Hungry! (2012)

What a delicious drama. Literally.
It left me hungry for more of these adorable characters, and made me hungry for mouth watering food while watching. In short, the title says it all.

The pairing food=hunger may seem obvious, but there's much more to it than what meets the eye. I love the food philosophy as it is portrayed here, because almost each character is defined by his or her way to interact with food. For some it is a simple nourishment, for others, a vehicle to express themselves, the means to capture someone's heart, to force out a smile or the way to forget a childhood of privation.
I was more than once reminded of "Ratatuille", the disney animation film, and the moment in which the merciless food critic savours a bite of ratatuille and is immediately catapulted back to his childhood and the memory of his mother's love.
Food really has the power to stir up memories and rouse imagination.

I came to love all the characters and was impressed by the performance of the entire cast. Granted, Takimoto Miori is basically playing Mio from Ikemen desu ne all over again, but as somebody else wrote before me, she's so adorable I'm ready to forgive her for being still an unripe actress. Osamu Mukai is spot on, and I particularly enjoyed him when he would start talking like a dockworker, rolling his "rrr" and using foul language. But my favourite character is without a doubt Taku with his absent-minded ways and his infectious smile. Their friendship and ties are a pleasure to watch: hilarious, sincere, believable.

The music is great. Every piece fits the scene to perfection without ever overpowering it.

There's much more to say about this drama, but I believe it has to be... eaten, instead of read about. Re-watch value is very high because once you've tasted something good, you definitely want to eat it again, sooner or later.
I may just add that this is a further evidence that reviews and recommendations can be truly useful: I watched hungry! because I trust the opinion of other reviewers here and I'm very glad I did.

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I've seen other dramas that had the same story vibe about foodies and restauranteurs but I liked this series the best ;)

This is not just a story of a young man who is in pursuit of his dreams, but of how the other characters have grown to realize their own dreams as well as the story progresses. The writers did stick to the plot and made the story focus clearly on Eisuke's realization of his dreams and his relationships with other people.

The only thing I didn't like in this movie was Maria. She was bland, uninteresting and lacked the right mix of emotions as Eisuke's girlfriend. But overall, I loved the characters' rapport and how their relationships meshed well together. It's a drama about dreams, love, family and most of all, friendship.

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