Yakitate!! Japan ep.8

December 10, 2004 | 6 Comments

There isn't much comedy in this episode but I don't mind it much because this episode mostly serves to give Kawachi some character development. Interestingly enough, Kawachi has been the only character who receives character development thus far. Despite being the main character, Azuma remains as Azuma everytime. He's the boy wonder who can do it all. Kawachi, however, has gone from having snotty attitude towards Azuma to being a character who slowly accepts Azuma as a friend. In addition to giving Kawachi some character development, this episode also reveals more of Tsukino's personality and intention. Top this off with a generous dose of fanservice and this turns out to be one decent episode.

The episode begins with Ken informing Azuma and Kawachi that he's just received a red card from the owner of Pantasia, Tsukino's grandfather. The red card is an invitation for Azuma and Kawachi to participate in Pantasia's newcomer battle. Kawachi is immediately interested when he finds out that one of the prizes includes the chance to work at Pantasia's main store. The problem is, there will be 512 contestants from all Pantasia stores so clearly winning will not be easy. To make things worse, the contestants need to create table bread that doesn't become moldy even after three weeks. Being the boy wonder that he is, Azuma immediately knows how to make such bread. So he immediately runs away from the shop to find the ingredient for that said bread. He also promises Kawachi that he'll give him the same ingredient once he got it.

Kawachi, on the other hand, feels depressed because he doesn't want to win the competition with Azuma's help. However, he knows it'll be hard since he doesn't have the Azuma's ability and solar hands. Upon hearing this, Tsukino tells him that if he wants, she can teach him how to have a solar hand. Kawachi does not believe her at first but never the less decides to let Tsukino to take him to a gym. Once they got there, however, she pushes him to a pool and tells him that if she wants to get solar hand, then he'll have to swim 10k every morning and evening. Plus, he'll do so while wearing some kind of weight around his body, so that his hand will become stronger. She then leaves Kawachi to go to the weights area of the gym. Inside the gym, Ken tells Tsukino that he knows she trains Kawachi because she's after the additional prize money.

It turns out the store where the winner of the competition comes from will also receive 10,000,000 Yen budget for the store. Tsukino admits that is partly the reason because she can use the money to improve the store. Having said that, she also does it because she wants Kawachi to be able to achieve his dream of working at the main store. The episode then shows a flashback where Kawachi was kid. It turns out his father had the same aspiration as he is now but he died in a fire incident one day while making bread. Ever since then, Kawachi has been obsessed in ensuring that his father's dream will live on. So he took it upon himself to become a good baker so he can join Pantasia. Back to the present, Tsukino tells Ken that back then when Kawachi cheated and deceived Azuma, she almost had to use her influence to revoke him out of the competition.

But he realised his mistake on his own and Tsukino believes that if she can direct his eagerness in the right direction, he'll be a good baker. Meanwhile, Kawachi is seen half-dead but finally completing his 10k swim. He wonders if Tsukino is simply tricking him into believing her words. But after some more thoughts he believes that she is being genuine about it. Anyway, Tsukino then takes him to her car and tells the manager that from now on she'll supervise Kawachi's training. Ken wonders if that means Azuma will have to be careful but she believes that Azuma will do fine on his own. Speaking of the genius, he's seen running alone in the middle of the night. So a policeman stops him and tells him that a kid like him should be home at this hour. But Azuma tells him that he's on his way to Izu and proceeds to ask the policeman if he knows if he's heading towards the right direction.

Impression:

I think I'm suffering from anime over-exposure since I haven't been able to enjoy many of the series that I've watch. Having said that, this episode was not bad at all. It doesn't have as much humour in comparison to the previous two episodes. Never the less, I'm still entertained by Kawachi and Tsukino's antics. Speaking of Tsukino, she sure knows what she wants and how to get it. And unlike other token female character in Shounen shows, love is definitely not on her agenda at the moment. It's all about money and success for Tsukino. Credits must go to the writer and character designer that she remains likeable despite her ambition. Anyway, this episode is basically the start of a long-running arc and I hope the anime writers don't end up shortening this arc into a 2-3 episode like Bleach writers do to some of that series' arcs.

© memento 2003