Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill

Episode 5

Something that you may or may not know about me, depending on how many of my anime ramblings you've read over the years, is that I have a deeply rooted and irrational fear of fish. I don't fear them as food, mind you; sushi is probably my number one favorite food, and I'll never turn down an opportunity to eat some good seafood. I just never, ever want to touch the things. Or look at 'em. Alive or dead, I cannot stand the thought of one of those soulless little demons wriggling up close to me with their freakish bodies and vacant, evil eyes. Some of the worst nightmares I've ever had involved me falling into piles of fish at some hellish market of the damned.

So, you can imagine how horrified I was when the first chunk of the story in “The Goddess of Wind Has a Sweet Tooth” was devoted to Mukohda gutting and cooking some giant isekai fish, in what I can only imagine is a targeted act of psychological torment towards me, specifically. Sure, the grilled trout looked tasty as hell once our hero removed the offending detritus from the corpses of the pond trash, but I'm going to need to send some strongly worded letters to whatever the Japanese equivalent of Standards and Practices is because this kind of filth shouldn't just be allowed to air without some kind of warning. Think of the children, for goodness' sake.

Thankfully, Campfire Cooking in Another World is at least willing to repent for its crimes by delivering unto us a creature that is as cute and wholesome as the trout are rotten and foul. Her name is Sui the Slime, and she eats up all the trash and cooking mess with what I can only presume is a slimy little smile on her…face? Body? Whatever. The point is, she's too cute for words, and, as Mukohda so helpfully points out, she is a great foil for Fel. Where our resident Divine Doggy is demanding, rude, and very casual in the way that he actively endangers Mukohda's life, Sui is just happy to be here, y'know? She's just vibing along with all the good food and scrumptious trash, and if that isn't a Big Mood, I don't know what is.

Generally speaking, this is an even more low-key episode than usual, so vibing is all we get outside some perfunctory magic practice scenes. We also have Mukohda's first official interaction with Ninrir, the Wind Goddess, but I was honestly a bit let down, if only because their actual interactions are super limited. I've been saying for a couple of weeks now how much I want our boy to have more people to talk to. While Ninrir's obsession with Japanese sweets is cute enough (and very #Relatable), it mostly involves Mukohda magically praying some candy her way and then watching Ninrir make some cute faces when she stuffs her face. It's fine, but not the big expansion of the cast that I was hoping for.

Still, nothing about “The Wind Goddess Has a Sweet Tooth” is actively bad or boring. It breezes by in its 20 minutes without much fuss, and Sui is a genuinely adorable monster. A good time overall, even if it won't land a spot at the top of my “Favorite Episodes” list or anything.

Rating:

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.