'Midnight Diner' is a collection of stories of patrons who frequent a diner which stays open from midnight to 7am. The diner is run by a middle-aged chef referred to as "Master" who has a few ground rules: 1) He'll make any dish you want as long as he has the ingredients; 2) You can only drink 3 pints of sake and no more; 3) And absolutely no fighting; if you're roiled enough to want to land a few on someone's face, you have to take your business outside. Each season more or less spans a year, with the last episode always ending with Christmas and the New Year. And each episode centers around a patron and a dish they have requested the Master to make.
The predicaments the patrons find themselves in are various: an aspiring actress has deep feelings for a newspaper delivery boy which he is unable to reciprocate; one of the diner's regulars, a stripper named Marilyn, has to confront her mother about her profession; a young girl falls in love with a con whose favorite meal is cold noodles; the friendship of two friends is tested when they become rivals for voiceover jobs in the competitive anime industry... What each person has in common is the diner and the Master, who observes what is happening and only intervenes when he can offer some advice, which is usually simple, practical, and wise. Through these stories I felt like I really got a peek into Japanese culture and the way Japanese people think.
For many people their first introduction to 'Midnight Diner' is through 'Tokyo Stories,' which is great, but really where they ought to start is from the beginning by watching the first 3 seasons (called just 'Midnight Diner') and then watching 'Tokyo Stories,' which is essentially season 4 and 5.
A lot has been written and said about the opening track and there isn't much I can add except to say, yes, the opening song by Tsunekichi Suzuki called "Omoide" is really all that and more! This has gotta be one of the best opening sequences in TV. At over a minute, it's long, but it is so beautiful and comforting. There is a hint of sadness about the song and indeed, the show itself, and it brought to my mind what William Wordsworth once said about "the still, sad music of humanity." 'Midnight Diner' is a slice-of-life meditation on modern life. It is contemplative but also engaging, immersive, and humorous. The show popped up in my Netflix recommendations some months ago and it is one of the instances where the algorithm absolutely nailed it. 'Midnight Diner' is one of the best feel-good shows out there and I recommend it highly!
The predicaments the patrons find themselves in are various: an aspiring actress has deep feelings for a newspaper delivery boy which he is unable to reciprocate; one of the diner's regulars, a stripper named Marilyn, has to confront her mother about her profession; a young girl falls in love with a con whose favorite meal is cold noodles; the friendship of two friends is tested when they become rivals for voiceover jobs in the competitive anime industry... What each person has in common is the diner and the Master, who observes what is happening and only intervenes when he can offer some advice, which is usually simple, practical, and wise. Through these stories I felt like I really got a peek into Japanese culture and the way Japanese people think.
For many people their first introduction to 'Midnight Diner' is through 'Tokyo Stories,' which is great, but really where they ought to start is from the beginning by watching the first 3 seasons (called just 'Midnight Diner') and then watching 'Tokyo Stories,' which is essentially season 4 and 5.
A lot has been written and said about the opening track and there isn't much I can add except to say, yes, the opening song by Tsunekichi Suzuki called "Omoide" is really all that and more! This has gotta be one of the best opening sequences in TV. At over a minute, it's long, but it is so beautiful and comforting. There is a hint of sadness about the song and indeed, the show itself, and it brought to my mind what William Wordsworth once said about "the still, sad music of humanity." 'Midnight Diner' is a slice-of-life meditation on modern life. It is contemplative but also engaging, immersive, and humorous. The show popped up in my Netflix recommendations some months ago and it is one of the instances where the algorithm absolutely nailed it. 'Midnight Diner' is one of the best feel-good shows out there and I recommend it highly!