Apr 19, 2009
**This review was written after watching the first episode**
"The mysterious restaurant on a street near the centre of Rome"
With these words, the viewer is brought into the world of a quaint little eating place, as seen through the eyes of the young protagonist, Nicoletta.
The first thing that will strike you as you watch Ristorante Paradiso is probably the art. The character designs, especially the two ladies, are just about as different as you can get from the usual pretty anime girls. The 2 female characters, when seen from the front, have unfortunately masculine facial structures, and to be honest, the overly wide mouths and slight
...
creases about their eyes and mouth were rather distracting despite my best efforts to ignore them. On the other hand, the males in the show were pretty well-drawn, even though I'm not a great fan of the 'bespectacled men' archetype.
However, art goes beyond just character designs, and it is in the backgrounds that Ristorante Paradiso truly shines. As Nicoletta toured the city of Rome, the sights and the cityscape were rendered beautifully in a soft pastel palette. I'm no student of art, but I found that they resembled watercolour paintings, which managed to convey the quiet, historic ambience that I associate with Rome. Taking the previous points into consideration, I've given Ristorante a 7 for art.
The next thing that you may notice is the background soundtrack. Again, this is somewhat hard to describe, but it mainly consists of cool jazzy tunes where the melody is mainly carried by the piano, and supported by violin. The music really helped to set the mood of the events, all the while making you feel like you're sitting in a quiet little cafe, relaxing with a cup of tea (or coffee) in your hand. The opening and ending themes also matched well with the tone set by the soundtrack, so no complaints there.
Having only watched 1 episode, there isn't much I can say about the story or characters so far. However, what has been revealed of the story and the restaurant's premise so far has been interesting (no spoilers here), and enough has been shown of Nicoletta's past to make her actions and motivations believable. The cast is also suitably varied in terms of personality and promises some rather interesting relationships to develop.
Overall, if you enjoy the slice-of-life genre, you'll probably enjoy Ristorante Paradiso. Try to look beyond the somewhat odd character designs and you'll probably be fine. On the other hand, if you're looking for an action-packed, fast-paced anime, you're looking in the wrong place. Finally, while the large cast of men in the show may turn some male viewers off, being a guy myself, I can assure you that this is an anime that viewers of both gender can enjoy.
So do take a seat in Ristorante Paradiso, you may just find yourself a little piece of paradise!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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