Top 5 Food Most Depicted in Anime

Whether it be shounen, slice of life, romance, you will always find beautifully drawn food in anime. Art-wise, they are eye candy. In a way, they can be a tease to make you feel hungry. However you may want to see it, we’ve listed down what we think are the top five food most depicted in anime.

5. Sushi

download 

image from The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya

Vinegared rice, raw seafood, vegetables, and sometimes with tropical fruits too. Add in the very familiar nori if you so wish. Now you have a quite familiar dish: the sushi. It is a dish with vibrant colors paired with the contrasting whiteness of rice and the darkness of the nori. Add in the fact that there are quite a number of types of sushi; it can be a nice food of choice in anime given its potential versatility art-wise.

4. Takoyaki

10291203_1244202098929510_8607344064020999786_n

image from Takoyaki Mantoman

Takoyaki are scrumptious balls of wheat batter with bits of tako (octopus) inside. These are typically cooked in special takoyaki pans for easy and efficient mass-production. Takoyaki are a famous staple of festivals since it is easy to make and sell them to a lot of people in a food stall. These sumptuous balls of tentacle-y delight can be sprinkled and doused with various toppings and sauces like the typical takoyaki sauce, bonito flakes, green laver and mayonnaise. The proper (and some may say masochistic) way of eating takoyaki is to devour them whole while still piping hot. The insides of your mouth may be burned but such is the price to pay for truly delicious cuisine.

3. Ramen

12717268_1011749938890343_4741161161679120794_n 

image from Naruto

Ramen is as commonly portrayed in anime as they are are many varieties of it and many ingredients. It is perhaps one of the more iconic foods in Japan, with several Japan-inspired restaurants serving this as a meal, and several instant noodles based on this. Of course who would forget the swirly spiky topping on it, when the beloved manga protagonist Naruto, who is very fond of ramen, is named after it?

2. Curry

Untitled 3

image from Black Butler 

The Japanese curry has come a long way from the traditional Indian curry that it originated from. Brought to the Japanese by the British, this humble dish with its meaty, saucy goodness has made its way to the plates of many Japanese households. It is no surprise that this dish has been depicted so often in anime and manga.

Although traditionally depicted with rice, Japanese curry comes in many forms, such as curry bread and curry udon. Many of our beloved anime characters have tried their hand in making this iconic dish with varying degrees of success. From deadly curries of the ladies from Persona 4, to the unique chocolate curry bun of Black Buttler, to Shokugeki no Soma’s many curry related dishes.

Searching on Google for anime and curry would yield a lot of hits, thousands of screenshots in many different animation styles, all depicting the humble curry. That is how often curry is depicted in anime.

 

1. Bread

 Untitled

image from Shakugan no Shana

From Yakitate! Japan’s amazing Ja-Pans to Shakugan no Shana’s Melon Pan obsession, bread has been featured heavily across a variety of anime. Bread is often consumed by a variety of anime characters, from students eating it for lunch to protagonists who are running late. The symbol of Western culture’s influence on Japanese modern culture, bread reflects how seamlessly Western cuisine has been incorporated into Japanese culture. Originally used as just a replacement for rice after World War II, nowadays, bread is now an equally important staple in Japanese cuisine. This is deliciously represented by how often it is depicted in various popular media, including anime.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Name *