It’s time for a Sword Art Online cooking manga which is just about as random as it sounds. The franchise has had numerous adaptions and titles over the years but nothing quite like this. It takes place during the original arc which is always fun since that was the best one. The title ends about as quickly as it begins so there isn’t time for a whole lot of content but it was pleasant enough. I enjoyed seeing the various cameos but don’t get why they chose to skip Kirito. It just makes sense to add him in!

The series starts with Yuzu and his sister Hina getting ready to log onto the new Sword Art Online game. They’ve been super psyched for this one and sure enough the game lives up to the hype. The graphics are insane and everything is super life like, but unfortunately the creator of the game reveals that this was all an elaborate death trap. Nobody can leave this world until someone completes the game. Given that it is an MMORPG, that is not a very comforting goal. Additionally we find out that the siblings had been hoping to open up a restaurant in the real world in honor of their parents who died in a tragic car crash. That’s when Hina decides that they will open up a restaurant in the online game. Will this work?

Naturally it would be impossible in almost any other game to pull this off but fortunately Sword Art Online is a game that transcends all usual reason. In this game you can actually cook food and feel like you are full after eating. The creator thought of everything here but not everything is 1-1 with how the real world works. Yuzu and Hina will have to quickly figure out the system and also master it in a way where nobody else can immediately run in and steal their thunder.

The goal is pretty fun and with so many players stuck in the game, it makes sense that not everyone would take a combat role. We get one chapter where the main characters try to do some fighting and quickly figure out that it isn’t their style. They are cooks not fighters and that’s not something that it going to change anytime soon. I definitely don’t blame them on that, sometimes things simply don’t click.

The series also did its homework on how virtual food might work. Naturally the game does some hand holding so you don’t have to wait weeks for different foods to ripen but at the same time as the cook you still need to have a pretty solid amount of ability or you’ll just be churning out some generic food. The characters start out with basic foods but we do see how copycats are able to infiltrate the market.

Hina even discovers an exploit within the game by cooking the most basic dish over and over to increase her cooking XP. This feels like a really realistic exploit because I’ve done that exact thing in some video games. It’s important to know how to cheese any video game as needed. The series only has 10 chapters so it really is a quick adventure like I mentioned in the intro. For that reason you shouldn’t expect a ton of story beyond the initial premise.

The two MCs do meet a few folks who help them out but for the most part this is just about learning how to cook. Then the ending throws you into a big time skip out of nowhere to follow up on their real life goals. It makes for an easy, compact read. That said, it’s not going to be in any position to challenge any of the iconic SAO titles at that rate. You would need more action to accomplish that but at least it avoids any main pitfalls so it does beat some of the manga titles for that reason.

Yuzu is a solid main character who may get discouraged at times but always tries his best. The guy doesn’t have time for a whole lot of character development but does just enough where I would still call him a good character overall. He was really passionate about not wanting to cut any corners when setting up the restaurant so I can respect that.

Hina is really the heart of the series as she keeps Yuzu from giving up and is always trying to come up with some ideas. I would say she also has a better sense for how the game works and discovers the exploits a lot easier. You really needed both main characters in order to pull this restaurant concept off. Either one would not have had what it took otherwise.

The side characters that they ran into also ended up being pretty helpful. Kiriko is a lady who is trying to make the best out of being stuck in this world but it’s definitely a tough situation for her. The main characters are able to get her on board with the whole food plan and she works well as a taste tester throughout. Since she’s older than the other characters she helps to add a little maturity there. Another adult who helps out is Rock.

Rock’s a food critic in the real world so he is the perfect person to come in and make sure that the food is going well. He also tends to know a whole lot about the craft so he helps the leads on the technical elements. He’s also a very enthusiastic guy and helps the dynamic a lot. I dare say he was my favorite character among the main 4 and was always a lot of fun to watch.

The art is really good for the series. It’s fairly detailed and captures the SAO atmosphere pretty well. Again there aren’t really big action scenes here so it’s a bit harder to really judge it but I had an easy time reading through the series. The writing is good and I always like the food manga titles so this was a winning combination. It may not be the kind of title that I ever feel the need to re read but on the initial readthrough it was interesting. I just wish the series wasn’t so short.

It feels like the kind of title that could easily have gone for a long time because there are so many different foods you could make. Maybe at some point the army hears about them so we get to have the heroes bring their food to the front lines. If there was a mandate where the series couldn’t mess with the canon events then I understand why the series would end so quickly. Just feels like there was a lot more meat on the bone here and it would have absolutely made the series more memorable.

Overall, I could easily see this title being turned into a TV special at some point. It would be a nice little side adventure and maybe then you could add Kirito just to add that star value right at the end. That would be a good idea and of course I’d look forward to seeing all of the food dishes. If you enjoy watching a peaceful feel good story then this is definitely one that I would recommend. It really doesn’t make any mistakes and makes for a very safe mini series.

Overall 6/10