10 Cookbooks for Anime Geeks

Geek culture is absolutely, positively massive. It's an umbrella that holds subcultures like furries, comic book readers, gamers, and, yes, also anime geeks. Out of all the little subcultures geekdom has birthed, few have the natural inclination to add cooking to their culture like anime geeks do.

Over the years, geeky cooking shows have made it to YouTube. People have come up with recipes for food shown in Studio Ghibli films. Heck, there are even full-blown recipe books that show tasty meals from cartoons you can do yourself.

If you've ever wanted to taste the food your favorite magical girl or anime cat eats, don't worry. These awesome cookbooks for anime geeks will show you that delicious kawaii food is not as hard to make as you'd think.

We can't really talk about cookbooks for anime geeks without actually showing the granddaddy of all anime-centric cookbooks, can we? Of course not! This is a classic, so we're going to enjoy it in full.

The Manga Cookbook was one of the very first cookbooks to feature manga-style drawings, educational excerpts about Japanese cuisine, and easy-to-follow recipes that are directly inspired by anime culture.

Whether you're looking for onigiri or a cute bento box, this book will have a recipe that's sure to satisfy.

Most people have heard about the original Manga Cookbook by now, but they may not be aware that there's a recent sequel that you can enjoy too. This nifty book involves a lot of the more popular anime-featured recipes that typically seem too hard for regular folks to try.

Shockingly, the recipes in this book are easy enough for anyone to try—even the rice-stuffed omelettes! Needless to say, it's an award-winning book that every geek will adore having in their collection. Manga University is cool like that.

Andrew Rea is most well-known as the man behind Bingeing With Babish, and it's easy to see why. His entire channel is devoted to making recipes based off movies, TV shows, and occasionally cartoon series as well.

Eat What You Watch is a collection of his best recipes, complete with awesome illustrations and deliciously cool titles. If you love Babish, you're going to love his book.

Another little-known cut from Manga University is Alice in Matchaland, a manga that also features recipes featuring matcha green tea, making switching out coffee with something healthier easier than ever before. Every recipe is a delicious dessert that's adored in Japan, too!

As one of the best cookbooks for anime geeks with a taste for green tea, this Lewis Carroll-inspired story will be sure to please. Just from the adorable Gothic Lolita illustrations alone, you can tell that this will be a perfect gift for anyone who loves EGL manga.

If you're looking for cookbooks for anime geeks that are specifically centered around a single series, you're in luck. Pokémon, one of the most popular video game franchises of all time, has a cookbook totally devoted to it.

This book offers up guides on how to make delicious treats that look like your favorite characters. Most of the recipes also have a Japanese twist, which is pretty awesome if you think about it.

It's not surprising to hear that most anime series that involve food will focus primarily on Japanese food. This is because anime, as well as manga, is a Japanese form of storytelling.

So, if you're looking for cookbooks for anime fans, choosing an easy-to-follow Japanese cookbook like this one makes sense. Japanese Cooking Made Simple is perfect for the anime geek who really, truly wants authentic flavor in their food.

Sure, your favorite anime and manga characters might not have eaten these by name, but it's safe to say that they definitely make an appearance once or twice.

If you love the idea of bringing geeky food to real life pride, you've probably already started to watch the Nerdy Nummies YouTube channel. Host Rosanna Pansino kicks off every episode with a recipe that's based off a geeky element, such as unicorns, 8-bit games, or castles.

The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook is the full collection of Pansino's top recipes, plus awesome illustrations. Though it's not totally anime-centric, it's definitely a great selection for anyone who loves a little geekery here and there.

If there's one food that gets featured in just about every single anime show ever, it's ramen. Ramen noodles are a staple in Japanese households, and believe it or not, they're more than those over-salted packets you buy at the A&P.

Ramen Otaku is one of the best cookbooks for anime geeks who want to taste real, authentic ramen that gives you a punch of flavor in every sip. Reading this will change the way you think about ramen...not to mention make you a bit envious of Naruto's dining habits.

Another common them among anime series is the bento box. Bento boxes are Japanese lunch boxes that are given to both kids and salary workers. These boxes feature balanced meals that are also works of art—and now, you can make them too!

Anyone who's a fan of kawaii food, or just a serious anime fan, will love this book. The recipes are surprisingly doable, and yes, delicious too.

Finally, it's also worth pointing out that a lot of the people who search up cookbooks for anime geeks will also love Hello Kitty. The Japanese mascot is known for an empire of goodies, having her own TV series, and for being a style icon.

The Hello Kitty Baking Book lets you make cookies and cakes worthy of a special host bar, and even gives you decoration guidance too.