Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill Season 2

Episode 12

The second season finale of Campfire Cooking sticks to the usual tricks. It gives us another day in the life of our hungry anime gang that is fun while not serving up a huge send-off to its story or characters. In other words, it's yet another episode of the series. It just happens to be the one that's last in line. I can't be shocked by any of this; after all, Campfire Cooking is the most triumphant instance of “turn your brain off” fluff I've seen in a long while. To ask for a finale that pulls the curtain down in grandiose fashion is to ask for too much. What it does succeed in, however, is reminding us why we watched the anime to begin with. The cooking bits we've grown accustomed to are there, Sui goes pew-pew on some baddies, Fel eats whatever's given to him before unleashing his inner Craig LaBan to comment on the food's deliciousness, and Dora-chan is just....there...after not being a teensy bit more developed than I'd like him to be at this point. To take a line from Radiohead, everything is in its right place.

The episode opens with the gang going through a fish market. Apparently, everyone in this town market was able to catch some fish thanks to Muhkoda, Fel, Dora-chan, and Sui besting the giant kraken from last episode, so I have to give the episode points for consistency here. Being the heroes of the day means they get to eat amazing fish dishes to their hearts' content. They look great, although seeing all of it reminds me of the mountains of cooking I have to do for my family's seafood fra diavolo Christmas dinner (which is stressful since it will take all day to make, but hey, I signed up for it, and oh my GOD is it delicious, if I do say so myself). Fel, Sui, and Dora-chan devour it and immediately pass out afterward. That's a big mood right there. Who hasn't woken up just to eat a ton of food, only for the itis to knock them into a food coma in t-minus 20 minutes? I also have to give the show points for including another big “that's literally me” moment when Muhkoda wonders what he should make for dinner immediately after eating all of that fish. I, too, have pondered what's for lunch and dinner immediately after eating breakfast. What can I say? My second brain is my stomach. Sometimes it's my first.

Muhkoda cooks karen and vermillion egg okonomiyaki, and as suspected, the detail put in its animated depiction is impeccable. Fel savors every morsel of his fishy meal, because of course he would. We've seen Fel do this every single episode, but thanks to his eager, voracious personality, it's never lost its charm on me. There's just something so satisfying in seeing this hungry Fenrir wolf down his food so voraciously. More than Fel being the hungry good boy who begs for his treats, I cannot help myself in how I relate to his overgluttonous tendencies. Shaved ice is what's for dessert here, and culinarily, it fits as a good closing dish here—dessert is the last meal of the day, just as this twelfth episode is the last episode of this season. It reads like poetry.

Speaking of poetry, there is a Red Dragon slain and then stored here at the end of this season, like the Earth Dragon at the end of the first. Sweet. Just one problem. This happens off-screen. The episode instead decides to fill in the time it could have used for the dragon fight to remind us that Muhkoda gave a bunch of soap and shampoo to the Merchants' Guild, which became such a hot seller that it's now practically sold out. It's a short scene, but it's long enough that we could have gotten even a sliver of the dragon fight out of it. But again, that also might be asking too much out of this episode, since the anime itself never set itself out to be so action-packed to begin with. Who knows, including it might have messed up the episode's pacing. The point is that one of the members of the Adventurer's Guild thinks that Muhkoda slew the Red Dragon himself, and that brings Muhkoda a little bit closer to being an S-ranked adventurer, setting up a premise for an eventual season three to tackle.

Our favorite not-so-useless gods and goddesses come back for tribute at the end as well. On one hand, I'm not sure if their appearance is necessary since it feels so tacked on—it seems that anime needed to shoehorn their presence after a few-episode-long absence. But then again, it wouldn't be this anime's finale without 'em, so I have to welcome them back so they can make their final bows.

As the tagline of my review for episode seven, I wrote that this anime was “unexciting and undramatic in every possible way, and I am so here for it.” I've also gone on record to say that this is a very “what you see is what you get” type of show. After sitting through both of Campfire Cooking's seasons, I stick by these statements 100% of the way. Even with a few flaws and aimless moments here and there, this second season of Campfire Cooking has succeeded in being a non-confrontational and ever-so-delightful watch. And despite being a very paint-by-numbers type of anime, there's enough substance and loose ends for a season three to make something out of. Should one arrive, I know I'll be there for it. I also appreciate how my first crack at reviewing daily streaming anime has made me more aware of my pros and cons as a writer, as well as reminding myself how much I love food.

Somehow, the people here at Anime News Network have allowed me to express my love for all things eating for the past few reviews now. So, as one final treat, I present to you: my top three favorite movie scenes to get irrationally upset over. ALL INVOLVING FOOD.

#3: Those are actually powdered donuts in Amadeus. Out of curiosity, I've made the truffles Salieri and Mozart's wife eat in this scene. They're supposed to be brown in the center. If you look closely at this scene, the “truffles” are the same powdery white you'd see in donuts. It's balderdash, I tell ya!

#2: Clemenza's cooking in The Godfather. Whaddya mean he puts ONLY sugar and red wine in the sauce? No salt, pepper, oregano, or basil? The fat from the meat isn't enough to give it flavor! WTF kind of Sunday Gravy is this?!

#1: Henry Hill doesn't clean himself in Goodfellas. My guy, I don't care how busy you are, multi-tasking between cooking dinner for your family and doing runs for the mob, you just touched RAW PORK. That can spread germs, and it's DISGUSTING. Wash your hands, please!

Happy Holidays and New Year, everyone.

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Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.