Yakitate Japan Ep 48 & 49

The second round of the Monaco Cup final continues where Spencer and Kawachi prepare to grill and bake their creations respectively. Spencer's bread gives out a nice-smelling scent which makes everyone realise that he has used miso made from ancient rice. Just as Kanmuri is preparing to explain what is ancient red rice to Tsukino, Azuma butts in and reveals what he knows since he comes from a family who grows rice. Actually, ancient red rice is more nutritious as compared to the rice of today and doesn't need fertilisers to protect itself against droughts or extreme cold. However, due to the fact that the harvested amount of ancient rice is less than half of what can be obtained from the refined version of rice, very few farmers grow this variety anymore.

Spencer finishes his creation first while Kawachi's bread is still in the oven. Kawachi is very curious to see how Pierro would react to Spencer's bread but finds that Pierro is standing still. Suddenly, he sees Conan behind him and gets a fright. He is even more surprised when he sees everyone around them not moving as if their movements have been freezed. Conan explains to Kawachi that they are currently in the fantasy world created by Pierro and Conan says that they have to solve the puzzle in order to return to the real world. Kawachi finally realises that the keyword is ancient rice miso and everything returns to normal. Pierro apologises for making a fool of Kawachi and suddenly collapses in front of Kawachi with a knife stabbed into his back. Kawachi panics and wonders what has happened but Pierro is actually feigning death to trick him. However, Pierro insists that he was indeed stabbed but he is still alive and kicking because he's a world-class clown.

Just then, Kawachi's bread is completed and he tells Pierro to eat it which is titled, "Victory". After tasting it, Pierro recalls how his circus Quedam became famous and everyone became complacent about their achievements. As such, they did not treat practices seriously and even resisted the idea of having a free performance at a warring area. Pierro had arranged for this in order to bring the members back to their senses and was disappointed with their responses. Fortunately, they decided to follow Pierro there. This story takes up more than 4 hours and everyone gets bored at Pierro's long-winded speech. Kawachi gets increasingly frustrated at Pierro but he suddenly realises that Pierro is referring to his bread as the winner for this round. Pierro suddenly collapses due to heavy bleeding from his wound and leaves Kuroyanagi to explain why Kawachi is the winner. Kawachi had used dattan soba soup for its high nutritional value. In addition, he had used a V-shaped box to allow the dough to rise to the best condition while baking. To prevent the bread from losing its shape, he had used the dough for croissants as the outer layer of this bread. Last but not least, he had used black pig lard in the outer layer which has lesser fat and cholesterol. Upon hearing this, Spencer finally admits defeat. Pierro is sent to the hospital and Kawachi scolds him for risking his life to do such an exaggerated explanation. Pierro says that it was worth it and seeing how hard Kawachi has worked, he wants to meet his parents again. Kawachi feels responsible for Pierro's plight and gets very upset...

There is a nationwide broadcast where it is announced that Pierro is in a critical condition due to excessive bleeding. As he belongs to a very rare blood group called the Bombay type, those who are of this blood group are requested to donate blood. Kanmuri explains that the Bombay blood group does not allow blood tranfusions from other blood groups and that they may only find one person in 10 million people who is from this blood group. As such, if Pierro does not get a blood transfusion, he might die. Azuma initiates searching around for anyone who can help instead of doing nothing and everyone decides to help. However, there is no need for this as the King says that he is from this blood group and will donate blood to Pierro.

Kuroyanagi says that Pierro might be related to the King by blood since only parents with the same Bombay blood type can give birth to a child of this blood group. Meanwhile, Pierro is thinking to himself that his hard work over the years have been in vain since his parents have never come to look for him. Suddenly, he sees himself at a place called Heaven Cabaret and even meets the King there. The King asks Pierro about his parentage and is convinced that the latter is his son who has gone missing for years. However, the King gets upset when he hears Pierro's hatred for his parents who have never searched for him.

In the hospital, everyone is waiting for news about Pierro's condition when they find out that the King insists on donating more blood despite exceeding the allowed percentage and this will affect his well-being. This makes Kuroyanagi convinced that Pierro should be the King's son since he's willing to give up his life to save Pierro. The secret police then reveal the secret behind this matter. According to the traditions of the royal family, the children have to be sent outside the palace to experience life's tribulations. 23 years ago, the King had intended to break the tradition when his son was born but he was reminded of the repercussions of this decision. As such, the King told the Pharaoh to send the prince to an ordinary family so that he would not have to go through the suffering as a member of the royal family. However, the couple who had been entrusted with the prince ran away and committed suicide while on the run thus it was believed that the prince had already died. Thus, the secret police now believe that Pierro should be the King's son and the heir to the throne.

While at Heaven Cabarat, Pierro is enjoying himself so much but the King is full of anguish. He finally reveals the truth to Pierro who is stunned by this and thinks that he is joking. The girls at the Cabarat tell Pierro that he will not die but the King is taken away since his time is up. Pierro regrets not having the chance to be with his father and they are already separated by death.

Azuma, Kawachi and Suwabara go to the palace and try to console Pierro but see him having fun in a party. Actually, this is his way of getting over the grief of losing his father but Pierro knows that this won't work at all. He reveals that he met his father at Heaven Cabarat and hopes to meet him again. As such, Azuma promises to make something better than Ja-pan No. 44 which sent Kuroyanagi there so that Pierro can go there again...

I think the reaction scenes are getting kind of exaggerated these days. Imagine getting Conan into the picture when that anime belongs to another TV station! That is why I don't laugh as much as before these days as compared to the earlier episodes. Although I keep grumbling, I'm still watching the anime because the bread making scenes are nice to watch and there's some interesting knowledge to be acquired. The issue now is whether they will continue with the anime beyond the Monaco Cup since it doesn't make sense to end the series in the middle of the season.