Love is often loud and unexpected, barging into our lives when we least expect it. But it can also be soft and gradual.

Adapted from the manga series Aki wa Haru to Gohan wo Tabetai by Tajima Makoto, the Japanese film Let’s Eat Together, Aki and Haru tells a gradual story about a friendship that slowly shifts into something different.

Starring Akazawa Ryotaro (Aki) and Takahashi Kensuke (Haru), this film’s main action is the consistent affectionate interaction between our leads, mainly while eating together. And while this can seem monotonous, watching Aki and Haru depend on each other for different reasons is soothing.

By the film’s end, it’s impossible to imagine them apart. They’re like a well-oiled machine that works in tandem, each fitting into the other’s life like a puzzle piece that no one wants to pull apart.

There’s no talk of romance, but it’s apparent from the beginning that they’re more than friends. And this is one of my favorite things about the film. In real life, we don’t always put words to feelings. There aren’t always grand confessions. We often ‘fall’ into relationships, gradually drawing closer and closer to the person we click with until one day we realize, “Wait, are we a couple?”

And that’s precisely what Let’s Eat Together, Aki and Haru does. It tells a gradual story of two men who realize they can’t live apart, two men who make vague promises to be together for many years to come. And with that promise, cements a relationship that was obviously forming on the screen over food and conversation.

And I was soothed by that.
For a series that gradually welcomes love into it while offering domestic comfort, check out Let’s Eat Together, Aki and Haru now on Gagaoolala.

Rating- 4 out of 5