conceit, it's not that far from reality. Real sincerity does open our hearts, and humans have always been susceptible to the charm of a good meal.

I also enjoyed the considerable expansion of the world. We got to meet several intriguing new characters and travel to new locations. ... Addressing the locations first, they were all charming and had some nice visual appeal, although the latter point was damaged a bit by the decline in the quality of the art in this season. The new characters were a much more welcome addition, with a confectionery rival of sorts for Aoi really starring in her brief role that hopefully will be reprised in future seasons.

I do admit that there is a drop in art and animation quality compared to the previous season, but it was not a precipitous drop. Rather, the animation fell from having a bit of added art to being simply workmanlike. The art is still appealing and has some degree of charm, just to a lesser extent compared to the first season. One could also argue that the stories were a little more simplistic this season, but that might just be rose colored glasses for the past on my part. In reality, stories told where sincerity wins the day tend toward formulaic conflicts, so I can't really blame Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi for being in the middle of the pack here. The only real flaw I would ascribe to this season is the absence of one of the cast members for part of the season due to the course of the plot. While this plot arc may deliver more in the future, it really weakens this season since some of my favorite character interactions were diminished.

This second season is a welcome addition to the anime. It wasn't everything I could have dreamed of for a second season, but neither did I feel disappointed by its existence. Aoi continues to charm in her role, and the food looks as delicious as ever. When you want some cozy drama and eye candy food, settle down for a comfortable ride.

Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits, the 2nd Bake — 5 words, 1 sentence: What the hell happened here?

In the realm of sequels and the like, there are only 2 things that stop the momentum of hyping up a series and reclaiming back the attention that it once had: improved production and the considerable time gap, so everyone would've obviously forgotten what's been done in the seasons before, and there would have to be some short recap and re-teaching of what has happened thus far. However, in the very rare case where sequels truly drop the bomb in their respective ways (of which the ONE ... egregious example of Kaiu Shirai's Yakusoku no Neverland a.k.a. The Promised Neverland, will always be the shining black sheep of sequels gone awfully wrong), even decent series like novelist Midori Yuuma's Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi, a.k.a. Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits, should serve a decent follow-up given its age in its anime format. Yet, regrettably, like the former Black Sheep king, this show also doesn't fare well being a sequel in both ways.

With Kakuriyo's premiere season back in Spring-Summer 2018, this 7-year-long gap between seasons, at least for its time then and now, should be served with at least somewhat of a recap so that people (that I'm assuming have watched all 26 episodes right before Season 2) should at least be reminded of the sequence of events that led to MC Aoi Tsubaki and her ordained marriage with Odanna, the Master Innkeeper of the Tenjin-ya inn, of which Aoi had quite the history of legend as the granddaughter of Shiro Tsubaki, someone with strong Ayakashi powers and who is a respected legend in the Hidden Realm. Yet, for all intents and purposes, the decision was made to instead just flake this information and continue with the adaptation of the LNs (from Volume 6 onwards) and complete the anime regardless of its declining quality; it just is a pain to see how much the AniManga industry has to go for broke and finish the job by hook or by crook.

For starters, it's not a surprise seeing Aoi Tsubaki and her newly established restaurant, Moonflower (co-created with Ginji), flourish all the more with incoming attention towards the young human lady herself, spreading her name far and wide to the Hidden Realm. Conversely, that shakes up the Hidden Realm when Odanna's horrid past catches up with him, as former enemies try to dig up his past and label him as an evil ogre god. As much as Aoi believes that as a fact and wants to embrace him in a hostile environment, the Ayakashi are gunning for the biggest war of their lives, not just from an eating aesthetic, but of how the Ayakashi is run under its supreme leader, the king. Naturally, Aoi is there to assist him and the others alongside her, choosing her side to face against the tough crowd, appealing to the ayakashi not influenced by the matter, though this time, it's a fight all the way to the ayakashi king's courts that Odanna is not the same evil ogre as he once was. Through blood, sweat, and tears, Aoi and the other ayakashi must fight on.

Unsurprisingly, almost all of the main staff were replaced, as did with the times. While series scriptwriter Tomoko Konparu and music composer Takuro Iga stood on the most important bits of anime being its overall production and direction, this is where it truly gets ugly. If you thought that studio Gonzo is back from their grave helping out with the series' adaptation in animation, you're sorely mistaken, as although Kakuriyo was once under their banner, they've basically shut down their animation division once COVID broke and let others take their stead, as such with Makaria (and Luminas as their co-production studio collab) completely taking over production for the sequel. As a result, Season 2 feels unpolished, unrefined, and cheap as a whole, and the Gonzo quality is all but a mere memory. Even the staff team feels like a slipshod handle of last-minute gathering, with rookie director Joe Yoshizaki at the helm after his work on Spring's Yami Healer, a.k.a. The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows, which he clearly either is not ready for or is limited to the overall budget for the show's run.

Needless to say, when both production and direction took a nosedive, everything fell apart with it, as did the music itself too. Takuro Iga continues to do a plentiful job on the series' OST, but both the OP and ED theme songs, led by Nao Touyama, are both respectively mediocre and decent to the point that her memorable OP song for the premiere season easily trounces them all.

I really don't know what to say, other than to mention that Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi, a.k.a. Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits's fall from grace is THIS starkly obvious that even pre-COVID seasonal veterans (like myself) both itch and etch the show as basically unwatchable. Season 1 for its time was somewhat decent and serviceable, but Season 2 takes such a nosedive that I can't even recognize the show almost to its brim, even when it does show some bits of quality.

At the end of it all, nothing but crocodile tears can be flowed for how shows are taken in this day and age, and series like Kakuriyo areshed just "business as normal," being used not for longevity, but to create a buck.

Get ready to have some more food porn served up, piping hot!

Artwork has disintegrated compared to season 1. Character and background work has slid precipitously. While the animation was never much to brag about, it's now the level of Saturday Morning Kid Vid. The producers cheaped out mightily.

Writing for the characters is almost nonexistent. The MMC and the main antagonist disappear almost immediately and we never get to see them again except as snippets. I have no idea why the writers took a 3rd tier character and suddenly make her a hime. Because she's cute? The other character are all 2D cardboard cutouts, ... including the supposed FMC. She's still stuck in the "cause trouble, cook her way out, rinse repeat" cycle.

The narrative is damned sparse. There was a bit of world building with the inclusion of the northern region. But a lot of that got glossed over badly and felt much too rushed or unexplained. There was only a minimal bit of plot progression. And the 'romance' was poorly portrayed. Isn't the clunky embarrassing part supposed to come BEFORE the marriage, not after? Poorly written indeed.

The VA work was less than mid. It could best be described as "going through the motions." With all the problems that never got rectified, it would be fair to call the direction poor.

Season 1 was relaxing enough to be pleasantly boring. Not so this season as it's chock full of disasters. I'd grade this fairly 62/100 for a D-. Not failing, but not because it didn't try. I'd suggest a nap and bite to eat anywhere else.