Bento making is very popular amongst Japanese people. Some even turn it from a hobby into a serious business.
Aside from paintings and drawings, bento making is also one of the ways to express your creativity. It is actually incredible how people can replicate popular anime characters, movie characters, or even kindergarten imaginary drawings, out of just… food.
Where else do you find the pictures of these tasty arts besides Twitter? With the hashtag #キャラ弁 (“kyaraben”, derived from the word character & bento), and with the help of Japanese pop news site Naver Matome, we have collected some of the most clever, creative, and cute bentos for your browsing pleasure.
Now, what characters come to your mind when we say about character bentos? Probably the cliche Pikachu (because you saw the thumbnail) or maybe something famous like Attack on Titan, right? Well… you’re right! LOL.
I don’t know why but everyone seems to love Pokémon so much that most popular bentos on Twitter are of Pokémon mascot and its beloved yellow star, Pikachu. For example, this Pikachu bento is a double score because both its lunch box and its food are shaped like Pikachu.
˅ This bento is specially made to celebrate the last day of high school.
高校生活最後のお弁当
「わーいピカチュﾌﾞｼｬｧｧｧｧｧｧｧｧｧｧｧｧｱｱ!!!!!!」 pic.twitter.com/gGFYmBqi04
— ののくす (@no2xnox) January 26, 2016
Alright, the next cliche one is Attack on Titan. A lady made this special bento for her husband but it didn’t quite elicit the response she’d hoped for from her husband because it got shaken up in transit. She probably won’t make another one of this for it wasn’t rightly appreciated. Too bad!
˅ Apparently, she was inspired by a TV segment on character bentos.
テレビがキャラ弁特集してるので私が一度だけ夫に作ったキャラ弁を見てください。 pic.twitter.com/3AKuzNQ2Jr
— D子 (@nattougatabetai) October 11, 2017
Anpanman is a Japanese superhero with a red bean filled head. Surprise or not, Japanese children seem to prefer Anpanman over Pikachu. His female nemesis Dokin-chan is equally popular, hence she’s often featured in bentos too.
今日はお弁当の日♡#ドキンちゃん#キャラ弁 pic.twitter.com/yAmtd2HsWg
— マイルのトリコ＠普通の主婦が０から始めるお得な節約術 (@NIKOchan25) October 9, 2017
Of course, the designs are not limited to anime characters alone. Some bento makers even make designs out of real people! There is this one school girl who fancies Momo, a member of K-pop idol group TWICE. So her mom made here a special edition bento for her field trip to Osaka Castle.
https://twitter.com/Crescentmoon923/status/917863387484250112
Bento designs aren’t necessarily famous characters either. According to this netizen, their mom is known for her effort to faze her child with unknown characters. But hey, random characters could look good too!
˅ The Twitter user said it’s cute. I don’t think so though.
https://twitter.com/yuon0819/status/724810602045132800
Wild lives want to make appearances too. The wife of this particular man made some special inarizushi so he was very looking forward to eating them. For those who didn’t know, inarizushi is a type of sushi where vinegared rice is wrapped in a fried tofu skin. The sushi turns out to be a panda so cute that he hesitated whether he should or not eat the sushi.
˅ We don’t know whether he ate it or not in the end
https://twitter.com/inunokaicyou/status/754497315302367233
Sometimes, we just want to run away from the hectics of a busy life. On days like that, it’s nice to take advantage of an easy request. This mom seized the chance to do so when her daughter asked for one of her favorite animals; a toy poodle.
お母さん 作
妹のキャラ弁のリクエストに答えて
作ったお弁当がこちら。
題「トイプードル」#キャラ弁 pic.twitter.com/mua2i3sl1z— ぬ。 (@sayan_o_under) October 25, 2014
Clearly, sometimes a little bit can be ‘a little bit exaggerating’. And when you’re not really strong on the creative side, that’s a helpful tip to remember. When one businessman’s wife couldn’t make him a bento, he made one himself, but he must have tried to replicate his wife’s slightly more refined lunch art since this quirky rabbit was the result.
わたしのお父さんの職場の同僚さんが奥さんに弁当作ってもらえなかったため自分で作った弁当が面白かったのでみんな見てください pic.twitter.com/7ay1MTR6fU
— おみそ (@HonoMin8) September 22, 2017
When it comes to creativity, children are on par with the adults too. One dutiful older sibling was making bentos with the little sister for their younger brother’s Sports Festival. And they came out with some kind of… I don’t know what to call this… Birds? Whatever it is, kids sure have bizarre imaginations.
˅ Birds, maybe?
明日は末弟の学校で運動会がある為、今からお弁当の準備をしております。妹が謎のクリーチャーを生み出しました。 pic.twitter.com/lMCxNjxhWY
— もえー (@tirolcube) September 29, 2017
Just like Attack on Titan, not everyone likes cute designs. Some people just like to do crazy stuff like this one. Apparently, this kid is a big fan of bugs so his mom made him a bento with ‘a beetle in it’.
今まで作ったキャラ弁の中で、一番ウケた【カブトムシ弁当】ですw
海苔の毛羽だったとこが、良い感じに足やら触角になりました(*´ω`*)
ウィンナーも虫です。
虫好き男子にぜひw#キャラ弁#お弁当 #料理好きな人と繋がりたい pic.twitter.com/fxmjHoctmu— ちゃぴ*お弁当垢 (@cyapi108) October 9, 2017
Props to those who have the stomach to turn delicious food into gross bugs. Although this bento is a little less realistic than the one above, this mom had to make it feel like something was crawling on her as she made it. Try as she might, she could not make the legs of this beetle because it gave her the creepy crawlies, but I’m sure her child loved it anyway.
今日のいもこ息子弁当はカブトムシ。虫はお弁当にすると気持ち悪くなりがちなので難しい…。足つけるとまさにそうなりそうなので省略。虫好きな息子、我が家は今年の夏もカブトムシハウスです#キャラ弁 #カブトムシ pic.twitter.com/g5ra1r08FQ
— いもこ (@easy_kyaraben) July 12, 2017
Bento making is considered a form of art because of the food presentation. It requires creativity to make cute (or even bizarre) designs and patience to ensure precision in cutting the seaweed. On account of that, it’s no surprise that character bentos can be serious business.
Source: Matome Naver
Featured Image: Twitter/@no2xnox
