Kowai Yūrei Bento Buffet

Yūrei: dark entities of the night It is October, or to some, Spooktober as this is the month of everything Halloween. In this bento we’re going to explore the world of the yūrei, the spirits of the dead that haunts…

• Kowai Yūrei Bento Buffet

October Anime Challenge: Supernatural The Animation

This month we bring you a very special anime challenge. If you don’t know of the series Supernatural, which is entering their 15th and final season this year, you need a whole lot of catching up to do. The series is…

• October Anime Challenge: Supernatural The Animation

Top 10 Fall 2019 Anime Recommendations

Magickal Fall Fall season in Japan comes with a magical change of colours. Leaves turn the trees into magic bouquets of yellows, reds and browns and that starts the time honoured Japanese tradition called ‘Momoji-gari’, loosely translated as ‘hunting red…

• Top 10 Fall 2019 Anime Recommendations

September Anime Challenge: Muteki Kanban Musume

Our September Anime Challenge is Muteki Kanban Musume (Ramen Fighter Miki) based on the manga series by Jun Sadogawa, which ran from May 2002 to February 2006 in Akita Shoten’s Weekly Shonen Champion. There also was a sequel manga called Muteki Kanban Musume N. The Muteki Kanban…

• September Anime Challenge: Muteki Kanban Musume

Noodle Edition Bento Buffet

A Noodle Adventure We’re going on a Noodle-themed adventure as we explore the types of noodles in Japan, learn how to order Ramen in a Ramen Restaurant, learn about Japanese cuisine and watch a crazy AMV about anime chefs. We…

• Noodle Edition Bento Buffet

Bento Buffet Mountain Edition

Explore Japan’s Mountains! Japan is a land of islands, forests and mountains and since it will be Mountain Day in Japan soon we are going on a journey, discovering Japan’s mountain culture, learning the Japanese word for mountain and exploring…

• Bento Buffet Mountain Edition

August Anime Challenge – Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu

This month’s challenge is Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, which is an anime from Kyoto Animation and a companion series to Full Metal Panic and Full Metal Panic The Second Raid. It is not as serious as Full Metal Panic and…

• August Anime Challenge – Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu

July Anime Challenge – Prince Of Tennis

This month we bring summer to the anime challenge with the sports anime, The Prince of Tennis. The anime is an adaptation of the manga written and illustrated by Takeshi Konomi. The manga was first published in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen…

• July Anime Challenge – Prince Of Tennis

June Anime Challenge – Coyote Ragtime Show

Our June anime challenge is one filled with adventure, sci-fi, action, comedy and girls with guns! Coyote Ragtime Show was directed by Takuya Nonaka and produced by ufotable. The anime ran from July to September in 2006. Pirate King Bruce…

• June Anime Challenge – Coyote Ragtime Show

Sunflower Bento Buffet

Sunflower Power!! This Bento we bring you the magic of the sunflower. The sunflower had a big impact globally since it was discovered in the Americas. We use the oil to cook, the seed in our bread and it inspired…

• Sunflower Bento Buffet

Top 10 Summer 2019 Anime Recommendations

Anime Summer with a chance of thunder Summer is coming to Japan and with it summer rain, but do not forget all the new seasons and series that is also on the horizon! Old Favourites like Danmachi (Dungeon ni Deai…

• Top 10 Summer 2019 Anime Recommendations

Pirates of Anime Bento Buffet

Beware the Pirates! Pirates have evolved during the ages. We know the original pirates were seasoned sea-legged bandits sailing the seven seas but they have been re-imagined in many ways such as space pirates in science fictions, sky pirates in…

• Pirates of Anime Bento Buffet

Strawberry Bento Buffet

It is Strawberry Season!! Every season something new happens. In Spring trees blossom changing the world into a magic explosion of bright colours and in Autumn leaves fall carpeting the world in reds, yellows and browns. Even human life has…

• Strawberry Bento Buffet

May Anime Challenge – Nana

Our May anime challenge is the romance/ slice of life/ music anime Nana, based on the Manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa. The manga itself ran from 2000 to 2009 in Cookie Magazine when…

• May Anime Challenge – Nana

Legends of The Sakura Bento Buffet

Explore Sakura Lore As a new season is birthed another season dies. We bring you a bento filled with darkness but also light. We look at a sakura legend, discover an interesting link between the words Sakura and Sake, share…

• Legends of The Sakura Bento Buffet

April Anime Challenge – Arakawa Under the Bridge

Our anime challenge for April is the comedy anime Arakawa Under the Bridge. It is based on the manga written by Hikaru Nakamura, which first ran in the seinen manga magazine Young GanGan starting December 3, 2004. The anime ran in two seasons,…

• April Anime Challenge – Arakawa Under the Bridge

Top 10 Spring 2019 Anime Recommendations

Spring Fever Another season ends and a new one is born from its ashes. Sakura trees sprout leaves and soon blossoms will bloom and spring fever will wake everyone from the sleepiness of winter. Soon people will dust off their…

• Top 10 Spring 2019 Anime Recommendations

Wasabi Bento Buffet

Wasabi, the war within your mouth Imagine you find this green paste, artistically placed on your very first sushi plate. At first you think it is a garnish and your friends look at you all knowingly, some with an evil…

• Wasabi Bento Buffet

March Anime Challenge – Koufuku Graffiti

Ryo Machiko is a second-year middle school girl who has been living alone since her grandmother passed away. She is an exceptional cook but feels that her own cooking does not taste good. Then she met up with her second…

• March Anime Challenge – Koufuku Graffiti

Bento Buffet Shrine Edition

Discover Japan’s Shrines and Temples Konnichiwa Minna! There are many anime that plays off at shrines and temples or has shrines and priests as a crucial part of the storyline like Kamisama Hajimemashita and Shiki. In this Bento we explore…

• Bento Buffet Shrine Edition

February Anime Challenge – Red Data Girl

Red Data Girl tells the story of 15-year old Izumiko Suzuhara, a girl who was raised at the Tamakura shrine, a shrine that is part of the Kumano Shrines World Heritage Site. Izumiko has the ability to destroy any electrical…

• February Anime Challenge – Red Data Girl

Top Ten Winter 2019 Anime Recommendations

It is Winter in Japan. In some places it will snow and the world will transform into a beautiful snowy white landscape. Winter has a certain charm and beauty to it and some countries are lucky to experience snow. Just…

• Top Ten Winter 2019 Anime Recommendations

Ski Shini Ikimasho! Bento Buffet

Ski, anime-style Happy New Year Fanatiks! We kick off this year in full velocity as we ski through a ski anime themed Bento. We learn about skiing in Japan, learn Japanese Ski words, look at the results of The South…

• Ski Shini Ikimasho! Bento Buffet

January Anime Challenge – Aggretsuko

This musical comedy tells the tale of an anthropomorphic red panda named Retsuko. She works in the accounting department of a Japanese trading firm and is 25 years old. Our single red panda heroine faces pushy superiors and annoying co-workers…

• January Anime Challenge – Aggretsuko

December Anime Challenge – Shokugeki no Soma

In the anime we first see Souma working with his dad at the family’s restaurant. His father decides to enroll Souma into an elite culinary school, Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute that is difficult to enter and the graduation rate is…

• December Anime Challenge – Shokugeki no Soma

Bento Buffet Snowy Edition

A Festive Snowy Special! As autumn slowly ends, already there is snow in some areas of Japan, changing the scenery into magical white wonderlands. We look at a candied sweet potato recipe, quite loved in the Autumn and Winter seasons,…

• Bento Buffet Snowy Edition

Rias Gremory Cosplay Challenge

Are you ready for a new Rias Gremory? If you think that magical girl transformations are kawaii, then you are in for a treat. And this is not your usual magical girl and it is not from a magical girl…

• Rias Gremory Cosplay Challenge

Ape About Onsen Bento Buffet

There’s more than apes in the Onsen! Konnichiwa Minna! We are entering the second month of Autumn in Japan and in the spirit of the colder weather we are heating things up a bit. We look at the onsen again…

• Ape About Onsen Bento Buffet

November Anime Challenge – The Devil Is a Part-Timer!

The anime tells the story of the Satan, Demon Lord, set to conquer the world of Ente Isla with the help of his demon generals Alciel, Lucifer, Malacoda, and Adramelech. But then the hero Emilia and her companions kills Malacoda…

• November Anime Challenge – The Devil Is a Part-Timer!

Oni-chan Bento Buffet

Can Oni-chan be an onii-chan? It is October, the month of Halloween where one night the veil of normality is lifted and all across the globe creatures beyond the veil visits the earth, some say. In the spirit of Halloween,…

• Oni-chan Bento Buffet

The Top Ten Anime Recommendations for Fall 2018

Konnichiwa Minna. It is fall season in Japan. Everywhere leaves turn from green into brown and red  and starts falling to the ground and birds starts to migrate to warmer climates, the days get cooler but for the anime community…

• The Top Ten Anime Recommendations for Fall 2018

October Anime Challenge – Kyoukai no Kanata

The series starts with Akihito Kanbara saving his school friend Mirai Kuriyama from committing suicide. All of a sudden Mirai stabs him with a sword formed from her own blood! That is how it is discovered that Akihito is an…

• October Anime Challenge – Kyoukai no Kanata

September Anime Challenge – Zero no Tsukaima

We thank all who participated in our August Anime Challenge which was the dark harem anime Brynhildr in the Darkness. This month it was Bree from our WhatsApp group’s turn to choose the challenge anime: Zero no Tsukaima. Zero no Tsukaima…

• September Anime Challenge – Zero no Tsukaima

The Kanpai Bento Buffet

Kanpai minna! There is a drink that can unite almost anyone in the world; it is served in shebeens in Africa, in London pubs and in Izakaya in Tokyo. Whether you say kanpai or cheers to beer, it is the…

• The Kanpai Bento Buffet

Bento Buffet Fuji Fanatik Edition

Mount Fuji is magic Mount Fuji is no stranger to us. We have seen the majestic mountain in anime, in Japanese movies as well as in Western movies. In this bento we share some lore on Mount Fuji, look at…

• Bento Buffet Fuji Fanatik Edition

August Anime Challenge: Brynhildr in the Darkness

The plot starts ten years ago when childhood friends Ryouta Murakami and Kuroneko set out to prove the existence of alien life. But a tragedy strikes; there is an accident which gravely injured Ryouta and kills Kuroneko. In memory of…

• August Anime Challenge: Brynhildr in the Darkness

Ocean Fresh Bento Buffet

An Ocean of Anime It is our first summer bento of 2018, we bring it to you freshly-filled with ocean-themed Japanese lore since Ocean Day is in July. July means also that new anime is to be released in Japan…

• Ocean Fresh Bento Buffet

July 2018 – Outbreak Company

Anime loves company For our July anime challenge, the anime is Outbreak Company. It tells the tale of Shin’ichi Kanō, a recluse otako that takes an online exam for a job. Being very knowledgeable on anime, manga and videos he…

• July 2018 – Outbreak Company

Ten Summer Season 2018 Anime Recommendations

The Summer season starts in Japan. The shrill cries of cicadas can be heard singing their songs of summer on sunny days. Summer days bring new warmth, and a new season of anime also fills the hearts of awaiting anime…

• Ten Summer Season 2018 Anime Recommendations

June Anime Challenge – Hakuouki Reimeiroku

Way of the Samurai This month’s anime challenge is the anime Hakuouki Reimeiroku. Hakuouki Reimeiroku Is the third in a series of a three season anime, but it is a prequel to the first two seasons. The whole series consists…

• June Anime Challenge – Hakuouki Reimeiroku