Having released in Summer 2016 Amaama to Inazuma is something I admittedly missed. At first glance it just seemed like an anime about a Dad and his daughter doing things and that really didnt interest me at the time. Having seen the scene with Tsumugi the grade school aged daughter singing the shark song I decided to give it a watch. The anime starts by introducing the Tsumugi and Kouhei the father waking up getting prepared for the day ahead and leaving to go about their day. This scene sets up 2 important things that are central points to the anime. Kouheis wife Tsumugis mom passed on not too long before the series starts and Kouhei really doesnt cook. Later in the first episode they meet a crying Kotori by herself. She invites them to her moms restaurant giving them a business card. That night they decide to go only to find Kotori by herself whats worse is that Kotoris mom is out and Kotori cant cook. She barely makes rice but after the 3 eat together Kouhei starts to understand how much eating together means to him and his daughter. He then decides to promise to make food. Kotori also requests to have Kouhei make food at the restaurant with her from that point for Kotori isnt very good at cooking either. STORY From episode 2 and onward Amaama to Inazuma has a formulaic episode structure. The first half usually has more slice of life elements setting up what is going to be cooked in the second half. It isnt a complicated narrative and it focuses more on the characters and their interactions with each other which is very important in this sort of anime. The anime focuses on mostly Koukei and Tsumugi with Kotori sprinkled in Kouhei is a teacher in a school with Kotori in his class. They usually discuss whatever will be cooked in the episode and Kotori later asking for the recipe from her mother most of time. CHARACTERS Kouhei tries his best to be a great father and it really shows. Unfortunately Kouheis pretty boring and it doesnt feel like his character is fleshed out. Sure what hes doing is for the good of his daughter but it just feels like he doesnt get enough attention in other regards. I would argue that the anime is more about Tsumugi and shes fleshed out well. There were a handful of times where I questioned if she did or said something someone her age would actually do. Making child characters is hard sometimes but other than a few times her character was done pretty well. I thought Kotori was fleshed out more than Kouhei but less than Tsumugi. It might seem like I didnt like the characters but its actually just the opposite. I loved it when the anime nailed when and how a kid would act and I think it does it quite often. Kotori shows a deep care for Kouhei and Tsumugi which is very clearly hinted at to be love. I am glad that that only made an appearance once though. Amaama to Inazumas narrative is a simple one and by having the anime try to do too many things and having really complex characters would kill its charm. ART SOUND Aesthetically the anime looks nice for 2016. It isnt anything moldbreaking in terms of animation quality or music and sound. They are both good but the OST feels a little on the generic side. The music does take advantage of tone color to emphasize cute and childish and thats something I really like about this anime. There were maybe a couple songs out of the whole OST that really resonated with me. The music was far from bad though. Artwise its pretty Moe but not overly so. Fortunately it seemed like a lot of love went into drawing it even though there were a few times something didnt look right. Those times were few or I just didnt notice them. The anime is simple so having simpler animation and music actually works to its advantage. ENJOYMENT Now I can say that despite my nitpicks I really liked Amaama to Inazuma. Its fun to see what Kouhei decides to make and the trial of making it with the others and thats the key theme of the anime. Its wholesome and this is the thing that it does really well when it isnt reminding us of Kouheis late wife. It is truly better than the sum of its parts. Sometimes its a little too dramatic and that can kill the enjoyment but its good most of the time. If you like cuter anime that you can shut your brain off to even if only a little then I would give it a shot. Characters: 7/10 Animation/Art: 7/10 Music/Sound: 7/10 Enjoyment: 9/10 Story: 6/10 Overall: 7/10