Aliens, Princesses and Yakuza 🥗 Henjin no Salad Bowl Review

Welcome to another post here in the community.

It had been a while since I had a good laugh watching a new anime or anything close to that. In recent years, I’ve been following more serious works, full of plot twists, or those with deep and dense storylines. But sometimes, all we need is to turn off our brains a bit and just laugh at something silly. That’s how I stumbled upon the anime Henjin no Salad Bowl, and I can confidently say it was one of the best surprises of the 2024 season.

Even though this cover looks like something else entirely (hentai), don’t worry. It’s just eye-catching...

If you haven’t heard about it yet, Henjin no Salad Bowl (or The Salad Bowl of Eccentrics) is an anime that started airing in Spring 2024, based on the light novel written by Yomi Hirasaka, the same author of Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (Haganai). The title already gives away the idea it’s a real “salad” of eccentric characters, crazy situations, and humor that ranges from bizarre to just plain brilliant.

Watch on Crunchyroll

Here’s the premise:

A broke detective who can barely pay his rent ends up taking in a princess from another world who mysteriously ends up in Japan. Yes, that’s right. Sounds like a reverse isekai, but instead of the princess arriving full of powers or turning the guy’s life into a fairy tale, she just brings more chaos. And trust me, that’s only the beginning. Besides the princess, who is completely out of touch with reality (in the best possible way), more characters start appearing and make the story even more insane. There’s an alien, a yakuza girl, a street magician who swears he has powers... basically, it’s really a salad of crazy people. But the most interesting part is that, despite all the madness, the script manages to weave everything together with such lightness that I was hooked from the first episode.

The protagonist, Sousuke Kaburaya, is one of those guys who always seems tired of life, but deep down, has a good heart. He tries to handle all these wacky characters as if he’s the most rational one, but clearly has his own crazy moments. The dynamic between him and Princess Sara from the Kingdom of Culnes is hilarious she treats everything as if she’s living in an epic tale, while he just wants to pay the bills and sleep in peace.

The anime has a fast pace, clever jokes, and even some subtle social commentary, especially about the cost of living in Japan, loneliness in big cities, and how “normal” people react to the unusual.

But all of this is presented so lightly that you only notice it after laughing a lot.

Another thing that caught my attention was the visuals. It’s not the best animation in the world, but the artistic style fits perfectly with the show’s vibe. The exaggerated facial expressions, quick cuts between absurd scenes, and even the soundtrack all help build a chaotic yet comedic atmosphere. The production was handled by SynergySP, and they did a great job maintaining the energy of the manga and original novel.

I saw some people online comparing it to Gintama, and while it’s quite different in tone and setting, I can see the comparison. Both have that blend of absurd comedy with occasionally touching moments, and characters that seem completely useless at first, but end up winning us over.

If you, like me, are a bit tired of generic anime, or just want something lighter to unwind after a long day, I highly recommend Henjin no Salad Bowl. Don’t expect epic battles or deep narrative arcs, but rather situations so strange you’ll wonder how no one thought of them before.

By the way, it’s cool to see the anime getting some attention, even though it’s not from a major studio or based on a super famous work. That shows when a creative idea is well executed, the audience responds. A lot of people in the otaku community are talking about it, especially on forums like Reddit and MyAnimeList, where the show’s rating keeps going up episode after episode.

And for those who enjoy voice acting, the Japanese dub is simply excellent. The voice actors really got into their roles, and the exaggerated voices just make everything funnier. Some lines even sound improvised, they’re so natural which is always a plus in a comedy anime. In fact, Sousuke’s voice actor is Nobunaga Shimazaki, known for serious roles, which makes it all even more hilarious.

So here’s my recommendation and little rant:

Henjin no Salad Bowl is the kind of anime I didn’t know I needed. Funny, light, crazy, and above all, entertaining. And for me, that’s more than enough.

If you’ve already seen it, let me know what you thought.

Trailer