It’s no deep dark secret that there are some anime out there that are absolutely gorgeous to look at. Anime such as Violet Evergarden, A Silent Voice, and just about anything made by the Ghibli Studio are well known for their aesthetic appeal. In fact, some anime are so lovely to look at that many fans watch it and hardly even notice the story! And what may come as a shock to many new anime fans is that it’s not just the characters or the setting that have eye popping visuals, but some of the food that the characters are lucky enough to dine on are pretty good looking as well. From steam filled food stalls that obscure the ghostly cook, to the wholesome traditional Japanese home cooking that become oh so popular at a certain yokai bed and breakfast inn, anime really know how to use it’s beautiful cuisine to warm the hearts of it’s fans! So, with the great feasting day of Thanksgiving (US) nearly upon us, what better way to prepare for an entire celebration over flowing with happy families, good friends, and glorious food than to start with some equally glorious anime featuring delectable dishes that look good enough to eat!

Howel’s Moving Castle

Howel’ Moving Castle is a anime film from Ghibli studio about a girl named Sophie that works at a hat shop. Unfortunately, late one night she angers a powerful witch and gets turned into an old lady! To try to break the curse that makes her look so old, she goes on a quest to find a cure. Along the way she teams up with the young and charming wizard Howel. He agrees to let her live in his mobile castle and work as his cleaning lady, though tidying up after a wizard and his apprentice comes with it’s own magical problems!

Though the film Howel’s Moving Castle isn’t exactly a food centric anime, it certainly isn’t demure about the meals the characters eat. From the glossy eggs as fluid and luminous as blown glass that Sophie fries up for breakfast to the bulbous potatoes Markel scoffs at as they shop at the farmer’s market, the food in this film is positively lovely to look at. And like in so many of Ghibli’s movies, what sets the animation of their culinary delights above the rest is Ghibli’s attention to the way light reflects off of, bends around, and shines through the organic materials of the meal, as if each little morsel was a polished gem!

Flying Witch

The anime Flying Witch is about a lovable and kind hearted teen witch (Makoto) that moves from Yokohama to the countryside to live with her cousins and finish her witch training ala Kiki’s Delivery Service. Makoto isn’t exactly the most skilled student witch, so there are plenty of silly, sweet, and unexpected results from her training, but her understanding country cousins seem to take all this oddness with good humor and patience.

Unlike Howel’s Moving Castle, not only does Flying Witch have quite eye catching food, but the series even goes so far as to have the tasty treats featured was part of the episodes themselves. In one episode Makoto ventures into the mountainous wood with her cousins to pick wild herbs and vegetables and then later in the episode they return home and fry some truly scrumptious looking veggie tempura. In another episode they sot out a hidden cafe with a ghost waitress! Of course that episode featured some lovely slices of cakes and pie too.

Clamp School Detectives

Clamp School Detectives is a cute anime about a trio of elementary school boys that form the student counsel at the prestigious Clamp school and are the self appointed detectives and heroes of their school. Their missions is to rescue every damsel and to prevent women from crying. Though being elementary school students would usually make their scope of influence and their cases rather limited, but not at Clamp school. The school is a super complex, a combination of primary, middle, higher and even university schools into one huge city of learning and research lead by the mysterious head of the school.

In Clamp School Detectives, not only is there episodes dedicated to the gorgeous anime food, but the main trio of characters even features one that is a famous little baker. In fact, Akira’s cakes are so famous that he even teaches at the university department of the school even though he is still in fourth grade! Considering Akira’s amazing culinary talents it’s not surprising that his most important duty in the student counsel is to provide plenty of treats for the counsel President’s frequent breaks and tea times.

Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie

If having one character be a master baker isn’t enough food-tasticness, than how about an tire anime just about bakers? And that’s exactly what the anime Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie is all about. In this series Sayuri Haruno begins her school life at a prestigious culinary school with her dreams to become a master baker and make the most delicious pastries. As she gets to know her new school and all the new people she will be working along side, she happens to meet one handsome young instructor or student after another (not too surprising considering the anime is based off of an otome game) and will each new encounter she gains more and more skills to perfect her baking. Of course, with an anime focused on bakers at a baking school, the deducible treats they make are fantastic to look at as well! With every episode comes a new dessert the characters try to master, and with instructor that are experts in chocolate, cakes, and French pastries, every challenge and story arch is a lesson in the tastiest treats in the world!