Kinou Nani Tabeta/What Did You Eat Yesterday? - Episode 12 Finale (Recap)
I know I’ve said this before, but I really love this show. I
can see myself doing a full marathon this coming winter, watching while wrapped up in a blanket and eating hot
muffins or scones trying to replicate the warmth and joy that I’ve found in
this series. Also, as I've said to Panda, I am thankful to this show for giving Hidetoshi Nishijima a role where he is allowed to smile. We probably won't see this for another two years.
I am extraordinarily thankful to kinounaniresource for not only her wonderful subs, but absolutely topnotch commentary and unfailingly thoughtful and kind responses to her readers. Please look her up on Tumblr if you want to watch the show, get news about show, or read translations of interviews and articles related to show. There has been some controversy about sites using her subs and her judgment about other subs, but I've ignored all of that.
We get the final time for the opening credits, and I feel a bit teary.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, we are getting the recipes of the episode: karaage and a stir fry of turnip greens and jako. It’s a great scene because Shiro’s mom talks him through how she makes these dishes but also they clearly have some bonding time.
I also like seeing her take on
the recipes. For example, none of the recipes for karaage I found include
dipping the chicken in egg after the marinade and she is particular about the
order in which she adds items to the chicken for the marinade. Her double fry
method is also different from the others I’ve seen as well.
When they sit down to dinner everyone is all smiles, and Kenji is excited because he loves karaage.
When he takes his first bite, he
exclaims over the food like he always does while Shiro looks on at his
enjoyment as he always does.
However, they are both shocked out of their
enjoyment by the look on Shiro’s mom’s face.
She’s completely unreadable and just sits stone-faced and silent until Shiro’s dad asks to speak with her. They leave the room, and Kenji asks Shiro what happened, but he doesn’t know. He just looks pained. They sit there in silence, waiting, as if they were outside the principal’s office waiting for a decision about detention.
Soon we hear fast feet on the floor, and mom comes back in all smiles asking Kenji if he likes the dish. Shiro and Kenji stare in shock.
Obviously, the dinner goes well because everyone is all smiles when the couple is readying to leave. Mom tells them that they had a wonderful time with dad telling them to take care.
Kenji practically purrs when mom tells them not to catch cold, but when mom tells him specifically to come again, he glows. He is so happy. Let’s all hug Kenji. He really deserves this joy.
On the walk home, they talk about the evening. Kenji is so happy and relieved that they left Shiro’s parents with smiles on their faces. Shiro is happy, too, but he’s curious. What did Kenji and his dad talk about? Kenji says that they talked about a lot of things, but there was one thing Dad really wanted to ask. Turns out, that when they saw Kenji dressed up in the suit, it made them wonder if this was how he was all the time. If he wore a suit at home, what did Shiro wear?
Kenji isn’t thinking about this embarrassment at all. He can only look at this night in appositive light. This was just like a dream to him—a dream that he never thought would come true that a/his boyfriend would bring him home to meet his parents and everyone would end happy. He starts to cry because he never ever thought this this could happen for him. He sincerely says that he’d be fine dying right now.
After their shopping, Kenji doesn’t want to go home right away because it’s such a nice day. He suggests going to a café, and Shiro agrees but suggests a cheap coffee place. Kenji wants to go to a cute place and wheedled until Shiro complies.
Back at their apartment, Shiro works on their budget while Kenji gives him a trim. Shiro gets really excited when he realizes that they still didn’t go over their food budget. Kenji comments about Shiro's thick hair and complains that he can only make his hair look thick with a perm. Shiro reminds him of all the grey he’s getting and jokes about them being geezers.
However,
he does turn serious, telling Kenji that he really doesn’t have to worry about
him. Kenji doesn’t understand what he’s talking about, so Shiro explains about
the café. Shiro knows that Kenji was worried about him, but he wants Kenji to
know that he wants Kenji to be happy, so he’d go to a thousand cafes if that
what it takes.
Kenji is a bit stunned at this declaration from Shiro and then
goes in for a hug. Funny at first because Shiro is freaked out by the scissors
he hold in his hand. They have this joke about Kenji’s death talk (referring to
him saying how he could die the night before), but then really have a serious,
warm hug. (I'm not tearing up! You are! I sure am going to miss them).
Of course, we need to see them in kitchen before we leave them. They are cooking together. Kenji makes the namuru while Shiro is prepares the vegetables for his version of ebi chili. He’s making it with eggs and asparagus.
There really isn’t anything going here plot wise except us
watching them joke and tease each other while cooking together, and I’m fine
with that.
Such an interesting progression in their love story, and I think the show makes plain how writers can go about writing a love story about people who are already in love rather than focusing on the falling in love stage.
I am extraordinarily thankful to kinounaniresource for not only her wonderful subs, but absolutely topnotch commentary and unfailingly thoughtful and kind responses to her readers. Please look her up on Tumblr if you want to watch the show, get news about show, or read translations of interviews and articles related to show. There has been some controversy about sites using her subs and her judgment about other subs, but I've ignored all of that.
It is the big day. Shiro is
finally taking Kenji home to meet his parents for New Years. Kenji is in the
middle of freaking out because he thinks he needs to shave but can’t bring
himself to do it.
Now it isn’t just that Gilbert/Wantanaru suggests that
Shiro’s parents will be shocked to see a bearded man with their son, but almost
everyone from work thinks he needs to clean himself up more before going—a
shave and a haircut!
He doesn’t want to do this, but also agrees that they do
make sense. However, Reiko, his boss’s wife, defends his hair and his
beard. She wonders whether he will feel comfortable being something he isn’t in
front of Shiro’s parents which is basically lying to them.
Kenji thinks about
this conversation as he screams in frustration, making Shiro run into room asking
him what’s wrong. Shiro tells him that he looks fine. Besides, they are
leaving in a half hour and need to eat breakfast, so there really isn’t very
much time.Later Shiro waits for Kenji to come out of the apartment and
is surprised at his outfit—suit and trench coat, very middle-aged businessman
attire. He thinks it odd but keep Kenji from going back inside to change.
He also has to support Kenji once they arrive at house.
Kenji looks like he’s going to have a heart attack. Shiro looks nervous as well
but seems to be keeping it together for him.
When they finally ring the
doorbell and his parents arrive, they all stand awkwardly at the door. Kenji
clearly wasn’t what they were expecting, but I’m not sure they had any idea
what to expect.
The entryway greeting isn’t much better. Kenji recites New Year’s
greetings as if he’s a primary school student reciting lines. And he bows so
much, I think he’s going to throw his back out.
We get the final time for the opening credits, and I feel a bit teary.
The next scene is them sitting around with snacks. No one is
speaking, and Kenji looks like a deer in headlights whenever anyone asks him
anything.Shiro’s mom tries to start conversation about Kenji’s workplace which
doesn’t really go very far.
The problem is that Kenji is probably the only
person in that room that spends a lot of time trying to develop conversation,
and he’s terrified. They start to eat, but now all you can hear is Kenji
crunching. So awkward.
Finally, Shiro’s mom remembers (probably to her relief) that
she can’t sit there doing nothing anymore because she has to cook the main
course. She asks Shiro to help her. Both Shiro’s dad and Kenji look desperate
not to be left alone with each other but to no avail.
They sit there silently until Shiro’s dad asks Kenji if he
wants to look at Shiro’s high school year book. (I was shouting “ME! ME! I want
to see it). Of course, Kenji says yes. What else are they going to do?
They go upstairs, and Dad shows Kenji Shiro’s picture, and he
wants to squeal at how cute he is, but stops himself and awkwardly speaks in a
low voice about how young he looks.
He asks Dad what Shiro was like as a
teenager, and Dad reveals that he worried about Shiro all the time because he
wasn’t like a regular teenager. He was so serious and studied all the time and
didn’t give them any trouble at all. Kenji surmises that Shiro was probably
recognizing his sexuality at that time and worked hard so that he could get a
job like being a lawyer where he could make money and be independent at work. He
suggests that Shiro knew he wouldn’t be able to give his parents grandkids, so
he was doing his best to do everything else a filial son would do. It seems
like Dad hadn’t thought of it this way before although he admits that Shiro
always looked like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, we are getting the recipes of the episode: karaage and a stir fry of turnip greens and jako. It’s a great scene because Shiro’s mom talks him through how she makes these dishes but also they clearly have some bonding time.
It’s also nice to see them both happy and relaxed with each
other which clearly cooking does for them. Their similarities show, too, for we
see how Shiro’s mom comes up with the stir fry dish by thinking about what she
has leftover in her fridge just like Shiro does and people who cook at home
regularly do.
This time has not only changed the mood between Shiro and
his mom but also Kenji and Dad. When Shiro calls them down for dinner, they are
no longer sitting around table looking at yearbook but sitting next to each
other next to bed with yearbook in their lap.
When they sit down to dinner everyone is all smiles, and Kenji is excited because he loves karaage.
She’s completely unreadable and just sits stone-faced and silent until Shiro’s dad asks to speak with her. They leave the room, and Kenji asks Shiro what happened, but he doesn’t know. He just looks pained. They sit there in silence, waiting, as if they were outside the principal’s office waiting for a decision about detention.
Soon we hear fast feet on the floor, and mom comes back in all smiles asking Kenji if he likes the dish. Shiro and Kenji stare in shock.
She is so happy that she laughs and laughs. Neither Shiro
nor Kenji know how to take this, but Kenji laughs and so does Shiro’s; it’s
obviously better than the scary face from earlier. Shiro looks like he doesn’t
know how to take any of this.
Obviously, the dinner goes well because everyone is all smiles when the couple is readying to leave. Mom tells them that they had a wonderful time with dad telling them to take care.
Kenji practically purrs when mom tells them not to catch cold, but when mom tells him specifically to come again, he glows. He is so happy. Let’s all hug Kenji. He really deserves this joy.
On the walk home, they talk about the evening. Kenji is so happy and relieved that they left Shiro’s parents with smiles on their faces. Shiro is happy, too, but he’s curious. What did Kenji and his dad talk about? Kenji says that they talked about a lot of things, but there was one thing Dad really wanted to ask. Turns out, that when they saw Kenji dressed up in the suit, it made them wonder if this was how he was all the time. If he wore a suit at home, what did Shiro wear?
Turns out that Shiro’s parents cannot get their minds around
the idea of two men being together; they assume that if two men are together,
one of them plays the role of the woman. Shiro apologizes for his parents
before he even realizes what this means.
NowShiro feels badly for Kenji, but Kenji doesn’t mind. He
believes that if it gives them peace of mind to think that he dresses up in
drag at home, then he’s fine with it. This just makes Shiro feel worse but full
of love for Kenji.
Kenji isn’t thinking about this embarrassment at all. He can only look at this night in appositive light. This was just like a dream to him—a dream that he never thought would come true that a/his boyfriend would bring him home to meet his parents and everyone would end happy. He starts to cry because he never ever thought this this could happen for him. He sincerely says that he’d be fine dying right now.
Shiro is having none of that. He replies to him that never
to talk like that to him. They are going to eat well and modestly and take care
of themselves so they can be together for a long long time. Of course, this
makes Kenji cry more. I’m not crying; it’s just my allergies kicking in. They walk the
rest of the way together with Shiro’s arm wrapped around Kenji’s shoulders.
We can’t end this show without a trip to the market!!
This time though, Kenji is with Shiro as he looks at the highway robbery that
is the price of the asparagus. The roles are reversed here because it’s usually
Shiro that admonishes Kenji about his public behavior, but Shiro is so loud
about the price that Kenji reminds him of his voice.
Shiro is a bit embarrassed
because one of the market workers (the same one from ep 1 who pointed out the
circular’s egg price) hears him, so he wishes her a happy new year. They find
one sale item, and then the worker silently points down the aisle without making
eye contact. If I could gif, I'd do one here. This whole scene was hilarious
Shiro hurries down the aisle, and when he sees the sale
price on milk, he almost tears up he’s so excited. He thanks the store out loud
and promises to shop there in the new year.
Kenji looks at him as if he is the
most adorable thing ever; this is probably one of the few places that Shiro
shows so much enthusiasm.
The grocery store worker looks on. She is happy as well.
After their shopping, Kenji doesn’t want to go home right away because it’s such a nice day. He suggests going to a café, and Shiro agrees but suggests a cheap coffee place. Kenji wants to go to a cute place and wheedled until Shiro complies.
They go to a nice cafe where they are the only guys at a
table right in the middle. Kenji has ordered a scone, but he wants to share it because they are so good here. He
breaks it in half as the couple bicker over trying to give each other the bigger
half, they attract the attention of the fujoshi crowd.
Kenji is embarrassed
for Shiro, but this is not the same Shiro who we first met. It doesn’t seem to
bother him at all that they are attracting some stares, and he just starts
eating the scone. Kenji starts to apologize and then remembers how Shiro would
rather him say thank you, so he does because he knows this isn’t the kind of
place Shiro usually likes nor does Shiro like attracting attention. But when he asks
Shiro why he decided to come—even spending more money than he planned—Shiro
just says he thought it was time and smiles at Kenji.
Back at their apartment, Shiro works on their budget while Kenji gives him a trim. Shiro gets really excited when he realizes that they still didn’t go over their food budget. Kenji comments about Shiro's thick hair and complains that he can only make his hair look thick with a perm. Shiro reminds him of all the grey he’s getting and jokes about them being geezers.
Of course, we need to see them in kitchen before we leave them. They are cooking together. Kenji makes the namuru while Shiro is prepares the vegetables for his version of ebi chili. He’s making it with eggs and asparagus.
Comments:
Such an interesting progression in their love story, and I think the show makes plain how writers can go about writing a love story about people who are already in love rather than focusing on the falling in love stage.