An Enjoyable Food and Fantasy Story: "Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi"

Synopsis

One day, Mukouda Tsuyoshi ends up being summoned with a group of people from Japan to a different world of sword and magic. Rather than being a summoned hero, however, he was just a civilian who got caught in a “Hero Summoning” by accident. With only the unique skill of “Net Supermarket," which enables him to order goods from modern Japan” Tsuyoshi sets out on an adventure of his own. While helping out a group of adventurers with his cooking, however, his food attracts the attention of a great beast.

The Good

Personally, the biggest appeal of the series is that for once, the character is not overpowered nor does he developed great abilities quickly either. While there is nothing wrong with a strong protagonist to survive the world they drop in, Tsuyoshi is a highly refreshing character. He is innovative, thinks things through and overall is rather relatable. Even after attaining Feru, the fact that he doesn’t fully rely on him and attempts to better himself makes him an ideal character in the genre.

Feru, on the other hand, makes for a great expositional and partner for Tsuyoshi. He reveals just the right information and is overall a fun character. That and the way that he enjoys food and bond with Tsuyoshi is rather cute. On the note of food, the details, the characters’ expressions and even the little notes on how they are enjoyed just make the work all that more enjoyable. Especially when Tsuyoshi gets creative with what resources he has.

Other than the characters and the food featured, the flow of the story is another thing that makes the story great. It’s not about the protagonist growing powerful or even him setting out on some great adventure to fulfill a goal. This is just a story of a man and his familiar traveling, gathering materials and enjoying good food along the way. Simple as it may be, the execution was more than well-done.

The Bad

After a certain amount of chapters, there are parts that can get repetitive. That and outside of Tsuyoshi traveling and earning a living, there doesn’t seem to be a solid storyline. Other than this, the world-building is rather standard. Honestly, as great as it is that the series didn’t take the route of him meeting a cute girl or gaining different admirers, it would be nice to see him establishing friendships with other characters. ‘

Conclusion

Good characters, enjoyable food, and a simple but fun story flow. This is a series that brings something new and gives a strong execution. With a character like Tsuyoshi, you can’t help but feel engaged in how different he is from the usual male hero. What would really make the series better is Tsuyoshi meeting different characters and forming friendships with them. If you’re looking for an isekai story that involves food and something different, this is it.

Rating: 8/10