Isekai Izakaya: Koto Aitheria no Izakaya Nobu

Experienced head chef Nobuyuki Yazawa and friendly waitress Shinobu Senke run a traditional Japanese izakaya called Nobu—a bar known for serving a tasty array of food and drink. Welcoming any and all customers, the pair strive to showcase Nobu's exclusive menu and provide the best possible experience.

However, despite its ordinary appearance, the establishment opens to the heart of Aitheria, a city from a parallel universe. As news of the restaurant's exquisite dishes spreads throughout the lands, Aitherian citizens from various social backgrounds travel to Nobu in search of new and delicious cuisine, bringing with them an empty stomach and riveting stories to tell.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Senke, Shinobu Main

Mimori, Suzuko Japanese

Yazawa, Nobuyuki Main

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Efa Supporting

Kuno, Misaki Japanese

Bertholdt Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Gernot Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Eleonora Supporting

Ueda, Kana Japanese

Narrator Supporting

Ichiryuusai, Teiyuu Japanese

Sentei Supporting

Hermina Supporting

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Hans Supporting

Abe, Atsushi Japanese

Ono, Katsumi Director

Iwanami, Yoshikazu Sound Director

Matsui, Hitoyuki Episode Director

Katayama, Miyuki Episode Director, Animation Director

Reviews

Sep 15, 2018

Karhu

Recommended

Isekai Izakaya is a series I wouldn't recommend to anyone. Not because it's so bad but because it is so different. The approach is original to a point that it doesn't even feel like an anime. The point of the series is to offer a trip to Japanese cuisines and food culture.

The entire series centers around this certain Japanese restaurant and its customers who tend to change episodically. In generally, our customers have the role of foreigners who are absorbing and experiencing the Japanese kitchen for the very first time. This is executed in rather immersive self-insert manner. We end up seeing episodes where customers ... describe what type of a food they want (many of the characters seem to be real culinary pros) and our kitchen master prepares what they requested, but in the Japanese way.

Our customers serve the idea and add to the viewing experience. They vary from rather manly men to small children. Even the adult men can occasionally almost lose their self-control over food because they are just that hyped to try it out. In generally, character reactions are powerful. They are living in the moment, not currently caring about anything else than the food that is being prepared and then eaten. When characters are finding the concept this fascinating, it's easy to share their interest.

From it's setting, I'd compare this work to Thermae Romae, the award-winning series centering around Roman bath architect who travels in time to modern Japan to discover the future of bath houses. Isekai Izakaya is on parallel with Thermae's idea, and not only that, every episode we see ends with a live action segment where real Japanese master(s) shows us the recipe behind the current episodic dish and shows from scratch how it was made. The simple idea for the anime and the execution that relies on love for food create an atmosphere that is bound the make the viewer hungry for more.

Isekai Izakaya is nothing less than an unique piece of anime and for that reason its target audience will be very limited. There are bound to be viewers who won't even see why such a series was made. I find it very hard to believe that any underage person would ever find this show appealing. This is an anime for adults. To me, this was nothing less than fresh air. I appreciate everything this anime did and accomplished. Those who are planning to move to Japan should also consider watching this.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 15, 2018

KANLen09

Mixed Feelings

This show reminds me of Isekai Shokudou, only less stellar in both quality and storytelling. And granted, both the former and latter are based on light novels of their respective names, of which Izakaya Nobu premiered in 2014 and Shokudou the year after. Yet, when the anime adaptations of both series came out, it was pretty obvious that the production here by Sunrise wouldn't garner the popularity of the latter by Silver Link the year prior.

To create the diversity, I will list what's the same and what's not for both series:

Similarities:
Both series exist in another world (which gives rise to the tiring Isekai genre ... troupe) through restaurants, offering occupants (where they are able to access the place from) to experience food like they have never tasted before. As expected, they leave the place in happiness, laughter and whatnot, just to come back again for more.

Differences:
Isekai Shokudou offers diversity by featuring what seems to be like the episodic formats of people from different walks of life: Either both mortal or angels or whatnot, to come experience the numerous food to their liking. Izakaya Nobu on the other hand, the restaurant just stays at that very same place in Aitheria, and the numerous stories ensue with the workers (Shinobu, Taishou) about the events happening in Aitheria, and nothing more.

The deal-breaker (at least for me)? Isekai Shokudou at least tries its best to offer that diversity by watching the various people, may it be fairies, humans on their journey to experience food they won't experience again (coming on the next day of Satur (which is present-day Saturday)), the once-in-a-lifetime food. Isekai Izakaya Nobu is pretty much the same, just instead of Shokudou's diverse people-centric plot, it's specific to the day-to-day events of the townsfolk of Aitheria and just feels meh.

The characters in both series serve their purpose, but as mentioned, Isekai Shokudou beats this series down by a long shot. Shokudou's restuarant occupants are far more interesting to learn and appreciate their backgrounds, but Izakaya Nobu is far too generic, and generally unimpressive, but not bad either.

Of course, with a runtime of 15 mins per episode, and reading the manga adaptation at the same time, I just barely made it through all the way. The adaptation is of course faithful, but the stories contained are short. I'd guess why we got the live-action Nobu Plus segment for the last half of the show (aside from the ED), and that offers real places and recipes for any aspiring people learning to cook. With that said, art and animation is OK, nothing to write home about.

And music? It's minimal to the point of oozing and satisfying everyone's tastebuds with all the SFX of the cooking (sizzles and fizzs and such) that wants to make you give a try. The ED is also generic but fine by my tastes. Prosit!

In all senses though, if you love anime and are a foodie, I can recommend this series, though I'd much rather quote Isekai Shokudou as the superior must-watch, because everything in Shokudou is memorable compared to what's offered here. Not a bad show overall, but not something that I would come back to in the future.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 31, 2023

ChaosGiantMemes

Not Recommended

I'm just going to say this in the first sentence, You're missing out on absolutely nothing by skipping over this Isekai anime.

If I were to make a comparison I would compare this show to Michael Jordon's Space Jam because they're both advertising something to you, only one's advertising Basketball shoes while the other is advertising Japanese Culinary arts to foreigners, which is a shame because the show suffers for it.

The show's greatest strengths lies in how it portrays Japanese Culinary arts in Japanese establishments, and customer reactions and commentary on the food as they eat. There's really no plot line to talk about for this ... show as it's just a business owner and his cute waitress serving food to their customers with some given background information. The show does have a bit of drama when some wealthy patrons set their eyes on the restaurant but can't delve too much into it without spoiling anything for those who are genuinely interested in watching it.

The animation itself is okay but nothing to write home about.
The music is passable at best and not very memorable.

Where the show is at it's weakest is the lack of character development and lack of unique characters.

At the end of each episode the show plays a clip of a food critique going in a Japanese restaurant and trying out various foods that were showcased in that episode. This segment of the show can either be a high point for someone who likes Japanese cuisine or an incredibly low point of the show for people who are uninterested.

Overall, this is an okay enough Isekai anime for you to just kill time and watch or let it play in the back ground while you're cooking dinner, however for people who enjoy Isekai anime, It's safe to skip this one over and watch something else.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Isekai Izakaya: Koto Aitheria no Izakaya Nobu Episode 7 Discussion Stark700 - May 24, 2018	6 replies	by gyanburubii »» Nov 22, 2023 9:29 AM
	Poll: Isekai Izakaya: Koto Aitheria no Izakaya Nobu Episode 6 Discussion Stark700 - May 10, 2018	11 replies	by gyanburubii »» Nov 22, 2023 9:07 AM
	Poll: Isekai Izakaya: Koto Aitheria no Izakaya Nobu Episode 24 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 13, 2018	22 replies	by Dawizz »» Sep 19, 2023 2:39 AM
	Poll: Isekai Izakaya: Koto Aitheria no Izakaya Nobu Episode 14 Discussion Fayrin - Aug 9, 2018	5 replies	by ireneballz »» Aug 19, 2023 7:20 PM
	Poll: Isekai Izakaya: Koto Aitheria no Izakaya Nobu Episode 19 Discussion Stark700 - Aug 16, 2018	7 replies	by LeenPhoenixRae »» Aug 14, 2023 9:46 PM