Shinya Shokudo sure is a special place. It's a place where you can find gangsters, strippers, gay bar owners, aspiring artists, famous artists, office ladies, manual labour workers, wanderers, students, and even sometimes children, all hanging out in harmony, and all treated the same way, with care, by our Mastà (Master). I love that most characters are recurring characters in the drama, and don't just disappear after their episode-centric ends. Well some of them do, but most return. Kobayashi Kaoru is effortless in this role. There's something about him that imposes all to behave in his restaurant. He's pretty much fearless. While he does get entangled with people's lives, it's always from a certain, comforting distance, which makes it easy for people to open up to him. Odagiri Joe's role is the most intriguing addition. He feels like he comes from another time yet fits perfectly in this midnight restaurant with the rest of the loyal customers. His presence adds some sort of mysticism to the whole drama. Oh and that opening sequence with the lullaby-like song, and its music shapes the drama to make it the most special and endearing to watch.