Samurai Gourmet

Samurai Gourmet is the story of a 60-year-old Japanese man, newly retired, and still figuring out what to do with all the time he now has on his hands. He explores a variety of different simple, local restaurants, and at each meal he encounters some kind of moral dilemma. For example, should he intervene when a chef is being rude to two young foreign customers? He is a cautious man and tends to keep himself to himself, but daydreams of a vigorous, wandering samurai from the middle ages – what would a samurai do in these circumstances? Each short episode tends to follow this format, so becomes a little predictable, yet it has sufficient charm to still be enjoyable. The main character Takeshi Kasumi, played by Naota Takenaka, loves his food and has a great range of facial expressions whilst eating – the pure enjoyment of a good meal really comes through. There are plenty of lingering shots of the dishes being prepared and cooked, and there are some touching scenes with the Takeshi's tolerant and caring wife. This series is the very opposite of a Hollywood drama: the characters are just ordinary people, very little happens in dramatic terms, yet somehow each episode, with its little story of a small incident in a man's life, manages to be engaging and uplifting.

In Japan, working is involving....anything else stay in second place. When the character wakes up in the day he's retired, he felt lost, walking no destination. Then he realized that there is a completely different world around him...and he like this. Tasting foods of memories he feels pleasure and a reason to life. Very good

The show is pretty simple, and its worth is exactly the highlights it gives to ordinary stuff of life. The attention to the details, the beautiful looks on the food, and the smoothness of the story sustain this great show. Don't expect the episodes to be full of drama and extraordinary stuff. This is just a charming, sometimes comic and, above all, very light and buoyant series.

The stories surrounding each episode aren't particularly interesting but I couldn't help but smile during every episode as this 60 year old man sat down and ate a meal.

This show is beautiful and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The main character is very likable and relatable. This isn't a cooking show or one where they rate places, no, it's more honest than that, more intimate. I sincerely have never watched anything as pure or relaxing. It can be a little over dramatic at times, acting wise, but i feel like it adds something instead of lowering it's value. Samurai Gourmet is very immersive and it will make you hungry, i recommend watching it while you eat. And even more, I recommend you watch it!