Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. When it comes to looking for a safe anime to watch you can always count on romcom harem animes. While these animes are never perfect nor are they the best, you can always count on them to be entertaining and get a good laugh out of you. Just like today’s review, The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses. Written by Kōji Seo in 2021 as a manga you can tell right from the get-go that this series was inspired by the Quintessential Quintuplets which was a hit. The jokes were funny, the characters likable and fleshed out, it didn’t go overboard with fanservice, and while it didn’t do anything major it executed the basic things perfectly and caught everyone’s attention. Getting two animes and a movie only added to its success (note to self: review second season of Quintessential Quintuplets) and Koji decided to add their own flare to the formula. Despite the obvious inspiration nobody seemed to mind as Café was its own story that separated itself from Quintuplets and gained a following. So much so that in 2023 the prestigious Tezuka Productions (Astro Boy and Dororo) turned the series into an anime. Table for many, please. This is Café Terrace and Its Goddesses.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “Unmei Kyoudoutai!” by Neriame. It’s okay. It’s lighthearted and sounds like a summer song you would hear on the radio. The opening hook and ending hook are good and get your attention. They make the song memorable in my opinion.
For the ending we have “Dramatic” by Miki Satou. At first I didn’t care for this song but looking back it’s actually pretty good. The bass is great and I love the wholesome feeling you get from it.
Episodes 1-4
The anime opens up with our main character Hayato voiced by Masaaki Mizunaka (Ryuen from Classroom of the Elite). After the recent death of his grandma, Hayato inherited her coffee café. What he failed to learn was that the café also serves as a boarding house for five beautiful girls around his age (let the hijinks begin). The five girls, Ouka voiced by Ruriko Aoki, Ami by Sayumi Suzushiro (Uruka from We Never Learn), Riho voiced by Aya Yamane, Shiragaku voiced by Azumi Waki (Maika from Blend S), and Akane voiced by Asami Seto (Raphtalia from Shield Hero) tie him up (the safe word is bean) only to let him go once they realize who he is. He drops the bomb on them saying he plans to tear the café down and turn it into a parking lot since it’s so close to the beach (yeah, it’s not a bad idea. He’ll make a fortune). The girls try to use a few honey traps in the hopes of getting him to change his mind, but they all fail. As the episode goes on we see how Hayato was taken in by his grandma after his parents died. His grandma opened the café to support them, but it didn’t bring in a whole lot of money. As Hayato got older he worked hard and managed to get into Tokyo U where his goal was to open his own place and make a lot of money to give his grandma a good life and get back at those for looking down on her. Unfortunately, grandma didn’t like it (she don’t hold grudges) and the two had a heated argument which resulted in Hayato leaving for three years. Hayato thought he could put the past behind him and destroy the café, but a part of him can’t forget the memories he shared with his grandma (the good ones). After eating Ouka’s pilaf which tasted like his grandma’s signature dish, Hayato decides to keep the café operating and take time off from school to manage the place, but only for one year. If the café can’t turn it around and make a profit in that time frame, he’ll tear it down.
Nothing much happens in episode 2. We see the group get the café prepared for its re-opening. Hayato learns how to make his grandma’s coffee from Akane and Riho puts him in his place when they go around telling people they’re reopening and him not showing a strong resolve to make the shop succeed (I agree. You’re just going through the motions. Put your heart into it or don’t do it at all). The group is still in the we don’t like each other stage, but I say give it 2 or 3 more episodes for things to turn around (they’ll be falling for him and dreaming of marriage).
Episode 3 focuses on Hayato and Ouka who hate each other’s guts (yep, there’s some sexual tension between these two). We do learn that Ouka designed the maid uniforms as her dream is to one day become a costume designer. Nothing much happens in the second part except Ami being a musclehead and accidentally destroying Hayato’s cellphone and laptop (well that’s coming out of a paycheck. Scene here: https://youtu.be/q9U-1hmiU3A?si=eEHhSaGR9TpVDghs). In the final half, the café officially reopens where the loan shark who Hayato’s grandma borrowed money from arrives and causes trouble. Not only does he talk smack about Hayato’s grandma but he sexually harasses one of the girls. Just when the girls are about to attack him for talking smack (which would be totally justified), Hayato stops them even though he wants to punch him as well. After he sexually harasses one of the girls, Hayato tells him to leave or risk being sued (scene here: https://youtu.be/h3qCkimABRM?si=vNEn0qtcRn4B5prd). As the episode ends, we find out that Shigaraku has known Hayato ever since he was a kid.
In episode 4 a week has passed since the café re-opened and business has slowed down. In order to get things back on track they decide to go all out at the cherry blossom festival happening in town. They make a new item for the menu, Ouka makes them some summer uniforms, and they set up a stall. Unfortunately, they attract some unwanted attention by the local thugs who hit on Ouka (if they only knew her true personality). They get shooed away but they retaliate the next day by trashing their stall. Not wanting to cause anymore trouble for the other vendors, they decide to leave and go with a different tactic. They bring their café to the people by creating a mobile cart designed and decorated by Ouka herself. The cart is a hit and they get revenge on the thugs by having Ami beat them up (scene here: https://youtu.be/gZBTSu4Tenw?si=niXGrC80btE4lJDm). We also see Ouka starting to fall for Hayato (like I said, two or three episodes).
Episodes 5-8
We start episode 5 with Hayato deepening his bond with Riho. Hayato notices that Riho pushes herself to do more than what’s necessary for the café and starts to worry about her. They don’t go into it but it turns out Riho has some family issues which messed her up mentally. Thankfully, Hayato’s grandma was there to save her and gave her a place to stay. This is why the café is so important to her. It saved her life, so she’ll do everything in her power to save it (even if it means physically hurting someone. (Corbin): Or doing pushups in a sauna while listening to Metallica). While Hayato appreciates everything she’s doing, he wants her to start living for herself and rely on him a little more (scene here: https://youtu.be/Cjw77SQxaYU?si=Qj1uNADlvjHAEdZr). The next day it’s everyone’s day off and Akane is playing in a concert with her band. While in town buying a new toaster, Hayato goes to her concert and is impressed with their songs. So impressed that he actually brought their CD. While Akane claims she’s just doing this to kill time, Hayato can tell that this is something she’s really passionate about and fully supports her (scene here: https://youtu.be/xAR2R7adtZQ?si=x4CxwBNPAdx4ClD6). In the final part of the episode, the girls reflect on their time spent with Hayato and wonder what he’ll do if the café succeeds after one year. They know they can’t stay there forever and even wonder who he’ll marry.
In the first half of episode 6 Hayato is learning how to make sandwiches from Shiragiku. Riho watches them where she’s obviously jealous of the lovey-dovey vibe they have going on (yeah, Shiragiku is an early favorite in my book). The two ladies have a cookoff to see who can make the best sandwich with Hayato as the judge but he doesn’t make a choice in the end because he can’t bring himself to give a decision that will hurt the other (well then I’ve got some bad news for you, son. Scene here: https://youtu.be/Y01XfZOe5_0?si=Hw8K2_niDxCVIM6u). In the second half Akane is acting weird in that she’s acting normal. It turns out she lost in her latest karate match and is a little depressed. However, in truth, she lost because she tried to do something stupid during the match and left herself wide open (girl is about as sharp as a bowling ball). In the final half, the girls plan a surprise party celebrating Hayato becoming the master of the café for two months now.
Episode 7 is an Akane episode. At the end of episode 6 she received a call from her mom telling her it was time to come home and get married. We find out that Akane’s family runs a trading company and she has a responsibility to get married and create an heir (what is this the 19th century? Who does this in today’s world? Outside of countries in the Middle East). After Akane finally confesses that she doesn’t want to go Hayato steps up to help her and arranges a meeting between mother and daughter. Akane’s mom shows up at the café the next day (man her eyes are dead) where Hayato doesn’t really do anything because Akane isn’t doing anything and I applaud Hayato for going this route. Hayato isn’t the kind of guy who’s going to come to your rescue because you’re in trouble. He’s not going to spoil you, you either ask him for help or he’s just going to sit back and watch you suffer. He’s not being mean to Akane, he’s teaching her to be independent and fight for her life. Akane is someone who half-asses her way through life. While she cares about her band and the café she’s not putting her all into them and just going through the motions. Even when she’s facing her mom she’s not putting up much of a fight and Hayato won’t stand for this (she needs to take this seriously and face her mom or stick with her half-ass lifestyle and leave). Akane finally faces her mom directly and prepares her a cup of coffee to show the results of what she’s been doing for an entire you (your daughter spent a year learning how to make coffee. It’s like sending a kid to MIT only to see them work at Starbucks). Akane’s mom tasted the coffee and it was the best coffee she ever had. She decides to let Akane do what she wants and takes her leave but not before giving her approval for Akane to marry Hayato (scenes here: https://youtu.be/oyUVDNRrJDM?si=GSqvSJ1Z2FxkG0og and https://youtu.be/NEELVG_QDVg?si=SCCh1mDFB1_dBqvo).
Episode 8 gives us somewhat of the obligatory beach episode. With summer here, Hayato decides to open up a seaside café. The girls are all on board with this creating a new menu and summer outfits. The only real thing of note here is Akane being a little friendlier with Hayato (didn’t expect her to be the first one to fall for him) and Riho is agitated by this (her being the second to fall for him is what I expected).
The beach arc continues in episode 9 as we continue to focus on Riho. We see her get jealous whenever the female customers swoon over Hayato and get mad at him for it (how is it his fault? I don’t see you taking your shot so you have no right to get mad at him). We learn about her past where we find out she was a child star. She used to be on TV all the time but then one day she just disappeared. Her parents had a bit of a falling out with each other. Riho’s dad felt her mom was pushing Riho too much and asked the TV station to stop using Riho so much. The TV station complied (which I’m not sure would go very well in the real world) and Riho’s parents got into an argument which resulted in a divorce. This created a complexity in Riho where she believed that if she stopped working hard everyone she cared about would wind up leaving her (boy, are you way off the mark. It’s like walking into a store to buy some apples and you somehow leave with a case of beer, a bag of chips, some chicken fries and no apples at all. How did that happen?). As Riho got older the TV station dismissed her (why!? She could have been an idol or teenage actress. She’s got the looks and the talent) and now Riho feels like everything she did was for nothing (well it did tear her family apart, but they seemed like a family issue). However, Hayato doesn’t think so as her social skills are what’s keeping the café floating. He thanks her for everything she does and tells her to please start resting more and not push herself so much because he cares about her. This brings her to tears and she embraces him in a hug (two down. Three to go. Actually two to go because I’m sure Shigaraku likes him as well).
In episode 10 we focus on Ouka. Ouka’s twin sister Kikka has come to check up on her after she didn’t come home because of work. We find out that Ouka, just like Akane, comes from a prestigious family with high expectations for her but she doesn’t care about their expectations and just wants to do what she wants to do. So when her sister sees her working in such a shabby café you can get a sense of how angry she is with her surrounding herself with such weird people. After Kikka insults everyone, Ouka hears enough and smacks her (scene here: https://youtu.be/hd2ET-ydtNU?si=SVoHs6-mO1eaLoHb. (Corbin): Catfight! Let’s get it on!). Kikka takes her leave allowing an unsettling air to seep in. The next day we see Ouka is out of it and Kikka feels guilty about what she said yesterday and tries to apologize but backs off. The two eventually meet and apologize to each other, ending things positively.
Things are heating up in episode 11. We start with Akane flirting with Hayato and confessing to him (in a subtle manner). While Hayato picks up on the confession he tries to stay focused on the task at hand, saving his grandma’s café (scene here: https://youtu.be/-vituL6P29Y?si=MIBSYhLFHHNYkQJl, the confession will come at a later time). The next day everyone goes to the bathhouse where Akane tells Riho that she confessed to Hayato letting her know that if she wants him she’ll have to go through her (nice declaration of war). After the bath, Hayato and Riho go shopping where she also confesses to him and then has a confrontation with Akane later on to confirm that the challenge has been accepted.
In the final episode we mostly focus on Hayato and Shigariku (who obviously has a crush on him as well). We get to learn that she met Hayato when they were both children and that his grandma is a 3-star chef who actually taught Shigariku’s dad how to cook (I wonder if she went to the same academy from Food Wars. Wouldn’t that be an interesting crossover?). Hayato’s grandma had plans of opening up her own restaurant in Spain but then Hayato’s parents died and she had to take care of him. She could easily open a restaurant in Tokyo, but that would mean being too busy to take care of Hayato and leaving him alone. Hayato now thinks that he’s responsible for ruining his grandma’s dreams and held her back all these years, but Shigariku assures him that’s not the case. Hayato’s grandma died with no regrets raising Hayato and would have gladly done it all over again if given the choice (even if he was a little kusogaki that deserved a good smacking). This makes Hayato feel better and brings the other girls to tears who were eavesdropping on the conversation (no such thing as privacy in this house). We end with everyone going on a picnic where Shigariku confesses her love for Hayato in front of everyone (the deadliest challenger has joined the competition). We also get a shot of the future where Hayato has a daughter and did in fact marry one of the girls (please don’t let that blue hair be a dead giveaway).
Final Thoughts
The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses is a good anime. It follows the formula and cliches of your typical ecchi/romance story but they do them well and don’t go to overboard with the fanservice. Hayato is your typical protag who comes across as distant and cold-hearted to the girls who obviously don’t like at first. However, after interacting with him and getting to know each other their hearts open up to one another and that feeling of dislike/hate gets replaced with love. Out of the girls, I think my favorite is Shigariku. Calm, sweet, cute, caring, and has more history with Hayato than the others. That’s not to say the others aren’t bad, I just think Shigariku has the best chance of the bunch. Which means she’ll most likely lose.
The animation is nice. They make the girls look cute and the backgrounds were nice as well. Music really sets the mood and sounds like something you would hear from a dating SIM game. For the most part the pacing is good, but it did seem to start rushing at the end with a majority of the girls confessing their feelings to Hayato one after the other. The moments just didn’t feel all that special to me.
Final Score
The final score for the Café Terrace and Its Goddesses is 6/10. Nothing too special or that great but if you liked the Quintessential Quintuplets or if you’re a fan of the romance anime genre with a little ecchi thrown in for good measure then I think you’ll like this anime. A second season has already been greenlit so I look forward to seeing where this story goes. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.