And now we’ve got one of the more interesting genres to look at, with Princess Connect! Re:Dive being my choice for the “gourmet” genre. I can’t say I was all that sure of what this genre would entail, but...
And now we’ve got one of the more interesting genres to look at, with Princess Connect! Re:Dive being my choice for the “gourmet” genre. I can’t say I was all that sure of what this genre would entail, but after watching this, and having seen similar themes in some other series, it’s actually quite straightforward, albeit strange (to me anyways) for this to be a genre.
Synopsis
A boy with no memories is awoken by an elf girl who claims her job is to guide and help him in the world until he can fulfill his purpose. The two journey together and end up taking on more companions as they form a guild together and have lots of experiences while the boy slowly regains memories of his past.
Lighthearted Fantasy
Yep, the focus isn’t fantasy for this post, but you just know I have to break this down too while I’m at it. What can I say, I’m a fantasy fanatic.
On a scale of Akame ga Kill! to the smartphone anime, this one definitely ranks up there with the smartphone anime. In other words, it’s very lighthearted and has a happy-go-lucky feel to it. The colour pallete is quite bright and vibrant. The characters are generally cheery and optimistic. And the themes are easygoing (for the most part). If you like darkness, death, and destruction in your fantasy anime, this one definitely ain’t it.
That said, if you like your fantasy anime to have happier and more relaxed vibes, Princess Connect! Re:Dive is as good as any.
One thing I like to look for in fantasy anime is any unique aspects that I haven’t encountered in other fantasy series. And for the most part, there really weren’t any. You have guilds (although in this case, adventurer parties are also referred to as “guilds” even though they also take quests at a… guild?), adventurers, monsters, quests, magic, swords, a kingdom, various demi-human species in addition to regular humans, et cetera.
Which makes this a nice tie-in, because actually the most unique aspect of this one I think was in fact, the food!
Gourmet
Now make no mistake, Princess Connect! Re:Dive is not a story about food. It’s a story that just happens to involve food. While many other stories will just skip over or gloss over most, if not all, meals, this one does the opposite. Pretty much every meal is accounted for, and you get to see various meals which can range from ordinary things we all know to outright strange fantasy dishes, and everything in-between.
Even now, I find it strange that this was such a focus of the anime, because the story could have easily gone on without it. As I said, the food really isn’t the focus, it’s just sort of a convenient tie-in at times and almost feels like a way to pass the time.
I wouldn’t say that the food really did much for me personally. I’m not really the type to start drooling over seeing food depicted in anime, and with anime like this it almost has the opposite effect at times because watching the characters eat so much food sort of makes the idea of eating less appealing. Especially if a character pigs out and eats a ridiculous amount of food in a single sitting… no thanks.
Now this is absolutely a shot in the dark, as I know nothing about the Princess Connect! Re:Dive game, but maybe food plays an important role in that. Like you get bonuses based on the food your characters eat or whatever, and you have to make use of food in order to min-max your gameplay. I don’t know. I just noticed that the game came out a few years prior to the anime, so I figure it may have had an influence.
Regardless, this is an anime in a fantasy setting, with a fantasy story, with characters that like food. That’s probably the best way to sum it up.
Other Genres
Seeing as I’ve touched upon two of the four genres this anime currently holds on MyAnimeList, I may as well address the other two.
While it’s tagged as an adventure anime, and does sort of have adventure themes such as our protagonist getting stronger over time and gaining companions and whatnot, it doesn’t end up feeling like too much of an adventure. There is a second season, so maybe things progress there, but in this first season, there’s no clear cut ending and it almost felt like the story / adventure was only just beginning in the final few episodes. Most of this season felt more like slice of life than adventure, I think.
And next is the comedy tag. I personally didn’t find it all that comedic, although these lighthearted types tend to get this tag simply because they’re less serious and more aloof in general. So I think in this case, it’s less about the jokes that are intended to deliver a punchline and get you laughing, and more about just the goofy little moments that happen here and there.
Rating
I’ll give Princess Connect! Re:Dive a 7 / 10.
This just wasn’t really anything special for me. While the focus on food and meals was an interesting departure from pretty much all the other fantasy anime out there, I didn’t feel like this aspect really tied in well with the overarching story and purposes of the characters. Instead it sort of felt like a convenient way to take the focus away from the usual monster-slaying type activities and keep the tone more lighthearted overall.
And the story itself just didn’t develop enough to keep me all that interested. I tend to prefer stories that keep me engaged rather than stories that get bogged down with a lot of random events that really slow down the pacing. That said, the overarching story does seem good overall, and perhaps it develops more in the second season.
Until next time,
Thanks for reading.