Hey buddies! I hope you’re doing well! Here I am again to talk to you about a JBL series that I recently watched and really enjoyed!

Our Dining Table (2023)
Country: Japan
Episodes: 11 (~23’ each)
Genres: Food, Romance, Life, Family
My Rating: 9/10

Adapted from the manga “Bokura no Shokutaku”

Main Cast

Inukai Atsuhiro as Hozumi Yutaka
Iijima Hiroki as Ueda Minoru
Maeyama Kuuga as Ueda Tane

Plot
Yutaka is a quiet man who lives alone and struggles to eat with other people. He was adopted as a child and he always remembers his stepbrother calling him “disgusting” even while eating.

Minoru is also a lonely person who decided to pause college in order to work and help with his little brother’s care after their mom died.

Tane is Minoru’s cheerful little brother who brought the two men together through his love for Yutaka’s homemade rice balls. Soon, the three of them begin to meet up often, in order to cook various foods and spend time together.

The Couple

Yutaka and Minoru are the same age. Despite their different lives, they both share the same loneliness. After they met each other, it seemed like they found a missing piece in their lives. Their relationship developed naturally and they helped each other become stronger.

They gave each other something to look forward to, and eventually, someone to call home. As time passes, they slowly feel more comfortable with each other and open up about their struggles and insecurities. They are both so shy and at the same time so brave that every scene with them felt wholesome.

Inukai Atsuhiro and Iijima Hiroki had good chemistry and I really loved their acting. They expressed so much emotion just through their eyes.

Little Brother

Tane is the reason I got interested in the series and I’m glad I did. He is so sweet and carefree. I love how considerate he is about other people’s feelings and how he instantly and unconditionally filled Yutaka with his love (well, he did have one condition, to taste his rice balls again, which he called grenades!).

It was very funny how he kept calling Yutaka “Yukata” and every time he was so cute and enthusiastic that everyone came to a point where they didn’t even care to correct him.

I was also very impressed by Maeyama Kuuga’s natural acting.

Family

Minoru and Tane have lost their mother, but hopefully they have each other and a father who loves them both very much and tries his best to take care of them. Their family is filled with love, and I appreciated that Minoru’s decision to pause his studies was his own, not something his father asked of him, despite the family’s struggles.

Yutaka has grown up with the belief that he was unwanted in his adoptive family. He definitely grew stronger through the series and was able to face his family and brother and clear any doubts and misunderstandings, in order to heal his trauma.

Conclusion

Our Dining Table highlights the importance of family, whether it’s the family you were born into or the family you choose later in life. It also reminds us how important it is to have friends and someone to talk to. It’s more of a slice-of-life story with no unnecessary drama and good acting.

Sometimes, the simplest stories are the ones that stay with you the longest. Our Dining Table is one of those series. It felt like a breath of fresh air, and now I can’t wait to read the manga.

I’d be glad to hear your opinion in the comments! Did you also enjoy the series? Do you plan to watch it?

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Thanks for reading,
Utaku 🌼