Samurai Gourmet 

A 60 year old retired salary-an finds new purpose in exploring the food of his neighborhood. Aided by his fantasy companion, a samurai who inspires him to boldly experience this new chapter of his life.

Stars:

Naoto Takenaka, Tetsuji Tamayama, Honami Suzuki

Cast

Series cast summary:
Naoto Takenaka	...	Takeshi Kasumi 12 episodes, 2017
Tetsuji Tamayama	...	Samurai 12 episodes, 2017
Honami Suzuki	...	Wife 12 episodes, 2017

Storyline

The live action series "Samurai Gourmet," based on Masayuki Kusumi's essay and the manga of the same title, featuring the life of Takeshi Kasumi. Takeshi Kasumi has spent his entire life devoted to his job. Now a retired man, he finds himself with plenty of extra time on his hands. While on an afternoon walk, Kasumi discovers the joys of day time drinking and the realization that he is now free to eat and drink what he wants, when he wants. This awakens his inner persona - a wandering samurai living life freely in Japan's age of civil wars. Thus begins his search for blissfully delectable delights to satisfy his stomach and the samurai's soul. A retired man's tales of adventure in twelve episodes, including "Lunch Time Beer at a Diner," "The Devilish Madame," "A Croquette for the Heart" and "Wanderer's Italian Lunch."

---

Plot Keywords:

tv mini series | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

17 March 2017 (Japan)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Netflix

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.90 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ending song from each episode, "Shiroi Suna No Saboten", was written by the main character's very actor, Naoto Takenaka, who plays the main character, Takeshi Kasumi.

---

Connections

Version of Kodoku no gurume (2012)

User Reviews

Not what I expected, a little crazy but incredibly charming

I thought this was anime to begin with. If I hadn't been drawing at the time I put it on I wouldn't have given this a chance. But after leaving it on for a few minutes I got sucked in to this world.

The title says this is about food but more and more I realised that food was only a vehicle for the plot, the real narrative for me is how this retired salary man is learning to experience life that he seems to have ignored for the last 40 years. Now he has the time during the day to get out and take life at his own pace he is trying new things.

The pleasure he takes in simple things is absolutely charming, there is no other word for it and the wisdom his perspectives bring to the various people he encounters is insightful.

The show says a lot about Japanese culture (even though I have never been to Japan so take that with a grain of salt), thing's that this man is stressed over make me laugh a little.

The Samurai thing is a bit insane really but it adds a layer of whimsy to what could be considered a bit of a dry story. I don't care about food enough to find a show on Netflix about it but the occasional flights of fancy make me laugh.

I am not sure how well this would captivate me if I wasn't interested in Japanese culture in general but it is such a nice show to relax to that I can't help but love it.