Ranked #1176

Ristorante Paradiso

It's been a long time since I sat down and watched something as slow-paced as Ristorante Paradiso. To tell the truth, I was actually longing for a good slice-of-life anime to come up somewhere. When I stumbled upon it, the whole idea of "a restaurant with a single lady worker and lots of aged men" interested me. I mean, the abundance of grown men is curiously odd enough. It's not a plot that's usually used in an anime. And, I'm a guy, so at first I felt a little uncomfortable with the show with lots of males on it, but after watching, it's not like they're those guys on anime that lives just to attract females, so guys are welcome to watch this josei anime with peace.

Anyway, if you don't like slow-paced, quiet shows, and dislike works without much action, then Ristorante Paradiso will surely disappoint you. It's a story for people who like the quieter, more peaceful side of life and anime.

-Story
Ristorante Paradiso is all about a restaurant, somewhere in Rome, with its employess consisting of lots of aged men with glasses. Then, enter Nicoletta into the picture, and the restaurant's never the same again. Don't get me wrong though. The show has this quiet atmosphere that makes you feel like you're at the restaurant as well, eating its delicious delicacies.

-Art
Old people ahoy! The anime's full of the art consisting of old people's faces. It defies the usual standard that you need a sexy/moe/whatever type of character design for the anime to work. Anyway, the art is okay, with its dreamy-like colors and all. But the food! They drew it well!

-Sound
Listen to the opening song and agree with me: the music is well-thought of. It meshed well with the overall theme of the anime: slow-paced slice-of-life. The background music gets it right with the scenes.

-Characters
Ristorante Paradiso's working point is its characters. Each one of them (from the weird Gigi to the old Luciano) has a story of their own, and it worked well with the overall feel. From the beginning, you'd wonder what kind of people works at the restaurant; don't worry, everyone will be focused on.

-Enjoyment
I really enjoyed watching this. The combination of the setting (Rome), characters, and good food, makes this show worthwhile. But, as I've said, it's for people who enjoys quiet anime, so it really depends on your preference if you'll enjoy this or not.

-Overall
Can't say much more; it made my day. Imperfect, yes, but it is a worthy slice-of-life anime, so go try it. Contrary to the common belief, it's not shoujo; it's josei, intended for an older, more mature audience. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but you'll appreciate it more if you're old enough to understand how elder people's minds works. And, this anime's not limited to women. Men can appreciate it as well. read more

"A mysterious restaurant is on a road just a little ways from the center of Rome."

Story: 8/10
The plot revolves around a group of older looking men, who work at a restaurant called "Casetta Dell’orso". Each worker wears eye glasses when they are on duty. And this in fact is what makes the restaurant stand out from the others in Rome. One day the staff gets greeted by a women from America, who in turn comes to them wanting to train with the crew. As the anime progresses, each member of the cast is brought in the spotlight, and gets there own in depth story as to how they ended up working there, along with other interesting tid-bits. It does stay linear in this aspect, but brings so many different unique twists on everyone’s story, that most shouldn’t mind this fact. Now because this anime is more of a slow paced down to earth story, everything in it’s plot is very realistic. And a lot of the drama that is brought to the table comes in the form of relationships, complicated family issues, to mixed feeling among characters. All of this is knitted very well together to make quite a compelling and deep storyline. Even though Nicolette is the main character of the story, they all get well balanced scenes, which is good as there is nobody in this that will ever leave the viewer with a big black question mark as to who they are. So be prepared for lots of dialog in this. Now not everything in this will please viewers. As mentioned earlier, the story is quite slow paced, and there really is no over all big plot to this anime. Simply put, it’s a story about life in a restaurant, and I actually found it quite dissapointing that the restaurant theme wasn’t used to it’s fullest. So don’t expect to get any kind of explanation as to how certain dishes are prepared, as the story is more character driven than anything else. Which isn’t a bad thing really, since they really do turn out to be the backbone of this anime. The ending is quite fitting, and should satisfy most.

Regarding possible offensive material. Ristorante Paradiso contains very little in this aspect. There are occasional suggestive situations, but they are done in a quite tasteful manner, never for show. The only thing I would say that some viewers might find a bit disturbing, is that the main lead female Nicoletta, shows attraction to men that are old enough to be her father.

Sound: 8/10
The music track really shines in this. You get the traditional tracks one would hear if they were in Paris, Italy and of course...Rome. The opening theme is quite relaxing, as is the ending theme, and actually does mix well with it’s environment’s theme. Voice acting is also quite good. All character voice are done with maturity and calm, and really do bring the characters to life. Overall, it’s quite an endearing soundtrack.

Animation: 7/10
This was the only real thing I didn’t like about the anime, it just didn’t feel like the animation was up to par regarding what it could have been. Quite a bit of the color scheme is pretty bland at times. Some may argue that it was done purposely in order to create a certain style to the anime. Regardless though, it still has a nice amount of detail to it. Case in point: being that the cast is of different style ages right? And the artists really worked over time to make sure that the characters looked their appropriate age. All the male characters look like they really are in their 40s and 50s. While others, such as Nicolette, appear to be in their 20’s. So while the animation is by no means pushing any boundaries, it’s still nice to look at, and detailed in the places you would want it to be..

Characters: 9/10
As mentioned earlier, each member gets his or her own spotlighted episode. Considering that this is only an 11 episode series, you wouldn’t expect this to have much depth to it. Surprisingly though it does, and the best compliment I can give the cast, is that you really are able to get into their heads, and with many you can even read their thoughts. They have a good amount of layers to their personality, and you will want to push on in the show just to see why a certain character acts a certain way, as little tid-bits are explained as things progress. There was one draw back to this category though, and that comes in the form of Nicolette herself. At the beginning I was expecting her to really develop over the course of the series, and while she did have a bit of development to her, it really wasn’t much. As she tended to just remain in the background "observing" the other cast of character’s lives, and ended up feeling more like a prop to the series. Even still, a wonderful memorable cast that feel interesting, yet down to earth at the same time.

Overall: 8/10
If you are looking for a deep and relaxing slice of life anime with a nice pace to it, then you will enjoy Ristorante Paradiso. While it might disappoint some that were expecting a series that centers around food, it still has a lot to offer the viewer who can appreciate it's plot and themes. So if you were looking for your next anime entree, then your appetite is about to be fed! read more

When I started this series, it was more over me just flipping through random anime and going hey why not and watching the first ep. After watching the first ep I was strangely captivated by all of the characters in the anime. Each character had a distinct feature about them, but at the same time many of the characters could be thought as similar.

This is not a anime for people who like fast paced action in my opinion, but instead made for simple relaxation and enjoyment.

You learn about the characters as the story continues, and through multiple stories, a bigger picture is created.

I would say that this anime is either a hit or miss with people, ya love it or ya don't.

To all people out their though I would say to most certainly give this anime a try.

For 11 episodes I was completely satisfied, except for the never ending wish for more.

This anime is for both males and females a like, I don't believe one group would prefer it over another, its an acquired taste tbh. read more

While I used to live on action anime, I've been a bit of a fan of 'slice of life' series since watching Welcome to the NHK; this was my hope, and what I was expecting. I was not disappointed.

Now I have to say that nothing really 'happens' in this series - there are no major events or shocking twists. This is a true character development series, with most episodes being dedicated to back stories for the restaurant staff. While it is indeed set in a restaurant, this series really has nothing to do with food, it's just the setting.

When I finished this series, I wanted to go to that restaurant and I wanted to meet those people; that's the mark of a good series, in my opinion. read more

Story.
Granted, an 11 episode show can't have that intricate a story, but I found that the heroine's "journey," which should have been the main plot, was overwhelmed by all the secondary character's subplots. We learn little of her childhood, her education, or her reasons for suddenly deciding to come to Rome to meet her mother. The resolution with her mother, which should have been the climax and dominated the final two episodes, was like a footnote in the story.

Art
One of the show's strongest elements. Not just the character design but the overall depiction of Rome were very well done. The way the "camera" sometimes panned around to show what the characters were actually seeing was a nice touch. A lot of attention was given to make the restaurant seem warm and the food delicious.

Sound
I hated the intro. The rest was all right; it didn't detract or add. There wasn't a single theme that caught my attention and made me think, "This is really lovely." Decent ending theme though.

Character
Pretty carefully developed characters. The heroine was naive, but likable, and she grew during the course of the story. The people she worked with also had detailed back stories. I can't say I found any of them interesting, though. A smaller cast, more episodes, or more "current" events and fewer flashbacks, might have helped.

Enjoyment
It's relaxing to watch, but the show only had two elements that kept me engaged: the love interest and the painful relationship between the mother and daughter. Neither delivered. The love story between the heroine and older man wasn't convincing. They didn't have great chemistry and I was surprised when I realized he was actually the real love interest, and not a crush along the way to the real hero. The other disappointment was how little attention was given to the relationship between the girl and her mother. The heroine was abandoned at an early age by her mother, so her mother could marry a man (who didn't know she had a daughter). It wasn't for financial reasons either, just that the mother loved him and he'd told her he wouldn't marry a divorcee. Despite this, the heroine's resentment tapers off fast. As for the mother, I know it's a light josei anime and that there has to be a happily ever after ending, but she sure got off easy. Finally, about the heroine's reasoning along the way--"Well, now I'm in love so as a woman I get why you did it"--sorry, but no matter how much you like a guy, you don't ditch your kid.

Overall
Okay show if you don't think about it too hard I guess. Definitely has themes I disagree with though, about a parent's responsibility and how when your husband cheats on you, you've just got to remind him how much he loves you. read more

Story- a good choice to relax and enjoy the harmony of each series.
Plot is pretty original and allows you to go into the greatest, and even in those simpler components. very simple but graceful, real-life story that will be remembered for quite some time. P.S. - My favorite work of David production and one of my top 5 favorite anime.
Art-Josei style - never ceases to admire me. Very strange but at the same time different, which made watching more exciting. and facial features as they are presented so lovely and funny in many places made me smile. I was able to detect 3-D and 2-D in some places,which from the beginning seemed unusual, but after that it pretty well complemented by josei style even brighter.
Yes, in a few words - very colorful anime
Sound - Lisa KOMIN-Suteki na Kajitsu is one of my favorite anime songs. All the ost belonged to the respective scenes, and created a pleasant atmosphere
Overall Ristorante Paradiso is about 28 ost [30 with intro and ending theme]
Character - A typical shoujo with a rather atypical characters - it sounds pretty stupid right?
Nicoletta - stubborn young lady from With no knowledge of love.
Claudio - stubborn and aged man, who can't forget his wife?
Both, the main characters made me laugh, cry and be angry, but never disappointed
About small age difference- i didnt mind, when the two of them began this somehow weird relationship. Yes, it made me lough of joy.
Rather, I wouldn't say shoujo characters, but a gentle seinen.
Enjoyment - It was perfect , what else can i say ? Maybe they were little slow about their fellings but i understand that.
Overall - Spite all nines , i give them 10 - why? when i have this warm feeling , i know this one is my fav read more

This is an excellent choice for those, who like slow paced and emotionally upbringing anime,are more or less interested in the different layers of human nature, and of course...love.

First of all, although the story takes place in Rome, there is nothing of the so called ''normal Italian behaviour'' No loud (more or less) voices, overreacted emotional outbursts etc.BUT there is lots of gorgeous food (I'm also living in Europe,so those are things Italians are considerably famous for xD)
The main storyline is about a girl named Nicoletta, who comes to Rome from the countryside, chasing after her mother Olga, who is married to an eccentric (?) man. He owns a little restaurant by the name "Ristorante casetta dell'orso"
Olga is desperately trying to keep the fact, that Nicoletta is her daughter from anyone, especially - her new husband. So, as the events evolve, Nicoletta founds herself working in this strange restaurant, where all the waiters and chefs are elderly (gentlemen) men with glasses (so the place is always full of female customers).
Of course, the other main storyline must be Nicolettas struggles to find her own place in the new and unknown world, something to live for and , the most interesting (in my opinion)is her crush on one of the waiters(ignoring the age difference).

I really like the art style, because it helps to relax from all the bubbly looking, or on the contrary - over feminine women in most of other anime i have seen. The lines and colours are well balanced, so the background is near to ideal. The art style, well...not everyone will appreciate it, but it would just be so because of the stereotypes, how anime should look like.

The soundtrack is really good and adequate. It is an essential part for the creation of the right mood. The tunes are soothing, just like the ones you would hear, having a meal in a very good restaurant with live performers.The Op and Ed are nice as well.


The episodes were definitely worth watching, as the plot unfolds.
The reasons for doing something, exploring ones abilities, all of it makes the story and the characters actions believable. Especially, considering our fast lifestyle, for some, this anime could be a good chance to sit down, relax and think over some actions (at least, I'm in the same age as her and stuck with the same uncertainty --> what do I really want to do with my life? )

Actually, I didn't want to over exaggerate, so I gave this show a balanced 8 . I am assured, everyone can take full enjoyment from watching it, ignoring the gender (but, possibly, not the characteristic preferences).

So, if you are interested in an evolving story with not so common characters, dialogues and drawing style, Ristorante paradiso is anime, which should definitely be at least on your ''plan to watch'' list.


read more

I love Japanese food, but Italian cuisine is the greatest. That's the reason why I picked this anime to watch and it was a pleasant watch. I also must admit that I'm actually a bisexual and the males are pretty hot. Ahem, let's get back to the review.

Ristorante Paradiso is a fascinating josei slice-of-life work that is both enchantingly slow-paced and colorful in terms of characterization, exemplifying the genre and demographic as a whole.

The premise is the setting, an Italian restaurant in Rome. What is different about this restaurant is the abundance of spectacled male waitresses and cafes. Of course, these hot bishies, I mean male characters, are not just the main focus of the show; rather, the story is driven by the observations of the female lead character, Nicoletta.

Thus, we enter Nicoletta's maturing thinking as she talks to the restaurant employees. There is a huge amount of characterization into all of the characters as Nicoletta learns about the history of both the characters and the history of the restaurant.

And this is why the pacing is great; it enforces the slice-of-life aspect of the work.

Works that call themselves slice-of-life try to be humorous. However, josei works have the ability to calm themselves down and focus on realistic relationship dynamics and characterization. Ristorante Paradiso is no exception.

We get to understand the characters and their problems. Every viewer must have seen this type of character before in their life. The slow pacing through Nicoletta's observations lets us understand their troubles in life, especially marriage which is a recurring theme in the show.

Both pacing and characterization lend together and develop a great show with a great cast that all of us can relate to. It is a great character study and worth writing essays about.

In other aspects, the art is gorgeous. Paintings are used as backgrounds and the characters are strongly contrasted from the background with their bright colors. While they should have varied their color palette (it feels a bit too warm at times), the art is stylistic and beautiful.

Sound-wise, the show did a great job. There are some great acoustic music playing in the background and some of them are very memorable. I enjoyed the OP jazz music a lot and it really sucks you into the mood.

That said, there are some problems. The first OP feels a bit too fanservicey and there may be moments that are uncomfortable for male viewers. Any person who has been to at least Europe will know there are some blatant history mistakes; only Japanese people bow, Ristorante Paradiso. It is also vaguely European, not Italian.

Anyone who enjoyed iyashikei (works like Aria), josei animes, animes with strong characterization, or just willing to watch something different will like Ristorante Paradiso. It is indeed a hidden paradise for anime lovers. read more

**This review was written after watching the first episode**

"The mysterious restaurant on a street near the centre of Rome"

With these words, the viewer is brought into the world of a quaint little eating place, as seen through the eyes of the young protagonist, Nicoletta.

The first thing that will strike you as you watch Ristorante Paradiso is probably the art. The character designs, especially the two ladies, are just about as different as you can get from the usual pretty anime girls. The 2 female characters, when seen from the front, have unfortunately masculine facial structures, and to be honest, the overly wide mouths and slight creases about their eyes and mouth were rather distracting despite my best efforts to ignore them. On the other hand, the males in the show were pretty well-drawn, even though I'm not a great fan of the 'bespectacled men' archetype.

However, art goes beyond just character designs, and it is in the backgrounds that Ristorante Paradiso truly shines. As Nicoletta toured the city of Rome, the sights and the cityscape were rendered beautifully in a soft pastel palette. I'm no student of art, but I found that they resembled watercolour paintings, which managed to convey the quiet, historic ambience that I associate with Rome. Taking the previous points into consideration, I've given Ristorante a 7 for art.

The next thing that you may notice is the background soundtrack. Again, this is somewhat hard to describe, but it mainly consists of cool jazzy tunes where the melody is mainly carried by the piano, and supported by violin. The music really helped to set the mood of the events, all the while making you feel like you're sitting in a quiet little cafe, relaxing with a cup of tea (or coffee) in your hand. The opening and ending themes also matched well with the tone set by the soundtrack, so no complaints there.

Having only watched 1 episode, there isn't much I can say about the story or characters so far. However, what has been revealed of the story and the restaurant's premise so far has been interesting (no spoilers here), and enough has been shown of Nicoletta's past to make her actions and motivations believable. The cast is also suitably varied in terms of personality and promises some rather interesting relationships to develop.

Overall, if you enjoy the slice-of-life genre, you'll probably enjoy Ristorante Paradiso. Try to look beyond the somewhat odd character designs and you'll probably be fine. On the other hand, if you're looking for an action-packed, fast-paced anime, you're looking in the wrong place. Finally, while the large cast of men in the show may turn some male viewers off, being a guy myself, I can assure you that this is an anime that viewers of both gender can enjoy.

So do take a seat in Ristorante Paradiso, you may just find yourself a little piece of paradise! read more

Honestly at first i didn't know if i would enjoy it, but at the end my day was pretty much perfect. It was my first time ever watching something as slow-paced as this anime, but i most definitely do not regret watching it. Honestly i'd watch it again anytime that i just want a calm and peacefull afternoon.

The most facinating thing about Ristorante Paradiso was the music and the art. It's all very soothing, calm and gentle. The music fit perfectly with every scene while the art was calmingly slightly old fashioned.

The lovely thing about the story for me was that i wasn't on the endge of my seat wanting to know really badly what happens in the next episode to the point where i wanted to skip the "boring" parts in a episode. I wanted to take my time. Enjoying each moment of an episode. It never got boring. It's a very lovely slow-paced anime that you can even only watch one episode a day just to calm down from a stressfull day.

All in all i loved it and honestly if i were ever in Rome i would be very tempted to see if the place really excisted. Lovely anime for both male and female. read more

I believe in super short reviews:

It's a cute story. The plot is pretty straightforward and typical of the slice of life romance genre. However, the characters are very well-developed, which is what makes this anime. The art is sort of like Nodame Cantabile (for better or worse).

It's good, and worth watching if you have some time, but not really a must-see.

Warning: You may end up with a fetish for men in spectacles.

**Dont READ if ur a fan o-o**
This anime could probably relate more to females, so if ur male.....don't watch it cus u'll mostlikely hate it (just relalized it was a shoujo and i have no right really to say this... but o well i took 10 mins to vent.)


This anime is a real let down. Im not real picky when it comes to anime. I can mostly watch anything without complaining but this just made me cring left and right. At first when i first saw it i thought "ooh this seems like a interesting show". Yea it was interesting alright... No offence but this anime looks like crap...if u think differently feel free to message me to change my opinion about this. If u think my opinion is bias...it probably is but i can say the same that the art doesn't always need to be all big eyes, and flashy colors but don't make the characters "ugly" unless ur trying to prove a point

The art in this show makes me want to puke..... all the people look like Men, even the women. This is the main reason why i thought this series was horrible. I couldn't concentrate at all on what they were saying.

The story really just rushes into things not helping understand what the heck is going on. Though i thought that the story could go somewhere.

The background music was pretty well decided. It gives off the feeling of....well Rome if that says anything.

The Characters were all ...unique. Other than the aspect that they all look like men when the story seems to revole around a girl. Each character was drawn differently unlike some anime where it seems like the characters were cloned with different hair colors.

I did not enjoy this series really. it would have been better if not for the Art.

A few thoughts to improve this show would to ONE: slow down the plot so that people that havent read the manga can understand what the hecks happenin and TWO: Find a Better Artist or change the focus off the Women of this show. If he focused on the men of this show instead of one girl it would've made a difference.

If u think the same click the Helpful button to show that im not the only one that thinks this....i hope more people think the same.
Another reason why i might not like this anime is because its shoujo......i feel stupid right now... o well still doesn't change the way i feel about this anime =P
Sry if i ruined some first impressions for some people (girls). read more

Read me right - main character represents the show. The character in Ristorante Paradiso is an underage girl - you can guess that as oppose to, say, Bartender, there will be more of a romantic touch. Naturally, because story flows around the girl, situations will be seen from her perspective - expect she'll look at men a lot, expect to be forced feel what she's feeling. Yes, it's definitely a girly anime, and because of that I dropped it, but there's something it has in common with Bartender - and it's calm slow storytelling, soft music, things that would relax yourself, which is something you might've been searching because there isn't much that kind of anime.
It is also madly similar to Mushishi by the look, but I think visual resemblance isn't just enough to recommend it as alike.

Again - girly, girly, girly, girly. If you're a girl, well, go watch both, you'll like 'em. If you're a dude.. I would not suggest. read more

I really liked this anime. Even though it was a bit angsty friom Nicoletta towards one of the waiters.

I also enjoyed the other characters, they were interesting. I like an oddball ensemble cast of characters. I liked the fact all the waiters were nice to Nicoletta even though she came all the time at first to just mooch and figure out what to do while in Rome, while confronting her neglectful mother.

The food looks really good. So does the animation.

Hope this didn't have any major spoilers. I'd suggest this animation to anyone really. It's very good!