Anime Reviews (2010-2019) Kakuriyo ~Bed & Breakfast for Spirits~ Part One (a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Anime on Blu-ray Review)

If you are looking for a fun and delightful anime series, definitely give “Kakuriyo ~Bed & Breakfast for Spirits~” a try!

TITLE: Kakuriyo ~Bed & Breakfast for Spirits~ Part One

YEAR OF FILM: 2018

DURATION: Episodes 1-13 (325 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p HD Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Funimation

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: May 7, 2019

Director: Okuda Yoshiko

Series Composition: Konparu Tomoko

Music by Iga Takuro

Originally created by Yuma Midori

Original Character Designs by Laruha

Character Design: Satou Youko

Art Director: Nakamura Norifumi

Anime Production by GONZO

Featuring the following voice talent:

Konishi Katsuyuki/Christopher Wehkamp as Odanna/Master

Toyama Nao/Emily Neves as Tsubaki Aoi

Toki Shunichi/Stephen Fu as Ginji

Nakae Mitsuki/Amanda Lee as Kasuga

Inoue Kazuhiko/Brian Mathis as Tsubaki Shiro

Ishikawa Kaito/Daman Mills as Ranmaru

Inoue Yuki/Justin Briner as Sasuke

Tamura Atsushi/Matt Shipman as Byakuya

Iwami Manaka/Megan Shipman as Chibi

Suzuki Minori/Mikaela Krantz as Mei

Suzuki Minori/Morgan Berry as Kai

Kakuma Ai/Morgan Garrett as Oryo

Ueda Reina/Natalie Hoover as Shizuna

Uchida Yuma/Orion Pitts as Akatsuki

Terashima Takuma/Ricco Fajardo as Hatori

Aoi Tsubaki is suddenly swept away to the hidden realm when a handsome ogre lord comes to take her as his wife! He claims that she must pay back her grandfather’s debt, but Aoi’s not willing to give her hand over so easily. Instead, she makes a deal to work at the Tenjin-ya, a bed and breakfast for ayakashi, to pay back what her family owes. As she wins the spirits over one dish at a time, Aoi will find much more than a job in this hidden realm.

Back in 2016, writer Yuma Midori and illustrator Laruha created the light novel series “Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi” (Afterlife Inn Cooking). With nine volumes published, a manga adaptation was released in 2016 and the story was collected in five tankobon volumes.

In 2018, an anime series adaptation was produced by Gonzo and now the 26-episode anime series will be released in North America courtesy of Funimation titled “Kakuriyo: ~Bed & Breakfast for Spirits~” and will be released in two parts. The first part features the first 13 episodes.

The series revolves around a college student named Tsubaki Aoi who has the ability to see Ayakashi since she was a child. One day an Ayakashi came to her while she was young and gave her food. And it is a memory she has always remembered.

Aoi was abandoned by her mother at a young age and was raised by her grandfather Shiro (who also had the ability to see Ayakashi). Her grandfather passed away but left her enough money to attend college and survive.

One day, Aoi encounters an Ayakashi who is hungry and she gives her lunch to him. The Ayakashi, an ogre, is named Odanna and he kidnaps Aoi and brings her to the Ayakashi’s Hidden Realm and to an inn he runs called Tenjin-ya.

It is learned by Aoi that her grandfather used to visit Tenjin-ya but amassed a debt of 100 million yen. Because he had a huge debt, he offered his granddaughter Aoi in marriage to Odanna. But Aoi refuses to marry Odanna and tells him that she intends to work and pay off her debt.

While trying to find a job in the Hidden Realm, no one wants to help her as they look down on her because she is a human and they do not want to see her married to Odanna.

One day she meets with a Ginji (a nine-tailed fox servant) in a run-down restaurant and when she offers to cook him omurice, he is amazed and asks her to work for his restaurant.

One day, she find an elderly drunk Tengu and she ends up helping him to recover by cooking him food. The Tengu is named Matsuba who was once saved by Aoi’s grandfather Shiro and wanted to give Shiro a valuable Tengu fan, but never got around to it. Odanna reveals that the Tengu’s name is Matsuba and is a Tengu Elder who went missing after falling from an airship. After hearing about Shiro’s death, Matsuba gives Shiro the fan and while he offers to pay off her debt and let Aoi live with the Tengu’s at Mt. Shumon and she can marry one of his sons, she tells Matsuba that she intends to pay the debt herself.

Matsuba promises her that he would return if Aoi opens an eatery and despite not wanting her to do so, because Aoi’s generosity helped fix a disagreement between the Tengu and Tenjin-ya servants, he allows her and from here on in, can Aoi create a successful bed and breakfast and pay her debt back to Kakuriyo? And will she eventually earn the respect from those in the Hidden Realm that look down on her because she is human?

VIDEO:

“Kakuriyo ~Bed & Breakfast for Spirits~” is presented in 1080p High definition. The TV series is vibrant and I felt the animation and also the artistic backgrounds were also fantastic. If anything, It was great to see a GONZO produced anime series because the company has always been dedicated to quality and it shows in this series!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Kakuriyo ~Bed & Breakfast for Spirits~” is presented in Japanese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and English DolbyTrue HD 5.1. First, let’s talk about the voice acting. The voice acting for this film is well-done. I have watched the series prior in Japanese and as I watched the film in English for the first time, I was quite pleased with the overall English dub. The voice acting was well done and felt that the talent were well cast for this film. Of course, the Japanese voice acting is well-done but as I am usually biased towards the Japanese vocal track, I have to say that I enjoyed the English dub a lot.

As for the lossless soundtrack, the music is fantastic for the film and for the most part, the series is crystal clear in HD.

Optional subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Kakuriyo ~Bed & Breakfast for Spirits~” comes no special features but the textless opening and closing ending themes.

EXTRAS:

“Kakuriyo ~Bed & Breakfast for Spirits~”comes with the Blu-ray and a Funimation Digital Copy code.

A delightful anime series with fascinating characters and an enjoyable storyline “Kakuriyo ~Bed & Breakfast for Spirits~” is an anime series that’s all fun and lighthearted for the first 12 episodes.

As one can expect, the first half is primarily a storyline which is built on character introductions and character dynamics. By episode 13, we start to see the storyline begin to shift to something possibly a little more serious.

But for the most part, what I enjoy about this series is its underdog storyline about a human in a world that looks down on her because she is a human but there is one thing that she excels at and that is cooking and by cooking wonderful meals, she is able to win the respect of people, but also because of her kind nature and not fearing the Ayakashi.

Of course, there is also this story in which Aoi is trying to find the Ayakashi, a Ginji who appeared to her when she was a little girl and helped her. So, there is an almost otome style storyline in which there are other guys who seem that start to grow close to her. Granted, she is a focused person that wants to prove she can make the money to pay off her grandfather’s debt but also showing everyone how kindhearted she is.

As for the anime on Blu-ray, for the most part, I have never been disappointed by a Gonzo series on Blu-ray and this series looks vibrant and fantastic in HD. The voice acting is wonderful for both Japanese and English dub soundtracks, but I did feel it was a wee bit of a letdown to not see any special features included.

Overall, if you are looking for a fun and delightful anime series, definitely give “Kakuriyo ~Bed & Breakfast for Spirits~” a try!

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