Mertseger

You might think from the first few scenes of this special that it is a documentary on handcrafted tofu, and, indeed, it is probably a bit more of that than a romantic drama about an unrequited love. Yui (Ashida) does have a huge crush on her childhood friend Kenji (Okayama), but, really, the two episodes are a brief coming-of-age story for the both of them.

Yui is working at Kenji's family's tofu business where she, and Kenji's father and grandmother produce tofu for their home town. We quickly learn that Yui had lost her job a year earlier, and had sought comfort by fleeing all the way to Tokyo where Kenji was working. She's into him, but he's completely oblivious to that fact. Nevertheless, he's quite happy to get her a job at his family's shop.

Ashida has a couple of very cute scenes where she uncorks her excitement and glee at her interactions with Kenji in the safety on solitude of her room at home (which is a bit risky when he's in town because his window is a few feet from hers in the house next door). And Okayama does a solid job portraying someone who had friend-zoned Yui quite naturally as they grew up, and will always be there for her ... as a friend. But the climax of the special is in the capable hands of Shiraishi Kayoko as Kenji's grandmother who delivers the sweet, if a bit pat, message of the special as a whole.

There's not a whole lot to this special: it's a sweet story about taking a step towards adulthood while making tofu. It's not a huge time investment, and is likely worth the watch particularly if you enjoy any of the actors in the small cast.