Anime Review: Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits

Imagine yourself to be a young woman who can see ghosts and spirits. You believe them to be good and help them with delicious food to survive in the human realm. But what if one spirit, or ayakashi as they say in the anime, abducts you and takes you to the hidden realm to be his bride?

That's the set-up of this amazing gourmet and supernatural romance anime- Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi or Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits. Let's look at what this sweet anime has to offer.

Kakuriyo- Bed & Breakfast for Spirits

A Journey Through Realms

Aoi Tsubaki has been brought up by her grandfather who, like her, had the power to see ayakashis. Her mother abandoned her when she was young and it was a mysterious ayakashi who saved her life by giving her food. Her grandfather taught her how to cook food to placate and keep safe from the not-so-good ayakashis.

One day, while passing through a shrine, Aoi offers food to an ogre ayakashi. Coming back, he's left her a beautiful hairpin and something wrapped in a cloth. As soon as she opens it, she's transported to the hidden realm where she learns that the ogre-god, called Odanna, wants to marry her.

Odanna is the Master Innkeeper at Tenjin-Ya, a region in the hidden realm. Her grandfather was in his debt and unable to clear it, promised to marry off his granddaughter to him as collateral. However, Aoi rejects that and asks to work to pay off the debt.

Moonflower- Aoi's Eatery at Tenjin-Ya

Aoi's desire to work is in vain since ayakashis at Tenjin-Ya are wary of her. She loves cooking but has no place to work. Eventually, she recieve support from Ginji, the young master of the inn who is empathetic to her and helps her open an eatery in the annex of the inn.

While it doesn't take off initially, soon enough, word spreads about her cooking skills and ayakashis from all over flock there to taste her food. The visuals are soft yet vibrant and the food descriptions make you crave a bite right there and then.

A Sweet and Soft Storyline with Thrill

Since the show is about ghosts, I did expect some thrill and fighting. There's nothing as dramatic but Aoi's obstacles in living amongst the ayakashis provide a perfect amount of challenges and thrills.

First, she needs to make a place within Tenjin-Ya and she does so by winning hearts through her genuine kindness and caring nature. Later on, she's abducted by Orio-Ya, another inn on the southern side. Her challenges increase two-fold but she overcomes them using not only her nature, but cooking and people-skills as well.

The Anime and The Light Novels

Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits is adapted from light novels written by Midori Yuma. The total anime released in 2018 consists of the first 5 volumes of the light novels. Although it is an ongoing light novel series, with volume 12 being the latest, the series hasn't been recalled for other seasons.

This is sort of heartbreaking because the anime had so much potential left to explore. Aoi and Odanna's relationship progression being one of them along with the mystery behind the mysterious ayakashi who helped her when she was young.

Translations

Now, almost five years since it's release, fans aren't much hopeful for a continuation. What's more saddening is that the light novels are just available in Japanese. Many have contributed in their own way by translating those and posting them to help fans reach a closure. One translator has a Tumblr where she's posted a few volumes translations and blogger who has more on this blog.

My Review

I absolutely loved this anime. It is soft, it is exciting and it has great chemistry between the main protagonists- Aoi and Odanna. The atmosphere and whole vibe of this anime is very wholesome.

Plot and Characters: the anime falls right within the comfort and soft zone. You can stay muzzled up with your hot cocoa and a warm blanket and that's the vibe. A lot of arcs and questions are presented right in the beginning which makes it engaging. The characters are diverse and have layers. Especially Aoi, who's stance to work instead of being married off in a comfortable life presents a dose of feminism to it. It's an absolute shame that this anime is probably not going to be continued as it had immense potential.

Visuals: soft, cottage-core vibe visuals; not entirely washed out yet on a lighter side of vivid.

Themes and Emotional Impact: Aoi represents a feminine vibe to the whole series and her soft-hearted pure nature impacts the audience to fall in love with her (at least I did). Knowing this anime ends on an indefinite cliffhanger, people might not be keen to invest emotionally (but I still did :P). It still pulls you into to the ayakashi world.

Overall Enjoyment: as much as there was of it... I LOVED IT. The whole vibe, setting, fell in love with the characters, the visuals and everything. Was looking forward for more :')

I'll be rating it 3/5 since it is probably not going to be continued (T_T). If you don't mind cliffhangers or are well-versed in Japanese reading, do give it a watch!