English Dub Review: Restaurant to Another World “Hamburg Steak/Assorted Cookies”

Cookies overcome all racism, I guess?

Overview (Spoilers)

Meet Rouke, a young fisherman who was saved from a freak storm by a mermaid. She takes him to a deserted island and morphs to have legs, leading him to a door to the Nekoya. The two have hamburg steaks with rice. He is so smitten with the watery maiden’s mystery that he asks if he could meet her at the Nekoya again next week. Afterwards, we get to see what has Aletta in such good spirits. Though her job at the Nekoya has given her enough money (and good food) to get by, she has applied at an employment agency. Her first job is kismet. She’s working as a house keeper/sitter for Sarah Gold, from episode two. This is a steady job, sure, but it also gives her a room to sleep in! Sarah’s sister Sia comes to visit and balks at first that her sister would employ a demon girl to work in her house. When Aletta serves her tea with some gourmet cookies from our world, however, all prejudice is out the window. Sia begs Aletta to procure more for her, and a fast friendship is struck.

To be honest, I enjoyed the second half of the episode more than the first. Unfortunately, the first section felt more like yet another group of characters that show up, but don’t contribute much to the story. There wasn’t much of a sociological or emotional aspect to it, so it fell flat. What it did present was the knowledge that the six ancient dragons are worshiped as gods in their world. Looking at the second half, however, we see a development of personal story with the various characters that work at the Nekoya. We find how much of an issue Kuro’s psychic communication causes. Not only does it startle people, but it’s difficult to tell when she’s helping a table, as she doesn’t even need to be near it to talk to them clearly. That means Aletta sometimes comes to serve a table Kuro has already helped. Kuro promises to relay that sort of information to both the Master and Aletta from then on. It’s something you don’t think about often, that someone speaking telepathically could actually cause miscommunication, and that’s a fun touch. This also serves to give us a bit more contiguous plot than we’re used to seeing, as these bits continue threads from the previous episode.

I liked how Sarah Gold was actually hoping that Aletta would be sent by the agency. It goes to show how the chipper, little tiefling lights up the Nekoya. Even though her race is hated by humans, she is universally loved by all who know her. We get to hear more about the Gold family, which seems to either have a natural addiction to adventure, or a curse that is passed down through the generations. Otherwise, the family owns a shipping company, from which they make a fortune. What is interesting is that Aletta seems unwilling to tell Sia about the restaurant when asked. Is this because explaining it is hard, or because she is trying to keep it a secret? Also, for once, this episode introduces us to a bit more of the real world outside the Nekoya. Above the restaurant is the Flying Dog Bakery. Oh. Haha. Flying Dog. As in Flying DOG, the studio that produces the BGM for this series. You’re funny. I just got that. I’d like to see a day in the life of the Master when it isn’t Saturday, and build up a little bit of the area around the restaurant. Does anyone else know about the magical door? Has anyone overheard any of the arguments over which dish is better and wondered how, when the place should be closed?

Our Take

The art of this series has always been delightful. It has a style reminiscent of Studio Ghibli, only a bit more grown up. The linework is mainstream at a range, but is elegant and light up close. The animation is smooth here and takes on extra detail when we are looking at food. There was an exceptional level of detail on the running yolk of the egg. Though show’s animation has been a bit rough in the past, with plenty of errors at a distance, this episode sees none of that. The sequences with Rouke and Arte are smooth and have dramatic enough key frames for Arte as she swims. I wish that carried over to when she was walking.

Both Aletta and Sia were well voiced during this episode, expressing a wide range of emotion. Jill Harris is responsible for the demonette’s warm, adorable voice, while Felicia Angelle gave Sia an authenticity to everything she was feeling. When we first meet the character, she comes off as reserved and a bit stuck up, primarily because she’s upper class. You can hear a faint touch of disgust in her voice as she thinks to herself about her sister hiring “this demon girl”. It isn’t heavily pronounced, which makes sense. In her own head, she doesn’t hold those prejudices. However, when she eats the cookies, her voice practically sparkles, and all sense of revulsion vanishes. She’s excited, and perhaps gets infected by Aletta’s good attitude. An interesting note, I looked up Jill Harris. If you gave her green contacts and horns, she’d be a dead ringer for Aletta. That’s a compliment, actually. She’s cute for a demon, and her voice has taken a beautiful show even further. Though perky, it is soft and gentle, which makes you feel comfortable. Even when she’s exasperated or shocked, I’ve never found Jill’s work to be harsh or shrill.

The episode’s writing, especially in dialogue, got much better during the second half. In fact, I would even hope that they stop telling these side stories for a while and give us more of the existing characters interacting. It is far more compelling and gives each character more of a purpose than to just show up and eat. As much as this show makes me feel good, and I look forward to watching it each week, I’m still hankering for a bit more plot to go with the scrumptious art and soul-warming writing. The story just stays thin, and as interesting as the characters get, we only tap on their surface. I give this episode seven gourmet cookies out of ten.