Mouthwatering food description, but not offering much else, still testing water to see whether Japanese 'comfort literature' is for me or not, The Kamogawa Food Detectives lands solidly in the mildly enjoyable category — inoffensive, but also alarmingly disposable.

Which is a shame because I love elements of this: the quaint, everyday setting, the cat cameo (admittedly very adorable), and the touch of magical realism. But the plotting is repetitive and lazy (each chapter re-establishing the setting readers are already familiar with, and recycling the same dialog/scene with different characters) and the glossy positivity sentiment reads like advertisement rather than anything actually heartfelt. Even though the words 'food detectives' is in the title, there's barely any 'detecting' — we skip straight from exposition to perfectly executed meals.

Midnight Diner is a manga series I would highly recommend with a similar premise, The Kamogawa Food Detectives feels like a pale imitator in comparison; I don't dislike it, but feel like there are other channels getting my cozy fill rather than this. This popular sub-genre remains something I like in concept, but have yet winning me over in execution.