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Today's Menu for the Emiya Family (Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan) is a Slice of Life cooking-based spin-off of the Fate franchise's Fate/stay night, written and illustrated by TAa. The manga began serialization in the seinen magazine Young Ace Up in 2016, and it has been licensed for an English release by Denpa. The series received an animated adaptation by ufotable, first airing on December 31, 2017 with subsequent episodes airing on a monthly basis. The show is aired by Crunchyroll with the appropriate regional subtitles.

Similar to Fate/hollow ataraxia, it's set in a scenario where all participants of the Fifth Holy Grail War survive and coexist as neighbors, and features Shirou Emiya doing what he does best: preparing dinner for the household.

A video game spinoff for the Nintendo Switch was released in April 2021 for Japan and June 2021 worldwide. It was delayed from its original release because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Has a Spiritual Successor in Fate/Grand Order, Eirei Shokubunroku, featuring the FGO Servants cooking meals from across time and space.


The series has examples of:

  • 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Toned down compared to most ufotable series, but can still be seen with the cars, effects and some background elements and objects. Some more noticeable instances include a crate of alcohol falling in Slow Motion in Episode 4, some closeup shots during Archer's cooking scenes in Episode 11 and Rider hitting the gas in Episode 12.
  • Adaptational Personality Change:
    • One of Gilgamesh's motivations in the original visual novel was his disgust for the modern world, seeking to purge it so he could rule over it in a state similar to the ancient Uruk. Here, he has completely adapted to modern times and seems content living in 21st-century Fuyuki.
    • When Shinji appears, he is not the arrogant villainous jerkass that he is in the main series. Rather, he's more like some grumpy-yet-harmless and anti-social teenager that Sakura and Rider have to literally drag to Emiya family meals. Justified, since it's canon he returns to his still haughty yet tolerable self in the timelines in which he survives the war.
  • Adapted Out: Thanks to circumstances not getting as dire, True Assassin doesn't get to enjoy Shirou's cooking. Berserker shows up, but he's in the same boat as TA consumption-wise. Gilgamesh is a partial case, as he does make an appearance in the manga but not in the anime. Bazett is also absent, as she's presumably either still in a coma or has moved away (the series takes place over several months). Caren isn't in this either, but that might be because she's busy with her Church duties, and there's no reason for the cast to go to the Church.
  • All Just a Dream: Special chapter 6 graces us with the first appearance of Saber Alter, who inexplicably turns up in place of the regular Saber and gets hamburgers out of Shirou. Turns out to be the result of a particularly nasty bump on the head when Saber and Shirou were sparring.
  • Alternate Continuity: In the same vein as Fate/hollow ataraxia, this is a Lighter and Softer timeline where everyone survives the Fifth Holy Grail War.
  • Animation Bump: The volleyball match between Shirou and Saber vs. Archer and Lancer gets the full ufotable treatment in the animation as if it was an actual battle scene in a more serious Fate anime, taking it up to Mundane Made Awesome levels.
  • Badass Driver: In the Christmas Episode, Leysritt tries to drive the girls to Illya's castle. She tries to take a shortcut on the mountain, but loses control and the car almost goes off the mountain. Rider takes the wheel and effortlessly gets them back on track, borderline defying physics in the process... which makes sense because she's a Rider-class Servant with A+ rank in the Riding skill, allowing her to take her mounts (including motor vehicles) well beyond what they should be capable of.
  • Big Eater: Saber loves food and savors it whenever she gets the chance to. As a result, she's almost always one of the first to dig in at the end of a cooking segment, and is frequently seen drooling over whatever's cooking.
  • Black Comedy: The Volleyball match between Shirou and Saber vs. Archer and Lancer. Even in this low stakes, slice-of-life series, Archer is still trying to find his opportunity to kill Shirou. It gets Played for Laughs here.
  • Brick Joke: In episode 11, Lancer plays Archer like a damn fiddle into helping out at the cafe by saying "maybe Shirou is a better cook than you", bringing out his competitive nature. The episode's outro has Saber unwittingly play into Shirou's competitive nature into cooking more by telling him that the omelet rice Archer made was quite good. Chalk that bit up to their mutual feelings of showing up a version of themselves.
  • The Cameo:
  • The Charmer: Lancer successfully charms Ayako with a single compliment and the use of a flower, despite her being a tomboy. Considering his real identity, it shouldn't be a surprise.
  • Christmas Episode: Illya invites the gang over for a Christmas party in her castle in one chapter. Shirou barely cooks anything in that one (he manages a simple roast for the whole feast), given Sella and Leysritt cooked everything else already.
  • Cooking Show: Shirou narrates on how to cook various meals he prepares. Rin, Sakura, and Archer do the same during their Day in the Limelight.
  • Cool Big Sis: Sakura's admiration of Rin is displayed prominently here, such as episode 8, where she calls Rin "amazing" and pays diligent attention to Rin's explanation on cooking fried rice. Rin is, of course, actually Sakura's admirable elder sister.
  • Cute Little Fangs: In a rare male example, Lancer has one. They emphasize his cheerful and boisterous personality, as well as his overall dog motif.
  • A Day in the Limelight:
    • Downplayed in Episode 7, where Shirou is still featured prominently, but Rin and Sakura are the ones who cook the episode's meal instead of him.
    • Episode 11 has Archer as the main focus, and he's also the one who cooks the episode's featured meal. Shirou doesn't even appear until near the end of the episode. If you consider how Archer is Shirou's Alternate Self and that his True Name is EMIYA (making this episode "EMIYA-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan") it's not too surprising. He even gets a more jazzy version of the cooking theme, including a little snippet from "EMIYA"!
  • Does Not Know His Own Strength: Friendly pats on the back from Lancer can be very painful. Of course, Lancer is a Servant and a demigod to boot, so of course a squishy human like Shirou is going to feel it.
  • Dynamic Entry: Kaede Makidera in episode 10 enters the student council room in a rather dynamic manner (she even wall-runs!) when confronting Issei about rejecting the track team's school festival proposal. Her track team companions are significantly less noisy, especially the demure Yukika, who apologizes repeatedly to Shirou and the council present as she enters.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Young Shirou, Young Taiga and Kiritsugu appear in the ending credits, referencing the Whole Episode Flashback chapter where Shirou recalls his first time making hamburger steak.
  • Eating Optional: As Lancer points out, Servants don't actually have to eat. They can, though, and likely will if it's good food.
  • Edutainment Show: Part of the show's charm has Shirou state out loud the rather simplified recipes he makes as though he were hosting a cooking show. The manga itself features the full recipes for each meal at the end of every chapter.
  • Everybody Lives: Fate/Stay Night has three routes, and several people die in each one. In this particular timeline, somehow the Fifth Holy Grail War ended without anyone dying at all. Thus, all of them have a chance to enjoy a meal at the Emiya household.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Servants are generally referred to by their class name than their real name, as is usual in Fate/ properties besides Fate/Grand Order.
  • The Faceless: Archer gets this treatment in the early series. Whenever he shows up, the series makes certain that he's not to have his face shown at any point, whether he's facing away from the viewer, having his face obscured, or being so far away in the background that you can't make out his facial features. Later installments are a little more merciful, as the anime gives him a shot of his face on the promotional poster for the second half of the show, and the manga has a few chapters where he's relevant and fully shown. This gets hilariously reversed in episode 11 when Archer is the focus, so this time we never fully see Shirou's face the entire episode.
  • Famed In-Story: Played for Laughs in that Shirou isn't famous around his school for his actual heroics, but his cooking. In episode 10, the prospect of actually getting the chance to eat one of his meals actually motivates the Student Council, who are very much dead-tired at the time, to finish their preparations for the school festival.
  • Food Porn: The theme of the manga/anime shows off known Japanese meals, for the most part.
  • Friendly Enemy: Most of the animosity between characters from the main series is heavily downplayed here. Beyond occasional bouts of suspicion (such as Saber finding Lancer or Caster at the Emiya house), everyone gets along rather well.
  • Going Native: Caster discards her sinister-looking mage's cowl for something fitting in 21st-Century Japan, and happily becomes a housewife. We see her sweeping the temple's pathway and learning to cook for Kuzuki.
  • Go-Karting with Bowser: Technically speaking, Saber and Lancer are still on opposing sides of the Holy Grail War. While Lancer simply doesn't care much about all that anymore, Saber is equal parts suspicious and baffled when Lancer shows up at her and Shirou's doorstep in casual clothes and with a bag of booze. Even more so when Caster shows up wanting to learn cooking from Shirou.
  • Happily Ever After: The whole series acts as this to Stay Night. Although the original story has multiple endings, some of the characters inevitably die in each one. Emiya-san Chi is a continuity where the Holy Grail War ended with everyone surviving and becoming friends and neighbors afterwards.
  • Heroes Gone Fishing: As expected for a Cooking Show where half the cast is made up of ancient resurrected heroes. Some of them even have day jobs.
    Shirou: [referring to Lancer] The great Celtic hero, peddling fish.
  • I Know Madden Kombat: Archer tries to kill Shirou during the beach volleyball game with ridiculously powerful and fast spikes.
  • Late-Arrival Spoiler: Sakura calls Rin nee-san (sister) in Episode 3, spoiling a very important plot twist in the Heaven's Feel route.
  • Lighter and Softer: In comparison to the often dark and tragic tone of Stay Night and other entries of the franchise, as it's essentially a laid-back Slice of Life akin to Hollow Ataraxia, where none of the characters have died and the main focus is on cooking and enjoying delicious food.
  • Men Can't Keep House: Averted. Both Shirou and Archer are very good at cooking and housekeeping. Rin primarily uses Archer, him being her Servant, for the latter.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: The beach volleyball match between Shirou and Saber vs. Archer and Lancer is basically a straight up Servant battle. With poor Shirou in the mix being completely outclassed.
  • Mundane Utility: One of the few uses of supernatural abilities is Assassin preventing a couple of carts of alcohol bottles spilling when Neko trips at the top of the Ryuudo Temple stairs via Flash Step.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • The first chapter in the manga has Taiga and Illya pop up in their Tiger Dojo outfits, asking why nobody's participating in the Grail War.
    • The ending sequence spread of all of the focus characters is lifted straight from a two page spread in the manga.
    • The Assassin poster cutout from Carnival Phantasm is still being used as a stand-in in the ending for Assassin, who can't leave the Ryuudou Temple gate.
    • The show's opening theme shows Shirou thinking about Japanese dishes, while Rin discusses with Sakura Chinese ones, their respective specialties.
    • When Shirou explains the food he put into his New Year's dish, he specifically looks to Illya when he mentions foods used for longevity and health. The original continuity has Illya with a very short lifespan due to her status as a semi-homunculus and vessel for the Holy Grail.
    • The hamburg steak chapter has Shirou remember how much Kiritsugu used to love eating hamburgers, as he mentions in Fate/Zero.
    • Episode 10 involves an encounter between Lancer and Ayako Mitsuzuri, the latter of whom is normally a Tomboy but shows her girly side thanks to Lancer, much like in Fate/hollow ataraxia.
    • Illya is seen buying a crêpe in the opening from the same VW food truck that appears in Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works].
  • New Job as the Plot Demands: Lancer can be seen working everywhere. He's introduced in the first episode as a fishmonger; but also appears delivering flowers for Shirou's school's festival, and working in a café as a waiter.
  • Non-Standard Character Design: Even in a lighthearted series such as this, Kiritsugu and Kuzuki still have empty, lifeless eyes—Kiritsugu moreso.
  • Odd Friendship: Not only are Taiga and Lancer friends, they even share an elaborate Secret Handshake. Even funnier since Taiga appears in Grand Order as the Lancer Jaguar Man.
  • Oh, Crap!: Shirou's panics when Archer uses strengthening magic on their volleyball before he serves it in episode 7, as well as Saber declaring that they will play more volleyball until they win.
  • One-Sided Arm-Wrestling: Taiga's attempt to arm wrestle Lancer does not go well.
  • Pretty Freeloaders: The eponymous Emiya "family" isn't exactly a conventional family so much as Shirou and a bunch of unrelated people (usually girls) who hang at his house and eat his food. Well, aside from his one actual family member, his adoptive sister Illya, and his long-deceased adoptive father Kiritsugu in a flashback. Taiga is an interesting case: she's legally Shirou's guardian after Kiritsugu passed away, but doesn't actually live with Shirou and instead at her family home in the same neighborhood.
  • Puni Plush: Uses a softer, more rounded art style than most other works in the franchise, which fits with this one's softer atmosphere.
  • Real-Place Background: The cafe seen in episode 11 looks strikingly similar to the real-life Ufotable Café in Nagano.
  • Serious Business: Apparently Servants treat beach volleyball with all the gravitas of real combat, if Episode 7 is to be considered.
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: Everyone tells Illya how darling she looks when she is dolled up in a kimono for Girl's Day.
  • Shout-Out: Upon finding Caster cooking with Shirou, Saber quickly puts up her guard via BLACK's pre-transformation pose.
  • Slice of Life: There's no overarching plot or serious conflict in this series, just the characters going about their everyday lives and enjoying the meals Shirou cooks.
  • Spin-Off: Of Fate/stay night, being considerably Lighter and Softer and focusing on Shirou's cooking.
  • Spin-Off Cookbook: Both the manga and the anime tells the audience on steps for cooking the featured dishes.
  • Supreme Chef: Shirou and Archer are considered this among their peers. Just the thought of tasting Shirou's cooking is enough to whip the student council into a frenzy, and when Shirou is unavailable, Lancer enlists Archer's help despite being an excellent cook himself. That said, Rin and Sakura are no slouches either and can keep up with Shirou in the kitchen.
  • The Thing That Would Not Leave: Lancer is significantly more subdued and courteous than most examples (even paying for his own share and helping with the dishes afterward), but that doesn't change the fact that Shirou really wants Lancer to go home and leave him alone, and he is not at all happy to learn that Lancer plans to stay the night and get drunk with Taiga.
    Lancer: Now that we're done cleaning up, what do you say we get hammered?
    Shirou: No, no, no!
  • Vocal Evolution: Hisako Kanemoto's performance as young Taiga is very different from how she portrayed her as Zecchan in Please! Einzbern's Consulation Room. In Please! Einzbern's Consulation Room, Zecchan has a very earnest, serious but naive voice, but it was more on the side of the generic cutesy spectrum. In Emiya-san, young Taiga sounds slightly more mature, playful and very relaxed. This might be justified since Zecchan was an amnesiac Taiga, but the difference is still very noticeable.
  • Whole Episode Flashback:
    • Chapter 6 of the manga, where Shirou reminisces over the first time he made hamburgers for Kiritsugu.
    • Chapter 21 has Shirou recalling how he and Shinji first became friends.
    • Chapter 23 covers Sakura and Shirou in middle school, with the latter teaching the former how to cook a dish.
    • Chapter 31 is about young Rin trying her hand at cooking.

 

Alternative Title(s): Todays Menu For Emiya Family, Todays Menu For The Emiya Family

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