In a time when anime has us going anywhere from a typical Japanese high school to a fantasy world where a Slime is the actual hero of a story -or where a high schooler reincarnated as a spider like the new book I found recently – it’s actually surprising that I have not seen an anime or manga involving a food truck yet.

In my last post, I mentioned some Kickstarter gems and while the other project was for a graphic novel release of the internet comic Before You Go (which made its funding goal and will be made into an official book!), this project is for an animation set in a food truck, by a food truck!

Okamoto Kitchen is being kickstarted by the wife and husband duo of Gerald Abraham and Chizuru who own and operate the real-life Okamoto Kitchen food truck out in Los Angeles. The story centers around the company’s mascot, Haru Umesaki, an avid gamer from Japan who has found herself stuck in the states after losing her passport while on a trip to reconnect with a childhood friend who has become a pro gamer in LA.

The Kickstarter has an “episode 0” posted on the project page, which has Haru telling us about her life growing up in Japan and how video games helped her through difficult times, along with the ominous “beast-mode” incident that cost her job at a maid café. All this exposition is wonderfully provided voice actress Cristina Vee, who has stared in a variety of titles such as Sailor Moon, Hunter X Hunter, and League of Legends, and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning as Haru attempted to give every detail about her circumstances while hawking curry rice.

In addition to a skill voice actress on the project, Okamoto Kitchen brings in a team of artists, writers, and musicians in what the creators describe as having a “very interesting flavor,” from mixing Japanese art styles with western writers. I was particularly surprised to see that one of the character designers who made Haru, Takuya Saitou, has worked on titles such as One Piece, Sailor Moon, and the new movie Dragon Ball Super:Broly.

While the project is not a full anime, rather an animated and dubbed comic, the Kickstarter hopes to create a series of 10 animated webtoons, which will run about 3-5 minutes, if the funding goal of $48,000 is met. The creators of Okamoto Kitchen have established stretch goals that include extending the series to 24 episodes at $98,000, extended episode length at $149,000, and the ultimate stretch goal at $340,000 that would have a 22-minute OVA anime pilot made. The idea of getting an anime pilot of this concept is exciting to me, so I can only hope they make it.

This project has a lot of potential to become a wonderful little anime with a female protagonist that is not only adorable, but is, according to the interview on the Kickstarter’s page, able to play games with the best of them, which I think we need more representation of in both anime and gaming.

The Kickstarter still has 37 days to go in order to reach its goal, so if you’re in the mood for delicious new fare with a hint of video games and anime spice, please consider donating and making Okamoto Kitchen a reality!

Disclaimer: I have donated to this Kickstarter myself and really want to see it made, so just putting that out there.