For some reason, I suddenly decided that I wanted to read manga that had food as a strong theme. I’m not sure why, I was just in that sort of mood. So I went through AniList and looked up manga that had Fodd as a tag and for the most part, I was rewarded. It’s how I discovered Suiyou Kyoudai, Gunji-sensei no Hisoka na Tanoshimi and Aikagi-kun to Shiawase Gohan all of which I really like so far. And it’s also how I found A Meal Makes Her Forget.
This is story is quite different from what I usually gravitate to and I’ve only been able to get my hands on a handful of chapters so far but it’s great. And it would make an AMAZING anime. ‘Cmon anime producers, I know you read this blog. Get on it!
Why I Picked up A Meal Makes Her Forget
Like I said, I wanted a manga about food. But I also gravitated towards the main character. An adult woman that’s both capable and intelligent but going through a rough patch. It sounded like something I don’t see that often in manga.
Official Summary
Meet Sasaki Sachiko. A 29 year old woman who works as an editor to a popular magazine. Her life is great, and soon it’s going to be amazing because she’s going to be married. Until suddenly ……… “Anyway, I need to eat so I could forget that day”
My First Impression
Oh wow, Sachiko is a no-nonsense iron lady!
What I liked
Sachiko is not an iron lady. Sure she’s no-nonsense, practical and very capable but she’s also human. She may have handled her fiancé peacing out at the last minute with a lot more grace than 99% of people would have but when it hits her a week later the emotion is palpable.
A Meal Makes her Forget perfectly captures that sort of lost and numb pain you feel after a bad breakup. It’s just a breakup, you tell yourself. No big deal, happens to everybody all the time. And then out of the blue, you feel like crying. The next day your better but everything is kind of hazy. You just have to learn to be happy again and to rediscover yourself without that other person.
At the same time, Sachiko’s quest to get over it leads her to a newfound love of food. And there is true passion in how she describes dishes and the different tastes and textures. Her newfound enthusiasm mixes with her lingering ache to create this perfectly bitter-sweet concoction.
And even just in the first few chapters, there is a lot of hope in this manga. In a lot of societies being single past thirty is considered a bad thing for a woman. And being left at the alter is possibly the most shameful event a woman could endure. But a Meal Makes her Forget actually frames it as a chance for Sashiko to really find herself and figure out what she wants out of life. That’s really cool.
And it actually manages to not vilify the fiancé. We don’t know much about him at all so far but the little flashbacks we see show him as a generally fun-loving, patient and caring man that made a lot of sacrifices to make his girlfriend happy.
I guess what I really liked about A Meal Makes her Forget is that it’s not a story about heartbreak. It’s a story about Sachiko.
Any drawbacks?
I don’t know. I haven’t read enough to really see something not to like. I guess it’s more of a matter of taste. A Meal Makes Her Forget is a slice of life about an adult woman going through a breakup. And that will not be everyone’s cup of tea. That’s normal. There’s no fanservice at all, no jokes and nothing fantastic or even out of the ordinary about it. Basically, you either want to read this sort of story or you don’t. If you do, I think you will be happy.
This said, I really have only found a handful of chapters. It may go drastically downhill.
Oh and I guess if you’re on a diet, this is not the manga for you! For instance, the second chapter introduced me to Toruko Rice and even though I’m vegetarian, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it…
Conclusion
Honestly, with a good director, this could be my new favourite anime. It reminds me of titles such as Match Comes in Like A Lion but with more food, and that’s always the way to my heart. The potential for a deeply emotional character study is there and the visual appeal of dishes is undeniable. I have no idea if this title even has a chance at adaptation but it already has my vote!
For the record, there is a J-Drama available. It’s not Netflix but not in Canada. I have seen a few episodes and it’s very different.
