‘Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits’ Review

Listen, I love my comfort. I will smoke and inhale lounging about in the sunlight, nuzzled up against pillows with a bag of cookies to my left and two cats curled up at my feet. I need the same kind of vibe from the anime I watch once and a while. Yes, I get fired up from my Dark Tournament watches with Yusuke and the gang, but a weeb needs her cozy, easy binges as well. Enter, Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits. Right from the get, we see that this anime is literally about bed and breakfasts for asshole demons. Immediately after starting this, I am thinking about picturesque, expensive, AirBNB type of views. Intimate and snuggly. With a hot tub. What more can you ask for from an easy, slice of life*?

Studio Gonzo brings to life Midori Yūma and illustrator’s Laruha’s light novel series about a young woman Aoi Tsubaki who can see spirits. After meeting one such powerful ogre spirit, she finds out that her dearly departed grandfather left her in a serious amount of debt. Now, determined to get out of it with her own two hands, she opens a restaurant at a Bed and Breakfast in the Hidden Realm; a dimension where all the Ayakashi inhabit. Aoi is a mild-mannered university student with a spine made of adamantium and a gift of cooking. Her meal-making is able to bring together spirits, once wary of her, they soon grow to become quite fond of her.

As repeated before, it’s a relatively low-risk anime; you invest very little emotion aside from enjoying the fantasy atmosphere. It’s 26-episodes with the characters all learning and falling in love with Aoi. It does not evolve the genre in any way, but it is a sweet watch with shape-shifting spirits and jealous managers, she can’t pay it off, she will be forced to marry the ogre master of the BnB. If you enjoy Fruits Basket or Aria The Animation, I recommend checking this series out. Aoi has NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING on Tohru Honda, but she’s fierce and independent, which in my eyes makes her pretty likeable.

There is also the very feminist mark in the narrative where she absolutely rejects the marriage proposal, even though it would mean wealth and power (under her “husband” of course) simply because SHE DOES NOT FUCKING WANT TO MARRY HIM. I just really enjoyed that she was like “Nah” despite the fact that this dude could probably blast her into teeny tiny little bits. Aoi also refused to have another patron pay off her debt to the big-bad spirit senpai. She’s like a Lannister in that way. (The only way, I hope). The fantastical world of the Hidden Realm draws you in and the fun characters will keep you there. Just remember; if Shrek didn’t teach you anything, let this anime be a reminder to never make a deal with an ogre.

Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits is on Crunchyroll and Funimation, so check it out today!

*Slice-of-Life Anime: Quotidian and melodramatic shows that focus on job or school-related plots that feature a main character and their interpersonal relationships.

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  • Oona Sura is a cosplay enthusiast with an appreciation for Framboise Lambic, Haruki Murakami, and cats. Catch her at the next anime convention on the East Coast!

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