The answer: Wakako-zake knows exactly what it wants to do and what it wants to be. It's formulaic, with each episode covering one delicious dish, but the show realized that in order to pull this off successfully it needed:
1) a great main voice actress, since she's essentially narrating the show (check)
2) soothing/fitting background music (check)
3) a relatable, yet knowledgeable--about food, at least-main character (check)
4) something unique, other than the food, to distinguish each episode, that gives each individual episode a sense of coherency (check)
Wakako-zake is a short worth your time. It's interesting, if you're into food, or Japanese culture; it's relaxing and fun even if you're not.
