「どろどろオムライス」 (Dorodoro Omeraisu)
“Mushy Omelette Rice”

That’s what I’m talking about P.A. Works! I knew you had creative people working in the story department, and this is the type of hectic, crazy, multiple sided drama that I’ve been dying to see. You can say that I was extremely impressed with just how many different angles this Culture Festival is going to have.

From pessimistic to optimistic, it’s a nice change of pace to see the story focus on Minko’s side of things. Instead of being the girl who’s always quiet and has that moody aura round her, its better late than never to watch some of the limelight fall onto her — especially when the people around her consider as pretty and special as Yuina. While I didn’t know that her classmates had a lot of knowledge about her part-time job as a chef-in-training, it was perfect how she was chosen to lead the cooking committee for the class’s maid café.

At the same time, that attitude of hers is seriously going to end up killing her. I still don’t see how hard it is to concede to a small request that half of the members of her committee supported, but I can at least kind of see where Minko’s mind was heading. Seeing how Tohru is going to come visit the café, it’s totally understandable (in my mind at least) why she’d want to take anything off the menu that can’t be made perfectly; it’s the perfect way to win his heart and demonstrate how much she’s improved! However, I don’t know where she got the nerve to say that working for love has no point and that working for perfection is the only way to do things — going as far as making someone burst into tears. We all know that she has Tohru is on her mind and that she is trying to make things as perfect as possible for him!

For Ohana and Yuina, it looks like things are going smoothly as usual for the two. With Yuina already extremely popular, it was nice of her to help display Ohana’s skills at finding fashionable clothing and utilize her insane love for her job to bring her some popularity. With everyone working together as a team, the serving side of the maid café seems to be working smoothly — unlike the cooking side.

As Class 2-A begins to sort through that mess, I was really curious how Nako would be integrated into the story this time around. We already have a major conflict with Minko and her committee, which is why I didn’t expect Nako to have problems of her own. In the complete opposite situation as class 2-A, it doesn’t surprise me how Nako managed to get roped into being the only person who’s helping with the art gallery — if only the most observant of people can notice her discontent, her classmates surely won’t. Actually, what does surprise me is how the idea got passed even though only one person was pushing it!

With drama springing up within Minko’s committee, it’d be nice to watch her give in a little and allow for something as simple as omelette rice to be made. However, with the previews being as accurate as a weatherman’s predictions, I’ll hold off assuming anything for now. On the love forefront, both Tohru and Ko seem to have been thrown back into the fray rather quickly. We still don’t know why Tohru really wants to visit (I have my assumptions), and seeing Ohana dream about Ko could spell disaster if the unspeakable happens. All we have to do is wait a whole week to find out.

 

Preview

51 Comments

  1. I can’t help but feel that Minko stepped back this episode. The way she treated her team was just awful. These are just normal students, not professionally employed chefs. Worse she even came of as a hypocrite.

    fragb85
    1. Yeah, I’m not a fan of her in this episode either, but it’s kind of understandable. Calling her stubborn and saying she completely buries her feelings is putting it lightly.

      At this point, I think it’s easy to argue she has the most issues to deal with out of anyone in the show which is kind of sad because you want to like her, but damn does she make it difficult sometimes.

      Baby Choo Choo
  2. Well now, this is more like it. It has been a while since they’ve shown a decent episode. Ohana, Yuina, and Nako(with her upgraded personality or whatnot) were quite amusing as side characters =03. Even Jiroumaru amused me with his little part.

    Minchi, on the other hand, was def a bitch at the end. Had she been like, say, Okami, who would sternly separate love and work, I’d find what she said acceptable. However, demeaning someone else about mixing love and work when that’s exactly what you are doing by trying to make a menu Tohru would be proud of, makes her, as fragb85 said, a hypocrite. It was, to put it frankly, a selfish, bitch move >=0[.

    frubam
    1. Whether she is mixing love and work is one thing. But because of love she wants to do her best is not wrong. The other girl is not trying her best for everyone but for one guy. Minko is doing it for some guy for still thinks which dish would turn out best with regards to their cooking equipment, budget and manpower. Random side character girl is using love as her goal, whereas Minko is using love as motivation to accompolish something. There is a difference.

      deafvader
      1. Huh (O.o)? Don’t forget that before Ohana coaxed Tohru into coming, she really didn’t care about the menu at all. Minko is doing the exact same thing as the random girl; the only difference is that Minko HAS to do her best in making the food perfect in order to be praised by Tohru. In the end, she only wants Tohru’s praise, NOT to make exceptional food for the customers(she only says she does as a pretext to her real goal).

        frubam
      2. I’m sure if the situation was reversed, and if Tohru’s favorite food was fish, and Minko wanted to cook that for him, she’d be just as angry. Not running away crying, but something like quitting the cooking team.

        frubam
      3. It does not justify Minko’s hypocritical hissy fit. Both were wrong, but Minko is the leader and she dealt with it without grace or tact on a bunch of normal girls. Culture Festivals are meant for fun, this isn’t like Gordon Ramsay cursing around in Hell’s Kitchen.

        This is why I find this a step back. For several episodes, Minko was shown to be loosening up and finding empathy with others. It seemed like she was gaining that when she accepted the job. Then she suddenly turned to a bitch because the plot needed more drama.

        fragb85
      4. I agree with fragb85. I mean: in cultural festival where no student is getting paid, it should be obvious that everyone should be voting instead of Minko hearing out opinion and deciding.

        And if PA work want some drama plot, they should just moved on to Ohana X Ko. That will grab our attention.

        lkaze
      5. Why should they vote? They forced her into the position even though she didn’t want it and pushed their crap onto her. When she wanted to make broiled fish they said no because they can’t make it because they don’t have the right equipment for it, she said no to omelete rice because they can’t make a good one with the things they have. Same thing? Pretty much.

        And sure the festival is suppose to be fun, but for who? Where’s the fun for someone who takes cooking really seriously to make a meh omelet rice?

        Nrvqvist
      6. Team Minko > Team Random Girl.

        I thought when situation got worse about the decision not to bring omelet rice in the menu, Minko had to draw the line somewhere, & maybe, in her personality, she couldn’t take the giberrish coming out from Random Girl’s mouth. The one in charge doesn’t always make the popular decisions.

        I didn’t notice at first that her preferred menu could be based wanting an acknowledgement from Tohru, but I assume her dishes were an upgrade from usual cafe-theme cultural festival (which my only preference is from Suzumiya Haruhi cultural festival episode, & that is yakisoba). Customers would appreciate the change & they wouldn’t just come for the Two Hime.

        HD
      7. I support Minchi as well. She obviously could have dealt with the situation in a less abrasive manner and quite hypocritical, but the pro-omurice girls were throwing an emotion-based hissy fit on “Rikito-kun.”

        If anyone paid attention to Minchi’s notes before the eyecatch you’ll see that she rejected several *other* potential menus as well – not just the omurice. Also, don’t forget that the cooking side only has microwaves and hot plates at their disposal. An omelette requires HEAT and lots of oil, which a hot plate is terrible at dealing with. I would have been a lot more sympathetic with the omurice supporters if they suggested yakisoba or takoyaki…heck, even okonomiyaki as a substitute. But nope, they stuck with omurice and took a jab at Minchi as if she is responsible for the fact that Rikito confessed to her in previous episodes.

        And not that it really matters, but it would be a lot more fitting for the Hime Cafe to be serving Japanese dishes than yoshoku like omurice anyway since the servers will be wearing Kissuiso’s old uniform that is kimono-based…

        sigmasox
    2. agreed on how this episode painted minko as a hypocrite; i just hope her reason for rejecting the dish is deeper than what she’s telling random side character girl. i mean, how hard can it be to cook omelette rice? compared to what minko’s trying to cook up (to most likely impress tohru), i don’t see why she’d reject the notion without being painted as a bitch. it’s not like they’re asking her to bake a cake

      Sarge
    3. I remain optimistic on the Minko front- characters of her type are the ones with the most room to grow. If she remains a bitch, blame the writers for not taking that opportunity to develop the character.

      Stranger
  3. The only thing in this episode I like will be because this will be 19th episode, next will be the 20th. 20th which likely bring a finale to this cultural festival arc.

    Thus I believe the time is ripe to finally bring us the main dish of Ohana x Ko x megane-girl.
    I mean there shouldn’t be any more side character for them to develop now is there?(Oh god I hope no Beanman story is inside). Therefore the next one SHOULD be about Ko , right?

    P.S. Please stop teasing us or at least not me, Mr PA Work.

    lkaze
  4. another setup episode to me… and all I want to see is more Kou in action… for some reason the drama wasn’t as great as it used to be… and did I mention I want to see more of Kou to stir things up for Ohana? :3

    jrj
  5. Let’s say she didn’t have any feelings for Tohru and he was coming then it’d still be pretty bad if they went with omelet rice if she knew they couldn’t make a good one. What kind of apprentice cooks something they know can’t be served at their workplace and even has the chef eat it? It’d reflect pretty bad on her and on all that time she spent working her ass off to improve her cooking and by extension the chance Tohru gave her and he might question his decision about taking her in as an apprentice.

    Nrvqvist
  6. I don’t see much coming out of the Minko/Tohru thing – as angst ridden as she is, I don’t see her having the confidence to confess. Also, since Tohru has interest in Ohana, Minko is about as far away as possible in his mind. Her story will probably end with a fuzzy warm feeling that she gets when Tohru compliments her which gives her hope, but not much else.

    Still hoping for a Ko/Ohana ending, but I’m not sure how that would work out logistically given they each have their own “world” now – I can’t see Ohana going back to Tokyo, nor do I see Ko wanting to stay out in the country.

    7godeohs
  7. Minchi just dug herself a hole there. I sort of get her point about that girl pleasing her crush had totally nothing to do with the ingredients being chosen, but the way she puts it was just over the top, not to mention hypocritical, as she herself is planning to please Tohru by forcing her own agenda through. (Though she probably realizes it herself but is too proud to admit so far. Time for Ohana to loosen a few screws off her. )

    K-ON Trivia: That’s Kotobuki Minako (Mugi) as Mizuno, Nakochi’s (Toyosaki Aki/Yui) bespectacled classmate in charge of exhibiting her paintings for their class’ cultural festival performance.

    And finally, I literally had the same expression as Tomoe when Enishi starts raving about his new relationship with Takako. Urgh, can we get that “non-arc” over with already!?

    Kinny Riddle
    1. She is forced into the leadership position. She is not a social person. Random girl should listen to the group leader not run off crying. Don’t expect professionals from high schoolers but at least expect some discipline. Minko although using tohru for motivation would have done a decent job regardless. She is not the type to not put in effort just because she is forced into a role, she is the get things done type. Tohru just makes her put in more effort. Side random girl runs off when your dish is not chosen? Get real. Grow up.

      Deafvader
      1. I sincerely hope that you’re telling Random Girl to “get real and grow up” and not telling me that. lol

        For the record, yes, I totally agree with you that Random Girl ought to grow up, but I’m just saying that if it wasn’t for Minchi’s personality, she could have been more diplomatic about her reprimanding of Random Girl as the last thing anyone wants is a fouled up mood before the festival, no?

        But that’s what we get now and we will have to see how the story develops from here.

        BTW since when has “Random Girl” become that girl’s unofficial name? XD

        Kinny Riddle
      2. @Kinny
        You wouldn’t want to name her “The Girl who has a crush on the Guy who confessed and got rejected by Minko”, now would you? What’s the too-long-to-remember name of series about a group of guys and girls banding up to exorcise their old playmate again?

        syockit
  8. Minko still wants to outwardly deny that she has Tohru on her mind (typical tsundere), even though she herself knows very well otherwise. As for the idea getting pass with only one person supporting it, most likely, everyone else, either did not want to do anything anyways (apathetic), or just gave up after getting pressured. Ohana seems to feel a bit out of character in this episode. Nothing much has change in the plot. Good drama I guess.

    x
  9. I thought Tomoe’s reaction was suspicious though, it was like she was jealous, but maybe she is as sick as the rest of us with that story as said.

    As for Ohana, what was that thing she did, boobs, waist, or something! Lol it was pretty funny, we kinda do that. Well, some of us.

    I think Minko was being too harsh and a bit of an hypocrit but when she learnt she couldn’t cook fish, and she seemed keen on it, she left the idea aside, and the same must have happened with the omelet, she did consider it IMO. The random crying girl was pretty stupid, if they did the omelet the guy would have liked Minchi even more since she is head chef, she should just bake something to him and stop whining. I’m not sure if Minchi will end up with Tohru but if she doesn’t she should give confessing guy a chance. I’m still sure Tohru won’t end up with Ohana, not only because of Ko but I think she has too much of the friendship code in her.

    The festival seems to be pointing to OhanaKo reunion, can’t wait for that.

    South
  10. Lovely episode – a bit of frenzic pacing perhaps, but better than the last couple episodes;;

    As for Minko, I agree with what someone above said – she was a bitch yes, but wanting to try your best and pleasing another person are two different things. She wants to impress Tohru but is not about to derail her committee’s opinions and is not going to let her emotions affect the menu, which is why she told Random Girl ‘mixing love and work is absurd’ (it might also explain why she’s stubborn and hides her feelings). And to be fair she provided good reasons as to why she rejected the omelette rice and she did tell the committee members she’d consider everything and make her decision accordingly. Also worth noting that Minko did apologize to the remaining members afterwards so she DOES know she was a bitch.

    I think the Random Girl’s reaction was also too immature/contrived; the drama would have been SO much better if she’d had a more… appropriate reaction than crying like a spoiled child.

    (And is Enishi and Takako in a relationship now…?

    BakaMochi
  11. Yes, Minko did behave like a hyprocite, but her actions were still far more reasonable than that of Yuki’s. Minko actually crossed out dishes on a sheet of paper that could not be made well with the limited school equipment. Sure, her words were hypocritical, but she didn’t do anything unreasonable like forcing the whole committee to go for fish (Which Tohru probably fancies). If omelette rice could not be prepared with decent success, then it was the right decision to not choose it.

    Vance
  12. Am I the only one who loved Fem!Ko ? xD I swear, I was laughing so much. I used to be “meh” about him but now I find him quite cute -coughcuz’hesharesthesameVAasSionfromNo.6cough-

    Biased? I don’t know what chu talking about! D:

    Crii
  13. I don’t know… I don’t think Minko’s only looking to impress Tohru. Minko has, from the get go, been obsessed with working properly and decided she wanted to work hard to become a chef before she even met Tohru. That’s gotta come from somewhere. Also, more proof as many people have said, was the way she dealt with the fish being taken off the menu. You could tell she wanted to cook it, but she didn’t whine like a baby like random girl.

    I think while she was being a little hypocritical, and definitely a bit bitchy, what she said was correct. You shouldn’t let your personal feelings come into the work place and bringing up who likes who is “absurd.” As such I was very much on Minko’s side, though I think she was a little harsh and could have explained herself more.

    But who knows, maybe next episode she’ll reveal that Tohru really was all that was on her mind and make what I thought look silly. You just never know with these shows!

    innerchihiro
  14. i agree as regards to what minko did. despite the viewers knowing that she was hypocritical, you can tell that what she said at the meeting was pretty objective. productivity and efficiency should always come first, even if she did come off as bitchy.

    goldenash
  15. I just thought …Ohana’s dream may mean that she wants to see Ko again ,but as her best friend friend .

    I mean ,in the dream ,he wore a waitress outfit .
    It’s like she sees him as she sees Nako : as a friend .

    And Minko was really hypocrite .

    Mina-Sweet
    1. I don’t really think it meant that…we already know Ohana likes him more than that. I think it has to do with Ko going with what she is doing right now, since they are going different ways and she deeply wants to unite that part of her life without giving up the other.

      South
  16. its totally wrong to force the rest of the paying customers to eat fried food made with a hotplate/microwave when it is so much easier for that chick to just make one person’s serving at home and giving it to the guy any other time. go MINKO make the whiny btch cry

    Pablo
  17. After HanaIro restored my faith in episode 18,this is another great episode.Too many subjective and objective in this episode ,but for me, minko disargreement with her friends seem to be the biggest issue here.Look forward to Ep20.

    Topboy

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