Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman

This is a really hard one to rate. My 11 and 8yr old have been watching this and think it’s hysterical, which is why I’ve rated it 8+. It IS delightfully weird, surreal and funny. My children are also both into food so it’s interesting for them from that angle. The issues I have with it go over their heads, for the moment. A bit like I only ever saw the Carry On films as funny/ silly as a child. But I couldn’t watch this with a teenager. The main (and other characters’) relationship with food is overtly sexual and sometimes quite dark. Mostly it’s just amusing (Kantaro frequently makes climaxing noises and facial expressions when trying new desserts) and being oblivious to the connotations my kids just find it funny. But there are a couple of scenes that are more concerning - one of his female colleagues has a very submissive/sexual fantasy about him ‘punishing’ her for finding out about him playing hooky to eat desserts during work time. Another scene shows him getting revenge on his overly controlling dentist mother by eating eclairs while she sleeps, but with a lot of moaning and sweat in the process (on both their parts). Full-on Oedipus. I’m fully aware this review will sound like someone reading too much into this programme, but just watch a couple episodes and you’ll see what I mean. It’s not subtle! The point I’m making is I’ve rated it 8yrs + because my kids enjoy it, there’s no bad language, violence and there are a lot of interesting messages in terms of work/ life balance and the main character’s obvious repression and unhealthy obsession with sweets. BUT as an adult I find some scenes really uncomfortable and could not watch this with a young teenager or more worldy wise kids than my two! The other point to consider is that the whole show is subtitled, which may put a lot of kids off watching anyway (and impossible to follow for young kids). Perhaps just watch a couple episodes yourself first and make a judgement for your own children!