In a nutshell She Likes to Cook and She Loves to Eat is about a codependent relationship between two neighbors bonding over food and slowly cultivating a safe space for one another one dish at a time. Nomoto is an office worker who uses cooking and food to cope with work and daily life. She makes neatly and properly portioned food and has a dedicated social media account secretly hoping to make more significant portions and familysized meals but is now unable to since she lives alone. That is until she saw her neighbor Kasuga holding a massive feast for herself. Events unfolded in which Nomoto offered Kasuga food she cooked. The two developed a codependent relationship filled with cooking and eating to their hearts desires. Between shared meals and early runs to the local farmers market the two gradually grow closer as they navigate their way through family and relationships. The storys premise is straightforward and might even be boring to some as it only talks about eating and cooking. Still the manga offers a lot of commentary on the male gaze family expectations and navigating sexuality among many others. Early on the story was able to frame and establish the life of a woman not particularly interested in attracting male attention by using a central device in the report: cooking. When Nomoto talks about her passion for cooking her male coworker says Youd make a great wife or I wish I had a girlfriend who is as domestic as you. She follows up with They always take my hobby which I do out of passion and frame it as something I could be doing for a man. Gross. Later on in the story she laments about the disparity of wages between her and her male coworkers the patriarchal identity most families inextension society has and how hard it is to navigate through life alone. I love how the story can tap into an aspect of the male gaze that women go through daily. These are things that women go through every day and seeing them in a manga feels very liberating and validating. The story doesnt shy away from aspects of reality by showing how sexual disparity often works in real life as compared to other manga of the same genre where men are often nonexistent or ignored in favor of a colorful and straightlined lesbian story. The manga was also able to touch upon how navigating sexuality especially in its early stages is hard and painful. The manga depicts the inherent denial you feel when you first realize it: the gnawing and burning feeling settling deep into your stomach the aggressive rejection within telling yourself that maybe its just a phase. Navigating your sexuality is fucking hard and I greatly appreciate the manga for giving an insight into Nomotos exploration and realization during that period of her life. The manga also provides insight into societal expectations of women including but not limited to body image thinner is better domestic expectations and roles in the workforce. All these subtle topics made me love the manga even more. The manga presents the audience with bitesized episodical pieces of daily life and how they navigate life together. The artist is impressive at depicting food and showcasing the emotions and insights of the characters when they eat. Seeing Kasuga become expressive around Nomoto as she slowly let her guard down when they were together was fun. Despite its heavy themes the story still primarily comes off as a comfort food for the soul. Its pacing might not be for everybody but it is a unique flavor that I know many audiences will come to live and enjoy.