Being a woman in a male dominated society has never been easy moreover in rigid rules' dominated Japan in the 50s. Unfortunately, the war had left ryoten without a male head so the young woman needs to get a husband in order to make the business operational. Her younger unmarried sister having eloped, Ichika, a widow, is forced to marry young Amane whose family promised to help them save the restaurant. Ichika is an exceptional cook working in a western hotel (Japan is still under US rule) and manages to blend western and japanese cuisines and make delicious food. Amane, realizing his wife's talent, pushes her to become restaurants chef in spite of customs formally forbidding women to be in the restaurant's kitchen.

Knife and Green Pepper: Ichika's Cookbook is a heartwarming tale about a 34 yr old widowed woman realizing her own worth with the help of a 19 yr old husband.It depicts the society still set in its old ways but shaken gently by the american presence and their customs.

Japanese excell in these cooking dramas and this one is no different: dishes bring people together be it by making them together(Ichika & Amane) or by serving them to "hostile" customers (americans or old respected men). We are privy to food preparation and can witness the pleasure and joy Ichiko derives from cooking. That joy is reflected in tasty dishes bringing happiness to whoever tastes them.

Everything is soft and muted in this drama: the cinematography, the music, the characters. The final song is really good and it plays over credit scene which is a must watch since it shows a scene already seen in the episode but from another point of view which brings additional depth to the characters.

The only problem I had with this drama is a total lack of chemistry between the main leads: their dynamics is more of a mother/son nature than lovers which they were supposed to have become by the end. I could not feel it. And even though Amane is oftentimes assertive and making decisions, as is expected from a sole male member of the house, and Ichika is demure and submissive as she is supposed to be with her husband, as the drama progresses their roles slowly reverse. Never completely, mind you, but they end up at the same place, looking eye to eye. I was not that much bothered by the age difference but even on the first day of their marriage, Ichika took the initiative to protect Amane from unnecessary intimacy when she realized he was ill at ease. Ichika herself had much more chemistry with the hotel chef and I could very well see them having a thing.

But this story was never going to be a conventional one: if you are going to break customs, do it completely and break every interdiction placed upon the characters. They seem to be doing this. Hopefully we will get another season of this drama and see how the characters evolve. This is based on a manga and apparently the drama covers 4 first books out of 10 published (never translated in english though). So there is more from where this came from!

PS Thanks to fansubbers for translating this drama. Such a nice watch!