Arròs covat (in Spanish, "Past rice") is a Spanish animated series, created by cartoonist Juanjo Sáez for Televisió de Catalunya. It narrates about the life of Xavi Masdéu, a graphic designer with a goal to rebuild his life after breaking up his relationship with Sonia, his lifelong girlfriend. Sáez himself has explained it as "the conflict of getting older."[1]
The name of the series refers to the saying "pass the rice", which means having lost the appropriate age to do something specific. Arròs covat was awarded an Ondas Award in 2010, the comic has been edited with the storyboard of the series and has been broadcast for the rest of Spain on the pay channel TNT, with dubbing into Spanish by the original cast of actors.[2]
Xavi Masdéu is a graphic designer who, after turning 30, feels like he is losing all the opportunities in his life. Despite having his own graphic design studio, being a cosmopolitan person and being in love with his girlfriend Sonia, he begins to rethink his relationship when he realizes that he keeps being interested in all the women he meets, like the young woman. Light. When Sonia separates from Xavi, he must rethink his entire professional and sentimental world, and assume his maturity.
In addition to Xavi, other characters appear in the series such as his aunt Paquita, with whom he usually eats rice every Thursday, and his study companions Lluis and Ricard.
Each chapter is titled with a type of rice, which is related to the theme of the plot.
Music plays an important role in the series, with winks and references to the independent scene. The original soundtrack is composed by the Maik Maier collective, including the opening theme performed by Miguel Ángel Blanca, singer of Manos de Topo. In addition, songs by Catalan groups are included (Standstill, Love of Lesbian, La Casa Azul), from the Barcelona label BCore, and artists such as the disc jockey Marc Piñol (Shitty DJ) or the singer Joe Crepúsculo are parodied. Even the dubbing actor who plays Xavi Masdeu is the singer-songwriter Joan Dausà. The sound effects are usually vocalized onomatopoeia.[3]
Each chapter is titled with a type of rice, which is related to the theme of the plot: