Food for the Soul


Food for the Soul is an original Japanese anime television series created by, the author of Non Non Biyori, produced by Aniplex and animated by P.A. Works. It aired from April to June 2025. A manga adaptation illustrated by Quro began serialization on Media Factory's Comic Alive+ manga website in March 2025.

Plot

Mako Kawai is a first-year college student who is shy and afraid to try new things. She has a hobby of cooking and is often curious about the food she finds around her, although her curiosity is often thwarted by her nature. However, unexpectedly she meets her elementary school friend, Shinon Ogawa, who turns out to be her college friend. Shinon creates a new club themed on food research at her campus and tries to invite Mako to join her club. Together with Kurea Furutachi, Nana Hoshi, and Tsutsuji Higa, the five of them go on an adventure to find delicious and tasty food.

Characters

;Mako Kawai
;Kurea Furutachi
;Shinon Ogawa
;Tsutsuji Higa
;Nana Hoshi
;Mokotarō
;Mayumi Ota
;Runa Hoshi
;Sakura Kodama
;Hiyori and Yuna

Media

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Quro began serialization on Media Factory's Comic Alive+ manga website on March 15, 2025. A single tankōbon volume has been released as of May 2025.

Anime

The original anime television series created by Atto, produced by Aniplex and animated by P.A. Works was announced on December 31, 2024. It was directed by Shinya Kawatsura and Yū Harumi, written by Yoshihiro Hiki, with Hiromi Mizutani composing the music. Original character designs were provided by Atto, while Hajime Mitsuda adapted the designs for animation. The series aired from April 13 to June 29, 2025, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song is "Sora Mon ne", performed by Asmi, while the ending theme song is "Misoshiru to Butter", performed by Reira Ushio. Crunchyroll streamed the series. Plus Media Networks Asia licensed the series in Southeast Asia and broadcasts it on Aniplus Asia.

Episodes

Reception

Jeremy Tauber of Anime News Network gave the series an overall positive review, with regards to the characters, the food design, and the soundtrack. While Tauber found every episode cozy, heartwarming and fun, he also noted that there are no frills to the slice of life premise at hand, and as such, not a lot of it would come off as too big a surprise for longtime fans of the genre.