Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories Season 1 Review

Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (2016-)

Season 1 - 10 episodes (2016)
Watch Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories on Netflix
Written by: Yaro Abe  (manga)
Directed by: Joji Matsuoka
Starring: Joe Odagiri, Sosuke Ikematsu, Yutaka Matsushige

Plot
This Japanese foreign language series features a diner that's only open from midnight until 7 A.M., each episode is self contained, following the relationships between patrons and in part the owner.

Verdict
This show is exactly what I hoped it would be, small quirky stories centered around a small restaurant. It's a quaint little show that will understandably get ignored and hidden among more accessible and bigger name shows, but it's worth watching even with subtitles. Each episode is a little more than 20 minutes and functions as a human interest piece on relationships.
Watch it.

Review
The only thing on the menu at this diner is Miso soup, but the chef will make anything by request provided he has the ingredients. It's an odd show, yet charming. The Japanese culture is obviously an underpinning to the show, but you may not pick up on it if you aren't familiar with Japanese entertainment. This doesn't hinder the show, but you know you're missing out, and it can be difficult to watch what's going on and read the subtitles. This isn't a show meant for a wider audience. The subtitles are a default, not a feature.

Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories is a collection of small tales of interpersonal relationships. This came out in the same week as Black Mirror Season 3, and it was a great companion to that show. I have to take a break after each episode of Black Mirror because it's so dense and often bleak. Midnight Diner was a great show to fill that break. It's easy to follow the feel-good stories.

In each episode, the title credits flow right into the chef narrating while he cooks a particular dish. This dish serves as the title for the episode, and will tie into the story about the customer who ordered it. The chef's narration occasionally enters the story, and often customers come to him for advice or help. Each episode concludes with the protagonists and their new friends waving to the camera and stating, "Good night."

Episode 1 features a radio show host who realizes a woman in the diner is a former actress and his first crush.
Episode 2 depicts the rift between a comedian and his protege, when the protege outshines his master. The rift develops over a corn dog of all things, but the two manage to repair their friendship
Episode 3 and 4 are both romantic. In 3, a passive woman knits for men, hoping her knitting will win them over. She's often hurt, but resilient. The conclusion contains many knitted accessories. In 4, cultural boundaries end a scientist's romance prematurely.
Episode 5 features a neglectful gambling father who leaves his son at the diner.
In episode 6 a single man is concerned about who will find his porn collection when he dies.
In episode 7, the woman a man had a crush on who went on to be a movie star now works a menial job supporting her no good nephew.

In episode 8, a woman reconnects with a former colleague, the man with whom she starred in her first and only adult film twenty-three years ago. Her husband had experience from a former marriage. she wanted experience too. She and the colleague realize what they had, and what they didn't have.  She had a great relationship with her late husband, and discovers he knew about her past and bought all copies of the DVD and stored them. This may be my favorite episode as it's a love story that defies expectation.

In episode 9, a dish brings back memories for an elderly lawyer of playing Othello with his long lost younger brother. He surreptitiously finds his brother living near by, and comes to terms with the punishment he deserved but his brother received.

Episode 10 is a look at the previous episodes, with everyone stopping by the diner

This is story focused, and while subtitles may scare many away, stories of small triumphs will reward those who watch. It's a light-hearted, easy watch.