And so
you don’t have to apologise to me
I’m very sorry
I’m really very sorry
But that day
that was Daiki’s fifth birthday
Yes
You wanted to give him a birthday present,
Imada-san, as you mentioned earlier?
Yes
It was the “superhero squad” toy that he used to like
I wonder if he likes it
or if he has played with it
I wonder if he has grown
That’s all I think about
all the time
And that’s why you felt uneasy,
rushed to your ex-husband’s home
and shouted Daiki’s name
That was a weird thing to do, wasn’t it?
No
Any parent would want to see their child
But the problem is,
you went there at 2 in the morning
I’m hungry
Why do people get hungry?
Last night, I ate so much
that I couldn’t swallow another grain of rice
Uemachi-sensei, you eat dinner late?
That’s why you’re fat
You should
learn from Kakei-sensei
and exercise more self-control
To put it bluntly,
if this goes to court,
your behaviour will give the judge a bad impression of you
and cause the opposing party
to take even greater issue with your mental health
Sensei, please help me
I really had no intention
of breaking up my ex-husband’s new family
I only…
only…
wanted to see Daiki
That was all
I see
Monthly visits are
usually permitted by the court
Don’t give up. Let’s do our best.
How could you compare me with Kakei-sensei
Just look at the two of us
Is Imada-san ok?
Yes she’s calmed down and left.
What’s the matter?
We were just talking about
Uemachi-sensei eating too much last night
We had crab last night
A client from Hokkaido
gave me an enormous one
Springtime is the season for
Hokkaido’s snow crabs
Osamu
It’s just a 10 minute walk between our homes
but you didn’t share the crab with me
Mother
So,
someone gave you a crab
Well,
I’ve got two growing children with hearty appetites
I said the crab was big,
but it really wasn’t that big
Yesterday
I had dinner alone
I ate leftover nikujaga [meat and potato stew]
Kakei-sensei,
what did you eat yesterday?
Yesterday?
What did you eat yesterday? Episode 1
Yesterday, I had
komatsuna [leafy veg], spring onion, wakame [type of seaweed] and aburaage [deep-fried tofu]
in miso soup;
nagaimo [kind of yam] and mentaiko [fish roe] with nihaizu (soy sauce / vinegar],
wasabi and nori;
sweet and spicy chicken wings with daikon [kind of radish];
and broccoli okaka-ae [briefly cooked and topped with fish flakes];
and two-thirds white rice to a third of brown rice
Ok, I’m off
Good work, everyone.
Bye
Hey, Shino-san
Kakei-sensei
always leaves the office promptly at six doesn’t he
I heard he’s got a girlfriend
but I didn’t know he was so devoted to her
O-sensei,
he does seem very lovey-dovey
But judging from his detailed account of the dinner menu,
the person who prepared that dinner
must have been Kakei-sensei himself
Kakei-sensei can cook?
It’s a bit gross
I find Kakei-sensei kind of unappealing
Why?
Men who can cook should score extra points, shouldn’t they?
But he’s 45
and he’s not a celebrity
A 45-year-old man who looks like that, but is still single…
… frankly, it’s pretty off-putting.
Also, cooking is probably a costly activity
Going to upmarket grocery stores
for particular ingredients and seasonings,
paying for them with a credit card…
418 yen
How is that an “ultra low” price?
Gonben’s tsuyu [dipping sauce] usually costs only 299 yen
I won’t be fooled
I’ll stick to my original plan
to buy two cartons of low-fat milk
at the special price of 98 yen per carton
78 yen for a punnet of maitake [kind of mushroom]
Turnips:
100 yen for a bunch
Burdock at 100 yen
The best place for vegetables is indeed Nakamuraya
What?!
The milk here
is cheaper by 6 yen!
Do you have the special price
for low-fat milk every Thursday?
(One-day limited-time offer: low-fat milk 92 yen)
A missed opportunity
I’m home
3 minutes later and the rice would have started cooking
Today I’ll use burdock and maitake to make takikomi gohan [mixed rice]
Use a ladle to remove two scoops of water
Add a piece of konbu [type of seaweed]
Season with sake and soy sauce
Then for every serving of rice,
add one piece of shiozake [salted salmon]
Slice the burdock that I’ve just bought into the rice
Due to its high polyphenol content,
burdock is very tasty
and doesn’t need to be soaked in water
Scatter the maitake on top
What soup should I make?
Pork broth will go well with rice and burdock
I’ll put pork, turnip and turnip leaves in miso soup
I’ll make a stew from last night’s
komatsuna and aburaage
and another dish with daikon and scallops
One more dish…
I should use up the eggs in the fridge
Ok
I’ll fry the eggs with bamboo shoots and preserved vegetables, Chinese-style
That will do
Now I just have to wait for the takikomi gohan to cook
This is as fulfilling
as solving a difficult problem perfectly
Giving me this sense of fulfilment every day -
That’s what’s great about making dinner
But will this feeling of satisfaction last till the end of the day?
I’m home
Do I smell takikomi gohan?
What useless thing have you bought at the convenience store again?
What is it? Ice cream?
It’s Haagen Dazs
You bought it at the convenience store?
Yes
You can get 20% off Haagen Dazs
at Nakamuraya every Friday
Why buy it at full price at the convenience store?
But
Didn’t I tell you that even 10 or 20 yen is worth saving?
Keeping our monthly food expenses below 25000 yen
is my most important responsibility
This is expensive!
I’ll pay for it
Forget it. Give that to me.
You need to save more money
But
Nakamuraya doesn’t have this flavour
Didn’t you say you wanted to try it too?
Sorry
All right
Wash your hands
It’s dinnertime
Ok
Let’s eat
Shiro
How do I say this…
You like money very much, don’t you
The rent is only 100 000 yen
Aren’t lawyers
very well paid?
Yes, in big law firms and multinational companies.
But I don’t want to work myself to death
I’d rather earn just enough to live on
and lead a free and normal life
That’s so you, Shiro
Anyway what’s wrong with liking money?
I have no children to take care of me in my old age
Ultimately, the only thing I can rely on is money
That’s true
Why are you making that face while eating my food?
Eh? Mm.
Is it good?
Spicy, sour and salty flavours are perfectly balanced
Every dish should taste good
Yes it’s delicious
Did you crumble the salmon
so that it’s easier to eat?
The sesame accentuates the flavour
I don’t know anything about the balance of flavours
But I do know that the takikomi gohan [mixed rice] is delicious
More please
No. You’ll get fat.
If you want to become a bear, do it after you turn 50.
Shiro, over there…
What are you doing?!
Can I finish all this?
Of course not
It’ll make you fat too
But it’s delicious! What can I do?
As I’ve said, Mother,
I’m different from those people
Hm
Yes
Hm
Yes
And so
I joined those people’s…
… what do you call it…
“Off-kai”? [Offline/face-to-face gathering]
I attended their meeting
You didn’t have to do that
But
I learnt a lot at that meeting
and after that
I understood many things
Shiro
Have you come out to your colleagues?
Have you told them
that you’re gay?
No
It’s just work. There’s no need to bring up my sexuality.
Why not?
You should make it clear
that you’re gay.
It’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Hello?
Hello? Shiro?
Are you listening to me?
Every single person
has their own unique traits
That’s a wonderful thing
So, Shiro…
Yes, yes, I know
I’ve got to hang up. I need to get up early tomorrow.
- Good-night, Mother - Hello?
What do you think?
It’s a bit conspicuous
Does it seem old-fashioned here, at the back?
Look, my make-up seems more obvious
In that case,
how about more curls here for a more gorgeous look?
I’m sorry that I’m telling you this only now.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell you earlier
I’m such a coward
It’s ok. I’m glad you told me.
You’re attending your relative’s wedding reception, aren’t you?
On such a happy day, you wouldn’t want
bad hair to put you in a bad mood
Do you have enough time?
Yes, it’s fine
Ken is able
to maintain his composure even in this situation
If it were me, I’d have lost my temper ages ago
Sengoku-san
always has some issue just when we’re about to finish
and asks us to do everything all over again
Ken-chan, I like the way you talk
Hey, would you like to go out with me next time?
Oh sorry
I’m gay
Didn’t I mention it?
Eh? Really?
I’m living with my boyfriend at the moment
He’s super handsome,
very reliable and a fantastic cook.
And he’s a lawyer
Oh is that so
However,
I’m the one
who’s the man in bed
Oh this looks nice
He got Sengoku-san to shut up
This persona of Ken’s is amazing
How could I put my child
in the care of such an unreasonable woman?
It was two in the morning
I’m really sorry
Imada-san has promised never to do anything like that again
Please forgive her
Daiki is very close to my current wife
I don’t want him to be confused
But, Nishina-san,
as soon as Imada-san was admitted to hospital for mental health issues,
you initiated divorce proceedings
Furthermore, wasn’t it prior to the divorce
that you started seeing your current wife?
Be that as it may, Imada-san does not intend to pursue the matter.
- She only wants to see Daiki… - I won’t let her meet Daiki.
She isn’t requesting visitation rights
She’s only hoping that you’d let her watch him from a distance
That’s all she wants
As Daiki’s birth mother,
she is making a huge concession
No
I forbid it
She might catch us unawares
and kidnap Daiki
That woman might very well do something like that
I’ll definitely not let her do anything of the sort
Please agree to our terms
I refuse
How can you speak with such certainty?
It’d be a different matter
if you could keep watch over Seiko every month
But you can’t, can you?
I can
Every month,
I accompany Seiko-san while she watches Daiki, right?
Understood
Why did I agree to that?
My precious days off
and every month too
Shiro
You’re a bit later today
Looks heavy. Give it to me.
It’s fine
I’ve bought salad oil and rice. It’s heavy.
You’re a hairdresser, your hands are your life
If you get tenosynovitis, what’s gonna happen to you?
Shiro you’re so cool, I’m falling in love with you all over again.
These unexpected meetings make me so happy
Oh yes
Shall we make a detour for cherry blossoms?
- Cherry blossoms? - Yeah
Next to the footpath at the end of this shopping street
They’re blooming beautifully at the moment
When I saw them earlier, I thought I’d like to look at them with you.
Ken-chan!
Sengoku-san
Are you on your way home?
Yes
Great, the curls still look good.
Everyone is saying that my hair looks fabulous. Right?
That’s great
Is that your husband?
Yes
This is Ken, the hairdresser I’m always talking about
He did my hair today too
Hello
Your wife is a regular at our salon
You must be proud of your pretty wife
No, not at all
Ken-chan
Is he the boyfriend you spoke about?
The one who is a lawyer and very handsome,
but plays the part of the woman in bed?
You guys are made for each other
Right?
Yes
It’s so cool
A perfect pair
Great
Why did you tell them?
What were you thinking?
You coming out to your colleagues yourself
is completely different from you talking about me
And to your customers too. Unbelievable.
Unlike you,
I’ve never mentioned this to my colleagues
And I certainly don’t want strangers to know that I’m gay
And what was all that…
about playing the part of the woman…
So what if I’m a bottom?
If you won’t show
any consideration for me and my circumstances, then you should leave.
I’m serious
I’m sorry
But
my boss
also talks to the customers
about his wife and children
Why is it only me
who’s not allowed to talk to anybody
about the person I live with?
Come on
I’m going to make dinner
Today we’re having boiled takenoko [bamboo shoots] and nanohana [broccoli-like veg] with rice
You’re sly
You’re evading the issue just like that?
Lots of garlic and onion
I love this
You’re in the service industry
so you can only eat this on your days off
So you made this because tomorrow is my day off?
I’m a fortunate man
Nimono [type of stew] and katsuo no tataki [seared skipjack tuna] are the best
Really? Good.
Have more nanohana
Ok I will
Spring is here
What’s the matter?
This month, we spent
17368 yen on food
That’s almost 8000 yen less than our 25000 yen budget
Really?
Fantastic
Let’s spend it on a good meal
What are you talking about? We’re saving it.
At your age, how could you have saved so little money?
You’re 43
You must plan for the future
Even if you have hairdressing skills,
you can’t work forever
Ok ok
- He’s being a pain again - A pain?
Shiro
Let’s have the Haagen Dazs I bought earlier
Although I bought it at full price, we have come under budget this month,
so we can eat it with no qualms
Idiot
If you eat it now, you’ll pay the price tomorrow
Oh what does it matter. Let’s share it.
I’m not eating it
It’s delicious
It contains 297 calories
Tomorrow I’ll alight one bus stop earlier and walk
You’re such a killjoy
We hardly ever eat this
The macadamia nut flavour is very rich
Hm?
Nothing
This really is very good
It’s worth its price
That’s why I say
there’s nothing wrong with the occasional extravagance
No
Whether it’s a matter of saving money or keeping in shape,
if you relax for even a moment, cracks will form.
Cracks? But Shiro,
the joy of living
often emerges from such cracks
Meeting the person you love
might also be “hyon”
What do you mean by “hyon”?
“Hyon”?
“Hyon” is like…
While you’re in hospital, your doctor suddenly visits you,
and you fall in love with him after he has made his diagnosis
and then the two of you get together… something like that
No
That’s not what I was asking about
No?
I asked you…
What are you trying to say?
What?
I was giving an example of “hyon”
That was your own fantasy
No, I was asking
what “hyon” means
“Hyon”? Er…
What’s the meaning of “hyon”?
“Hyon” just means…
“Hyon” just means “hyon”,
doesn’t it?
Shiro has dated women before, hasn’t he? (Preview)
He’s gay, isn’t he
If you’re so concerned, why don’t you go and see for yourself?
I’ll reflect on my error
So I…