For the story, as a Slice of Life anime, it never intends to tell a story. Plot almost doesn't exist to begin with. Therefore it is kind of irrelevant and unfair to judge the value of this anime with its plot.
For the art and sounds, snacks look delicious. Eyes are unique. OP and ED are catchy. The voice acting is great. Hotaru is voiced by Taketatsu Ayana, who is a very polished voice actor. other characters are also voiced by experienced voice actors.
Characters: It has a very small cast of only 5 people. All 5 of them are fun to watch. No complains.
Enjoyment: The most important aspect of an anime is always the enjoyment. This anime can be thoroughly enjoyable, can be terrible. It really depends on what types of viewer you are.
1. Fan-services: This anime has a moderate amount of it which make the it overall more fun to watch, so it's good news for me. What's better is that they didn't overdone it, snacks and talks are still the major appeal of this show.
2. Sense of humour: If you like the following things, you will like this anime.
-Innuendos: This anime has a lots of Innuendos, they are like the refined form of fan-services, and are even more exciting than flashing boobs.
-''Ridiculous humour'': Hotaru is a ridiculous character, it is an enjoyment to watch Hotaru talking and acting over-the-top about snacks.
-Parody: The parody are the core of this anime, mostly in two forms:
1. characters acting so serious over some silliy competition
2. anthropomorphic snacks having some little drama
3. Nostalgia
It's really a personal factor. I don't know the situation overseas, but Japanese snacks like Babystar, Umaibou and Morinaga milk candy are very accessible in Hong Kong. Of course not all of them are available in local snacks store, but even when they are not available, we always can have their China counterpart (counterfeit). I don't know how to describe the feeling when they talk about my childhood snacks. Maybe it's like meeting my childhood friends? I really don't know, but I thoroughly enjoy it.
So overall it is a 9 out of 10 for me. I am really disappointed to see this anime is not loved here, but I mean different audience have different tastes, it is what it is. Some may call it a snack commercial. I believe it is, I even prepare some Dagashi to eat while watching the last few episodes. Therefore it is a successful commercial anime. Can't wait to watch season 2.
