Ask any terrace house fan about the meat incident and you’re bound to get a huge reaction. It’s one of the house’s most iconic moments that showcases the very core of what the show is all about – mundane, human drama. The incident features one of the few couples that have formed in terrace house – Uchi and Minori, as Minori thoughtlessly cooks and shares meat belonging Uchi without his knowledge.

Cue two episodes of mockery by the panelists, who laugh and can’t believe Uchi’s unhappiness and sobbing to mixed reactions. Today, I will take on the task of defending Uchi’s dramatic, albeit hilarious moping, which I wholeheartedly felt was justified.

For starters, the meat was from an important client of Uchi’s as recognition of his work and skill. This isn’t just meat as the panelists claim. The meat was sent as a gift of gratitude; an establishment of a professional relationship. Eating the meat without permission is disrespectful towards both Uchi and the client.

That meat is something Uchi earned; and with it being on TV and all, it’s to be expected that this client might watch Terrace House with expectations of him enjoying it on screen. This incident has the potential to hurt Uchi’s relationship with his clients and, with how sticky the Japanese are regarding customer service, even damage his reputation. Tokui actually realises this, but is shut down by the other panellists.

What makes this particularly egregious is that Uchi had explicitly told Minori it was from a client. You’d expect a girlfriend to understand his feelings of accomplishment and at the very least leave some for him to enjoy. Instead, she nonchalantly remarks that it’s probably alright to eat it all, without any consideration for Uchi.

She knows Uchi is a serious person who cares a lot about his work, and yet, she fails to recognise that he would obviously be upset by this act. Uchi literally has to explain to every single person, including Minori, that it’s about the feelings behind the gift and not the meat itself. It’s utterly ridiculous.

Even if you take the feelings attached to the meat out of the equation, that meat is f*cking expensive. Like seriously, extremely expensive. The beef is called Hida gyu and it’s premium wagyu. From its packaging, you can tell it is A5 grade wagyu, which is the highest grade.

This prices the meat at around $170 – 200 per pound. Arman and Hikaru initially both comment that they probably shouldn’t eat it or leave some for Uchi because of this fact, but go ahead with cooking it when Minori approves. It’s really bizarre that none of the panellists acknowledge this, I mean it’s not every day you get to eat $200 steak.

Finally, and I cannot stress this enough, taking food that is not yours from a communal fridge without permission is incredibly rude. I would start a riot over someone eating my leftover pizza, let alone $600 worth of meat from an important client.

Of course, it’s different for things they have agreed to share like groceries or milk, but when people buy/receive food for themselves, you don’t touch it, just like you wouldn’t at home with your siblings (or risk a fight, which is exactly what happens). Hikaru suggests that Uchi should label the things in the fridge that he would not want others to touch, but seriously, it’s not that hard to just ask.

All in all, the meat incident is truly terrace house at its best. While Uchi’s reaction was over the top, I do think he had grounds for behaving the way he did, as no one showed any consideration for him when cooking the meat. Nothing says real drama like people fighting over food.

All pictures are owned by Fuji Television and are used for commentary purposes.