The Food Diary of Miss Maid – Episode 1

What’s it about? Maid Suzume has become accustomed to life abroad in Britain, but when her workplace–a sumptuous mansion—is damaged, she’s forced to return to her homeland for a year while repairs occur. Thankfully, she’s armed with her guidebook and all of the sweet and savory treats Japan has to offer.

Episode 1 opens with a maid wistfully looking outside of her residence, clad in that traditional European maid of all work uniform familiar to anime fans. After the opening rolls, we start with our first delicious snack: taiyaki, and a maid who cleans down to the most minuscule of crevices despite being something of a mild airhead.

Still, cleaning is hard work and our main character Suzume is more than worth a sweet treat, especially since she’s still adapting to her homeland after working abroad. But when her British household becomes devastatingly unhabitable, Suzume finds herself trapped in Japan for a year across multiple snack-sized vignettes that develop the tender beginnings of her return from a life abroad.

This is not an anime with big aspirations: it’s what it says on the tin. The biggest “twist” is that Suzume, a young woman who hasn’t lived in Japan since she was young, can’t return back to her Master’s mansion due to the pool collapsing, and even that’s just a convenient way to keep Suzume in Japan for a year to enjoy some delicious food.

To some, that’s going to be a ding, but for me, this is exactly what I crave: a simple anime about a young woman eating some food without any mention of diet culture or weird sexual overtones while she eats. Instead, this is the oral diary of a maid using a guidebook to eat her way through Japan and it’s fantastic because Food Diary so immediately understands what’s appealing about watching someone enjoy good food. It’s the ultimate indulgence while also not ignoring the fact that life happens around us—ultimately, an embrace of how a good snack or meal can really give space for necessary levity.

The biggest argument you could make is that this kind of turns what is very ordinary food into something hinging on “Fantastical Japan” but I think that’s kind of the point in context of Suzume’s own exploration of her culture. Because of her distance to being in her own culture, there is something “magical” about discovering foods and things you’ve never experienced. I can definitely see this argument being made, but personally, I think that this show is less “look at how cool Japan is!” and more a young woman finding wonder in the mundane. (Plus look: I too thought it was really cool how you unwrap an onigiri the first time I did it in Japan too!)

Not gonna lie: this is my jam, my jelly, and exactly the kind of sweet series I like to kick of Spring with. I’m a sucker for food anime and even more drawn in when it’s about a young woman just living life on her own terms. This is easily a stellar addition to my roster for this season, and is perfect comfort food, pardon the pun.

Much like See You Tomorrow at the Food Court, this is just a nice look into the lives of girls and women who simultaneously don’t exist but are very real, and for that, I think you really should give this premiere a try and let it warm your heart like a portion of takoyaki. Just…don’t watch if you’re hungry.