「妖精のレシプ」 (Yousei no Reshipu)
“The Fairy’s Recipe”

I came off a bit hard on Shiori last time, but I feel like of the main characters on the show, I wanted to see her given more screen time. She came off initially as the first person to be supportive of Yoshino’s goals, but Yoshino, Maki, Sanae, and Ririko had more well-defined personalities and quirks. Shiori’s thoughts and feelings felt so mysterious when she was presented as being Yoshino’s temporary mentor for the time being, so I’m glad to see these recent episodes give insight on Shiori’s mindset.

“The Fairy’s Recipe” shows Shiori trying to understand her feelings and motivations through the tug-of-war in her family over whether it would be right to leave or stay in Manoyama. Her sister, Sayuri, and her sister’s childhood friend, Kumano, have both traveled outside the town, but her family is getting too pumped up about Shiori and Sayuri taking the next steps in their life. Her grandparents, in particular, are very thirsty about the idea of Kumano being one of their granddaughter’s husbands, but little do they know they’re forming a love triangle. Kumano isn’t making it any easier since he’s been shy to say whether he is still interested in Sayuri after all this time away learning French cooking, and comes off strongly enough to Shiori that her grandparents are convinced they’ll be hitched. I’m curious about whether the show is going to add turmoil to the table if the sisters get competitive over each other, especially with the family pouring gasoline over the fire. Nonetheless, I’m still hooked about seeing how these relationships unfold.

Kumano’s presence also offers Sakura Quest the chance to delve into the territory of food. The tourism department’s ideas for new town-defining dishes aren’t exactly ready to be showcased on The Chef’s Table, but it’s nice to see Sanae and Maki bonding over coming up with a recipe before everyone else. It also adds to the tension between Kadota and Chitose as the tourism department is confronted by the town planning committee over their plans for a culinary event falling on the same date as the town’s festival. It’s harsh to see Yoshino having so much blame placed on her for not realizing the date slip-up even if the tourism department doesn’t mind sharing the responsibility. I do look forward to the next episode’s developments with Shiori though since she overcame her insecurities about taking the reigns of the culinary event as the team’s best chef, and will more than likely face Sayuri and Kumano in the process.

Preview

11 Comments

  1. It’s nice to see the family of the MC’s acting like a normal person in an anime series. Oji-san and Oba -san are the shippers this episode.

    And watching this episode on an empty stomach is a big no-no.

    Ant
  2. We now return to Food Wars.

    I would love it if this show ends with all or at least a few of the girls leaving the town. It would provide closure to what they want to do with their life, and thus complete their character development.

    starss
  3. Not sure there will be a love triangle as Shiori herself admits she hasn’t been thinking about that. But I also see problems getting Kumano together with Sayuri. Kumano just moved back, while Sayuri is about to move out. Poor grandparents….

    I also noticed that the just showed a good example of modern agriculture. It isn’t future tech, but does show that they aren’t stuck in the past. Something which was also hinted at in Kumano’s restaurant. He took over his family’s ramen shop and adapted it to suit his skill set. I think it’s changes like that are what Yoshino’s team should really look at.

    Lastly, Shiori looks good with her hair down. Did it grow longer since last week’s episode?

    theirs
  4. To be honest, I think they should leave creating specialty dishes to Kumano. He’s a certified chef who’s been trained in France, loves his hometown, and has clearly already come up with dishes utilising local produce. It’s not going to be too much of a leap for him to create an entirely new dish for the town, and it’s also going to be good for his business too if he’s the only one (at least for some time) who can properly prepare it.

    Assuming tourists bite, of course.

    Hanabira.Kage

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