Amaama to Inazuma

Looking at all the other reviews, most people are going to disagree with my opinion, but it is my opinion and I have a right to share it.

I have to admit, i did enjoy the first few episodes. The most captivating part the show was Tsumugi. Her adorableness pretty much drove the show, but it could only drive it so far. For me it was two episodes. By episode 3 she lost her flair and by episode 4, the show started to get boring. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy shows with cutesy appeal but for a cutesy show to be good, it needs ... to be coupled with something else like a good story or comedy. The story is quite repetitive and eventually gets boring. Every episode, the characters decide to cook something, then they cook it. The End. As for comedy, their is nothing in this show that made me laugh.

So, should you watch Sweetness and Lightning? Well, I think you should try it. People obviously like it. I don't know if the high rating are just the initial hype or if there is something about this show that I'm not seeing. If it is the latter, then I don't want to take the enjoyment away from you, but know that there is a chance you will not like this show, like me.

Do you like slice of life? Do you like repetitive stories? Do you like bland, flat characters? If you answered yes to any of these questions, congratulations! Heres the anime for you!


So, the concept of atm is that a father named Kohei, who just lost his wife 6 months ago, can't cook meals for his daughter, tsumugi, so they buy packaged meals from a store. However, one of koheis students, iida, is the daughter of a famous chef lady. Together, they all cook meals together!!! The story sounds very interesting at first, but unfortunately, something ruins it completely:

REPETETIVENESS!!! Yeah, this may seem like a bit ... of a spoiler, but almost every episode has the same exact concept. No, I take that back. Every episode is the exact same, except for what food they're cooking. For a few episodes, its not a real issue, but eventually, you slowly realize this. Another issue with the story is that, they always tried to avoid the emotional issues of losing the mother. And no, this isn't an issue because I was expecting it to be emotional before watching. Its because the first episode set up this kind of mood, and it rlly worked. I would say the emotional moments (while very few of them) were the shows best.

The art is pretty good. Not perfect, but it overall looks nice, and makes the character designs stand out.

The soundtrack, on the other hand, gets pretty annoying. Its repetitive, just like the show. Literally in each episode, after they finish cooking, that same annoying tune plays again. This is rlly saying something, as usually I don't give much attention to soundtracks. The voice acting, on the other hand, was average, tho it got annoying at times.

As for the characters? Well, they were all forgettable. None of them got any development. Not even firkin Kohei. In the beginning, well he doesn't know what hes doing, and in the end, its still kinda like that. Tsumugi starts out very cute, but after a few episodes, she gets quite annoying. Iida has gotta be one of the worst characters iv ever seen. Shes rlly annoying, and has this 'fear of knives' that is never explained. Honestly, no other characters are rlly worth mention.

Watching this series is INCREDIBLY BORING, too. Like, do the creators rlly think we wanna watch them cook the entire time?

Well, I'm basically done talking about this show now. Just gonna give it a 3 because it sucks and the fact that chose to finish this is one of the worst mistakes I have ever made in my whole life

I'm very harsh on this show, only because a story that is frivolous but wants to justify itself as heartwarmingly poignant should not get a free pass just because "Kawaii".
I was never moved, never laughed, nor did I have a personal epiphany as to how to live my life, and, more importantly, I didn't enjoy this show.

I don't like being deceived. This show wants to have its cake and eat it too; it dabbles in scarce poignant moments, but never incorporates them into the narrative directly, just as triggers for empathy (we don't see anyone dealing with the issues at hand, we simply see them ... in the background, as if to make the life of our characters noble).
The comedy is non-existent, literally, no jokes or gags other than over-the-top hacky cutesy behavior.
And last but not least, I don't see this being grounded in the reality it pretends to belong to, namely, non of the characters being anything more than one dimensional stock characters living in a world where nothing bad ever happens, never mind how many mistakes you make. It doesn't matter that you neglect your child's nutrition and non-school social life, she will be a happy-go-lucky soul; never mind that the situations you put yourself in is vastly open for cynical misinterpretation, such things don't happen.

I cannot shake off the suspicion that this show is being mendacious.
It seems to me that the director is perfectly aware of the blatantly shallow nature of the entire story, so resorting to gimmicks was all.

I don't think there's anything missing in your life if you haven't watched this.
Some people definitely enjoy it, but for the " upbeat cute kid" element, there's Naru from "Barakamon" and for the "single father" element, there's the great "Usagi Drop".

Ok, so another food porn anime has ended, and ah..........................:


Storywise, it was just your typical food porn anime , where the plot wasn't about the widowed dad struggling to take care of his spunky daughter, it was more of spoiling his daughter's appetite with the dishes that this anime presents in every episode, so yes, this category is a 5 over 10.

Art, pretty decent it I say so, there are no fanservices to speak off, none of that Zettai Ryouki thing, I mean there is really nothing for me to say about this anime's art, so for this category is a 4 over 10.

Sound, well ... every seiyuu who did the character's voice were ok, but my score is for the opening and Tsumugi's cute voice, it's a 7 over 10 here.

Character, I give this part a 3 over 10, due to the fact that the character's here are quite a dichotomy. Now , you have a dad who was seemly not looking for another love interest after his wife died were it could be filled up by Kotori Iida, his student. Now going back to the dad, Kōhei Inuzuka, he strikes me as a wimpy type who somehow spoils his daughter Tsumugi whereby he can seem to give her some spanking when she's in a tantrum, also even in the manga he has to play this typical guy character who is the quintessential oblivious to the girl's feelings towards him.... I guess blame it on writers, Gido Amagakure and Mitsutaka Hirota not making such arc possible , since Tsumugi seem get along with Kotori Iida. As for Kotori Iida, I kinda like that she has the potential to be a good step mom to Tsumugi, but alas his anime ended without such arc occurring, btw I kinda hate it that this anime ended where she's still afraid of using knives, you one episode would have made such impact if there is a situation where she struggle to overcome her fear of knives with help of her sensei and then succeeds, but no this anime was just to focus on food and not making any development. Tsumugi Inuzuka maybe a cute and smart kid at one point you might wanna adore her, but on the other hand there are situations that you just wanna give her some spanking cu'z of her tantrums, so one more reason for the low score, cu'z I kinda feel like going there and give her some spanking. Also as for Shinobu Kojika and Yūsuke Yagi, it was too bad that studio TMS Entertainment didn't even bother to give them their own arc and just limit them as supports...another reason for my low score for this category.

Enjoyment, well it was enjoyable to a certain degree, but one would start to get bore after episode 7 and just go for the final episode, in my case , I've skip ep 9, 10 and 11, before going for ep 12. So, it's a 6 over 10.

Overall, this anime is 3 over 10 since this anime's theme on food porn coincided with another anime with a food porn theme, Shokugeki no Soma: The Second Plate, where it has more to offer than this anime. Thought they were shown on different schedules , they both belong to the same season and frankly it's a bad idea for TMS Entertainment to pit this with the other anime, and that's that.

Souma OUT!

Talking about this title leaves me with mixed feelings, on one hand I am happy to finally write a review again after so much time but on the other hand it’s a bit sad that it has to be about a title that was well received at the time yet forgotten quickly, and that I never had a positive opinion about it.

To start with the positives, it’s easy to understand why people would enjoy the show as long as they like slice of life, first of all, for the genre it’s pretty well visually presented, even after half a decade I still remember it as ... a series with no major quality drops, well made backgrounds, vivid, expressive and fluid motions and facial expressions for its type of show, and with cooking anime levels of detailed and very well drawn food. The scene I remember the most and that I watched a couple times outside of the anime was about the little girl Tsumugi walking down the streets while avoiding imaginary sharks on an imaginary ocean in her mind, that particular scene had great special effects, but during the rest of the series there were pretty standard, and as the vast majority of slice of life shows, the character designs are simple, generic and forgettable, besides that the visuals are still a very solid department as a whole.

As for the sound department, the sound effects were good and both the music and the voices did their job accordingly but nothing to write too much about besides Tsumugi, a five years old girl voiced by an, at the time, eleven years old girl, who despite being so young did a wonderful job. I have already talked about this on my Aishiteruze Baby review where Yuzuyu, also a five years old girl, was voiced by a little girl but with a much much worse performance, that is not the case here.

Tsumugi herself is adorable, as most protagonists in this type of shows are, and unlike Rin Kaga, for example, she’s not so mature for her age, in fact she is not mature in the least. She’s loud, energetic, innocent, and makes a big deal out of everything, in either a comedic or dramatic way. If you’re like me, it will get tiresome a bit to see and hear a character cry for unimportant stuff, but it’s easy to give that a pass when the character is so young, and when is all around very well characterized.

Sweetness and Lightning belongs in the iyashikei, or feel good, type of slice of life show, and as far as that goes, it manages to have a proper relaxing atmosphere, as long as you don’t get overwhelmed by how hiperactive Tsumugi can be at times.

But that’s as far as positives of this show go for me. One complain I have about Tsumugi is that she barely has any conflict with no having a mother, if at all. Yuzuyu from Aishiteruze Baby was a way better character in that regard. I mean I guess you could say that’s the reason why Tsumugi gets so close to Kotori so easily, but that’s it. Speaking of Kotori, her introduction in the show was very weak, crying because she was alone and couldn’t eat with her mom? You’re not a little girl anymore. Then there is the father and he…I don’t have anything to say about him, really. There are more side characters but they don’t offer anything, they are just comic reliefs and what they do is not funny, to me at least.

But what’s the real flaw of the show in my eyes is how it wastes its interesting premise of a widowed man taking care of his child all alone by basically having no plot nor theme exploration, and that’s precisely because it is a feel good type of show. With this premise you would expect drama, but there isn’t, or there is but it has to do with irrelevant stuff unrelated to the premise, which in turn is presented in an overblown way. Most of the series is just Tsumugi feeling hungry and the three main characters cooking and eating together. Slice of life shows are usually plotless and relaxing, but it is a problem here because the whole premise goes to waste. It also reduces parenting, something which I asume everyone would agree can be quite complex, to just feeding a kid, that’s as far as the show goes with it, like, come on. Again, Aishiteruze Baby features multiple characters dealing with parenting in their own ways, here is reduced to just that, so I say go watch that show instead, if you can deal with the bad visuals and weak sound.

And the nail in the coffin is how by the very end they hint that Kotori developed feelings for the father (her sensei), if that wasn’t the sole reason why she got closer to him in the first place, which not only means that later in the manga there’s probably some romance vibes between a teenage girl and a grown adult, it also would mean that her relationship with Tsumugi was a lie the whole show, at least to some point.

Needless to say, I don’t have a positive opinion of this show and I can’t recommend it, it’s as plotless and lighthearted with simple and forgettable characters as many slice of life series, but this one also wastes a very good premise and theme. Even its best points are done better somewhere else.

For something similar, the Usagi Drop anime and as I already said Aishiteruze Baby, both of which I already covered, give you whatever you could want from this show and are way better. If you don’t want to go that back to watch a good childcare show, for some reason, there’s also Koutarou wa Hitogurashi which aired this year and is also good, albeit more sad than the rest.

Lets be honest the plot was original enough to have a lot of good potential. A single father who is a math teacher. Trying to get over the sadness of losing his wife while trying to take care of his child. Sounds great doesn't it ?

Well it did. But then it became a cooking show... Yeah f*ck all the quality drama and tragedy that could have been the main focus we should instead focus on a father that tries to cook for his daughter with his student helping him. Oh jolly !

I wouldn't be this salty if the cooking was implemented nicely to the story ... while still retaining it's original slice of lifey feeling. But cooking is like a bored and horny old man that tries exhibitionism for the first time. It's just a sorry and revolting sight. If I wanted to watch a cooking show I would. But this anime is so poorly written except it's setting that it can't progress the story and cooking at the same time. So it just goes with cooking that repeats episode after episode. If you want a cooking anime go watch Shougeki no soma that still can progress the story instead of repeating episode after episode. I can't even watch this anime for their seiyuus like Rina Endou and her adorable voice (Hina from barakamon)

After a rave review from a friend about this anime, I decided to watch this anime. However, I didn't get the same feel for it. The characters and initial plot are interesting, original, cute, and even yummier, and the first few episodes are definitely worth a watch, but after that, it gets monotonous and boring.
I personally couldn't bring myself to finish this series because I got so sick and bored of the roundabout plot and gave up on it knowing that I probably wouldn't miss much anyways. The anime ends up focusing too much on just food and ignores character and outside plot development ... which is really not what I look for in a good anime. I would blame the manga for dragging down this anime because the plot isn't much better there (caught up as of now) though. If you like the manga, the anime is exactly like the manga, so if you're that kind of person, definitely give this anime a go because it doesn't stray for the manga.
TL;DR: just watch the first few episodes and save your time, but if you want to learn how to make a few dishes anime style, give it a go, but don't count on it turning out too well.

Part 1 English
Part 2 Bahasa Indonesia

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Hello, and welcome to an anime that's about as bland as plain oatmeal. I'm talking about Amaama to Inazuma, an anime that tries to be heartwarming and endearing but falls short in almost every way.

The premise of Amaama to Inazuma is fairly simple. Our protagonist, Kouhei, is a single father raising his daughter, Tsumugi, on his own. When Tsumugi expresses an interest in cooking, Kouhei enlists the help of one of his students, Kotori, to teach them both how to make delicious meals. Along the way, they form a makeshift family and learn important life lessons.

Unfortunately, the execution of this ... premise is lackluster at best. The characters are one-dimensional and lack any real depth or complexity. The humor falls flat, relying on tired cliches and predictable gags that are more likely to elicit an eye-roll than a chuckle.

The animation in Amaama to Inazuma is serviceable enough, but it's not enough to make up for the lack of substance in the story. Even the attempts at emotional moments fall flat, with the characters' struggles feeling contrived and unearned.

Well, isn't this just an anime that's as exciting as a trip to the dentist? It's almost enough to make me want to switch over to watching paint dry.

Overall, I'd give Amaama to Inazuma a score of 4.2/10. While it might appeal to fans of the slice-of-life genre, it's unlikely to win over anyone looking for a more engaging and entertaining anime.

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Halo, dan selamat datang di anime yang sebiasa bubur oatmeal tanpa gula. Aku membicarakan tentang Amaama to Inazuma, sebuah anime yang berusaha menjadi menghangatkan hati dan menghibur, tetapi gagal mencapai tujuannya hampir di semua aspek.

Premis Amaama to Inazuma cukup sederhana. Protagonis kami, Kouhei, adalah seorang ayah tunggal yang membesarkan putrinya, Tsumugi, sendirian. Ketika Tsumugi tertarik pada memasak, Kouhei meminta bantuan salah satu muridnya, Kotori, untuk mengajari mereka berdua cara membuat makanan lezat. Sepanjang jalan, mereka membentuk keluarga tiruan dan belajar pelajaran hidup penting.

Sayangnya, eksekusi premis ini kurang memuaskan. Karakternya sangat datar dan tidak memiliki kedalaman atau kompleksitas yang nyata. Humornya tidak menghibur, bergantung pada kliše yang sudah basi dan gurauan yang mudah ditebak yang lebih mungkin membuat mata geleng-geleng ketimbang tergelakkan.

Animasi di Amaama to Inazuma cukup layak, tetapi tidak cukup untuk menggantikan kekurangan substansi dalam ceritanya. Bahkan upaya untuk menciptakan momen emosional gagal, dengan perjuangan karakter terasa dipaksakan dan tidak pantas.

Nah, ini hanyalah anime yang sebosan pergi ke dokter gigi, hampir membuatku ingin beralih menonton cat kering.

Secara keseluruhan, aku akan memberikan Amaama to Inazuma skor 4,2/10. Meskipun mungkin menarik bagi penggemar genre slice-of-life, anime ini tidak mampu menarik minat siapa pun yang mencari anime yang lebih menarik dan menghibur.

Half of the show is about cooking food, the other one is about bad parenting.
The cooking aspect is very superficial. But the reason I would not recommend it is that it is simply unreal, fake. The child does not act liek a child. She acts like someone without children would imagine a child to act. When she expresses actual trait a children might have, it is sullenness or stubbornness, her father first does not know how to react properly and then apologises to her for not acting properly (e.g. Daddy is sorry for not scolding you enough).
The parenting is so wrong here that the cuteness ... the authors are trying to go for feels kinda repulsive.

This show can't decide if it's about lonely individuals finding each other and becoming family, or if it's just a cooking appreciation show.

Based on the premise, you'd expect that this show would focus on interpersonal relationships and the difficulty of single parenting. But, the show ends up spending a lot of time on particular dishes and making them.

This would be perfectly fine if it really focused all of its energy on the food aspect, like "Restaurant from Another World" or "Campfire Cooking in Another World" (huh a lot of food isekai...)

But even when the characters are cooking, many shots are devoted to the characters' ... boring faces rather than the food. This makes the cooking to interpersonal relational aspect 50/50, rather than dominantly one or the other.

Basically, this show represents the crossroads between parenting anime (Bunny Drop, Kakushigoto, etc.) and a cooking/food anime, but doesn't do either particularly well enough to stand out.

Overall, this show is fine. If you want something a bit cute and a bit foodie, then you can give this a shot. But I would personally recommend the other anime I have mentioned over this.