Koufuku Graffiti (Gourmet Girl Graffiti)

The path to becoming a fine wife begins with being an accomplished cook—at least, that is what Ryou Machiko's late grandmother had led her to believe. For a middle schooler, Ryou's cooking skills are incomparable; but recently, though Ryou's food looks appetizing and smells inviting, the taste has not been delicious. Just when the dejected art student comes to terms with the possibility that she might continue living alone for the rest of her life, her aunt tells her that Kirin Morino—Ryou's second cousin—will begin staying with her every weekend since the younger girl has joined a cram school in Tokyo and aims to attend the same school as Ryou.

Surprisingly, with her cousin's arrival, Ryou finds that her cooking has vastly improved—apparently, it is not her prowess in the kitchen, but the sharing of the experience with those closest to her that seems to make the flavors shine.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Koufuku Graffiti

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Characters & Voice Actors

Machiko, Ryou

Main

Satou, Rina
Japanese

Morino, Kirin

Main

Oogame, Asuka
Japanese

Shiina

Main

Komatsu, Mikako
Japanese

Uchiki, Yuki

Supporting

Iguchi, Yuka
Japanese

Tsuyuko

Supporting

Kobayashi, Yuu
Japanese

Shiina, Mother

Supporting

Matsuki, Miyu
Japanese

Yonetani, Misaki

Supporting

Nishi, Asuka
Japanese

Morino, Rin

Supporting

Hirohashi, Ryou
Japanese

Machiko, Akira

Supporting

Nonaka, Ai
Japanese

Itsuki

Supporting

Nishi, Asuka
Japanese

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Staff

Ooshima, Miku

Producer

Itou, Shousei

Producer

Hayashi, Youhei

Producer

Kawamoto, Sachi

Producer

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Opening Theme

"Shiawase ni Tsuite Watashi ga Shitteiru Itsutsu no Houhou (幸せについて私が知っている５つの方法)" by Maaya Sakamoto

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Ending Theme

"Egao ni Naru (笑顔になる)" by Ryou Machiko (Rina Satou) & Kirin Morino (Asuka Oogame)

Reviews

Feb 6, 2015

Genesisis

Recommended

Well, Koufuku Graffiti is one of those anime with Cute girls doing cute things under the "moe" genre, one of those refreshing anime where you can sit back relax and enjoy. Koufuku Graffiti is your Slice of Life Anime about food, nothing too out of the ordinary, but you will either really enjoy it or think watching it will be a chore. Just watch the first episode whatever you experienced that how it will be throughout the rest of the anime. The quality of the backgrounds and food are gorgeous and the way the trio bound is very heartwarming its what really brings the anime ...

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Feb 18, 2015

Lancehot

Mixed Feelings

SHAFT!

Koufuku Graffiti is a show about girls eating. It's produced by SHAFT.

SHAFT SHINBOU!

Directed by Akiyuki Shinbou, SHAFT's unofficially official director in residence, it contains all the visual quirks, art direction, fourth wall breaking, self-aware fanservice & everything else we've become all too accustomed to expect from SHAFTs output since he directed Zetsubou Sensei way back in 2007.

SHAFT SUGGESTIVE EATING!

The story, so much as there is one, focuses on Ryou Machiko, a 16 year old girl living alone after the death of her grandmother. She has a talent for cooking, but her dreams extend no further than being a housewife at this point in her life. ...

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Mar 28, 2015

ZephSilver

Not Recommended

Thank you Shaft for sharting out this forgettable pile of "meh."

You know you've stepped waist deep in low-tier storytelling territory when the only highlight of a show is girls eating food. This review will be relatively short, not because I don't want to write more about the title, but because the show itself lacks any kind of content to warrant any form of discussion or analysis.

It should go without saying that the "cute girls doing cute things" trend has become something of its own entity in the past decade. Due to the overwhelming success of titles like K-On, Hidamari Sketch, Lucky☆Star, Azumanga Daioh and ... much more, this trend has spawned a quasi-subgenre within the quarters it would usually reside in, regardless of the material being covered. The popularity of the "moe" craze only grows each year, with no sign of slowing down in the foreseeable future, thanks in large part to the increasing demand for more self-indulgent works. With so many infatuated with this niche appeal, it was only a matter of time before opposing viewpoints fought against it. With some even going as far as labeling it as "the cancer of the community." And while I think that proclamation is a bit overstated, I think my score speaks for itself regarding what side of this feud I stand on.

Now, this isn't to say "cute girls" anime can't work, I myself have seen a few that I personally enjoyed. It's just that the problem with Koufuku Graffiti, and by extension, any other show guilty of this, is that it has nothing outside of one gimmick to support it. Being genre specific or serving a niche audience isn't an excuse to lack subject matter. Case in point, the Gundam franchise. Had it only been about displaying mecha, the franchise wouldn't have lasted for so many decades. It serves its niche market with mecha porn to fawn over but still provide content with its themes of political warfare and human ethics to keep it anchored. Even genres with divisive reception, such as ecchi, abide by this common unspoken rule. With titles such as Queen's Blade and High school DxD understanding that serving "plot" with a plot would allow it a longer shelf-life in the competitive viewer market. Hell, we don't even have to travel out that far, within this very moe playing field, one of the patriarchs responsible for creating the trend, K-On, even understands this; a show that balances school activities, the girls' hobbies, and friendships simultaneously to maintain viewer interest.

And where other genres and niche appeals flourish, Koufuku Graffiti falls short of the mark. With nothing else to offer content-wise besides its hyper-sexualized foodgasm shtick, the novelty of this show wanes considerably after just one episode.

The setup for bottom-rung content like this usually follows a cast of girls centered around a particular subject or activity and does nothing else. And when I say nothing else, I mean that quite literally, as nothing of significance ever happens throughout Koufuku Graffiti's run-time. Each episode follows the same monotonous setup:
Cute girls converse--> some tension-less conflict arises (mostly involving a moeblob being lonely)--> girls make food and have a foodgasm--> rinse and repeat.

With such a simplistic and predictable setup, you can basically just watch the 1st episode and get the same general picture as someone who bothered to sit through all 12. That's the epitome of lazy writing. This show takes pandering to a whole new level; it doesn't even try to mask it. It's mundanity that aims to do nothing. Watching paint dry would be a far more productive activity.

Seeing that everything revolves around girls eating and having foodgasms, you'd at least expect high-quality animation for those scenes, but what we got instead was poorly rendered CGI food that looks plastic, slow motion with above average frame-rate and sparkles... again, THIS is supposed to be the show's highlight. Everything else fell below normal standards with stiff, often inconsistent animation and very bare-bones presentation. If animated foodgasms are all you want, just watch Food Wars instead. It's a show that far exceeds Graffiti regarding quality and general entertainment value. Everything about Graffiti just feels flat by comparison to everything else in its playing field. From the cookie cutter characters to the nonexistent storyline, Graffiti is just a lifeless husk masquerading as a show that cares.

Koufuku Graffiti was not made with the general populace in mind. This was an anime made for those still fascinated with the "moe" craze. And you know what? That's fine. If there's an audience out there for this, despite what little value I could find in it, so be it. But if after watching the 1st episode you're not impressed, then skip this one because that's about as good as the show gets.

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Poll: Koufuku Graffiti Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Jan 8, 2015	172 replies	by wildhood »» Dec 22, 2023 3:20 AM
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