Watch this anime if you
- need something to fill the time between getting deep into another anime
- would like to see different popular Japanese dishes
Avoid this anime if you
- want a strong plot or anime with a purpose
- are looking for strong characters who grow and who you can relate to
- unnecessary plot elements like goddesses
Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi (Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill) Review
Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi, or Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill aired in Winter 2023 and is one of the more relaxing isekai anime released during this season. Like Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, this series features a more mature protagonist who summoned to protect the world from danger and abandoned once his skills are deemed useless.
Mukouda’s rejection doesn’t hurt him the way it might other protagonists like Naofumi Iwatani in The Rising of the Shield Hero. Instead, Mukouda’s rejection as a summoned hero allows him to live his own life and explore the new fantasy world he finds himself in. He’s not even affected by the new reality of his life.
Like most other heroes in isekai anime, Mukouda has a unique skill that gives him an advantage over other native denizens of the world: he has an online store with dimension shipping that puts all fast grocery shipping, including Amazon Prime, to shame. In fact, shipping is instantaneous once he pays for his order.
Mukouda’s online grocery store is paired with an infinite item box that also doubles as a kind of stasis box that prevents monsters and food from spoiling. Given these two advantages, it’s unclear why he would be dismissed as a hero.
But Mukouda’s dismissal from a demon-king-slaying mission allows him to explore the new world and befriend a legendary Fenrir and unassuming slime. The three of them travel the world, with his two companions providing the raw ingredients and a source of income and Mukouda providing the cooking.
Non-Japanese audiences will appreciate the various popular Japanese dishes that Mukouda creates. Fans of cooking shows will enjoy the series, though the reactions aren’t as extreme as the judges in Food Wars!
There’s not much plot to the series. The driving motivation for their adventures is his companion’s stomach. That’s as good as any when it comes to a lighthearted show.
Along with the seemingly aimless plot, there are some unnecessary appearances of the goddesses who demand offerings of sweets from Mukouda’s supermarket ability. Their blessings have no real benefit to Mukouda considering Fenrir’s protection, and the goddesses don’t really offer much except perhaps some comedy—their presence feels more like an obligation rather than a crucial aspect of the story or even the world.
Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi, or Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill is a light anime that doesn’t really demand much viewer engagement. There are some moments of joy, and the appearance of Japanese cuisine is a nice introduction to the cuisine for the uninitiated.
Read reviews of other fun anime below.
