Japanese bento lunches are a true art form, in which even the simplest meal can be transformed into your favorite edible character. While there are special techniques and tools, in the end it’s all just food that’s made to be enjoyed.
For the new Sailor Moon 25th Anniversary tribute album, a promotional video was created featuring the time honored-technique of kyaraben—the art of arranging food decorated to look like anime characters—to create an homage to Sailor Moon herself. SoraNews24 breaks down the video which features a cover of the song “Otome no Policy†by Yoko Ishida that plays while the step-by-step bento instruction materializes.
As someone who regularly makes bentos myself, I can attest this is definitely high-level bento execution—not for the faint of heart. Anytime someone busts out the tweezers to place food, you know you’re in for a world of trouble. Whether it’s worth it depends on your love of Sailor Senshi and luncheon meat.
The video starts off easy enough, templates for faces are made, details are cut out of typical bento ingredients like meat, cheese, seaweed, and fish cake. Then things get complicated very quickly. Miniscule food pieces are dyed different colors, the planetary symbols are magically hand carved, the video seems to speed up and your heart starts racing as a flurry of hands and knives and vegetables flash before your eyes…
And when you wake up from the daze you just sat through, you’re welcomed by the smiling face of Usagi Tsukino subconsciously telling you that everything’s going to be all right, because lunch is ready.
Would you attempt this complicated bento work of art? Let us know in the comments and tag @nerdist and @justjenn on twitter to show us your #nailedit version!
Still hungry for character-themed food?
- A look at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Avatar food.
- Pixar food includes alien macarons.
- And how about some ice cream ramen?
