Amarida (Hayato Ichihara), a teacher at Kibinago Junior High School lives for one thing: the school lunches. Never having enjoyed delicious food at home, the lunch menu is his sole motivation. His passion for food is matched by his student Kamino (Sato Taishi), who each day seems to find new, inventive ways of squeezing the maximum taste out of the dishes provided by the kitchen staff. However, both Amarida and Kamino find their joy threatened when the school meals centre begins changing the menu, substituting the tasty familiar recipes with healthy alternatives, even going so far as to substitute Kamino’s beloved white rice. The two of them confront the local school authorities with a demand to return to their old favourites.
“School Meals Time Graduation” is a wacky comedy, although rather one-note. The over-the-top acting of Ichihara as Amarida, with his pratfalls and giddy excitement as he savours the school lunches, provide the majority of the comedy. It is funny to see his exagerrated cartoonish reactions to the food, but there is little emotional weight to support the humour. We never see Amarida’s family; he has no friends or interests outside school lunch; which at times makes him rather a sinister figure. The side-plot involving his co-worker Sanae (Kaho Tsuchimura) again suffers as he is such a one-dimensional character. The supporting cast in contrast seem to have a little depth, which makes him not only unsympathetic but incomprehensible in this world. The comedic sound effects accompanying his acting further isolate him from his surroundings. This problem is compounded as the majority of the film takes place in Amarida’s head. Largely told in voice-over as he fantasizes about the delectable food; or drifts off into fantasy sequences; there is little meaningful engagement with the rest of the cast. The music sets the tone well, with even some emotional weight later on, but is let down by a script that never seems to get beyond the initial premise of a teacher obsessed with school lunch.
A silly comedy that lacks an emotional counter-balance. It is fun to see the various school meals and there is some mileage in the way Amarida treats these wholesome dishes like gourmet cuisine, but more focus on the supporting cast and any kind of reaction from the students or teachers regarding his behaviour may have made the film more enjoyable.
