What Did You Eat Yesterday special episode

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.

Table of Contents Show

How can I watch what did you eat yesterday?
What did we eat yesterday netflix?
What is Kenji's job in what did you eat yesterday?
How many volumes of what did you eat yesterday are there?

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.

Episode 12: Finale

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

How can I watch what did you eat yesterday?

Watch What Did You Eat Yesterday? Full episodes | Disney+

What did we eat yesterday netflix?

Lawyer Shiro pours his heart into home-cooked meals for his partner, hairstylist Kenji, as they navigate life as a middle-aged gay couple in Tokyo. Watch all you want. The adaptation of the popular manga won a Galaxy Award and four Television Drama Academy Awards including Best TV Series.

What is Kenji's job in what did you eat yesterday?

Kakei Shiro is a 45 year old lawyer who works at a small law firm. His partner, Yabuki Kenji, is an affable hairdresser in his 40s.

How many volumes of what did you eat yesterday are there?

It has also been collected in tankōbon volumes, published by Kodansha in Japan since 2007 and by Vertical in North America since 2014; nineteen volumes have been released in Japanese, and fourteen in English.

eat yesterday special episode