MAPPA’s Most Underrated Isekai? Why ‘Campfire Cooking’ Deserves More Love

MAPPA uses simplicity and warmth to make Campfire Cooking stand out in an overcrowded isekai market.

If you watch anime, you know about Studio MAPPA as it has created global phenomena like Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga, Yuri!! On Ice, Demon Slayer, and so many more. But under such high standards of anime they have been releasing in the past couple of years, some do get sidelined or lesser recognition, and Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill is one of them.

For those who don’t know, the anime is adapted from a Japanese light novel series that was created by Ren Eguchi and is currently under MAPPA. 

Mukohda’s Unwanted Adventure

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A still from ‘Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill’ (Image: MAPPA / TV Tokyo / Overlap)

It’s an ongoing fantasy anime about Mukohda, who gets teleported to another world where people live their lives like some Dungeons and Dragons game. But here is the thing, he isn’t a hero, nor was he needed. He simply became a part of something he never wanted, that too with an absurd skill, which is very unlikely to hear in such plots. 

And if this has piqued your interest, then you should know then let’s dig deep into it by not majorly spoiling it, of course. 

It’s a very a simple anime, nothing complicated so far (maybe in the future, they might throw us into a huge mess). So the story follows three Japanese high school students who are magically summoned to a different fantasy world by the Kingdom of Reijseger. So far, what we can see is that the King is someone who needs them to fight the demon King, but rumors are that he loves to wage war with the surrounding areas.

The students are found to possess several powerful magical abilities and are accepted as the Heroes of the alternate world. But while doing the hero summoning ritual, they also accidentally transported a fourth person, an ordinary salaryman named Tsuyoshi Mukouda (a.k.a. “Mukohda”), who has only one power called “Ordering from Online Supermarket.”

He never asked for this, nor was he ready to become a Hero, and harboring deep suspicion of the kingdom’s true intentions, he convinces the nobles that his ability is useless, and he wants to live a normal life. They eventually allow him to leave with 20 gold coins to keep his mouth shut and pursue a simple life in the new world. 

While experimenting with his Online Supermarket skill, Mukohda discovers that he can instantly order food and other products from modern-day Japan. During his travels to the other kingdom with the help of Iron Will (an adventurer group), he meets a legendary beast known as “Fenrir,” who demands that Mukohda feed him the otherworldly foods.

Mukohda’s Familiars Keep Leveling Up

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A still from ‘Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill’ (Image: MAPPA / TV Tokyo / Overlap)

The beast gave him a proposal to form a familiar contract with Mukohda, where he will protect him, and in return, he will make him delicious food. He eventually named him Fel, and as Mukohda continues his journey, he gains more familiars, naming them Sui (who is a slime) and Dora-Chan (a small, fully grown Pixie dragon). 

The story is basically about his familiars hunting beasts that are impossible to defeat and getting the meat processed at the guild, while he sells the rest of the parts, which makes him have more money than he ever asked for.

With everything going on, he likes his life, he likes cooking for people, and he likes to trade off things because he is a merchant. He also befriends gods and goddesses from the Divine Realm (whom he never asked for but happened as they needed stuff from the other world), who grant him and his familiars blessings to obtain his food and otherworldly goods.

It’s a very sweet anime and might grow on you if you give it a try.

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Sumedha Chatterjee
Sumedha Chatterjee

Sumedha Chatterjee is a Delhi University graduate who studied Geography, a subject that deepened her fascination with how cultures and regions shape the way we experience cinema and art. Her love for storytelling began at an early age, surrounded by theatricals, cultural performances, and books that celebrated the art of creativity. What started as childhood wonder has grown into a passion for exploring films and expressing them through words. She strives to be a wordsmith who captures not just the craft of cinema but the emotions it stirs, weaving together thoughtful and relatable narratives.

When she isn’t writing, Sumedha can be found binge-watching The Big Bang Theory, laughing at the clever chaos of Gintama, or crocheting little pieces of joy. With every step forward, she hopes to bring fresh insight and warmth to the worlds of film criticism and cultural writing.

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