interaction from the player as most of the duration of the game is spent on reading the text that appears on the screen which represents either the dialogue between the various characters or the thoughts of the protagonist. Like many other visual novels, players will go through all kinds of situational events as the original story unfolds. Reception Critical response Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave the first volume of the manga series a B; praising the art and Soma as a likeable protagonist. However, she called the amount of fan service unnecessary and noted that it might make some readers uncomfortable. On the conclusion of the first series, Silverman commented "bumpy run with a slow start and some problems along the way". Ashley Hawkins writing for Manga Library called the manga a "insta-buy" due to its depictions of food and how the recipes are genuine. However, she was also put off by the amount of fan service present in both the manga and anime. Cecilia D'Anastasio writing a piece on fan service for Kotaku also commented that they wouldn't watch the anime, saying it had a "distracting breast-to-food quotient". Russel Fernande, of One Tech Traveller gave the series a 4.7/5, calling it "addictive". It was number twelve on the 2014 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Top 20 Manga for Male Readers survey, and it was number three in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2014. Dan Barnett commented for the UK Anime Network that despite it having a "simplistic structure", the series was "utterly brilliant". However, Helen Knight, also writing for the UK Anime Network likened the series to the marmite slogan "either you love it or hate it". Sales Volume 1 has sold 139,657 copies as of April 28, 2013; volume 2 has sold 176,682 copies as of June 16, 2013; volume 3 has sold 238,590 copies as of August 18, 2013, volume 4 has sold 252,975 copies, as of September 22, 2013; volume 5 has sold 271,570 copies as of December 22, 2013; volume 6 has sold 277,726 copies as of February 23, 2014; and volume 7 has sold 279,364 copies as of April 20, 2014. As of May 2, 2018, it was revealed that the manga had 14 million copies in print. By June 17, 2019, the manga had 19 million copies in print. As of March 2020, manga sales reached 20 million. See also