The Grand Restaurant

The Grand Restaurant is a specialty animated short produced by miHoYo Anime, released in 2024 to celebrate the third anniversary of the game Genshin Impact. It was crafted as a heartfelt tribute to the game’s community, utilizing a high-quality, stylized animation aesthetic that departs from the traditional in-game engine. The project was conceived as a lighthearted, culinary-themed narrative, showcasing various playable characters interacting in a bustling, festive environment that mirrors the game's cultural diversity.

The animation was directed and storyboarded to emphasize fluid character expressions and a warm, vibrant color palette, distinguishing it from standard promotional trailers. By focusing on mundane, cozy domesticity rather than combat, miHoYo aimed to deepen the emotional connection between players and the game’s extensive cast. Upon its release, the short was received warmly by the player base for its meticulous attention to detail and its ability to humanize characters often viewed primarily as tools for gameplay mechanics.