anime episode summaries

The next round, Yakisoba Pan, commences. Group B, Kawachi’s group, goes first. Even though Kawachi’s opponent uses several tasty seafood in his yakisoba, Kawachi wins by mincing up his yakisoba and compressing the pieces into a hotdog. Meanwhile, Azuma is depressed because no matter how hard he tried, his yakisoba is still not good enough. Kawachi thinks of a plan and he and the manager hint that Azuma should crush his bread. The next day, even though Shachihokou’s rich-flavored yakisoba bread elicits a really crazy and revealing reaction from Kuroyan, Azuma’s okonomiyaki- inspired flat bread (he pressed it using a heated pan) wins the match.

The best-tasting yakisoba bread from all the participants wins a cash reward. To everyone’s surprise, the winner turns out to be Mizuno’s Koala-chan, Azuma’s opponent in the next round.

Kawachi was so overconfident and complacent that he’ll win during the melon pan round that the manager scares him by saying his opponent possesses a “mother’s hand,” which is apparently even better than Kawachi’s “solar gauntlets.” In his anxiety, Kawachi tries even harder but it turns out the obasan he battled is no match for him at all. Everything was a ploy by the manager to bring out Kawachi’s potential.

Mizuno makes another bet saying that if Kazu-kun (her nickname for Azuma) does not win against her Koala-chan, Tsukino forfeits her right to inherit the company.

After that, Kuroyan announces the next theme: yakisoba pan. This time, the bread is provided. The participants are supposed to make the best yakisoba to go with the bread. Azuma worries because he doesn’t know to cook anything other than bread. To make matters worse, Azuma’s next opponent is an Italian-American champion baker named Spencer Henry Hokou a.k.a S.H. Hokou a.k.a. Shachihokou who specializes in yakisoba pan because he lives in Nagoya. The manager knows a noodle expert (who also moonlights as an assassin) and gets him to teach Azuma and Kawachi how to make yakisoba. Kawachi is good since he’s used to cooking for his younger siblings but Azuma seems hopeless.

Next round of the Newcomer’s Battle, theme is melon bread. Azuma makes melon bread inspired by the friendly sushi man he met earlier (from whom he got the wasabi for his wasabi bread). Although Mizuno (Tsukino’s younger half-sister) uses the most expensive and the best tasting melon and Azuma uses cheap canned melon juice instead, Azuma’s melon sushi bread still wins, yay! Kuroyan is as cruel as ever. Inspite of her loss, Mizuno refuses to call Tsukino “nee-san” as promised and she tells them that her Koala-chan will avenge her. Next is Block B’s turn to make melon bread. Kawachi is pretty confident but the manager, after seeing that Kawachi’s opponent is an older lady (an oba-san), tells him not to get too cocky.

Another round of preliminaries is held to reduce the number of participants to 32. The theme is butter rolls. The contestants are shown eight unnamed butter, labeled from A to H. Each contestant is suppose to select the best butter for the task. Azuma chooses a random butter, C. The other contestants, thinking that since Azuma was on TV the other day, he must be good so they copied Azuma’s choice. Kawachi selects the butter which takes a long time to melt. It turns out that Azuma’s butter isn’t even butter; it’s margarine. However, Azuma used vapor action and cooked his butter roll at an extremely high temperature in a very short time and so his butter roll tasted good. Azuma, those who selected the butter that doesn’t melt (I think it was G) including Kawachi, and those who selected butter A (apparently the best butter in the world) pass. Kuroyan calls the rest trash and sends them home.

One of the participants who passed turns out to be Tsukino’s little sister. Apparently, Tsukino is an illegitimate child so her half-sister was rude to her. For Tsukino, this newcomers’ battle is a chance to show off the skill of the Southern Branch thus earning her place in the Azusagawa ranks. Azuma and Kawachi resolve to win for Tsukino. Azuma and Tsukino’s sister make a bet that during the next round, if the sister loses, she will have to call Tsukino “nee-san.” However, if Azuma loses, he will transfer to the branch managed by the little sister. Unfortunately, the theme for the next round is melon bread. Azuma says he’s bad at making melon bread; the sister says this theme is her forte.

Each One’s Opening Curtain!! The Pantasia Newcomers Battle Begins!

Minus five points for
being five minutes late!More preparation for the Newcomers’ Battle. Kawachi challenges Azuma. Azuma gets upset because he thought Kawachi hates him. The manager talks to Azuma and tells him that Kawachi just sees him as a rival so Azuma should do his best to win, too, as a man. Azuma runs off to Gifu to his Grandpa Umasaborou and asks him to make something (out of petalite) that would enable Azuma to make his Japan #44, his best bread yet. Kuroyan grades the entry submissions for the bread that won’t grow mold and both Kawachi and Azuma pass. Suwabara is eager to battle the two to avenge his loss in the Employee Selection Exam. Before the day of the Newcomers’ Battle, everybody at the Southern Pantasia Branch worries because Azuma hasn’t come home yet. Tsukino phones Azuma’s home and Azuma’s sister answers. Azuma’s sister goes to Gifu on her motorcycle to fetch Azuma. Before they leave Gifu, they try to rouse Grandpa Umasaborou from sleep to say good-bye but they couldn’t wake him up. Grandpa Umasaborou’s soul is floating, watching them, and he thanks Azuma for baking him bread. During the day of the battle, Azuma arrives five minutes late (because of heavy traffic) to Kuroyan’s chagrin. Azuma greets him occhan (an old man) which pisses Kuroyan even more who then deducts five points from him already.

I Won’t Lose!! I Challenge You With My Osaka-Pan!

Kawachi’s training continues. Azuma falls down because of fatigue in Miura (en route to Izu) where a sushi-shop owner finds him and takes him in. The nice man serves him some sushi and to Azuma’s delight, he discovers the main ingredient for his Japan #32: wasabi. Azuma rushes home and bakes his bread right away. As usual, Azuma’s bread is good. Kawachi feels depressed because he thinks he has no chance of winning in the upcoming newcomers’ battle and while wallowing in self-pity, the manager pours sake on his pathetic little head. Kawachi runs away but then he realizes that alcohol has antiseptic properties (that was what the manager was trying to tell him). Kawachi adds brandy to his bread and calls it Osaka-pan (also o-sake-pan). Incidentally, Kawachi’s and Azuma’s sempai at the store (the one with the mushroom-head) gets drunk when he eats a slice of Kawachi’s bread. Kawachi thanks the manager for his help.

Kawachi Kai!! The Solar Gauntlet!

Azuma’s grandfather sees our hero on TV and misses him. A letter from the Main Store arrives, announcing the Newcomers’ Battle. All new employees of Pantasia from all 128 stores are invited to join the tournament. The manager won the battle during his time and Tsukino placed third eight years ago. The theme for this year is dinner bread that won’t go moldy even after three weeks. The winner will get several prizes: 1M yen, a sabbatical in France, and the opportunity to work at the Main Store. The branch where the winning employee came from will also receive prize money. Kawachi resolves to win but the Manager tells him that there are thrice as many participants this year than the previous ones. Azuma seems to have a plan already and he runs out to get his ingredients. Kawachi is discouraged because he doesn’t have Azuma’s solar hands but Tsukino tells him there is a way to get them… (more…)