Meshi ni Shimashou

A manga about a manga assistant who cooks experimental meals for a manga artist who is perpetually behind schedule.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

I’ve always seen this manga in Evening Magazine but only skimmed through it. It wasn’t until we did our Kasane Retrospective did I learn this series was inspired by Doumu Kobayashi working as Daruma Matsuura‘s assistant! Suddenly jokes about the manga artist falling asleep with their mouth open painted a picture of Kobayashi catching Matsuura dozing off! The thought of Kobayashi farming ideas from his experiences cooking for Matsuura got me to reread this manga and search for potential behind-the-scenes events that could have happened!

As far as a food manga goes this book has two unique qualities. First, the recipes for the meals are often experiments so they don’t always yield a delicious dish. Second, the series features lots of surreal humor that removes it from reality. At one point, the Roomba becomes sentient and an ongoing character. So besides searching for insight into Matsuura’s work place, I also enjoyed the unique food and wacky comedy.

~dakazu