Hibi wa Sugiredo Meshi Umashi

A REVIEW WRITTEN BY A FAT BASTARD WHO WANTS TO EAT IT ALL

I didn’t just watch “Food for the Soul.”
I wanted to eat it. I wanted to devour it. I wanted to unhinge my jaw and swallow the whole goddamn anime like a giant steaming dumpling dripping soy sauce.

I’m 28.
I’m fat. No, fatter than that.
I’m a bloated sack of grease and cheese dust, held together by stretchable sweatpants and the thin plastic lining of a takeout container.

And yet… when I watched this anime?
I felt hungry for the first time in years. Not hungry for food. Hungry for warmth. Hungry for company. Hungry for something I ... couldn’t just order with extra dipping sauce.

THE CHARACTERS: I WANT TO EAT THEM. NOT SEXUALLY. JUST… CONSUME.

Mako Kawai?
I want to eat her.
I want to be eaten by her.
I want to be the rice ball in her hands, pressed into her soft, caring grip, popped into her mouth, chewed slowly, lovingly, until I dissolve.

Her friends?
Yeah. I want them too.
I want to wrap them in seaweed, layer them in sushi rice, roll them up like a fat, friendship-packed maki and shove the whole thing down my throat while tears stream down my face.

They’re perfect. They’re warm. They’re alive in a way I haven’t been for years. Watching them laugh and pass dishes around the table felt like pressing my face against a restaurant window, stomach growling, knowing I’m too broke, too big, too outside to ever walk in.

I want to eat that table.
I want to eat their laughter.
I want to eat the warmth radiating off their friendship like steam off a fresh bowl of ramen.

THE FOOD: I CAN’T TAKE IT. I NEED IT. I NEED IT INSIDE ME.

Every shot of food in this anime felt like a personal attack on my empty fridge, my stale snack drawer, my sad microwaved life.

The soup shimmered.
The noodles glistened.
The eggs quivered with perfect yolk like little edible suns.

And me?
I sat there, shirt rolled up over my belly, crumbs stuck in my chest hair, leaning closer and closer to the screen, mouth open like a baby bird, whispering:
“Feed me.
Feed me, Mako.
Please.”

I licked the TV chipped my tooth. Worth it.
I wanted to crawl inside the rice cooker and let it seal shut around me like a warm, starchy coffin.

THE THEMES: LOVE. FOOD. HEALING. AND WANTING TO EAT IT ALL.

“Food for the Soul” is about how food connects people.
How cooking is care.
How sharing a meal heals.

And me?
I eat alone. On the floor. On the couch. In bed. Over the sink. Out of the takeout bag like a raccoon.

But watching Mako cook…
Something stirred inside me. Some little flicker of warmth I thought I’d swallowed years ago under layers of grease and shame.

I wanted to eat what she made.
I wanted to eat what she is.
I wanted to eat the feeling of being at that table, surrounded by laughter, a chopstick passed my way, a bowl filled for me without asking.

THE SHRINE: A FAT MAN’S ALTAR TO HIS LAST HOPE

Last night I built a shrine.
Pizza boxes stacked high like a greasy ziggurat.
Empty ramen cups arranged in a circle around a frozen burrito I never heated up.
My laptop at the top, glowing softly with Mako’s smile on loop.

I sat cross-legged before it, belly pressing against my knees, wine bottle cradled in both hands like an offering, whispering:
“Please feed me. Please eat me. Please let me in.”

I wasn’t crying.
I wasn’t laughing.
I was just sitting there, still, full of hunger I didn’t know what to do with.

And for one moment…
I felt fed.
Not full. Not satisfied.
But fed.

Like a crumb of warmth fell off their table and landed in my lap.

ENDING THOUGHTS: 8/10. BECAUSE IT FED ME A LITTLE. JUST ENOUGH.

“Food for the Soul” isn’t an anime. It’s a meal I’ll never taste, but somehow tasted anyway.
It’s a table I’ll never sit at, but for 24 minutes at a time, I sat nearby.

I wanted to eat it.
I wanted to be eaten by it.
I wanted to slurp up the laughter, chew the love, swallow the warmth.
I wanted to eat until I was gone.
Until I was nothing but a burp of steam rising from Mako’s pot.

The credits rolled.
The shrine flickered out.
My belly rumbled.

And I whispered:
“Thank you.”

Then I shut off the screen.
And sat in the dark.

Pass me the lighter.
Pass me the spoon.
Pass me the next episode.
I’m still hungry.

The best way to describe Food for the Soul is "pleasantly normal." The story, setting and characters all feel like places and people you could encounter in real life, even at its most Exaggerated Anime Moments(tm). The animation is also amazing despite not being overly flashy. It's minimal by design, but every frame you can see the passion and hard work that went into making this anime. I'm curious to see where the show goes, but at the moment I feel this could be a decent show for newcomers of anime since it feels cozy and welcoming, and I hope it remains that way!