Yakitate Japan Ep 45

Suwabara and Azuma are making their own preparations for the final but Kawachi does nothing and is reprimanded by Kuroyanagi for wasting time putting on wigs to cover his shaved head. Sophie comes to inform them of the contestant order of the US team where Suwabara meets Monica in the first round, Kawachi against Spencer in the second round and Azuma in the final round. Kawachi gets cold feet because he has seen how good Spencer was during the Pantasia Newcomer Contest while Suwabara does not like the idea of competing with a little girl constantly chewing gum as he hopes to have a match with either Spencer or Shadow who had beaten Azuma in the previous round.

Meanwhile, Spencer and Monica are relaxing in their room when she suddenly asks him how good Suwabara is. Spencer says that Suwabara had always been regarded as the champion contender during the Pantasia Newcomer Contest until Azuma stole the limelight and title from him but Monica doesn't seem to feel threatened.

Sophie is searching for information on Monica and Shadow but fails to find any. Kuroyanagi suggests that this could be due to them being newcomers in any bakery contest. Just then, Kuroyanagi's ex-classmate during his Harvard days, Kid calls to inform that he is operating an investigation agency in the US and provides him with info on Monica since nothing can be found about Shadow at the moment. After hearing Kid's words, Kuroyanagi gets so shocked and tells Sophie to get the guys to assemble as he has something to tell them.

Azuma, Kawachi and Suwabara are wondering why Kuroyanagi asked to meet them suddenly and he apologises for disturbing them at this time. Kuroyanagi says that his guess as to why Kirisaki had not made trouble for them since the semi-final could be due to Monica and Shadow displaying their true abilities and there was no need for him to intervene. Initially, the US team had won their matches through Spencer only but in the semi-final, the results showed that Monica and Shadow were better than him. As such, the duo could be newbies to bread making and attained their current standards after being with Spencer on the same team and tapping on their own strengths. Kuroyanagi also says that Monica is not as simple as she seems because she is the world champion for the confectionery making contest. Given that the first round's judgement criteria is based on aesthetic appeal and that confectionery production requires much more effort being put into appearance as compared to bread making, she has an advantage over Suwabara in this aspect. They misunderstand that Suwabara is shivering with fright after hearing this but he is actually thrilled at the fact that he's competing against someone of substance and is trembling due to excitement. Thus, Suwabara gets more enthusiastic and hyped up at the prospective of meeting Monica in the first round.

Kuroyanagi mocks Kawachi for not putting in more effort and reminds him that there is a chance that Suwabara might lose given that his opponent is Monica. As such, the second round is very crucial since the Japan team will lose the title once Suwabara and Kawachi are defeated.

On the day of finals where Round 1 is held, the rest of the rounds will be held in the next two weeks. In addition, there are little spectators since France will not be appearing in the finals. Monica appears in a bikini as her strategy is to get Suwabara distracted due to her dressing. However, Suwabara retalliates by stripping down to his underwear which makes Monica realise that this plan is not going to work.

Suwabara prepares two bowls of dough where one has a lot of egg-yolks while the other is the type used to make croissants. On the other hand, Monica has five bowls of dough in different shades of grey as she has used black wheat. In actual fact, Monica is a immigrant from Germany who had gone to USA when she was a kid. Using black wheat is a traditional way of making bread by the Germans. As her family believed that they would succeed in USA through bread making, they left their hometown but things did not go their way. Thus, Monica accepted Kirisaki's suggestion of taking part in the Monaco Cup so that she can be the general manager of St Pierre's confectionery department if they win the title.

Suwabara prepares some fruits which exude a glow but Monica counterattacks this by making a carving of a rose which looks very realistic...

It seems like each round of the final would take about 2 episodes so this could mean that this anime will not finish in Sep. Does this mean it will extend beyond the Monaco arc? I certainly hope so.

I have a hunch that Suwabara might lose and Kawachi may turn out to be the unexpected hero for Round 2 although nobody believes that he will beat Spencer. Or else, letting Suwabara win and Kawachi lose would be quite expected and reduces the tension since Kawachi would definitely have to win in order for Azuma to compete with Shadow.