Most players recognize Senran Kagura as a series of brawling games known for innuendo and large-breasted schoolgirls. Though the gameplay is fairly standard, the emphasis on fan service above all else has given it an admittedly well-earned reputation. The latest entry in the series, Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit, forgoes the fighting in favor of cooking but pushes the fan service and innuendo to new heights.

The master of the Hanzo Academy has set up a competition to find a cook who can whip up the Super Dish. Unfortunately for him, there aren't many who are willing to take on the challenge. As an incentive, he offers a scroll to the winner, and it'll grant one wish. Although he only does this to see some kitchen conflict, his offer brings the ninjas out of the woodwork, and they're all willing to battle to get what they desire.

The cut scenes are filled with suggestive writing, so everything sounds terribly wrong. For example, Asuka, who is on a mission to rid the world of bite-sized foods, keeps asking competitors whether they like things thick and large. There's a great sense of disbelief that this kind of thing exists, but the writing is so well done and humorous that you'll laugh through your disbelief and wait to see where things go next.

Despite going with a cooking theme, Bon Appetit is more of a rhythm game in the same vein as Parappa the Rapper or Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f. You're presented with two rows that contain directional pad symbols and button icons. To score points, the corresponding button needs to be pressed when it passes over the hit area. Most of what you'll encounter are single presses with a few simultaneous ones thrown in, but you'll also encounter spots where buttons need to be mashed multiple times or held for long periods until the symbol's bar expires. Building up successful combos fills a ninja power meter that, once filled and activated, triggers a point multiplier that lasts and continues to build until the song ends or you miss a beat, whichever comes first. It's pretty standard stuff for the genre, but the game scales nicely in difficulty: the symbols fly by faster, they appear more frequently, and new symbols are introduced.

For the most part, Bon Appetit has rather tame visuals during the rhythm sections. All of the scenes of the girls cooking are played without any innuendo or boob jiggling. In fact, the scenes helpfully show the loser moving along at a normal speed when preparing their dishes. That sense of modesty is broken during the brief judging sections for the first two dishes. The loser gets hit with a blast of energy from Hanzo, and that shreds some of their clothes. The cooking scenes now have an added risqué element.

Those judgment sections also lead to some extra cheesy sections, depending on your performance. The earlier sections of the match let you earn half of a heart if you hit enough notes and get a high enough combo. After securing a full heart, you can hit a heart with any button during the last segment. Doing so replaces the standard cooking scenes with close-up shots of your opponent in their underwear. Oddly enough, while the shots are meant as a reward for doing so well, they can be a distraction since they're happening while notes are still being hit. It ends up being more of a challenge than a reward.

The final judgment sequence is where Bon Appetit is at its most absurd and its most dedicated (to fan service). For the former, Hanzo is so enamored with the food that his proclamations of how good it is are exaggerated. One scene has him playing a taiko drum atop a giant cob of grilled corn while declaring it the king of the festival. Another scene has him eating a boat of seafood while riding a larger boat of seafood that floats in the sky. Yet another scene shows him eating cuttlefish while riding a cuttlefish that is rocketing to the top of the ocean. The one lament here is that there are only so many scenes due to the limited amount of dishes served in the game, but their ridiculous nature will have you seeking out all of them just to see how gonzo things can get.

For the latter, the final blast of energy from Hanzo strips away whatever clothing is left from the loser of the match. If you've lost any of the previous judgment sections, the end result matches that of other Senran Kagura titles, where your opponent is simply left in underwear. If you've won the previous two sections and are the victor, then all of the clothes from your opponent get blasted away. A beam of light covers the crotch area, and chibi versions of their heads cover the nipples. If they're involved in any cut scenes after the match, they remain in this state of undress.

Before moving on to the next bout, you're treated to a special scene where your opponent poses suggestively with chocolate and whipped cream covering their naughty bits. As expected, you can view the scene from any angle, but you won't be able to interact with them. Like the writing, there's a sense of disbelief that a (non-PC) game would take things this far. Depending on your stance on these types of things, you'll either laugh in disbelief or decide that you're done with the series.

There are a number of different modes, though most are quite similar. Story mode has you going up against five different predetermined opponents in your selected shinobi's quest to win the competition. Arcade mode removes the story-related cut scenes and has you facing five random opponents, though it includes the ability to post your scores to an online leaderboard. Free mode has you in one-on-one battles against an opponent of your choice. Library has you looking at all of the movies and pictures you've unlocked in the game, while Dressing Room lets you dress up any of the girls in any outfits and accessories you've unlocked. You can also poke and prod all of the girls and view them in their special food-related scenes, though expect noises of protest instead of desire.

One of the more surprising things about the title is its small music library. After a while, you'll realize that each of the girls you fight against has only one song. You'll also realize that the roster only contains 10 people, with one or two girls not immediately selectable but present in the story mode. That small selection means you'll quickly burn through the songs in about three playthroughs of either arcade or story mode before you'll have to hear them again. The songs aren't that bad, since you'll get a few vocal tracks and a good amount of instrumental tracks. For a game using original tracks instead of licensed ones, the small selection is reminiscent of the early days of rhythm games, when there was less confidence in the genre.

The lack of songs is somewhat mitigated by the presence of DLC, but the handling of the content is rather poor. For starters, each of the modes has half of its roster blacked out. Highlighting these sections reveals that they can only be unlocked by having the DLC instead of through normal gameplay, effectively telling players that they only have half of the game in their initial purchase. Purchasing this DLC, which costs exactly as much as the game, gives you access to the 10 fighters from Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus, who have their own stories — and also one song each. With a little over 20 songs in total when in possession of the DLC, the song selection feels rather paltry since you'll hear them several times over if you finish every story.

As for the graphics, Bon Appetit is rather good-looking in most areas. The cel-shaded style of the previous games is fully utilized, as the girls are drawn with black borders that don't cause an aliasing problem. The environments look fine, and the food looks oddly realistic against the backdrops. Character animation is also done well, especially during the few cut scenes of the story mode. About the only issue you'll find deals with the girls' underwear, as the various close-ups reveal some rather low textures and bad blending.

Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit is the kind of game that will appeal to those who aren't uncomfortable with anime-style near-nudity. Getting past the unprecedented levels of gratuitous fan service rewards you with a rhythm game that has solid mechanics and addictive gameplay. The lack of multiplayer is a little disappointing for a competitive rhythm game, and the small song library and blatant lack of non-DLC content stings rather harshly. For rhythm fans and those who enjoy the Senran Kagura series thus far, Bon Appetit is worth checking out.

Score: 6.5/10