Comfort Food

Posted On March 1, 2009

One type of show that makes up a majority of my watching list is comfort food anime. What qualifies as a comfort food show in my eyes is a show that doesn’t aspire to be the most original or most daring production, but hits me on a personal level with a mixture of fun characters, fanservice and nice production values.

In fact, what bothers me about a selection of shows that go out of their way to stand out from the crowd is that they forget to be entertaining. They instead opt to shove whatever revolutionary concept they have down your throat for their entire running time, all while taking on a terribly pretentious attitude of “I’m better than everything else.” Of course, there are a good number of shows like this that I quite like, but more often than not these affairs come off as insulting to me.

I’m not allergic to shows that some may label as “generic”, but there’s a pretty big divide between ToLoveRU and Zero no Tsukaima in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I quite like ToLoveRU (the anime, mind you. I haven’t read the manga.) It’s a wild and crazy fanservice romp, but is ultimately completely disposable in my eyes. The principle aspect that Zero no Tsukaima has over ToLoveRU is that I really enjoy the characters, and am emotionally invested in them. This is a completely personal thing, I know–if someone were to love ToLoveRU for its cast, I wouldn’t really hold it against them. Maybe.

What attracts me to a show like Zero no Tsukaima is how the cast of eccentric characters interact–how they laugh together, argue with one another, compete with each other and… flash their boobs around. All of this strung together by competent sitcom (or sex comedy, take your pick) writing along with some drama, and topped off with fine animation makes for a very watchable product.

Of course, these programs aren’t A-grade material. I do certainly have a strong desire to watch through them multiple times, but I probably won’t watch them as much as something like Cowboy Bebop. However, it is good to take a break from the heavy stuff, and settle down with something light. And that’s what comfort food anime is for!