Yakitate!! Japan ep.25-27

July 28, 2005 | 7 Comments

These three episodes marked the end of the new bakers competition arc. While there are few minor surprises in these episodes, in general the storyline is mostly geared to tidy up the arc. Having said that, it's nice to know that the series does not stretch out some of its minor plots such as Kawachi's desire to work for Pantasia's main store. The anime writers also seem to be aware that the material that they have left from the new bakers arc are not enough to fill up episode 27. Because of this, they decide to include a live-action instruction on how to make Japan #2: SuihanJapan, a bread made inside a ricecooker. This particular segment is quite interesting and offers a brief diversion from the usual baking battles contained within each episode.

Episode 25 itself begins with Yukino destroying Kanmuri's laboratory as a revenge for losing against Azuma. Meanwhile, Kawachi retells the story on how he acquired his new Afro hairstyle. It seems that the St.Andrew's Sister challenged him into a baking competition to prove that Kawachi is an amateur. Well, not only Kawachi lost to the Sister in the French bread making competition, she also criticised him for being the kind of person who is easily surprised by another person. After a few convincing 'persuasions' and 'trainings' by the Sister, Kawachi finally agrees to get an Afro hairstyle to change his attitude. When the time comes for a battle with Suwabara, however, Kawachi is still as jittery as ever. Nevertheless, the stage is set for Suwabara's Dancing French Bread and Kawachi's Singing French Bread.

Continuing from the previous episode, episode 26 starts off with Kawachi putting a bucket of water inside the stove in order to produce additional steam, which in turn causes his bread to produce sounds while being baked. Not wanting to be outdone, Suwabara produces a French bread that forms the shape of a snake. Meanwhile, Azuma has decided that he will not be working for the main Pantasia store. Having said that, he feels sad knowing that Kawachi will probably move there if he wins this round. Back to the competition, Kawachi's bread is finally completed and upon tasting it, Kuroyan begins having flashback of his best friend back in the US, Brad Kidd. For a reason that I will leave to your own imagination, Kawachi's double-crust bread reminds Kuroyan of Kidd. In the end, Kuroyan decides that Suwabara and Kawachi tie in this competition.

Episode 27 begins with the award ceremony for the winner of the tournament. Kawachi is also allowed by Kuroyan to finally transfer to the main Pantasia store. Much to everyone's surprise, however, Kanmuri wishes to transfer to the Southern Pantasia store. Nevertheless, both Kuroyan and Ken grant his wish. After the competition is over, Meister Kirisaki tries to prove to Tsukino's grandfather that Yukino was the one responsible for ruining Kawachi's dough. Unfortunately, Yukino manages to deflect the suspicion without too much trouble. Meanwhile, Ken informs his workers that Meister Kirisaki is actually the son of Kirisaki Ryuuichi, the owner of St.Pierre. Kirisaki Sr. was married to a French woman but then left his family to create original bread in Japan. This obviously reminds Azuma of the bakery owner that he met when he was a kid.

Impression:

I can't possibly be the only person who believes that the person who introduced Azuma to the idea of Japan is actually the owner of St.Pierre, Kirisaki Ryuuichi. Having said that, I also wonder how on Earth this nice person turned into a monster who not only neglected his children but also hellbent on destroying anything that stands between him and success. What did happen in between him leaving for Tokyo to the present day? I hope that when this is finally revealed, there is a plausible explanation for the attitude and personality change. But then again, the two could be completely different person. But it seems strange that the two characters have a rather similar character design. Especially since this series has done a good job in ensuring that every character looks rather different from each other.

© memento 2003