Yakitate!! Japan ep.21-22

March 25, 2005 | 7 Comments

I just realised that all of the OP and ED songs in this series also has its own individual PV (music video) created by the singers. Here are some screenshots of Houkigumo, Sunday, To All Tha Dreamers in case you're interested. I really like these PVs because they usually give the songs a rather different mood, tone, and style from the one given by the anime's OP and ED. For example, when I first heard To All Tha Dreamers, the song sounds more like one of those 80s style song. However, upon watching the PV, I get the impression that the song is supposed to have a more contemporary feel to it. I think this is because the version used as Yakitate!! Japan ED does not include the rather contemporary musical arrangement part of the song. The image of Ken dressing up in 80s style get-ups also change the way the song comes across to me in the first place.

Anyway, episode 21 begins with Azuma regaining his confidence after Kawachi's pep-talk. He immediately declares that he's going all out in the match with Japan 44. Suwabara is a bit deterred upon seeing Azuma's sudden confidence but tries to convince himself that he can win with his 648 layers Croissant. He even tries to show Azuma that he can bake his croissant better so there won't be any burned outer layers like Azuma's Croissant. Azuma, however, can't care less and he immediately asks Kuroyan to judge his bread as soon as he completed it. Meanwhile, Yukino is unhappy when she sees Azuma's confidence. She wonders why his mood change from depressed to cool and composed. Kanmuri doesn't seem to understand either but he suspects that Azuma's confidence has a lot to do with the board he's using inside the oven.

Before Kanmuri can think even more, however, he suddenly hears Deebu's maid screaming to everyone that Deebu is dead. The same thing has also happened to Kuroyan, whose soul can now be seen departing his body and ascending into what looks like heaven. After exploring the place for a while, however, both Kuroyan and Deebu encounters what looks like a nightclub complete with its own bunny hostess. One of the hostess called Satsuki reminds Kuroyan of Cathy so he willingly agree to come inside for a while. Once he's inside, Kuroyan begins to turn on his charm on Satsuki, telling her how she reminds him of his ex-girlfriend. Meanwhile inside Pantasia, everyone still reels in from the shock of seeing Kuroyan and Deebu's dead bodies. Suwabara is unhappy about this and thinks that Azuma poisoned the breads.

Because of this Kirisaki has no choice but to ask Azuma to explain the situation or else he'll have to call the cops. Azuma tells him that the truth is, neither Kuroyan nor Deebu is dead. They have, however, gone to heaven for a while. Meanwhile Kuroyan is upset because Satsuki tells him that as much as she likes him, their relationship wouldn't work. Satsuki informs Kuroyan that the truth is he's still alive and tells him that Azuma's grandfather once had similar incident after eating Japan 44. True enough, it doesn't take long before Kuroyan's soul begins to de-materialise from the place. Kuroyan then wakes up in his own body only to find that he's been kissing Kirisaki's face mask. He, however, quickly recovers from his horror and announce Azuma as the winner of this semi-final.

Suwabara is pissed off with this decision and asks Kuroyan to try his Croissant first before making further judgment. Kuroyan, however, quickly dismissed Suwabara's protest by asking him if his Croissant can send him to heaven because if that is not the case then Suwabara will lose. Poor Suwabara is not even allowed to taste Azuma's bread because Kuroyan wants all of them. Unfortunately for Kuroyan, it seems Deebu has run away with Azuma's breads. Azuma, however, tells him that he can just make another one if Kuroyan really likes them but he thinks Kuroyan won't go to heaven again. Azuma is then greeted by his friends who congratulate his success. Their happiness, however, is cut short when Yukino appears to tell them that she is going to enjoy the final match.

Episode 22 begins with Kirisaki approaching Azuma to congratulate his victory in the semi-final as well as to apologise for doubting the kid. Kirisaki then informs Kawachi that the investigators have found out that his dough was indeed tampered by someone. Unfortunately, they can't prove that Yukino was the one who sabotage the dough. Kirisaki, however, tells Kawachi that he still has the chance to compete for the third place. Upon hearing that he'll have the chance to work for the Pantasia main store if he wins this round, Kawachi becomes excited again. Ken, however, suggests that Kawachi visits a Church called St.Andrews to learn more about bread-making. Tsukino seems to know that the place is where Ken got his afro style but before she can say anything else, Ken covers her mouth with his hand.

As Southern Pantasia employees leave the main store, Kawachi warns Azuma that he thinks Kanmuri may have solar hands as well. Azuma, however, does not seem to worry much about it because he has his petalite board. He, unfortunately, also realises that he's left his board inside the store. Meanwhile inside the Pantasia building, Kanmuri tries to persuade Yukino not to resort to dirty trick during the final competition. Yukino is not happy about this and reminds Kanmuri that she's the one who's paying for his research facilities. Kanmuri has no choice but to assure her that he can beat Azuma in the final. Once Kanmuri left, Yukino stumbles onto Azuma's petalite board and realises that she has the chance to sabotage Azuma. So Yukino steals the board, destroys it, then dumps the remain onto children's playground.

Impression:

I just realised now that I like the idea of Kawachi and Tsukino as a pairing. When the two didn't hug each other in unison after Azuma's victory during episode 21, I felt a bit annoyed about it. It made me wonder why the anime purposedly altered the scene when it's not even offensive to begin with. Having said that, I'm glad that the friendship between Azuma, Kawachi, and Tsukino is portrayed well in this version. It's been nice to see their friendship evolve from episode to episode. It's about time too because this is when the group needs to be stronger than ever. By now it should be obvious to them that Yukino will exploit any opportunity she can get to sabotage Southern Pantasia's effort at the competition. Heck, I won't be surprised if she's willing to kill someone to achieve her objectives.

© memento 2003