Last modified on: April 18, 2017 (prior to actual publication)
First completed on: September 27, 2020 (actual publication)
Written content in this post updated on: September 28, 2020
J-drama official website: http://www.nhk.or.jp/pd/kamogawa/
J-drama art production page: http://www.asia-cc.jp/鴨川食堂/
Hi there! Again with another unusual dates to list at the above. I'm going to be completely honest here, everything below this first paragraph, sans the documentation of the Finale aka EP 8, had been last touched on 2017/04/18, as in, I was literally one episode short of finishing this blog post at least as of that day, for I very may well have actually been done by 2017/03/30, and just found some typos to correct. It'd remain a mystery and not of particular importance anyways lol. I think you can tell that by doing this comparison blog post, I became rather worked up lmao. The J-drama adaptation did add quite a huge chunk of backstory, which unfortunately to me was fairly off-putting, to the point that I never finished the final episode, until 2020/09/27, that is lol. Also note that, circumstances have changed during the timespan: When I first watched the show (EPs 1-7,) the 2nd installment of the novel series had not been translated into a language I understand, the publisher even told me there wasn't plan for it when I asked them on 2017/03/24. I belatedly realized sometime in 2019 that it had in fact been published in late 2018, and later went reading it. I felt it necessary to list out "first completed on," because what I'm sending out first would contain speculative statements I now can verify, just haven't gotten around to doing so. Letting this post continue to sit as draft isn't accomplishing anything, especially when I still find what I wrote entertainingly hilarious, and I honestly want people to read this breakdown lol. When I do get to update, you'll likely see
The J-drama actually adapted stories from both books 1 and 2 (鴨川食堂 & 鴨川食堂おかわり.) To be honest, I'm slightly confused as to why NHK BSプレミアム (flagship of the J-drama) thought it was necessary to swap around the order of the stories. I suppose it didn't matter that much, but I do vaguely remember that, in the novel, they'd sometimes drop statements such as how much money the previous cases surprisingly earned, so there most likely will be some very minor difference between the show and canon in that area, since the chronological order is different in both media.
Also, the wall of the hallway connecting the restaurant to its stairway, displays illustrations and notes of what can be presumed to be the cases Koishi and her father have solved. As early as EP 1, several dish that seemed to be taken from canon already appeared on the wall, including dish that could possibly be from the 5th story of book 2 and the 5th story of book 3 (鴨川食堂いつもの.) Since neither of those books have been translated in a language I can thoroughly understand (at the moment), I cannot confirm if they are precisely the same canon dish, only that the same type of dish are indeed found in canon.
During EP 2 (said dish also appeared in EP 1,) a close-up on the wall revealed a dish that highly resembled what's featured in the 3rd story of book 1, which apparently was not adapted into the series. I wonder why they chose to omit that particular story? Seems like a perfect waste of given source material, unless they find the plot utterly boring, which was why they turned it into a pre-exsisting case instead?
(Side-note: Ironically, after looking through the quotes taken from that particular case, I realized, it is in fact the only case I could not remember the backstory for the dish...)Not sure if they would do more seasons (since there're also more books,) but if they do, they'd better remember not to use the skipped stories, otherwise it'd either be admitting the show not airing in chronological order, or a production error.
I will probably have to eventually borrow the novel again. Sometimes it was less obvious to me who was investigating and who was preparing the food. Noting the J-drama version for now.
- The 1st episode is adapted from the 6th story of book 1.
- Food investigated and mainly prepared by Nagare. Koishi helped grinding the carrots.
- The 2nd episode is adapted from the 4th story of book 1.
- Food investigated by both Nagare and Koishi. Unsure who prepared the dressing. Koishi took care of the fried pork.
- The 3rd episode is adapted from the 5th story of book 1.
- Food investigated by Koishi, though she lucked out by encountering a kid who also wanted to go to the same restaurant, and who just so happened to carry a keychain provided by the said restaurant. Unsure who prepared the food.
- The clues for this dish was definitely changed; there was no mention of the giant red bottle. The explanation of what kind of pasta the client actually ate was also shortened to basically not being informative.
- Nagare's deduction as to why the client, Asuka, thought the particular dish was most memorable, was also omitted.
- In the novel, Nagare suspected it was the first time the then-5-year-old Asuka got to have her own meal and not having to share it with grownups; it was a sign as recognizing her as an individual.
- Note: I do not remember if Asuka herself was the one that admitted it being the first time she got to eat her own dish, but Nagare definitely concluded why he thought she'd hold the specific memory most dearly.
- I think they also followed up on what happened to the grandpa after he ate the food in question (don't remember it from the novel). I also think the show gave us additional details on the characters, for I honestly don't remember knowing the family members' occupations.
- The 4th episode is adapted from the 1st story of book 1.
- Food investigated and mainly prepared by Nagare. Koishi helped finishing the final steps.
- Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this episode contains a hella lot of original backstories, unless they are adapted from scenes from the sequel books I haven't read.
- I honestly do not remember Koishi's grandpa (who had already been mentioned a few times in previous episodes, and none of the times jogged any memory.)
- I was completely unaware that Nagere and Koishi's mother, (Kikuko? Unsure of the romaji), separated on unhappy terms? I was simply under the impression that the mom unfortunately died. Not sure where this subplot is going. Not sure if I just somehow overlooked it in canon, or if it's just artistic license on the show's part.
- I also do not remember the client, Nagare's ex-collegue, had informed him that apparently someone he put in jail (10 years ago) is now free. The tone of the show suddenly became unnecessarily dark, with the said ex-convict (identity confirmed in the next episode) lurking in the dark outside the restaurant at the end of this episode.
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