「まぼろしの料理人」 (Maboroshi no Ryōrinin)
“The Phantom Cook”

This extension of a simple mid chapter special was not only incredibly hilarious, but even managed to make some connections to pad the story. At first, I only expected a decent chuckle here and there. It helped that the “problem” of the episode was really simple, having only to do with food, so I wouldn’t have to sit through rushed exposition, climax, and finale like typical fillers. Plus, I already like the setting of Exorcist, I like the characters, and I dig the humor. Now, the humor wasn’t that prevalent in the previous episodes, having only on occasion one or two jokes that had me bursting into laughter, but this episode was fantastically filled with it. I’m not exactly a connoisseur at comedy, so my best guess as to what type of humor is employed in Exorcist would be a mixture of deadpan and slapstick (apparently my favorites in anime). All I know is, I was going into conniptions at almost every joke they attempted, and enjoyed a less serious side of Yukio, who proved he can be just as ridiculous as Rin. One particularly good one that comes to mind was Rin dying from Mephisto’s food, sees his grandma, and Yukio remarks that they’ve never even met her. ..Yeah it’s not really as funny when I’m dryly explaining it. But I mean hell, this joke was done like three times, and it still got me every time.

What threw me for a loop was how the show started to connect things near the end. Incidentally, I totally forgot Rin could cook, so I was like, “sweet, cooking’s an awesome trait.” Since I haven’t read the manga, and don’t really want to skim to see if they explain any of this in the future, I figure most of the plot created this episode is anime original so if I’m wrong, let’s pretend that I’m not for the sake of the post still making sense. To begin with, they gave what didn’t seem to be a big deal of having meals made every morning a reason, which lead to Ukobach, lending the demon side of the series. His design is pretty cool, and the created camaraderie between him and Rin reminded me of One Piece, since they do the friendship from battle thing a lot. Giving Yukio a complementary plot with the girls extracted a lot of hilarious behavior from the two brothers, but explaining that Rin’s love for cooking actually originated from Shirou was a pretty good move for an emotional blindside. Anime original or not, it makes perfect sense. I’m really impressed with the material here.

Next week appears to return to the main story, and the short few pages I accidentally gleaned while reading the chapter special showed Shiemi trying to make some friends. It’s just… she chose the tsunderegood luck.

 

Preview

40 Comments

  1. Ao no Exorcist episodes feel much lengthier compared to other shows airing this season. Tiger & Bunny is like that too. Must be the absorbing content.

    [Traditions or Cliche]
    -In Japan’s schools, is lunchtime really ever this chaotic? Over the years, I’ve seen that lunch scene at the Sandwich stands time and again. So much in fact that it seems like a tradition, albeit a fun one.

    -I don’t exactly like the new trio. (Especially after how they trashed those beautiful obento.) I get the feeling they just threw them in there to show the status of Yukio and Shiemi. I feel bad for Shiemi though because experience tells me she may be the victim of future hate crimes. I will Rage.

    .:~*Shiemi confessed!*~:.♥ <3

    1. You should watch a dorama called My Boos My Hero. They have a racing during launch time to see who gets pudinng (the school sells a limited number of them). It’s insane, with hundreds of students running, fighting, climbing the walls, etc. LOL.

  2. Not to sound like a whiner or anything, but this episode was kind of pointless. I’ve never read the manga so I’m not sure if it’s actually in it, but this feels like filler material. At least it was a fun little diversion while it lasted.

  3. This anime original episode was surprisingly good!
    Not too sure why they need fillers though since there seems to be sufficient materials to be covered from the manga.

    Seishun Otoko
      1. If they use a few more filler episodes and stretch some chapters across two episodes, like they did with chapter 1 = episode 1 & 2, they could probably start a season 2 as early as next year. But even then they wouldn’t have many chapters to work with, so it could be some time, if they don’t just go with an anime-original ending.

        Bossun
      2. Most probably they are gonna give the anime an original ending and wrap up the series.
        Claymore has been running for almost 6-7 years and have so much material and STILL it hasn’t yet got a second season.
        Probably since Jump Square is a monthly manga,they avoid making multiple seasons so that the anime doesnt catch up to the manga.

        gan
    1. Hey, it’s better to have fillers now than later when they actually do run out of material. There’s eventually going to come a point where the plot gets thicker and it’s going to be harder to throw in little fillers like this.
      I don’t think it’s a bad thing. As long as they do fillers well! Not like bleach where they are horribly long and introduce a cast of awkwardly placed characters.

      pickleme
  4. I was at first wary of A-1 deciding to throw in a filler episode, but oh man. I was actually cackling after Rin criticized not adding other stuff to the “ingredients” of the stew.

    Click
  5. It wasn’t fully an anime original episode, there was an omake about Rin getting the 2000 yen allowance and about cooking in the dorm’s kitchen, but there he tried to sell the obentos. Great episode anyways. Thanks for the post.

    Bambi
  6. It seems I will fall for every episode where they give flashbacks of Shiro. Damn, that old man is way too great of a character and badass too!
    What actually cracks me up this ep is when rin pointing out about the stew, and those stupid expressions of Yukio. LOL he’s not so cool of a character he appears to be.
    And damn those food are really great!
    One question: if mephisto’s familia can cook (really good, too!) Why he only eats noodle cup!?

    KGFJ
  7. The grandma joke was pretty much the best in this chapter for me, next is Rin’s concern for the ingredients and mephisto’s ramen, while talking about high class food no less!

    Teela
  8. Nothing epic in this episode but….

    I really love the scenes where:
    1. Shiro spat out Rin’s eggs and Rin still accepted that Shiro liked it.
    2. Rin being more worried about the stew than the girls (which i would to cuz i don’t like them)
    3. The fact Rin and Yukio just went shopping but Rin and Uko-chan already used up a lot food yet the quatity of what they bought wasn’t explained (this is more of an anime flaw)

    It was a nice filler

    Azul Flamed Samurai
  9. This episode was funny and interesting.
    I loved the part where Rin kicks Yukio lol. And the center parting of the hair (Rin’s doing) lol. I also haven’t read the manga yet, so I’m curious about the story development, etc.

    Valerie
  10. yeah, that was pretty funny. But whats up with that familiar/demon? he looks like souls inner demon from soul eater….then again..maybe NOT. and BTW- did rin always HAVE A TAIL? or was it after he pulled da blade?

    BROOKLYN otaku
    1. It’s not been too prominent, but it has appeared in previous episodes. I believe it popped out his butt at the same time as he first drew the sword and his ears became permanently pointed.

      Guardian
  11. I laughed pretty hard at the 2000 yen bill part when they were in awe of its rarity and mystery. When I went to study in Japan, my bank gave me several 2000 yen notes and I thought nothing of them. But when I showed them to my new Japanese friends, they acted the EXACT SAME WAY as Rin and Yukio! They kept saying that they were really rare and that I should keep them! So that was a nice nostalgic moment for me.

    BTW, this episode was absurdly hilarious and I loved every minute of it! One of my favorite shows this season without a doubt!

    longtimefirsttime
    1. Oh you too? I just posted and then saw your comment! Yeah those things are legendary! Why cant japan just print more of those 😛 I kept them for so long I honestly dont know where I even put it in my house. Its in an envelope somewhere lol

      unknown2
      1. Glad to hear I’m not the only one!

        In retrospect, I’m wondering if I should have saved one or two of those bills, either for sentimental value or potentially their collector’s value. Perhaps I can sell one in the future to a zealous collector willing to pay top dollar for them!

        longtimefirsttime
  12. LOL when I saw the 2000 yen bill! I saved like 3 of those and havent spent it for the last 5-6 years? Its unbelievable how that bill did not get spread. I think its thanks to ppl like me who like to save those. I still find them occasionally like x1 a year, sometimes in the cash drawer. Usually the post office ppl had them lol.

    unknown2

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