First Impression: Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori

Synopsis

Set in a popular Japanese-style café named “Rokuhoudou”, this story star four specialists. They consist of tea specialist and café owner Sui, latte artist Gure, sweets specialist Tsubaki and cooking specialist Tokitaka. With warm smiles on their faces, they not only serve delicious meals, but they help their customers with any issue as well.

The Good

It’s not the male characters nor the overall one of the episode that makes it a good watch, though they are certainly factors that add to the enjoyment, but rather the art that makes the episode stand out. From the trees to the cafe’s design and most especially the food, it’s the little details that make the episode a visual pleasure. It also helped that there are one or two scenes that show the preparation and how accurate it is.

Other than the visual pleasure, the main characters were interesting in how they interacted with one another and how their dynamic worked. Then there is the female character that the episode took focus on; there was a relatable quality to her and it’s nice how her and the issue that the café was facing tied together. Overall the episode presents a calming work with great art, a relatable aspect.

The Bad

The only real issues to be found with the episode so far is that the main characters and their personalities are rather predictable from their design alone. As a slice-of-life work that features food and four males working in a café and helping people, it may not appeal to a huge range of people. What’s more, aside from the aesthetics and concept, there isn’t anything really new with this series in comparison to other series that feature Japanese food and people connecting over it.

What’s more, the pacing of the episode may come off as a bit slow and the comedy may not always hit the mark for some. Then there is the character focus of the episode, while she did have a relatable problem, it would have been nice if there was just a tad more character exploration done for her other than her position and how she tries not to get distracted by the food.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a series that features amazing looking Japanese food, some lovely eye-candy and an overall tone that makes for a great breather, this is the series. As stated, it is the little details found in the art that make the episode a good watch, but the way that the characters were portrayed, and the tone certainly helped. From what was shown so far though the male characters are rather predictable, and the pacing and comedy may not be for everyone. While it may not be great, it is an enjoyable work to check out at least.

Rating: 7.5/10