Midnight Diner
I really enjoy watching the TV Series Midnight Diner and Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (also known as Shinya Shokudo). It is so low key, but very enjoyable to watch, in a relaxing way. Some of the characters you become attached to, some you don't, and there is a lot of backstory you'd love to know about some of them, but they never delve into that. It is like real life in that you do not always get to know all of the answers.
That's ok. Sometimes you don't need to know everything about everyone. Knowing can remove any mystery, any assumption, any idea, that draws you in and makes you like a person or a place or a story. The imagination fills in those blank spots for you. It can be maddening at times, though. *laughs*
I admit, watching the episodes, I really get hungry, but pretty much hungry for what they have on the screen, or as close to it as it can get. I find that I don't have 90% of the ingredients for those Japanese dishes. That too is maddening at times.
The stories are low key, as I mentioned before. Some scenes can go at a very slow pace - however they do not become monotonous - at least to me. Such a simple storyline around a small diner/restaurant that is open only from 12 midnight to 7 in the morning. The owner (referred to by the patrons as Master) has only a few items on the menu, however he will make almost anything requested if he has the ingredients or the customer brought them in.
The stories can be about nothing, or something, often casual or slightly funny, or bittersweet, or sad. No matter what the story is the production sets the mood and tone beautifully. So relaxing and sometimes involving, but it doesn't push that on you. The only thing it probably will do that affects you will be to make you hungry.
I've watched both series several times, and let me tell you, I AM hungry... for more. I really hope there will be more episodes of Midnight Diner in the coming years.
That's ok. Sometimes you don't need to know everything about everyone. Knowing can remove any mystery, any assumption, any idea, that draws you in and makes you like a person or a place or a story. The imagination fills in those blank spots for you. It can be maddening at times, though. *laughs*
I admit, watching the episodes, I really get hungry, but pretty much hungry for what they have on the screen, or as close to it as it can get. I find that I don't have 90% of the ingredients for those Japanese dishes. That too is maddening at times.
The stories are low key, as I mentioned before. Some scenes can go at a very slow pace - however they do not become monotonous - at least to me. Such a simple storyline around a small diner/restaurant that is open only from 12 midnight to 7 in the morning. The owner (referred to by the patrons as Master) has only a few items on the menu, however he will make almost anything requested if he has the ingredients or the customer brought them in.
The stories can be about nothing, or something, often casual or slightly funny, or bittersweet, or sad. No matter what the story is the production sets the mood and tone beautifully. So relaxing and sometimes involving, but it doesn't push that on you. The only thing it probably will do that affects you will be to make you hungry.
I've watched both series several times, and let me tell you, I AM hungry... for more. I really hope there will be more episodes of Midnight Diner in the coming years.