The protagonist's table: Food in Japanese sports anime

Background: Japanese animation, known as “anime,” is a representative Japanese cultural export. Anime has been thought to have a potential impact on the eating behaviors of audiences. However, few studies have examined portrayals of food in Japanese anime. Aim: This study aims to clarify the characteristics of the foods portrayed in sports anime. Methods: Data were collected from 151 episodes of seven animated series, including sports anime featuring both male and female main characters produced between 2019 and 2022. Raters watched these episodes independently and selected scenes related to food. The total watch time of all episodes was 3,634 min. Results: A total of 282 food scenes were selected from the episodes, which is comparable to a scene containing food occurring every 12.9 min. The mean duration of each scene was 14.4 s. Of the food categories portrayed, grains appeared most frequently (39.4%), followed by beverages (32.6%), vegetables (31.9%), and meats (25.9%). In the series about girls, the frequency of the appearance of confectioneries was significantly higher than in series about boys (39.0% vs 3.5%, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Sports anime included numerous scenes in which grains, vegetables, meat, and beverages for hydration appeared. However, the frequency of the appearance of food categories varied depending on the characteristics of the series, the scenes. Further study is required to reveal the quality of the food portrayed in Japanese sports anime.