Food and Beverages

The food and drink consumed in the slums are mostly cheap, low quality products. There isn't much mention of what is consumed in the rest of Midas and Tanagura, except for some examples of high-end liquor.

## Beverages

    Mineral water and various types of alcoholic beverages seem to be the most common drinks on Amoi.

Some of the known types and brands of beverages:

### **Tripper**

Tripper (トリッパー, Torippā) is a name for various hallucinatory alcoholic drinks. Their quality and potency varies a lot. Some known Trippers include the alkaloid-based moonshine Stout, high class Dublin and the super expensive Vartan.

#### **Stout**

Stout (スタウト, Sutauto) is a type of Tripper that is widely used in the slums of Ceres. It’s a hard, bitter liquor that can leave a “vicious, heavy and dark” aftertaste.

Stout is moonshine, brewed as an off-label stimulant and was considered the lowest quality. It had a very bad reputation among the alkaloid-based Trippers, and undoubtedly was the reason that it should suit the slums so well.

Downing a slug in one shot instead of working at it was a risky business. Depending on one’s luck, it could be much worse than just a “bad trip” as it could lead to a seizure and death by suffocation. But normally, it would slowly lull the imbiber into an euphoria-filled hallucination. Once the imbiber got thoroughly wasted, it was a trip with no toll booths and no off-ramp. He'd sit there in a phantasm—filled euphoria, his lips forming the mere shape of words, the breath escaping his taut lips sounding like crushed rock underfoot.

The mongrels brewed and consumed it because there weren’t any regulations or warnings telling them otherwise, and the hallucinations themselves liberated them, albeit temporarily, from the existence in the slums.

#### **Dublin**

Dublin (ダブリン, Daburin) is a high class Tripper coveted but unattainable in the slums. It’s what slum mongrels imagine the elite of Tanagura would be consuming.

#### **Vartan**

Vartan (ヴァルタン, Varutan) is an extremely expensive and sought after type of Tripper that only the richest of the rich could afford. Produced by the company Roget Renna (ロジェ·リナ, Roje Rina), even a knock-off wasn’t something the slum mongrels could hope to get their hands on, let alone the real thing.

The quality and price difference between it and Stout was astronomic and within the slums, it was considered the ultimate luxury good.

### **Guinevere**

Guinevere (ギネビア, Ginebia) is a pricy liquor. It’s dry and has a unique taste. It is served from a shaker and can be spiced with Balado.

### **Muir**

Muir (ムール, Mūru) is a slow-acting aphrodisiac liquor. A fine liqueur of the highest grade with a rich taste, it was a must-have for pets during mating parties. Due to its colour and consistency, it can easily be mistaken for wine.

It’s effect on the imbiber can depend on the level of tolerance they have developed with the rate of consumption.

### **Wine**

Wine (ワイン, Wain) was mentioned several times as a drink Iason gave, or pretended to give, Riki. It could be spiked with an aphrodisiac.

### **Carbonated Alcohol**

Carbonated alcohol is another type of alcohol commonly consumed in the slums. In the scene where Zach talks to Riki, the carbonated alcohol he is drinking is coloured a bright, toxic-looking hue.

### **Juice**

In the slums, juice usually comes in the form of concentrate that needs to be mixed with mineral water before drinking. Younger pets and children in Guardian also drink juice, some of the flavours include chamomile and cherry.

### Nappa

Nappa (ナッパ, Nappa) was a cheap alcoholic beverage consumed in the slums. It's only been mentioned in the early versions of the novel, in a derogatory context, and it seems that in the paperback version it was replaced by Stout.

### Jelly

Presumably something similar to Japanese jelly energy drinks, they are used as sustenance on the go.

## Food

### **Restructured Meat**

Since Amoi doesn't seem to have any farming, proper meat can probably only be afforded by the most affluent. Those in the slums eat products made from restructured or reconstituted meat (合成肉).

#### **Fin**

Fin is a thin, crepe-like bread topped with a layer of greasy, lard-smeared restructured meat rolled into a wrap. It is commonly eaten in the slums of Ceres.

#### **Sticks**

Sticks made from dried, crispy restructured meat. Eaten as a snack or a side-dish, it is also served in bars in Ceres.

It is mistranslated as "synthetic steak" in the book.

### **Instant Soup**

Soup made by putting an instant bouillon cube into the boiling water.

## Spices

### Balado

Balado (バーラッド, Bāraddo) is a special spice produced on the planet Aquos. It took its name from the place it was produced, and could be divided into five varieties. Each had its own subtle aftertaste and aroma, and a connoisseur could easily tell the difference.

The brands and varieties varied in price and quality. The most popular variety of Balado is called Merida. But even a less popular variety of Balado was still a luxury good, and not the kind of thing ever found in the slums of Ceres.

When put in a drink such as Guinevere, Merida left a strange aftertaste and a tingling sensation on the imbiber’s tongue.

Sometimes using to grease the wheels before a business negotiation, it was an informant's way of advertising the value of his merchandise.

## **Anime and OVA**

### **Burger Joint**

In Episode 2 of the 2012 anime series Guy and Riki are shown at an outdoor fast food stand in Ceres. This may be connected to the Synthfood mentioned in the novels. The cashier is a washed out youth with a haggard expression on his face common of dejected mongrels. Guy purchases what looks to be some sort of bun meal, and drinks in typical paper cups.

As seen in the 2012 anime series.As seen in the 2012 anime series.As seen in the 2012 anime series.As seen in the 2012 anime series.
### **Grocery Store**

In Episode 3 of the 2012 anime series Guy and Riki are shown going grocery shopping. One can assume they are in Midas proper and not the slums of Ceres, considering the vast array of fresh fruit they are showed perusing (not to mention the overall cleanliness of the establishment). If the situation in Ceres is so deplorable, the presence of a grocery store full of freshly stocked produce would be rather hard to maintain, if not out of place.

As seen in the 2012 anime series.As seen in the 2012 anime series.As seen in the 2012 anime series.
## **OVA-Specifics**

     *"We can get some trippers from the auction at Mistral. Don't tell me Bison's gonna miss out on such an opportunity, eh?"* (OVA1, 1992)

In the 1992 OVA Kirie orchestrates a raid on a warehouse supplying Tripper to the auction house at Mistral Park, convincing the members of Bison to take the wares for themselves. This differs from the novel, where he simply wanted to compare himself to Academy Pets. (V1 p44)

### **Warehouse Heist**

     *"Hey! Those trippers are for the west warehouse.... Yeah, twenty cases are to be moved down there."* (OVA 1, 1992)

Guy and Riki agree to go along with the plan, and are later seen masquerading as couriers in the warehouse in order to reroute a delivery of tripper to a West Warehouse. The other members of Bison lay in waiting to steal the stock, successfully making off with twenty cases of stout.

The event takes place during Riki's Year of Freedom.

Infiltration, as seen in the 1992 OVA.Twenty cases of tripper, as seen in the 1992 OVA.As seen in the 1992 OVA.
### **Iason's Leniency**

     *"They were only trippers, does it not please you that I let them go...?"* (OVA 1, 1992)

The situation is large enough to alert Tanagura authorities, and Iason downplays the severity of the incident to Jupiter when it becomes clear that his pet Riki was involved. Tanagura's involvement probably had more to do with Rik running wild in Midas than stolen cases of stout.