Henjin no Salad Bowl

Henjin no Salad Bowl is simply and essentially Hinamatsuri at home. This time the premise is not about esper girls but rather an actual fantasy reverse isekai where they fall on our world, and one of them over the male protagonist. Despite the characters using magic, at least the powers have some level of limits and follow some kind of scientific logic, that might be complete bs but it is nice that the author tried to give it a reasoning and keep some sense of groundness regarding the abilities. From there, the main girl follows the same path as Hina from Hinamatsuri, as she adjusts to thenew world, lives with the male co-protagonist, kind of forms a father-daughter relationship with him, goes to school and makes some friends, and also starts working alongside him. What isn’t good about her is that her backdrop is like a chuuni fanfic parallel universe version of Japanese history. Meanwhile her bodyguard becomes homeless and gets herself into shady jobs, so she is like a combination of Anzu and Hitomi, though nowhere near as good. Those are the reasons why I enjoyed the show, yet at the same time why I don’t consider it worth watching and why I think it’s better to stick to that other series. First of all, the visuals aren’t that good. There’s nothing straight up bad about them, besides perhaps the CGI, but everything else is quite basic. The artwork, though always solid, is very simple, the character designs are extremely basic and simple, easy to mix with most anime out there, the backgrounds are nice but not that memorable, the motions are just ok, the special effects are overall good, but there’s that occasional crappy CGI. The audio is fine but nothing special as well, ok voice acting, ok sound effects, ok music, I liked both the opening and ending, feeling like somewhat upbeat jrock songs yet not going for something cute or funny to listen to as I expected. There are a lot more topics in here, as the protagonists help a girl with her bullying and then the girl befriends her, there are cases of infidelities, and plenty of lawyers and detectives besides the main character that are quite corrupt, while he is kind of a moral figure for the princess. Also, the bodyguard of the female protagonist starts as homeless yet ends up working in a night club, reselling merchandise, joining and abandoning a religious cult, being the model for perverted figurines, becoming a gambling addict, and forming a band that disbands almost as it starts. Yet nothing of all of that lasts for long to be considered to be looked into enough, let alone properly. Yes, the series is a comedy, but so was Hinamatsuri, but that show knew how to mix absurd comical situations and some serious topics and moments. Instead, this show feels overstuffed with topics that could lead to some interesting theme exploration and character arcs, yet everything is presented in a superficial way and just for laughs, and nothing has enough time on screen before moving to something else. Partially responsible for that is the narrative of the series, which is strange, as it is composed of several mini stories with their own continuity and showing all the different characters, as if the source material was a 4-koma manga, and yet it is not, it is a light novel. Thus narratively nothing gets enough linear focus before moving to something else. The pacing is fast, as you could have guessed based on what I just wrote, yet it is perhaps too fast, not only for how things change from one to another, but also because at the middle point of the anime, it feels like the characters reached the point where nothing else is left to do with them. Which can be associated with how simple the characters are. Unlike Hina, the princess here is so good at everything instantly that she has nothing to learn or accomplish, she learns fast, finds solutions to everything fast, befriends people fast, and becomes the daughter of the male co-protagonist midway, through a relationship that was always funny and wholesome, with no conflict or anything like that. The other woman is kind of the opposite, as she is very good regarding any physical activity, but is also quite dumb, easy to fool, and constantly messes up, so in her case she learns nothing and does not move forward in any way, but for the opposite reasons as the female protagonist. There are a lot more secondary characters, all of which are quirky. From a woman that is sexually into huge buildings, a lawyer that looks like a little girl for some reason, a female detective that is an expert at braking up couples, both of them that like the protagonist, and unknowingly try to help each other to win his heart, only to fail miserably. Also the bullied girl that befriends the princess becomes sort of a detective that helps bullied people on her own. There’s a writer, a singer and escort, and the cult leader, which after being helped by the bodyguard they become recurring characters with their own quirks, but not much else. The humour suffers from being partially referential, and not like in a parody way, and is not subtle in the least, it directly tells you what is referencing. Other than that, it is mostly about absurd situations, sometimes ecchi humour both with nudity and sexual situations or innuendos, which I did enjoy but at times found too much sexualizing of a certain character at some point, and at times a bit of dark humour, so if you like that combination, you might enjoy this. So in the end, I think this could have been as decent as Hinamatsuri if it was less stuffed with characters and topics, or knew how to narratively handle them better and with some sense of actual character progression, and it also needed some substance and more serious moments. But it didn’t do it so it stands as a meh alternative to it, which is nonetheless enjoyable in its own right and I’m glad I bumped into it casually, when I almost missed it completely.

Hidden gem of an anime. A reverse isekai slice of life of a princess that lives with a good natured man and another slice of life of her attendant trying to find her place in that world, both being top tier stories in their own right. Wholesome anime overall. Really made me feel the episodes go by too fast. We have a variety of cast of characters that influence each other's actions, and even though some of them might not have had too much screen time to differentiate themselfes more from the stereotype they represent, it is still a good salad bowl of eccentrics that youare almost never sure where they'll go next in terms of plot. The story is interesting, especially because you have like 2 plots following. First is the new found family of the princess and the good guy that is a detective. While he is a detective, the anime isn't focusing only/that much on that, it also focuses on them bonding as like a father daughter relation and on how the princess adapts to the new life she is in, for which she's doing a damn good job. Wholesome stuff all together. Really refreshing and good vibes. The other plot line is the attendant that followed her and her trying to find a place in the world she's in and the numerous stuff she encounters and gets herself into because she is naive and all. Both plots could have been made into an anime of their own tbh. But I fully enjoyed this mix. Story: 9 -- Wholesome, random story from time to time, but it works out because of the different characters and how they complement each other. Maybe sometimes it kinda goes a bit too fast... Art: 9 -- Really like the art and direction, perfect for this kind of anime. Music: 9 -- Loved both the OP and the ED. Songs that I will listen to from now on. Characters: 9 -- Truly a salad bowl of eccentrics. Enjoyment: 10 -- Time flew by. Would sometimes get surprised by the ending cuz I thought there was still some more time... so yea, sign of a good anime. Overall: 9 Right now it has 7.30 from 22.876 votes Ranked #2748 Popularity #3008 Members 56,496 as of 01/09/2024. Highly recommend this anime to people that want to watch some father daughter bonding and a girl getting herself into different types of weird situations. Watch if you want something chill, kinda unique in terms of direction, wholesome stuff overall which will make you smile. Hidden gem of an anime, I'm telling ya. From the looks of it, there surely should be a second season coming.

A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics - Yomi Hirasaka going 3-for-3 with his work-to-anime adaptations? Man, that's a purely coincidental straight streak of lady luck, if I ever saw one. I like Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai a.k.a Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends when the genre was fresh back in Fall 2011 (which spawned a franchise), but I love Imouto sae Ireba Ii. a.k.a A Sister's All You Need even more, being an anime seasonal sophomore back in Fall 2017. And 6.5 years later, we get yet ANOTHER Yomi Hirasaka work together, this time with illustrator Kantoku, with ImoSae being one (which inspired novelist Buncololi's Sasakito Pii-chan a.k.a Sasaki and Peeps) and this season's Henjin no Salad Bowl a.k.a A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics, which is just the better executed version of Sasaki to Pii-chan, bar none. Man, does this author know NOT to miss writing great stories. By now, you would've already caught on that this show is the not-so-bastardised child of Hataraku Maou-sama! and Hinamatsuri, and let's face it, it really does have similar feels to both shows in its presentation and premise, with characters coming from another world to Japan, and learning how to live quirky-but-ordinary lives apart from whence they came from. This is the scenario for Sara Da Odin, a 13-year-old princess, and her loyal retainer knight, Livia Do Udis, whom both face insurrection from a coup d'etat rebellion, and have to escape death. A secret portal that allows both girls to escape from Earth is their freedom, but that isn't the end as they both get separated from entering at different intervals. Sara, having to fend for herself, is found by 29-year-old private detective Sosuke Kaburaya, the son of a very accomplished father who's a well-known veteran private detective, who operates an agency in Gifu Prefecture (where Yomi Hirasaka himself is from). Her having been taken in to assist with his work in exchange for living rent-free with him, while Livia becomes a homeless person while in search for her, taking odd and eccentric jobs just to make a living until she is found. If you don't know, let me enlighten you on the "Salad Bowl" part of its title: It (or as they call it in Canada: a cultural mosaic or tossed salad) is a metaphor for the way an intercultural society can integrate different cultures while maintaining their separate identities, contrasting with a melting pot, which emphasises the combination of the parts into a single whole. In the model, different cultures are brought together — like salad ingredients — but do not form together into a single homogeneous culture; each culture keeps its own distinct qualities. This idea proposes a society of many individual cultures a.k.a multiculturalism, since the latter suggests that ethnic groups may be unable to preserve their heritage. As the title suggests, this is truly a Salad Bowl of Eccentrics when it comes to the wide range of its character cast: a magic user, a knight, a detective with the typical work and brewing romance from within, plus other more eccentric people that help make this the serious-and-not-so-serious "story" that it uses to entice people in its plot elements. Because, let's face it, this show is a bundle of comedy and fun that knows not to take itself seriously, but still delivers as if there's overarching narratives on the go in its cryptic chaos and absurdity that has no end to itself. Like ImoSae's character cast, it's ingenious of Yomi Hirasaka to leverage on that and refine it in this series, making each and every character unique with individual eccentric quirks and personalities so that it doesn't come off as bland, but memorable. The series comes off as being naturally unpredictable, which gives it the charm that it has, but you'd think that it does throw you a fair few curveballs at times. For example, in the sense of Sosuke's private detective duties, with Sara being thrown in the lynch, there's some infotainment to be had...and the entertainment thereafter is pure nonchalant hilarity in the execution of its comedy. Not every joke hits, but when it does, it's truly golden. Studio Comet's in-house director Masafumi Sato may not be the best when it comes to directorialship, to the point that I would say that the closest comparison would be Fall 2014's Denki-gai no Honya-san, but he gets the job done. Of course, said novelist, being the series composer to accurately get as much of his own source material onto the small screen as possible (as he did for both Haganai and ImoSae), it adds a lot of creative touch when authors get a hand on their work adapted into the anime medium. And as far as co-productions go, I'll admit that Studio Comet and SynergySP are a fit for being a quirky studio collab effort, which ironically enough, adds to the eccentricities of the anime in general. The best part is the music. Holy wowsers, am I taken in for a big surprise. Wanuka's OP song "Gif-ni-Ted" (a play on "gifted") is not only musically great, but it's visually fantastic, and, dare I say, outstanding when it comes to unadulterated creativity. The flawless blend of the song's tones alongside real-world backgrounds and traditional 2D animation just sings and flows seamlessly in colour and vibrancy...just like a Salad Bowl. On the other hand, Meiyo Densetsu's ED may not be as fancy, but it's just as peppy and catchy (when you actually speed the song faster) as the OP in terms of its flavour. Truly the undisputed OP of the season in my eyes and ears, without a doubt. At the end of the day, the anime does its work elevating the source material, and is truly a fun and enjoyable moniker of the salad bowl term: you'll never know what you'll get, but somehow, it works. And even though this might be the last time that we'll get to see more of Yomi Hirasaka's works adapted into anime, I'm truly glad that it ended on a bang with Henjin no Salad Bowl, because this Salad Bowl of Eccentrics is one worth giving a taste of the finer comedies of life in all sorts of flavours, not just imaginable, but also tasty and fulfilling as well. And for that, it deserves outstanding praise when all is said and done. Thank you, Yomi Hirasaka, for creating a legacy (ouch *cough* Haganai *cough* that's an outlier) of diverse material that touches the hearts of many, and if ImoSae isn't enough to trigger my sophomore memories of what it means to experience some REALLY great anime, Salad Bowl is an extra addition to the main course that is both a bundle of weird joy and a blast of fun, and this appetiser is one I'll forever remember in time to come. Time to whip out a Salad Bowl to eat some great Eccentric comedy!

This anime has an undeservedly low rating. It has many facets, and I guess the problem is that it is not what it looks like at first glance. At first you expect reverse isekai with magic and stuff, but in fact it's much more just a very funny comedy with a lot of ridiculous situations and unusual characters. The story is quite unique, and quite offbeat, which adds to the charade. Each minor character has their own place, interesting story, and character. I think it's the rare case where a seemingly bland anime should be given a chance. The art doesn't stand out as anything unusual or super cool,but it's done qualitatively and well.

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