Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture” now have robot and tanuki work together for a change. This time, it’s to overcome the food woes they’ve been having. However, their food woes end up getting a bit more serious than acquiring new menu choices. Mostly because they’re the ones on the menu instead.

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture”: Details

Apocalypse Hotel JP key art
At least the tanukis are employed for a change…well, one of them is.

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture” is the fourth episode (you can read my reviews of Ep. 1, Ep. 2, and Ep. 3 here) of this postapocalyptic sci-fi comedy-drama anime series. Uniquely, this anime is an original series not adapted from any manga. 

CyberAgent is producing the anime, with CygamesPictures (Manaria Friends, Brave Bang Bravern!, The Summer Hikaru Died) as the animation studio behind it. Crunchyroll is the company licensing it for its global debut, as well as the company streaming it.

Production Crew

Alas, we don’t know who exactly is behind Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture”.

However, as for Apocalypse Hotel as a whole: Kana Shundo is the director behind the anime, with Shigeru Murakoshi as the writer. Manami Kabashima, Ryou Ebina, Atsushi Kimura, Kouichi Sano, and Naofumi Shioya are the producers. Natsuki Yokoyama is the character designer, based on Izumi Takemoto‘s original designs. Yoshiaki Fujisawa is the composer behind the music.

Speaking of that music: the opening theme song for Apocalypse Hotel is “Skirt” by Aiko. Meanwhile, “Capsule” (カプセル) also by Aiko is the ending theme song.

Voice Cast

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture” features the voices of Saho Shirasu as Yachiyo the Acting Acting Manager, Sumire Morohoshi as Ponko, Hiroki Tōchi as Doorman Robot, and Shin-ichiro Miki as Environment Checker Robot.

The other notable voice roles in this episode are Chō as Bumbuku, Takako Honda as Mami, Mutsumi Tamura as Fuguri, and Yoshiko Sakakibara as Mujina.

When and Where to Watch

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture” made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on April 29, 2025. You can watch this episode only on Crunchyroll. In fact, you can watch this entire anime only on Crunchyroll due to it being an exclusive there.

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture”: Synopsis

The part you can’t see from this thumb: the food chain.

Alas, Apocalypse Hotel has only just recently started airing. In fact, Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture” only just made its debut three days ago as of this writing. Thus, you all will get the official synopsis of this episode from Crunchyroll to give you all a taste of the story without too much spoilers below:

“Yachiyo and Ponko head out in search of new ingredients.”

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture”: The Good

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 "Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture" screenshot 1
Looks so peaceful, doesn’t it? It doesn’t last.

Again, it’s the story of Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture” that continues to keep my gaze glued to the screen. Mostly because of just how…oddball the plot is. It’s a strange mixture of slice of life, cooking, horror, action, and thriller. Yes, that blend of genres is as weird as you might imagine. And yet, it works for this episode. That clash of genres results in an episode that’s wonderfully complex, like a particularly complex dish with a wild medley of flavors. If you like mood whiplash in an anime, then this episode is definitely for you.

Aiding all that is the animation from CygamesPictures. Their animation team has once more crafted a very good-looking episode with some very high quality animation. This becomes especially apparent during the not-Shai-Hulud battle in the latter parts of the episode. We get some wonderfully (and terrifyingly) animated horror, blood, and action sequences. Even an action sequence involving a chainsaw. Seriously, it feels like this entire episode is running on Rule of Cool, but it works.

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture”: The Bad

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 "Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture" screenshot 2
You know things have gone to hell when Ponko is now the action horror star.

Alas, that same mood whiplash in Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 4 “Food and Etiquette Are Mainstays of Culture” can be a bit of a turnoff for some viewers. Did you want a nice, peaceful slice of life? Well, the end of a camel will definitively end that segment of the anime, albeit temporarily. Want a dark, dramatic action-horror story? Well, you still get bits of some ridiculous comedy to break up that action. While all that whiplashing works for me, it may not quite work for some viewers.

Now as for where you can watch a bloody action anime without interruptions? Well, might I suggest watching Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Blue Box, Solo Leveling, and/or Black Butler? Those anime should be dark, bloody, and/or action-packed enough to satisfy your inner action junkie.

What did you all think of this week’s episode of Apocalypse Hotel? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.

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