Incredible Nothing!

‘Cos there’s nothing sexier than a slice of cake ;P

Ristorante Paradiso is about Nicoletta who arrives in a restaurant in Rome through some family circumstances and meets the staff there who comprise of smexy middle-aged-ish men with glasses (cos women have fetishes too). It’s a… unique premise I’d like to say, though when I first heard of the show I did wonder a bit if this was going down the seldom trodden reverse harem route… (cos if it did, that would be rather creepy considering the age difference between Nicoletta and the staff…)

Ristorante FAAAbuloso?

That notion got put out of my mind though once I started watching, because the first thing noticeable about the character designs is that everyone seems to be drawn older than they ar- wait, they are supposed to be that old? At any rate, it was suddenly refreshing to have a show that didn’t have a single teenage character ready to annoy us with their hot-headed stupidity and forehead-smack-inducing actions that you want to reach through the screen to strangle -_-”

And slightly surprisingly, no traditionally bishie-looking characters amongst the waitstaff rumoured to fill the restaurant with its mostly female customer base. Perhaps a minus to those who actually enjoy a plate-load of bishie with their anime (In which case, I’d recomment Hanasakeru Seishounen this season, but with a large grain of salt), but at least I’m not rolling my eyes every few seconds when a sparkly character drifts on screen to do something to sweep Nicoletta off her feet…

Uh-oh…

But halfway through the first episode, Nicoletta is presumably ’smitten’ with one of the waitstaff, Claudio (who looks old enough to be her grandparent -_-”) in about the same fashion as the women who flock to the restaurant until it’s fully booked every single night… My first instinct should’ve been “uh-oh” which I did go in my head, but for a rather different reason -

I (quite) agree with her – as a character at least, Claudio (and presumably the rest of the staff) had that refined, well, smexiness (not just for the lack of another word, but that being the point of this post) of an older gentleman, something sorely lacking in the typical bishie who isn’t a demon butler who has to rely on a stupid circumstance to save the girl from. All Claudio did was show Nicoletta around Rome, he didn’t have to catch her from falling inexplicably down a flight of stairs or rescue her from thugs etc. And yet somehow, this gets Nicoletta to utter the very word I’m using from now on to describe this show:

UH-OH

Ristoranto Paradiso is one sexy show. What makes it stand out, not just amongst the shows this season (the few I’ve managed to catch recently anyways), is not only the mature looking characters, but  their lines and actions which convey a sense of maturity appropriate to their age (Nicoletta aside anyways, since she’s the protagonist and possibly the youngest person in the show) which is incredibly absent from the bulk of anime in the first place. There’s definitely a sense that this show isn’t aimed at the traditional anime-viewer who is presumably young enough still to be impressionable (or it could just be it feels that way to me, but me saying that carries little weight since I’m in that demographic still -_-”). Hence it’s an overall sexy show with sexy characters, a sexy setting (Rome is by reputation anyways?), and quite a sexy originality I have to say.

Mmmmmm… (The pasta, I mean the pasta)

Plus it always helps to have delicious(-looking) food around ;P

*Hetalia theme song plays in background* (Like how Nodame made me want to visit Paris, I know have a craving for pasta in Italy…)

Whether or not the show keeps up with this (consistency = sexy?) is something I’m sticking around to find out (though I’m somewhat bemused to announce that the preview looks like Nicoletta’s going to jump Claudio in the 2nd episode…) Seems like a step up from Antique Bakery at the very least (a step down in terms of cakes and hopefully rain scenes though). Now if you excuse me, I’ve got to watch a show with that naked man everyone’s been raving about…