461 Days of Bento: A Promise Between Father and Son (2020)

461 Days of Bento is a story of a promise between a father, かずき and his son, こうき. The promise was the following: the father will make lunch bento for his son every day, and the son will go to school every day.

こうき’s father is a band musician, and after こうき's parents got divorced, he began living with his father. こうき’s father diligently makes bento every morning, and こうき is able to make new friends at school with his bento that always looked amazing. The story mainly revolves around こうき’s relationship with his father and his life at high school.

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Although the story wasn't the most exciting, I loved seeing the beautiful bento that こうき’s dad made every morning. There were many things to consider, such as color combinations, nutrition, and even including seasonal food on some days. I was impressed at his cooking skills and was able to understand how こうき got to make friends with his bento.

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One of the food that I found particularly interesting was たまごやき, which is made by rolling layers of eggs, similar to an omelette. It is very common in Korea as well. I liked how they have a specific pan for making たまごやき. 

I also thought うめぼし、which are Japanese pickled plums, was interesting. It was in almost every bento, on top of the rice. I don't think I've tried this yet, but it looks really delicious and my mom likes them a lot.

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Since our current chapter is on cooking, I was able to pick up some words and verbs like にんじん and まぜる. I also enjoyed seeing the commonly used あいさつ such as いってきます、ただいま、and いってらしゃい。I particularly liked the line, "ぜんぶうまくいく" which means "everything goes well". こうき’s dad often tells this to his son, who has been stressed with college admissions exams. I liked hearing the casual speech used between friends, which reminded me of the examples we looked at in class recently.

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Overall, I really enjoyed watching 461 Days of Bento. Watching a movie helped me gain a lot of cultural insight into what a typical household or school in Japan looks like, which I cannot really see in the shonen manga-based anime that I usually watch. 

I feel like I should watch more Japanese dramas or movies that can expose me to more Japanese culture and food. If you have any recommendations, please let me know! :)