Top10 Japanese Food Anime Made Me Crave

4. Rice Balls or Onigiri (お握り)

What? It’s white rice formed into triangular or oval shapes and often wrapped in nori. It has many types of fillings and flavors, but the most common ones are Ume (a type of plum) and salted salmon.

How? Ok, I cheated with this one. It wasn’t an anime that made me crave it for the first time. It was totally the fault of Dekirukana (できるかな), an educational children’s TV show that showed us kids how to do kick-ass craft work. It was very popular in Latin America, where it came with the name ¿Puedo hacerlo yo?. The protagonists were Noppo, a tall dude who was the first guy I saw with manicured hands, and Gonta, a dude wearing an anthropomorphic gopher costume. There was also the lady narrator, whose dubbed voice in Spanish was so sweet that you had to like her. And Gonta ate Onigiri all the freaking time, and he made such noises of satisfaction, and the narrator was always commenting on how delicious they were. It was all very unfair.

But, of course, since then I have seen it in many anime. For example, I remember Fruits Basket, in which protagonist Honda Tōru sometimes teaches life leasons through Onigiri. And there’s Naruto, where Hyūga Hinata makes Onigiri for Naruto, whom she loves, and their design looks so much like Naruto that he utters, “It’s kinda hard to eat myself“.

Did I like it? Let me be sincere, I was so hyped for this that when I finally managed to get some, I was slightly dissapointed. But really, I should have known better. It’s basically rice with a small filling. How awesome could it get? That said, I learned to appreciate them for what they were, because they were good when you are very hungry and also practical to eat on the go. And there were more elaborate Onigiri, like the one Hinata did. My favourite ones are those filled with some kind of fish.

3. Bento (弁当)

What? It’s a takeout or packed meal that consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables. But, since it’s basically a lunch box, I have seen Bento in anime that contains almost every item on this list. Some of them, called Character Bento, can be true pieces of art.

How? You know what’s even better than Omurice to show your feelings without being too “in your face”? Bento! It’s shown in anime mainly for two reasons: 1. To show family care, usually between parents and children or between siblings (My Neighbor Totoro, Sailor Moon, Card Captor Sakura). 2. To show your feelings for a significant other, and mostly it’s girls doing a Bento for the guy they like (Sakura makes a Bento for Yukito in Cardcaptor Sakura); although sometimes boys would make Bento for girls (Ryuuji makes them for Taiga in Toradora!). And sometimes it’s used to show off how great a cook (and independent) a character is (Makoto in Sailor Moon, or Haruhi in Ouran High School Host Club).

But not all Bento is homemade. Bento are sold in supermarkets and convenience stores too. And apparently all-out brawls can happen in order to get a half-price Bento, if you were to believe the anime Ben-To.

Did I like it? Oh yes. But I found them too big for me. Even the smallest ones I had to share with my mom. And they looked so small and innocent too! I loved their variety and designs though. I wish I had the patience to make some~