A Look at Foods in Anime Series

Everyone’s got to eat, and when it comes to anime characters, they’re no different.  Of course, their choice of what to eat and why can sometimes seem a little bit puzzling, but when you step back and look at their characters, it all makes sense.  In many manga, there will be plenty of scenes of characters eating, and it is always interesting to note what the characters have decided to snack on.

When you’re talking about food in anime, one of the best examples that come up will be onigiri in Fruits Basket.  Onigiri are balls of vinegared rice, usually with a flavoring of some kind rolled into the middle, and while these are simple enough, they have an enormous amount of meaning to the main character, Tohru Honda.  Tohru has always wanted a place where she can belong and this was illustrated when she was dubbed an onigiri in a childhood game where the players are usually fruit, like apples or bananas.  She was the only onigiri, and because of this, no one called on her during the game.  With the Sohma family, who she grew increasingly close to being an onigiri started to represent being someone special and precious, and something to be proud of.

On the other hand, some food in anime can simply be an excuse for an enormous fight.  At the other end of the spectrum from the romantic Fruits Basket is the action comedy of Ranma ½, which features a young okonomiyaki chef, named Ukyo Kuonji. Okonomikayi may be alternately known as Japanese omelet or pizza, but essentially it is a pan-fried cake with your choice of toppings on it.  For Ukyo, however, okonmiyaki are a matter of pride. Ukyo has spent a lifetime training with in the art of making okonomiyaki, something that the main character of the anime, Ranma Saotome, learns all too well when he has to fight Ukyo on top of a huge griddle with noodles and batter used as weapons.

You will also find that some characters in anime will simply use food as part of a defining character trait.  For instance, in Trigun, which is essentially a Western set on an alien planet, the main character Vash the Stampede has a huge love of doughnuts, something that two insurance investigators use in their favor when they are trying to track him down.  Later on in the series, Vash gains a dark foil in the character Legato Bluesummers, who loves sweets, but has none of Vash’s redeeming human qualities.

Sometimes, a character can become a lot more endearing or sympathetic when you see him doing something as human as eating. Toshirou Hitsugaya, from Bleach, for instance, is a cold young genius, the youngest captain in the military organization of death gods.  He’s widely regarded as something of a stickler for the rules, and he can be harsh, even to his childhood friend, Momo Hinamori.  Despite this, it is surprising endearing when you are allowed a peek into his past and see him voraciously eating slices of watermelon. Even the creepy and threatening Gin Ichimaru is seen in a much more sympathetic light when he offers dried persimmons to Rangiku Matsumoto, who will grow up to be another death god.
There are plenty of eating and food scenes in anime; keep an eye out for them and see what the foods say about the characters!