For a long time this comes off as a light feelgood drama mixing some food porn with themes of loneliness and aging. It's familiar ground in the Japanese film tradition that Kawase claims to not be aware of. It's mildly moving and definitely warms your heart a little. Tasty and sweet without too much nutritional value perhaps, just like the doroyaki.

Unfortunately the movie ends up getting lost in clichés and forced melodrama to get characters and viewers to shed tears. It feels like it's written like a bad kid movie, where emotions are created by characters practically telling you when to feel things.