Yakitate Japan Ep 57

Tsubozuka offers to give Azuma, Kanmuri and Kawachi acupuncture treatment as an apology for what Yukino did to obstruct the competition from taking place under fair conditions. However, this gives Tsukino a shock as she finds the trio half-naked in the CEO office while Tsubozuka is doing so. Kawachi explains this to her and even asks Tsukino to join them, only to be whacked by her for this remark. When Kawachi comments that it is hard for them to go against CMAP in the next round now that they have become friends, Tsubozuka clarifies that they don't have to worry as he has already quit from the group. Through his competition with the Pantasia trio, he has realised that he needs to regain the passion and joy derived from cooking thus there is no reason for him to stay in CMAP. It appears that the members of CMAP are rivals trying to outdo one another and they only pretend to be on good terms during TV shows. Given that the 3 members are professionals when it comes to cooking, Tsubozuka reminds the trio not to take them lightly. With response to this, Kawachi says that they are the professionals in bread-making so they won't be intimidated by CMAP.

Meanwhile in Jungle Agency, the 3 members of CMAP i.e. Kaname Hiroshi, Chimatsuri Go and Narumi Shizuto are engaged in a meeting with Yukino who wants them to take part in the third round against Pantasia. However, these guys are not convinced that they have to take part together just to beat the Pantasia team and even get into an argument among themselves. This leads Yukino to think that these guys are simply goners when it comes to team spirit. Just then, Kirisaki enters the room and says that it is not time for them to be after one another's blood. He throws a magazine onto the table where there is an article insunating that CMAP is finished with Tsubozuka's withdrawal from the team. Although Chimatsuri is not bothered by Tsubozuka's departure, Kaname reminds them that rumours of this sort will hurt their reputations, popularity and finally their incomes. Kirisaki states that they would not have to think of cooperating with one another since they can take care of individual aspects without interfering with how the other members handle their tasks. As such, Kaname decides to choose the ingredients, Narumi will do the preparation of the ingredients while Chimatsuri who has an Arm of Flames will make the bread.

The 3rd round begins with the location announced as Saito City in Miyazaki Prefecture. Upon their arrival at the place, Azuma marvels at the huge haniwa statue which is the symbol of Saito known for its collection of ancient graves. Kawachi remarks that they can't make bread with the haniwa so Kanmuri clarifies that the famous local produce in this city is ripe mangoes grown in greenhouses where the fruit will be wrapped with a net before it ripens and falls to the ground by itself. Due to its sweet taste and nice fragrances, the ripe mangoes are called the queen of the fruits.

When the trio goes to a shop to buy the mangoes, they are shocked to see the high price tag of 3 for 7000 yen. As Miyazaki Prefecture is known for its fine weather in the nation, the fruits produced here will usually be more expensive as compared to those from other locations given its high quality. When an old lady gives Kawachi a piece for tasting, this sends him into a display of exaggerated reactions to show how delicious the fruit is.

The CMAP trio happen to pass by on their bus and mock the Pantasia team as well as Tsubozuka who lost to them. This makes Kawachi very angry and tells them not to speak ill of their ex-teammate. The CMAP members even go as far as saying that Tsubozuka deliberately lost to Pantasia so as to get them into trouble. Azuma flares up at CMAP and declares that he will beat them with his Ja-pan.

Azuma's remarks anger the CMAP members who resolve to beat Pantasia. Kaname then shows Chimatsuri and Narumi the ingredients he will be getting and explains that they will make the mango curry bread using the ripe mangoes which will definitely secure victory for them.

Meanwhile, the Pantasia team return to their motel which is another rundown place with an inauspicious name, Nakisou (About to cry) and Kawachi remarks that they always have to put up with such motels during the contest. Kanmuri explains their intention to save on the costs thus they will have to bear with it, even as their room is overcrowded with lots of haniwa figures in various sizes. As they discuss how to beat the CMAP team, Kawachi doesn't think that they can win if they make things like mango jam, pudding or jelly to be put within the bread. However, Azuma has no intention to do anything to the mangoes since they should taste best as it is. As such, they decide to use the freezing method to chill the waffle dough with the mangoes before baking and proceed to their trailer truck to test the results.

Even though the end-result looks good on the outside, the taste is nothing to boast about. First of all, the mango juices seeped into the dough thus affecting the crispiness of the waffle. Secondly, the artificial sweetness of the waffle doesn't blend with the natural sweetness of the mangoes. Last but not least, the juices would drip out from the waffle thus making it a messy affair to consume this bread.

Kawachi asks Azuma if he's prepared to give up the idea of using the mangoes as it is. Kanmuri has an idea of using the industrial shock freezer to overcome the first problem but he cannot do anything about the other 2 issues. Just when Azuma is seriously considering Kawachi's suggestion, he gets an inspiration after looking at the haniwa statues and declares that he will make the Haniwa Ja-pan to beat CMAP. As such, Azuma gets Kawachi to gather other fruits in the locality which will be mixed into the dough to overcome the second problem of differences in sweetness. The last problem will be solved if they use the haniwa statues if Azuma's theory is to hold true.

The day of the competition arrives in the midst of the sweltering weather. However, Kanmuri realises something strange because Chimatsuri is not sweating at all despite the heat.

As the preparation gets underway, Kawachi comes to the audience and meets Tsukino and Matsushiro who realise that he's been made an errand boy for this round instead of participating in the bread-making process. They find out that CMAP has used demi-glace sauce made from Miyazaki beef to make the mango curry so as to reduce the water content and prevent the bread from turning soggy. Besides, Narumi's way of cooking the curry is the key to making it delicious as it follows the standard method used in Western cooking.

Kaname appears before Kawachi and gang where he declares his work done after buying the ingredients. He also explains that victory is as good as his since the Pantasia will be no match for Chimatsuri and Narumi's cooking skills. When Kawachi retorts that everything will be fine since Azuma is around, Kaname points out the fact that Azuma has added unheated fruit juice into the dough which will make it impossible for the dough to be kneaded as it destroys the gluten...

The SMAP parody continues in this episode and for the next since the 3rd round is not completed yet. Somehow, I get the feeling that the scriptwriters have deliberately tried to steer clear from any direct references to the SMAP in real life since they won't want to risk legal action taken against them. In CMAP, there are 4 members instead of 5 and certain traits distinct to a particular member are not restricted to one character only. For example, Chimatsuri's hairstyle resembles Katori Shingo but his name's kanji Go seems to be in reference to Kusanagi Tsuyoshi. Meanwhile, Narumi seems like a dead ringer for Kimura Takuya. I'm still bewildered as to who Kaname is supposed to represent though since his behaviour is somewhat like the leader of CMAP but no one in SMAP wears glasses. Anyway, the point about CMAP being enemies in real life but pretending to be buddies on TV leaves much room for thought as to whether SMAP is like this too. Not to forget the last point, the agency name is shown as Jungle in the anime and in real life, SMAP belongs to Johnny's Jimusho.

Well, I don't eat mangoes so the creation this week doesn't really interest me. I've heard of using apples and chocolates in curry but mangoes? That's the first time I've seen something like this so I'm quite doubtful as to whether it does work in real life.