Warning: Contains spoilers for the final episode of A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics!!
Summary
The ending of A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics ties everything together in a strange and casual way, without revisiting any major isekai twists. The two main characters' stories intertwine at the end, potentially setting up future episodes. The series prioritizes its unique chaotic tone over isekai elements, leaving the connection to the past world undeveloped.
A Salad Bowl of Oddities Is one cartoon has lived up to its title since episode #1, so fans have always expected a completely random ending, and while the season finale is indeed strange, it's strange because it's almost too normal in the way it ties everything together so nicely. The finale is also completely can't wait to see the amazing twist it brought to the isekai genre as a whole earlier in the season, but this was also no surprise to viewers, as it was initially considered an afterthought, no matter how big it was at the time.
What distinguishes A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics, understandably at the expense of some viewers' enjoyment, is the separate stories of two characters brought to modern Earth. More viewers were drawn to Livia Do Udis's struggles as she experienced more of Earth's brutal qualities than Princess Sara Da Odin, as everything seemed to be going just fine for her.
While the two meet at various points in the film, These moments are always short before they went their separate ways. However, season one ends with their intertwined stories in a huge way could easily have been extended for many more episodes if the anime was renewed. Basically, A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics ends so conventionally that viewers would be quite satisfied if this were a regular anime. But this series is not.
A bowl of salad of weirdos ends normally after 12 chaotic episodes
Produced by SynergySP & Studio Comet; based on the original light novel by Yomi Hirasaka
The random events that occur in each character's new life are so frequent that they become ingrained in the overall tone of A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics, and the fact that they always take place separately from each other only adds to the confusion. The act of bringing them together at the end of the film feels out of step with the overall flow of the series, especially since just minutes before, the story had gone through a significant period of time that completely changed Livia's life. This initially leaves the viewer even more confused than usual.
So when things took another drastic turn after the timeskip, past precedent had dictated that viewers would expect more chaos to ensue. This clearly didn't happen as the series ended in such a conventional way. Ironically, the said drastic turn coincided with a disappointing theme of something bad happening to Livia because, unknowingly, her success was based on some shady scheme or business. A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics retains its own formula despite the fact that it is an instant remedy for Livia's unhappiness includes Sara's unusual participation.
No other series intentionally hides the element that makes it Isekai
Despite an interesting premise, A Salad Bowl Of Eccentrics overprotects its lore
It’s worth noting that all of this comes at the expense of the actual story, which directly ties into the “isekai” part of the series. This makes sense, since the daily events of both characters’ lives always explicitly ignore their past worlds, to the point where A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics could paradoxically be considered an almost too-eventful slice-of-life. Despite being a unique isekai, A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics surprisingly tackles and subverts a massively overused trope by directly connecting both worlds to an actual figure from human history. The fact that this connection also brings more context to Sara’s interest in historical fiction manga involving this real-life character further cements its importance.
True to form, however, the series never returns to this intriguing plot point, and maintains this disconnect throughout the season's finale. The fact that the end credits actually roll over a statue of that character that looks more like a giant troll than anything else, like everything else about A quirky salad bowl.