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.
