

Cinderella Chef
萌妻食神
Ye Jiayao is a young and talented cook who dreams of becoming a renowned chef one day. As luck would have it, she's magically transported back in time to Imperial China, and in the body of an extremely useless girl. Ye Jiayao is immediately kidnapped and held for ransom, but she manages to use her wits (and her sense of humor) to get whatever she wants. (Source: CBR)
Ye Jiayao is a young and talented cook who dreams of becoming a renowned chef one day. As luck would have it, she's magically transported back in time to Imperial China, and in the body of an extremely useless girl. Ye Jiayao is immediately kidnapped and held for ransom, but she manages to use her wits (and her sense of humor) to get whatever she wants. (Source: CBR)
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Main
Main
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Supporting
Saacool
March 24, 2019
The budget put into animation quality and graphical quality is pretty self explanatory, too bad the source material holds the art back. Its a rather straightforward work overall, you can see hints of its origins as a wuxia/xianxia if you're familiar with the genre, but the worst the original work was removed. Art & Sound 8/10 The food and cooking is fantastic, with appropriate musical accompaniment. My only complaint is that there isn't enough of it. They barely manage a cooking scene an episode and its really the only reason to watch this anime. Writing 2/10 Really just nothing much in the writing at all. The first arc isan episodic isekai standard of getting to know the world, with a pretty unappealing romantic plot including multiple scenes of the heroine going "wow i really like this handsome guy" as he straight up threatens her. Its made more ridiculous when she actually has more chemistry with a character introduced in the second arc of the season (not that that's much of a romance either, its a low bar). The second arc sort of implies some dramatic plot points will be brought up but it goes no where as does the rest of the plot. The biggest issue is that there's no feeling of conflict, which is most likely because the original source material just lacked anything substantial. The first arc is never really explained properly, the conflict ending up pretty much just being a background detail. The second arc lacks any significant conflict (which is what i feel the series should have just been from the start, just an episodic cooking adventure). There's the overarcing drama, which is resolved unceremoniously with the sudden appearance of some goons, to generate a damsel in distress rescue. And there are 2 instances of cooking competition where they barely pretend that the heroine will lose. Overall its not like it isn't enjoyable, its easy to ignore the lack of any significant writing if you're just in it for the food scenes. There are some rather unfortunate stereotypical issues around playing character sexual orientation for comedy towards the end, which isn't great. Its a good effort on part of the production company and director for improving on what i would have considered an unsalvageable property.
Tawsif_Ahmed
March 22, 2019
Good sides: First this was my very first Chinese anime which I have watched sub by MizureX33 and I have found it weird but refreshing. It is quite similar with a Isekai anime except it is not fantasy based. Story revolved around the daily struggle after waking up in medieval China. Story had it's plot twist Romance element had it quite touchy. Culinary and shokugeki will help anyone to wait for other cooking anime to get new season In other word this anime is quite a time kill Negative side:|story writing could be a little bit strong And to be honest just by wearing male dress ,everyone is treating someone as male ..was medieval that dumb !!! didn't she also has a feminine voice last but not the least , Overall this is a pretty good anime Just give it a time to show color.
Ismata-chan
May 20, 2019
The anime is very visually appealing and though the plot is kinda loose in its direction, it holds itself up pretty well between the character's interactions. Its premise is pretty simple, but I think it has enough interesting elements to make it worth a watch. And though I'm not that into cooking anime, I found this one appealing enough to get through since, again, the characters interactions are really what does it for me. Most of the characters are a bit flat since most of the characterization focuses only on a 2-3 core characters, but that was really all the story needed to keepthe plot moving. Overall, it's a nice medieval slice of life with a few moments of high tension. I do hope for it to get renewed for a second season, but even if it doesn't, it's a nice show to casually watch, especially with such a charming opening song.
sheruchan
March 14, 2020
STORY: 8/10 Meng Qi Shi Shen is an interesting blend of genres: historical, romance, comedy, food, with some action. The studio tried to do a lot in 12 episodes and this left the series with an under-developed romance and plot points that are introduced but never followed up on. The studio had to gloss over the relationship build-up, but they provided enough material to compel me to keep watching. I wish they had time to explore the male lead's side of the story, which would've explored more of the action/drama aspects of the plot. Considering the short series length, I still thought they did a good jobbalancing the genres and delivering a story that made me want more. The plot had a lot of potential and I only wish they had more episodes to work with. ART: 8/10 I actually really like the art style. Also, the backgrounds and the food look amazing (food looks on par with Food Wars). While Food Wars' food reactions are more silly, I find the food reactions in Meng Qi Shi Shen beautifully metaphoric and calming, especially as the series goes on. The animation is not as smooth compared to mainstream anime, but it was good enough. Action scenes were still impressive enough and the cooking scenes were drool-worthy. I could live without all the repetitive Sailor Moon-like sequences of the female lead preparing to cook though. SOUND: 9/10 I enjoyed the voice acting and the music and sound effects definitely enhanced my experience. Appropriate music was played for different moods, whether that was action, humor, or romance. I'm a sucker for historical anime/donghua music and Meng Qi Shi Shen's OST didn't disappoint. CHARACTER: 9/10 This was a fun cast and I definitely enjoyed the character interactions throughout the series. Everyone was likable in their own ways. The female lead's cheerful personality is infectious. I admire her passion for food being a foodie myself and I love that she can take care of herself. She's not the damsel in distress, but she isn't the overtly strong female archetype either, which makes her more realistic to me. The male lead is stoic, but also compassionate and honorable. Some of their interactions are really cliche in the beginning, but thankfully that died down as the series progressed. After that, I felt like their relationship was believable and really sweet. :) ENJOYMENT: 9/10 Despite some gripes about plot and romance development, I thought the overall execution was quite good given the short series length. I adored the cast and the animation and music was great. The series concluded with a lot of things left unanswered, but at least the romance and food plot ended on a satisfying and hopeful note. It was a fun ride and if there was a season 2, I would love to see it.
Elfsire
May 31, 2020
Was bored and wanted to kill time with a romance anime. What I actually got was hungry for Chinese food and a fun ride, and some clever comic moments. The anime is based around food. Our MC awakes in historic China. But she has amazing cooking talents. Being from the future and also being very knowledgeable of traditional dishes. She is able to wow the people of the time with her food. Which is believable think Dr. stone and his ramen being seen as Godly to a more primitive set of people. Its a great kick back for anyone suffering withdrawal from Soma or justhungry. Its fun. I would of personally liked more of the first arc and some relationship building. As I originally was in the mood for romance, We get a few episodes in the middle where our leads don't even see each other. And their experiences are almost padded out with very quick flash backs. I feel like the two leads could have developed more. The main focus of the anime at its heart really is food. All the dishes are real life dishes which can be found in any China town. Which makes this more fun, the art style is great the food looks like its real life counter part. Although the anime feels like two different halves. with a unrelated filler chunk in the middle. The first half being more action packed, you can find some pretty nifty fight sequences here. The second half dragged a little for me. The pacing of both is very different. At times things felt rushed... but also in the latter half they felt dragged out. But this may just be the anime studio wasn't expecting to make a sequel. And as of yet it hasn't. The food aspect remains strong till the end. The art style is fun. Hearing the Chinese after years of Japanese can be a little jarring. But this anime is fun. Its comic and has some great moments. I would recommend it as a time killer.
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