Winter Anime Impressions: Part 4

My final winter anime impression post is here with reviews for Koufuku Graffiti, Isuca, Kuroko no Basket 3, and Miritari!

Koufuku Graffiti (Gourmet Girl Graffiti) 

Koufuku Graffiti, translated as Gourmet Girl Graffiti, is an anime about food that follows Ryō Machiko, a middle school girl who lives by herself after her grandmother past away. Ryō loves to cook, but feels that her cooking does not taste as good as it could, until her she meets her cousin, Kirin Morino, for the first time, and thus begins a pleasant slice-of-life anime with artistic visuals.

From Studio Shaft, the masterminds behind the Monogatari series and Ef: A Tale of Memories, Koufuku Graffiti mixes the moe "cute girls doing cute things" genre with their stunning visual style and kinetic editing, and the results are surprisingly entertaining. Even though a lot of people do not like Shaft's style, I absolutely love it! Therefore, if you already dislike Akiyuki Shinbo and Shaft's style, Koufuku Graffiti might not be for you.

With that out of the way, Koufuku Graffiti is one of the more entertaining anime of the season. The food in the series looks absolutely amazing! It is like fanservice for food, or rather "food-service," and you it makes you want to reach into the screen and eat it! 

The main source of criticism that the series gets is that the way the girls eat the food is overly "suggestive," and while it might go too far on occasion, it is not that nearly as bad as people make it out to be. Sure, it is overly stylized for some, but it is such a fun and relaxing series to watch that also makes you hungry.

As for the characters, Ryō, Kirin, and the other characters are not especially complex. However, they are likable, and the series focuses a lot on how Ryō changes from being a loner thanks to Kirin. Her progression is not the most compelling thing ever, and episode six was basically all filler, but it is hard to dislike Ryō and Kirin. 

Ultimately, Koufuku Graffiti is a standard slice-of-life anime with a ton of style that elevates it above the rest, and if you are interested in Japanese food or Studio Shaft, then this is a must-watch.

Watch if you like: Food, Shaft, Moe, Akiyuki Shinbo,

*7.6/10*

Isuca

From the illustrious studio Arms that has brought us such classics as Ikki Tousen, Queen Blade, and Master of Martial Hearts comes Isuca, and if you know anything about the anime I just mentioned, you know that I am being sarcastic, because Studio Arms is known for delivering utter fanservice garbage, with the possible exception of Elfen Lied, and Isuca is no exception or is it?

Isuca is about Shinichirou, a high school guy, and after encountering Sakuya, a girl that hunts supernatural creatures, Shinichirou discovers that can transfer massive amounts of power to whomever he kisses. A cat girl and Sakuya's cousin gets thrown into the mix and you have an utterly terrible anime that is so bad that it is almost good. The first episode is straight up just bad, even for an ecchi. It has every bad ecchi cliché, and it is portrayed is worst way possible. However, the following episodes actually goes so far that it turns from being just bad to so absurdly bad that it is almost good in that weird kind of way. Everything about the series is terribly written, but it is just so poorly written that it is entertaining to just laugh at. Other than, the show is just not good. Studio Arms' animation is a little below average, and nothing to write home about.

Isuca is only good for one thing: laughing at how bad it is, and unless you are dying for something this bad, just do not watch it!

Watch if you like: Ecchi,

Warning: Recommended for 18+ mature audiences.

*4.0/10*

Kuroko no Basket 3 (Kuroko's Basketball 3)

There is not much to say about Kuroko no Basket 3. It is the third season of Kuroko no Basket, and it picks up directly where the previous seasons left off. As for the previous seasons, Kuroko no Basket is the sports series that got me hooked on sports anime. Each basketball game is absolutely intense! Even though it is a sports series, it is more suspenseful than most action anime, and I dislike basketball as a sport, so the fact that this is one of my favorite anime ever is saying something. The characters are likable, the comedy is great, and the animation is beyond amazing! If you want to get hooked on the sports genre, watch Kuroko no Basket!

Watch if you like: The previous seasons, Sports anime,

*8.9/10*

Miritari!

Miritari! is a comedy short where Yano Souhei's father is caught up in a conflict between the fictional countries of Krakozhia Dukedom and the Grania Republic, and to protect Souhei, First Lieutenant Ruto and Second Lieutenant Haruka are sent to protect him from enemies like Shachirofu. What ensues is a series of comical explosions and gunfire! 

What makes it a comedy is that the soldiers protecting Souhei are cute moe lollies, and the same goes for the enemies. With only three minutes for each episode, you can quickly watch a comedy skit, often with the lollies fighting each other and destroying Souhei's house. Most of the episodes are very funny, while a few are only mildly funny. The lollies characters are a lot of fun to watch, but, as with most shorts, there is nothing beyond the comedy, so whether or not you will enjoy Miritari! will depend on how funny you find the humor. The jokes are not all that smart, but it is good random fun, and with such low time investment required, I am going to finish the series!

Watch if you like: Comedy, Lollies, Shorts,

*6.5/10*

More Winter Impressions:
Assassination Classroom: First Impressions
Death Parade Episodes 1-3 Review
Kantai Collection: KanColle: First Impressions
The Rolling Girls: First Impression
Winter Anime Impressions: Part 1
Winter Anime Impressions: Part 2
Winter Anime Impressions: Part 3
Yatterman Night: First Impression

What winter anime are you watching? What do you think of the ones that I reviewed? Please comment below and let me know.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.