Whoever is looking for a fun series to watch on Netflix Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman (Kantaro: The Greedy Salesman – Title in Brazil) can be a good option.
If you like sweets even better! This live-action, based on the manga Saboriman Ametani Kantarou (さぼリーマン 飴谷甘太朗), illustrated by Abidi Inoue and written by Tensei Hagiwara, presents delicious options.
For those who like and follow Japanese culture, the exaggerated, comedic way and the facial expressions of some characters won’t be strange, but those who are not familiar with it may find some parts a bit bizarre.
If you’re curious and want to know a little more, take a look at a brief presentation of this Japanese dorama available on the Brazilian Netflix that also fits perfectly into the term known as food porn.
#foodporn
Despite the name, the focus is to bring beautiful images stimulating your desire to try the most varied illustrated foods. In this specific case, the most delicious sweets in the Tokyo region are presented.
In total, there are 12 episodes of 24 minutes made by TV Tokyo in association with Netflix.
Table of Contents
Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman
The series tells the daily life of Kantaro, who, because he loves sweets (I suspect more than people), decides to leave his job as a systems engineer (programmer) and start working at a magazine publishing company, in the sales department, to be able to combine work with his love for sweets.
With this change, he can enjoy his hobby during business hours, as he is extremely efficient at his job and finishes quickly, leaving him time for himself.
Throughout the series, you will often see him enter ecstasy while eating the different types of sweets that appear in each episode. Watch the trailer below:
While savoring, he describes in detail the flavor, preparation method, and the ingredients used. After finishing eating, he usually publishes an analysis on his blog called Sweet Knight.
Cast
The protagonist is Kantarou Ametani (Matsuya Onoe) who plays the sweet fanatic, but there are several other characters that make this Japanese series even better.
Kanako Dobashi (Ren Ishikawa) plays his coworker who suspects that Kantaro is keeping a secret. She works in online sales.
Toru Miyake (Sarutoki Minagawa) is his boss and is very concerned about the sales in his department.
Daisuke Yamaji (Hiroyuki Onoue) is another salesman who usually fails to meet the sales target and gets scolded a lot by Toru.
Erika Sano (Hazuki Shimizu) works in the publishing and sales department of the magazines.
Guests
Some make a small appearance in certain episodes, more details.
Kentaro Ito (伊藤健太郎) as Takarabe Yutaka
Yagi Masayasu (八木将康) as Gogase Hiroki
Nakamura Yasuhi (中村靖日) as Matsuzawa Fuufu
Moriguchi Yoko (森口瑤子) as Ametani Eriko (Kantaro’s mother)
List of sweets in Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman
Each episode is titled after the sweet that will be the “main attraction,” but sometimes others are mentioned. To make it easier, I will provide a brief description of each one that was indicated/cited.
To make it even more complete, I will also include the name of the store and a link to Google Maps in case you already live or plan to travel to Japan.
Episode 1 – Anmitsu
Upon entering the store, placing the order, and waiting for it to be ready, Kantaro mentions some sweets he sees people eating.
Oshiruko
Similar to a thick soup, it has as ingredients red beans or azuki that are mashed, resembling a paste (anko), and glutinous rice cakes (mochi).
Apricot Parfait
A dessert of French origin that you can find with a variety of fruits plus cream. It is usually served cold.
Kuzumochi
These are Japanese rice cakes (mochi) made with starch powder from the kudzu plant root and are served cold.
Anmitsu
What Kantaro orders is the Shiratama ogura anmitsu (white rice cakes made from glutinous rice with shiratamako flour) which has some ingredients like anko/tsubuan made from azuki beans, agar-agar made by the store owner himself, different fruits, etc. As a topping, we have brown and white sugar syrup.
Store: Kanmidokoro Hatsune 【甘味処 初音】
Location: Chuo, Tokyo, Japan
On Michelle Shirai’s YT channel, she tries this Japanese sweet:
Episode 2 – Kakigori
On this day, it was over 37°C in Tokyo, and to take advantage, he decided to eat Kakigori, which is the Japanese shaved ice that comes in various flavors.
As usual, he chooses the store that is closest to the bookstores he has to pass by to fulfill his work tasks.
Despite having planned, there was an unforeseen event that the first store was crowded and he wouldn’t have time to wait, but as he anticipated this, he went to the second location where he had even made a reservation.
Melon Kakigori
At first, he is indecisive with so many good options on the menu, but he ends up being convinced by the attendant since it is melon season. He then chooses this flavor that has ingredients like sherbet, the fruit itself in balls, syrup (andino), and gelatin, all made from fresh melon.
Caramel Kakigori
After seeing a customer eating the caramel shaved ice, he decides to order the same. He follows the preparation from shaving the ice, adding whipped cream to the salted caramel.
Store 1: Amaikko 【甘いっ子】
Location 1: Suginami, Tokyo, Japan
Store 2: Kooriya Peace 【氷屋ぴぃす】
Location 2: Musashino, Tokyo, Japan
Episode 3 – Mamekan
By coincidence, he receives the task of having to pass by 3 bookstores that are near stores famous for their mamekan. He takes the opportunity to do a “triathlon” to try each one, as they all have their own characteristics that differ from each other.
All have agar-agar, red beans, and brown or white sugar syrup. What brings the difference between these 3 stores he visited is the preparation method and where the ingredients come from, especially the beans.
Store 1: IRIE【甘味処 いり江】
Location 1: Koto, Tokyo, Japan
Store 2: Umemura 【梅むら】
Location 2: Taito, Tokyo, Japan
Store 3: Sagamiya 【有限会社 相模屋】
Location 3: Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Episode 4 – Parfait
Before starting his visits to the bookstores assigned to him for the day, Dobashi offers him a sweet that she bought in Ningyocho.
Dorayaki
Despite the kindness aimed at discovering if Kantaro is the sweet Knight, he refuses. This sweet is similar to a pancake with anko filling most of the time, but it can happen to have another filling.
Peach Parfait
Upon arriving at the store, we can already see that the menu has various types of fruits for the most varied sweets. He chooses the seasonal parfait that was the most popular that month, which was peach.
The cream can have ingredients like egg yolk, yogurt, whipped cream, cream, milk, among others, and is served with fruits.
Store: Kajitsuen Libre 【果実園リーベル新宿店】
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Episode 5 – Hotcakes (Pancakes)
Before making his visits, he encounters an obstacle when his boss asks a rookie who is not doing well in sales to accompany him. As he goes out to start making his sales, Kantaro mentions three stores in the area along with a food/sweet from each one.
Kintsuba
Kintsuba is similar to dorayaki; it is made with a thin batter that goes on the griddle and has a yokan filling. It is also known as Imagawayaki, which has another name depending on the region.
Store: Asakusaumegen 【江戸昔菓子 あさくさ 梅源】
Location: Taito, Tokyo, Japan
Fruit Sandwich
Sandwiches made with sliced bread and a filling of various fruits.
Store: Fruits Parlor Gotō 【フルーツパーラー ゴトー】
Location: Taito, Tokyo, Japan
Profiterole
Created in France, it has a sweet dough and the filling can vary, but we usually find it with cream, ice cream, etc.
Store: Rusurusu 【菓子工房ルスルス】
Location: Taito, Tokyo, Japan
Pancakes
The batter is simple and generally consists of just flour and eggs, but it can also include milk. The pancake made by the store owner is traditional and cooked on a copper griddle. For toppings, there were two options: butter and maple syrup.
Store: Coffee Tengoku 【 珈琲 天国】
Location: Taito, Tokyo, Japan
Episode 6 – Matcha Bavaroise
After receiving a comment on his blog asking about the origin (European or Japanese?) of a certain sweet, Ametani once again has the “luck” of passing by a store that can clarify this doubt.
However, there is a mangaka who is working in partnership with the publisher who became fascinated by him and starts to chase him. Kantaro is cornered, but is saved by the artist’s wife. With no choice, he invites them to the store/confectionery.
Pig-shaped Cookie
As an appetizer, the store offers a pig-shaped cookie made of haenuki rice with salt from Great Britain and tea.
Kamameshi
The manga artist ends up ordering Kamameshi, which is rice cooked in an iron pot and can come with meats, seafood, and vegetables.
Matcha Cake
This cake was the inspiration for the store owner to create her most popular sweet. Its ingredients include wheat flour, cream, egg, matcha powder, etc.
Apple Pie with Ice Cream
A type of food that is very popular, and hardly anyone doesn’t know or has eaten a pie. The dough usually consists of wheat flour, yolk, butter, salt, and sugar in most recipes. The filling explicitly states that it will have apple, wheat flour, etc. It is served with ice cream and was another inspiration for the store owner as well.
Matcha Bavaroise
After much trial and error, the current version has become very popular. To achieve that appearance, in addition to using matcha itself, she added gelatin, whipped cream, among other ingredients.
The finished dish includes whipped cream made with a high percentage of pure cream, bavaroise, and anko.
Store: Kinozen 【 紀の善】
Location: Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Name of the Brazilian Actress
One curiosity is that in this episode 6, a Brazilian actress makes an appearance playing Maria, the wife of the mangaka.
Simone is from São Paulo and has lived in Japan since 1993 and has participated in many variety shows, movies, series, and commercials. Although her Japanese has a very strong accent in the Kantaro series, I believe it was intentional.
Besides Japanese, she speaks English, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish. Below I will leave links to her social media.
Wikipedia | Instagram | Twitter | Ameblo | Inagawamotoko Profile
I hope you have tasted enjoyed the article! There is already a second part with the last 6 episodes of Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman at the link below.
Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman – List of sweets and places – Part 2
https://br.pinterest.com/pin/451345193911526829/
Leave a Reply