Sweetness and Lightening (甘々と稲妻) is a 12 episode slice of life anime based on the manga of the same name by Amagakure Gido. The series aired in Japan during the Summer of 2016.
Inuzuka Kohei is a widower single father and a high school teacher. Life can be difficult raising his preschool aged daughter Tsumugi all by his self. One night Tsumugi breaks down because all of their meals come from a convenience store, causing Kohei to rush around the neighborhood trying to find a restaurant for them to eat at. He stumbled across a small diner and is welcomed in by a shocked looking teenager. She tells him that her mom, the chef, isn't home. Before he can leave she convinces them to stay and she makes rice porridge for them.
Tsumugi's attitude instantly changes, the simple meal reminding her of home cooked meals from when her mother was alive. The girl, Kotori, is a student at the school Kohei teaches at. Her celebrity chef mother is never home and she convinces him that he and Tsumugi should use the restaurant as a facility for him to learn to cook better. Kohei reluctantly takes her up on the offer, hoping to keep his their loneliness at bay and to create a more healthy environment for his daughter. Kotori as well is using the opportunity to fight her loneliness as well and eagerly provides the hospitality.
This is the one series I was most looking forward too this year and it did not disappoint. I have been a fan of the manga for quite a while now and was happy to see it receive an anime. For the most part the artwork is pretty fantastic, especially Tsumugi's tangle of hair. The voice acting is spot on and I can't imagine it being done any other way. Tsumugi was voiced by an actual child instead of some teenage/young adult trying to act like a kid, which tends to be really annoying in the end. The series though seemed to really focus more on the drama aspects of the story than the manga, which is perfectly fine. But so much of the manga its self is devoted to the preparation and explanation of the meals that the two are dissimilar in that way. There is a lot of slice of life in the manga as well, but it is more prominent in the anime.
The writing is pretty good, the characters are pretty realistic and the story moves between Tsumugi's issues with her peers, Kohei's concerns about his ability to be a good parent and Kotori's desires to have a normal family. In the manga, past the point of the anime, there are minor hints that maybe Kotori is developing emotional attachment to Kohei and possibly even Tsumugi. Perhaps she is beginning to imagine her self as a potential candidate as a new mother for the little girl. But that is all speculation and not relatable in the anime. In the end this is a heart warming slice of life tale about people coming together and working through difficult times with food. Something we can all relate too, the warmth and comfort of those average daily meals that are so special when we are older and on our own. The only thing that is really missing in this fantastic rendition of a fun and lovable manga is the recipes at the end of each issue.
The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll (as is the manga) but there is no word on a physical or dub release in North America.
Inuzuka Kohei is a widower single father and a high school teacher. Life can be difficult raising his preschool aged daughter Tsumugi all by his self. One night Tsumugi breaks down because all of their meals come from a convenience store, causing Kohei to rush around the neighborhood trying to find a restaurant for them to eat at. He stumbled across a small diner and is welcomed in by a shocked looking teenager. She tells him that her mom, the chef, isn't home. Before he can leave she convinces them to stay and she makes rice porridge for them.
Tsumugi's attitude instantly changes, the simple meal reminding her of home cooked meals from when her mother was alive. The girl, Kotori, is a student at the school Kohei teaches at. Her celebrity chef mother is never home and she convinces him that he and Tsumugi should use the restaurant as a facility for him to learn to cook better. Kohei reluctantly takes her up on the offer, hoping to keep his their loneliness at bay and to create a more healthy environment for his daughter. Kotori as well is using the opportunity to fight her loneliness as well and eagerly provides the hospitality.
This is the one series I was most looking forward too this year and it did not disappoint. I have been a fan of the manga for quite a while now and was happy to see it receive an anime. For the most part the artwork is pretty fantastic, especially Tsumugi's tangle of hair. The voice acting is spot on and I can't imagine it being done any other way. Tsumugi was voiced by an actual child instead of some teenage/young adult trying to act like a kid, which tends to be really annoying in the end. The series though seemed to really focus more on the drama aspects of the story than the manga, which is perfectly fine. But so much of the manga its self is devoted to the preparation and explanation of the meals that the two are dissimilar in that way. There is a lot of slice of life in the manga as well, but it is more prominent in the anime.
The writing is pretty good, the characters are pretty realistic and the story moves between Tsumugi's issues with her peers, Kohei's concerns about his ability to be a good parent and Kotori's desires to have a normal family. In the manga, past the point of the anime, there are minor hints that maybe Kotori is developing emotional attachment to Kohei and possibly even Tsumugi. Perhaps she is beginning to imagine her self as a potential candidate as a new mother for the little girl. But that is all speculation and not relatable in the anime. In the end this is a heart warming slice of life tale about people coming together and working through difficult times with food. Something we can all relate too, the warmth and comfort of those average daily meals that are so special when we are older and on our own. The only thing that is really missing in this fantastic rendition of a fun and lovable manga is the recipes at the end of each issue.
The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll (as is the manga) but there is no word on a physical or dub release in North America.
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