If you are new to this publication, salutations! This is the written version of the podcast episode! For anyone who is new, basically the written portion corresponds to the first half of the episode where I do a fairly spoiler-free review/overview of the title in question. If you listen to the audio, the second half of the episode (with a warning message) is the discussion of the story with some spoilers. This is the best way to accommodate both people curious about the series and fans who just are curious what I thought about this story. With all that said, please continue reading!

So this is literally the series that made me start looking into light novels. So I just had to do an episode about this particular series. Perhaps you’ll understand why and who knows? If you haven’t been reading light novels before, you’ll wind up doing so now.

The Basics

Like a large percentage of light novels that we’ve seen, this is a series originally published on Shosetsuka ni Naro. Unfortunately the last time the author updated the story on the website was in May 2021. So it’s highly unlikely this will get any more chapters. It’s possible, but not very likely. There are 6 volumes that were released. It was originally published by Shufunotomo in Japan and Seven Seas Entertainment in North America.

There are 4 volumes of the manga published by Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. You can watch 24 episodes in two seasons of the anime on Crunchyroll.

The Premise

In a unnamed district in Tokyo, there is a restaurant called The Western Restaurant Nekoya. It’s primary patrons are local office workers and tourists, so it usually opens Monday to Friday and closes on the weekends. However it secretly opens to a very different set of customers on Saturday. The front door becomes a gateway between our world with another world.

From elves to dragons to humans of various kingdoms, Nekoya’s Saturday patrons get to enjoy food that is unique from their own. Beyond serving tasty meals, this restaurant is a place where diverse people can interact with each other. What sort of impact does this humble restaurant make? You’ll have to watch and read!

General Thoughts

Like I said earlier, this is the series that made me get into light novels. I had done research into the series after I enjoyed the first season. I soon found out not only was it a light novel, the series was available in English. Very quickly I discovered other titles, which led to me creating this Substack publication and the Cafe Manga podcast.

It’s wonderful world building that is subtle and not too much info dumping in the exposition. The cast of characters are also great. Nekoya really is like Cheers, a place where everyone knows your name. Or in this case knows you enough to give you nicknames based on your regular order at the restaurant.

I think it’s a huge shame that the series has abruptly stopped getting updated on Shosetsuka ni Naro. I could see a potential for a lot of stories that could still be told. Seven Seas has put off releasing volume 6 of the light novel multiple times. Apparently it’s going to be released on October 15, but we’ll see if that’s true.

Have you watched the anime? Did you read the manga or light novel? If not would you do either? Leave a comment and let’s discuss!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cafemanga.substack.com