Chef wa Meitantei (2021)

Filling -- in Body, Mind, and Soul

Each story leaves the viewer feeling completely satisfied; the emotional bonds of friends, family, colleagues, and general humanity is quite fulfilling to watch from an "outsiders" perspective!


While watching this story it sort of felt like things were building up to the high point, the strong long-awaited climax... however, the show itself didn't really build it up with so many dramatic moments, yet it took them in stride -- slowly, calmly, while building a strong and firm base as if to keep the show moving forward and to build an emotional, physical, and mental bond between the coworkers, friends, owner, and customers of Pas Mal. Each customer had their own mystery, which was really nice to see from a human standpoint instead of from a major crimes/police detective genre. This show itself, I believe, fits the slice-of-life, coming of age, mystery, relationship, lgbtq+, and even familial genres; and a few more, I just can't think of them right now (sorry!).


Each mysteryious worry of the customers was wonderful to watch build a rapport and relationship with the coworkers of Pas Mal, the owner, and a strong respect for their customers; as well as each other! There were not any dramatical, epic twists and turns within the stories, but I still couldn't guess ahead of the plotline. Each mystery was wonderfully preserved until the final few moments of the episode, and the finale episode, too, of course! It was nice to see a show about genuine, respectful, honest, unique, imaginative, and charming people; the cast fit so well together I thought I was watching a live recording of real people instead of a show. The story really flowed impeccably well! Not one moment did I feel lost, confused, or like I was stupid for not understanding any terms of a Chef, French or otherwise.


This show really highlights the ups and downs of humanity; trust, companionship, friends and lovers, colleagues, past and future lifestyles, taking those big, scary leaps forward without knowing what would happen next... While keeping the viewer very grounded, very "close to home" while also being on the edge of their seats! I really hope more people enjoy this fabulous show! Especially if you're a fan of anyone in the cast; it is a very fantastic show!

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Who's cutting the onion??!!

Another interesting Japanese drama... it reminds me of bartender (manga), midnight diner series, etc. The genre is a slice of life which everyone has/will experience at some point; this is also the reason why these kind of dramas are very appealing to me.

Food & Beverage believed be able to change people's emotion albeit temporary; some may even give a strength to face the difficulty one experience. Although I feel a bar, diner, or a stall would be a better fit as the setting, a bistro may cut it as well. When I was in Japan, I started to realize how some Japanese's pastry was heavily influenced by French thus don't think it's out of context.

Acting is not the selling point, IMO, of this drama; the plot twist, pace of the story, and how close the storyline is to our life are the selling points; overall, the first episode got me hooked. ML is very observant of his customer, not sure if it's a generic trait type of those in a service industry but it is definitely the similar trait in all of those series mentioned. The rest of the crews traits are started to show in this first episode but not fully revealed. If it's the typical J-drama, then normally each crew would have their own reason/history that brought them together as a group.

If you have a delicate heart, have some tissue ready... It's only the "appetizer" but I am really looking forward to the next course...

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