Yakitate!! Japan ep.10

December 27, 2004 | 8 Comments

Apparently the PV for the opening and ending theme of this show were broadcasted a few days ago. I wish I can see it because I really like both themes. It's also unfortunate that so far the opening theme CD is not on sale yet. Anyway, this episode itself is quite good. It's a precursor to the upcoming newcomer battle arc which is one of the best arc in this series. And judging from the teaser at the end of this episode, apparently that arc will kick off with a special 1 hour episode this week. I hope this means that the ratings have been doing quite well and therefore the series will hopefully get more than 26 episodes. The last time I check, Animedia reported that the series sit in the 7th ranking amongst other autumn anime shows selected by its readers.

The episode begins with Kawachi showing off the result of his steroids use...er, I mean his training to Azuma and telling him that the muscles are to beat him in the upcoming bread competition. Meanwhile, Kuroyan is in the middle of testing all of the breads that the new employees make by sicking a bunch of dogs on them to see if the breads contain preservatives. If they do, he immediately fails the persons who make the breads. Suwabara is relieved when Azuma and Kawachi's bread is not disqualified because he wants to face the two at the finals. It seems he's not happy that the two defeated him back then. Back to Azuma, he feels depressed because he thinks Kawachi hates him. So Ken tells him that the truth is, Kawachi recognises him as a man and a true rival. He thinks Azuma has to response accordingly by trying to do his best at the competition.

Upon hearing this, Azuma sets out to leave the bakery to go to Gifu to obtain the thing that he needs for the competiton. He ends up going to the house of his grandfather's brother, Umasaburou. At the same time, Suwabara is seen training in the mountain like a true Samurai. Back at the Southern Pantasia store, Ken receives the news that both Azuma and Kawachi pass the preliminary round of making bread that won't grow mold. On the day of the competition, however, Azuma isn't seen anywhere, causing everyone from his store to worry. Thankfully, Azuma's sister has a hunch of where Azuma could be and ends up picking up her brother and take him to the competition. By the time he arrives at the competition, however, Azuma is already a bit late. To top it off, he decides to call Kuroyan, Kuroyanagi-occhan again. This makes Kuroyan seeing red and decides to deduct 5 points from Azuma. Heh. It's always amusing to see Kuroyan losing his calm manner.

Impression:

Well, nothing much happens in this episode since this is only the preliminary episode prior to the big competition. However, the friendship between Azuma and Kawachi is finally explored in this episode, albeit in small dose. It's inevitable that the competition that has been brewing between the two finally comes to a head in this episode. Kawachi, however, is a much kinder person in comparison to that character from the famous shounen show. Kawachi obviously wants to win this but at the same time he's level-headed enough to realise that in many ways Azuma are better than him. If anything, their friendship will become stronger from now on as exhibited in the last few minutes of the episode. Despite everything that he's said to Azuma, Kawachi truly worries when he realises that Azuma hasn't made it to the competition. Anyway, some good times will come in the next few weeks as the newcomers' competition starts and new characters start appearing.

Posted by Garten

Comments

December 28, 2004 | David wrote:

I'd be quite happy if this series really does go above 26 episodes -- it's storyline is probably more compelling than most other shonen titles (*cough* Bleach)

However, it's interesting to read your thoughts on the Asuma-Kawachi relationship -- I certainly think it's more *stable* than the Sasuke/Naruto motif, but I think it lacks angst, just because it features a side character chasing the main character, not the other way around.

Quite personally, I think the *best* two-person character interaction was seen through the Hikaru/Touya schism in Hikaru no Go, which is, as if it matters, my favorite series ever (^_^)

December 28, 2004 | Garten wrote:

Ah, Bleach. I'm quite sad everytime I think what could have been. I don't know how the anime ends up being more of a killjoy than a fun ride most of the time.

As for Azuma/Kawachi and Naruto/Sasuke dynamic, I think the lack of angst on the first pair is mostly because the writers doesn't give Kawachi as much screen time as Sasuke. Despite being a supporting character, Sasuke does get tons of screen time (that's why some people complained how the series was dominated by him a couple of months ago).

As a series, Naruto likes to focus on each individual's story in details. While Yakitate!! is more concerned about the group's journey as a whole. As a result, we never get to see a 3-4 chapters dedicated on Kawachi's life story on its own. At the most, it was a couple of short panels (such as when he remembers how his father died).

I also think that it's the writer's choice to make Azuma and Kawachi's friendship to be more on the healthy level, thus the lack of angst. To begin with, apart from a position and bread expertise, there's nothing else that they're competing against one another. And Azuma doesn't even want that position. They also like Tsukino but more like friends than girlfriend material. So neither one feels as if the girl likes the other better. Plus, Azuma is...well, he's Azuma. I personally find it hard to believe that he can angst for a long time.

Hmm, I haven't seen Hikaru no Go is it any good?

December 28, 2004 | Ten wrote:

HikaGo is really compelling eventhough it centers around such a seemingly boring board game. It's one of my all-time favorite anime. And yeah, the dynamic between Hikaru and Touya is one of the best I've seen. You should try watching it,Garten.

I think the Azuma-Kawachi relationship fits just right for the series. One of the joys of following the series is that it does not take itself seriously. Adding too much angst ala-Sasuke might be too out of place.

December 28, 2004 | gummibear wrote:

I'm not sure what PV is but anyway the OP/ED can be found on bittorent at http://bt.greedland.net. Just run a search for 'yakitate'. I agree with you about how nice both songs are, I'm playing them on loop now. :)

December 28, 2004 | Garten wrote:

Ten, a board game? You mean like chess? Hmm, I guess I'll give it a try once I download all of the anime that I need to download by the end of this month.

gummibear, PV = promotional video. To me they look like music video. Don't know why the Japanese called it PV though. Thanks for pointing out the OP/ED, BTW.

December 28, 2004 | David wrote:

Oho, *very* good point about the note about screen time -- now that I think about it, you're perfectly right in that Yakitate always emphasizes the group instead of individuals. And I also agree that Asuma is utterly incapable of angst *laughs*

As for HikaGo, I don't suppose this was very popular, so it might not be your cup of tea, but it's probably one of the most rewatchable titles in all of anime (i.e. I haven't ever watched episodes from FMA and Naruto more than once, but I've watched HikaGo in its 72-ep goodness at least four/five times ^_^)

December 29, 2004 | doeo wrote:

Yakitate Japan is planned for ! ! ! 46 ! ! ! episodes :)
source:
http://www.anime-source.com/banzai/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=992

December 31, 2004 | young fu wrote:

46 episodes...? Man, I was hoping that it would be one of those animes that go on forever, like Naruto. I'm guessing the manga is far from being finished, but I suppose the anime's just gonna end after Monaco :'(. It'll make a great anime feel incomplete to me, like FMA -___-""

Kawachi and Azuma were never truly rivals to begin with, even though yeah, they spoke about being rivals and all, but they have yet to face off each other in a competition, and Kawachi, at least up to the latest point is still worse than Azuma, and accepts it. And they're uh.... friendship... is much more solid than most other rivals.

And doesn't Suwabara look kinda like Kuroyan with his eyes closed under the waterfall? Or maybe it's just me...