Note: Contains spoilers.
The scene that left the strongest impression on me was the ending of Episode 3.
It’s the moment when Kiyo secretly makes bread pudding for Tsurukoma, without anyone else knowing.
I don’t know why, but watching that scene made me tear up.
Why do tears come just from seeing someone happy?
The happiness Kiyo and Tsurukoma shared in that moment wasn’t the kind you achieve after overcoming great sorrow or setbacks—probably not.
Even without showing the audience any exaggerated backstory or setup,
just showing Tsurukoma enjoying the bread pudding and Kiyo watching her with a happy smile was enough to move the heart.
That’s the kind of scene it was.
Sharing a little bit of guilt by saying, “It’s our secret,”
Kiyo carefully making the pudding,
Tsurukoma enjoying it with delight,
Tsurukoma expressing gratitude,
Kiyo receiving it honestly—
Just watching the two of them like that almost brought tears to my eyes.
But maybe, just maybe, it’s not really “just” watching.
Their moment together might represent the ultimate point of human life.
Perhaps my heart trembled because I saw one truth of happiness in that moment.
As expected, their secret was discovered by the other girls,
and seeing them all asking Kiyo to share the delicious-looking pudding with sparkling smiles—that, too, felt like pure happiness.
Someone once sang that happiness is invisible,
and I agreed with that,
but in the ending of Episode 3, I could see happiness clearly with my own eyes.
Finishing the drama, I felt moved to tears even though it wasn’t sad. It was a really good drama.
I only get to see a single scene from the lives of the characters,
but it makes me imagine that each character has their own life and thoughts. That’s what made it such a good show.
The characters weren’t just there to explain a story the creators wanted to tell.
The story existed before the characters, not the other way around.
The characters eat,
work toward their goals,
eat,
find or lose their place,
eat,
fall in love or experience heartbreak,
eat.
Living is inseparable from eating.
Whether we cherish it or neglect it, eating is always there while we are alive.
Watching this drama, I felt that this is simply natural, and it might be the answer.
the Netflix Drama “The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House”
