About

Why Does Anime Food Look So Good? refers to cliché social media posts highlighting the aesthetical quality of food shown in anime films and series, as well as posts parodying them. Posts about anime food looking delicious have been going viral online since early 2014, with the parody trend starting in 2019 through posts making fun of viral food scenes from anime films Flavors of Youth and The Garden of Words. In August 2022, the trend regained popularity with Studio Ghibli Food Looks So Delicious bait-and-switch memes and parodies.

Origin

Posts sharing GIFs and images of aesthetically pleasing food from anime films and series have been going viral on Tumblr since at least January 2014. For example, on January 25th, 2014, Tumblr^[1] user japandreams posted a collection of eight GIFs from various anime films by Studio Ghibli, with the post gaining over 5,200 likes and reblogs in eight years (examples shown below).

In the following years, several prominent gimmick accounts dedicated to food in anime films and series were launched on Tumblr. On December 24th, 2014, Tumblr^[2] account animefoodie became an active poster of such content, posting multiple viral GIFs of anime food in the following years. On October 16th, 2016, and August 12th, 2017, popular Tumblr^[3][4] accounts animefoodissugoi and studioghiblifood were launched, both posting images of various anime foods. For example, the first two posts^[5][6] made by studioghiblifood on August 12th, 2017, gained over 29,900 and 30,000 likes and reblogs (shown below, left and right).

Many posts showcasing appetizing food from anime films submitted by other users went viral as well. For example, on March 26th, 2015, Tumblr^[7] user orlandoblue posted a collection of five GIFs from When Marnie Was There that received over 95,900 likes and reblogs in seven years.

Collections of GIFs posted on Tumblr were reposed on other social and traditional media sites, often accompanied by titles complementing the look of the food. On October 4th, 2014, Wordpress^[8] blog Firestyle12 made a post titled "WHY DOES ANIME FOOD ALWAYS LOOK SO DARN GOOD?" On January 26th, 2016, Imgur^[9] user oNYKUN made a post using the title "Why does anime food look so good??" On December 8th, 2017, Buzzfeed^[10] posted a collection of GIFs and images of anime food titled "21 Photos That Prove Anime Food Looks Better Than Real Food."

On February 19th, 2018, anime YouTuber^[15] Gigguk posted a video on the subject titled "Food in Anime" (shown below). The video received over 2.9 million views in four years.

On July 1st, 2018, Twitter^[11] user @zustyart posted four images of anime food, captioning the post, "Why does anime food always look so good 🤤." The tweet (shown below) received over 4,700 retweets and 5,000 likes and is the earliest found viral tweet using the title on the site.

Spread

Starting in March 2019, two clips of food being prepared in anime films, one from the 2018 film Flavors of Youth and the other from the 2013 film The Garden of Words, have been often posted on Twitter while captioned with titles such as "why does anime food always look so good and "why does anime food always look so good and aesthetically pleasant," with several tweets going viral (clips shown below, left and right). For example, on May 28th, 2019, Twitter^[11] user @Posting2D posted the clip from Flavors of Youth, with their tweet gaining over 480 retweets and 1,400 likes.

On June 7th, 2019, Twitter^[12] user @yoshkge posted the earliest found tweet that parodied the trend, posting an image of a statue of Jotaro Kujo from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure with the caption. The tweet gained over 1,300 retweets and 4,300 likes in three years. On August 25th, 2019, Twitter^[13] user @DividemyHeart posted a GIF of Bill from King of the Hill cooking paired with the caption, with the tweet gaining over 4,500 retweets and 10,500 likes in three years (shown below).

why does anime food look so good and aesthetically pleasing pic.twitter.com/FVufD5aI18

— Sin 🤍 (@DividemyHeart) August 25, 2019

The parody trend surged in prevalence in spring 2020 as users on Twitter posted bait-and-switch edits of the The Garden of Words clip. For example, on May 1st, 2020, Twitter^[14] user @mchefmaeda posted a Mundial Ronaldinho Soccer 64 Opening bait-and-switch meme based on the video, which received over 434,100 views, 11,200 retweets and 34,000 likes in two years (shown below).

Why does anime food look so good and aesthetically pleasing… pic.twitter.com/OBe38jumtK

— serpy (@chefmaeda) May 1, 2020

The parody trend maintained a limited presence on Twitter in the following years, with parody posts based on the caption occasionally going viral.

Studio Ghibli Food Looks So Delicious

On August 26th, 2022, Twitter^[16] account @ghiblipicture posted a clip of cooking scenes from various films by Studio Ghibli, writing, "Studio Ghibli food look so delicious." The video gained over 2.3 million views, 29,900 retweets and 133,700 likes in five days (shown below).

Studio Ghibli food look so delicious pic.twitter.com/8Q6vINW22g

— Studio Ghibli (@ghiblipicture) August 26, 2022

In late August 2022, the video was parodied and used as source material for bait-and-switch memes. For example, on August 26th, Twitter^[17] user @jeremylevick posted a parody that gained over 88,900 views, 300 retweets and 4,500 likes in five days (shown below). On August 27th, Twitter^[18] user @junomonogatari posted a Cock Piece bait-and-switch, also shared by Twitter^[19] user @pumplesss, which received over 135,000 views, 1,000 retweets and 5,200 likes in four days.

the food always looks so good in Studio Ghibli and also Studio Jeremy pic.twitter.com/WdPY2H2zUh

— Jeremy (@jeremylevick) August 26, 2022

Related Memes

Gay Frames

Gay Frames / Bad Bunny's 'Neverita' refers to a recipe parody style popularized on TikTok in August 2022. The meme typically uses bait-and-switch media as its hook, showing the steps to various food recipes but inserting a cut of two men or two animals kissing with no further explanation, which leads to the question Is That An Essential Step? being asked commonly in comments. The trend is often set to the song "Neverita" by Bad Bunny and took off on TikTok at the end of August 2022.

pic.twitter.com/xoSLFBzPXz

— fucked up looking food (@fuckedupfoods) September 22, 2022

Various Examples

why does anime food look so good? pic.twitter.com/u15jYmZmfM

— Oscar🍺 (@timepavementt) July 9, 2020

why does anime food look so good? pic.twitter.com/48VfIWSvBr

— Dolan Dark (@DolanDark) July 26, 2020

Search Interest

External References