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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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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The acting in this drama was very good. I liked how everyone in the cast played their roles from the very grouchy with a touch of sweet Eisuke to weird yet likable Ebina. I thought all the characters worked really well with each other. I also have to say, I really loved Mukai Osamu as Eisuke (he was my favorite character) and I wasn't even a fan of his before I started this. The only character I truly didn't like was Maria, but that just makes me think the actress did a good job. The OST was awesome and it gave even more life to the drama.
I plan to watch this again someday, but I do have to warn those who like their romance. This drama does not have an overabundance of romance, which made it perfect for me, but it does have its sweet moments here and there.
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Story: The story i thoroughly enjoyed for the most part but there was some let downs surrounds the characters and their relationships. With out going into to much details i felt although what i wanted and assumed would happen did not and it left me feeling a little unsatisfied. But that aside this was a great drama, As i am not one who really likes food dramas this one was quite a nice change. The story makes you want to fight on with the characters and you will find yourself laughing out loud with them as well as getting angry with them.
Acting/Cast: The cast was very well chosen for this drama, 3 main people who stood out for me were Okusu Chie played by Takimoto Miori who plays the main female role she captured the sweet and innocent yet clumsy characteristic of Chie so well. Aso Tokio played by the great Iagaki Goro, If there ever was a man to play a disturbed villain than this is your man its just something about his eyes that leave you feeling slightly scared yet intrigued he first caught my eye in the drama "In the Room" and since has made a big impression on me after watching this drama i find him to be an amazing actor. And lastly Ebina Musuko who on here was put as Chikako and not Musuko like it was in the drama who was played by the fabulous Karagiri Hairi, words can not express the amount of love i had for her character although i do wish they would have finally elaborated on her whole life stories she always tried to tell. She was simply the pick for my she was a whole bunch on funny and awkward and just randomly weird but yet you love her so much.
Music: Was not to bad but i wish they would have stayed away from the V-kei thing they had going on for a while. I did really love the choice of rock songs and french influenced music but i felt they could have had so much more suited songs to play.
Rewatch Value: I would probably not watch this again unless it had a second season then i may rewatch to catch up again. Some may actually want to rewatch this as it is a great drama but personally i try not to rewatch many dramas and movies as i have so many i need to still watch.
Overall: I gave it an 8 not because it was a bad drama but i felt it lacked in the "Make everything happy at the end" department. I would have loved to see E x C or T x C happen but alas it didn't and that left me a little bummed.
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Hungry! includes your typical "love, happiness, family" themes (and pulls these off very well), but my favorite was how they handled following your dreams. Sometimes, dreams change, and even when you do settle on one the path may change and evolve over time. I love this drama for the realism. The challenges the main character, Eisuke, has to overcome (in both his personal life and starting up a restaurant) are very real and handled in a very human way. This adds so many bonus points because dramas have a bad habit of problem solving through Deus Ex Machina and it drives me crazy.
But what makes this drama top notch is the humor. Several moments had me laughing out loud and I typically had a smile while watching. The writing is great and (most) of the actors did a fantastic job.
Check out Hungry! I highly recommend it!
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I looked forward to this because of the cast, but that's pretty much all i appreciated.
I enjoyed the meaning given to food and cooking: a human need beyond its biological role. On the other hand though, i didn't see any concrete development in the screenplay or in the characters or in the relationships between them.
What i love about japanese dramas is their ability to intensify feelings; in less than 10 episodes you find yourself irreversably attached to the world the show is set in. While in this case love relationships, friendships, family bonds, hindered dreams remain superficial.
Great potential, poorly exploited.
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