Midnight Diner (2015)

It is not often that I say this, because a show or a movie has to be really special, almost near "perfection", to be able to make me say this, but... I adore this series.

Have you watched a tv show or read a book or played a video game and then watched its movie, or vice versa? You have expectations, right? You'll think: "It's going to be so amazing!", or "I bet everyone will be just the same!"... but once you go see it, you realize there have been many changes or everything is completely different; or even just one tiny change has made the entire story completely... well, wrong. I have to be honest, I had those fears before I watched this movie, since this is a series that I came to absolutely adore... and I was not disappointed. If anything, I was most definitely surprised and I fell in love with the characters, the stories, the ambiance, the calming effect of human decency and honesty and the unique, relatable humility that each person showed within this movie and each of its stories.

And I know I say that in a lot of my reviews, of this movies' first three seasons and other series and movies, but I have to tell you that I am being 100% honest in saying that this show has shown me more honesty, humanity, humility, love, understanding, kindness, consideration, and depth within reality and movies/tv shows a-like that I am in awe of its talents.

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Calming, uneventful charm.

Nothing really happens in this movie. It’s a bunch of random stories and at times completely out of context conversations between characters you know close to nothing about, and somehow it was truly enticing.

After finishing the movie I truly wished there was a guy like Master with his small diner somewhere in my neighborhood. The small sanctuary after the hard day of work, that sense of a small community the regular clients created.

It would be a crime not to talk about the amazing aesthetics of the show. The camera angles, the lighting, the editing and directing - it all created a beautiful movie that was just pleasant to watch.

The acting left nothing to desire. With characters that are not exactly well defined, it might be tricky to truly present them as unique individuals, but Midnight Diner made it. All performances made me believe these are the people I could potentially meet on the street myself. Normal, relatable people with their normal, mundane lives.

Overall, I have no idea why I liked it so much, but I did and that’s what matters. A movie about technically nothing, yet it never felt boring. I was engaged from first to the last scenes.

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Wonderful

This a rare, masterfully crafted story. It touches on people's lives in a delicate, respectful manner, using the medium of a hole-in-the-wall diner as a gathering spot for folks to talk about everything or nothing. It's got humor, compassion, misunderstanding/understanding, pathos, happiness and so on -- all handled gently, so that the viewer feels like they are drifting down the stream of this story rather than being paddled along or riding rapids.

Rather than being action-packed or dramatic, this is a chance to observe normal, occasionally mildly quirky people unwinding after a long day in a convivial atmosphere. Can't say enough good about it!

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A nice visit in a comfortable surroundings with great food and reliable friends.

This isn't going to be your normal review because the title is the feeling I get when I watch any Midnight Diner shows. Like I'm headed to somewhere nice. I wish there were a diner like this near me, where I could go indulge in midnight snack-meals, while drinking and having conversations with my friends in a comfortable, relatively safe, setting. And everyone has problems, even all the patrons at the Midnight Diner. Some are simple, others are horribly complicated or painful, sometimes both. So bad that a patron left a funeral urn at the Diner!

Throughout the movie, that urn is mentioned and becomes a sort of common thread touching on each of the personal stories featured in this movie. And there were some truly heavy issues explored. Should things get too difficult, Master is always there to provide the right kind of advice in a way that is unique, even to Japan. It's like he aced all the Psychology tests in College without even trying. He'll advise you better than a true friend could, and tell you what you NEED to hear, not what you want to hear. I wish I had a Master and Midnight Diner in my life. I cling to that hope the same way I watch the credits all the way up to the end, just to "keep" some of that Midnight Diner comforting feeling around as long as I can, because I want to, and it's such a gem of a show.

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Many disconnected short stories make for good viewing.

Each episode shows the story of one of the diner's guests. Sometimes, the Master plays a role in helping them resolve their issues. He gives them advice to problems which they otherwise would not seek from anyone else. The setting appears to be uniquely Japanese, although I have never been to Japan. I like it when the short episodes have happy endings, but sometimes the endings can be sad or tragic. Master takes pride in his cooking but he doesn't go beyond his small diner and try to establish a big restaurant, being content with his small diner. There is something to be said about a talented person not giving in to ambition, and becoming just another a business manager.

There appear to be two versions of Midnight Diner, one suffixed - Tokyo Stories, and one without. I'm presenting this review of Midnight Diner as one series, for all episodes.

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