Horror From The Deep

Air Date: 02/01/2003

Contestants: Katou Takako (加藤貴子), Horikoshi Nori (堀越のり), Kitagawa Eri (北川えり)

Guest Judges: Yamazaki Tooru (山咲トオル)

Theme Ingredient/Recipes:
Anglerfish (Ibaraki region) / Fried Anglerfish and Stew

Recap: This is one of those episodes which demonstrates why the show was such a hit, and how the lack of labels in the kitchen can contribute to some very odd results. Tooru, the judge in this episode, is a very effeminate horror manga-ka (I believe some were published in the States by Dark Horse). Not only was he up against a one very ugly fish, but Nori-chan as well. Nori, who is still appearing in episodes today, has had some bad luck on the show. This episode is one of the worst. Fans of the live action 'Hana Yori Dango' series will recognize Takako-chan, she played the Dango shop owner who loved to talk about her past loves.

With a tough fish to cook, Takako and Eri did very well. Nori on the other hand, took a very different approach. Not only did she cook the fish carcass in her stew, but she added the guts as well. When the color didn't appear to be quite right, she decided to spice it up with... lots of spice. As the panel looked on in horror, things only appeared to go from bad to worse.

That isn't to say that the other two glided to their positions on the ranking board. Takako made the mistake of using baking powder instead of flour when she made her fried fish. Although it tasted odd, they still thought the fish itself was good. When it came to the stew, both Takako and Eri did extremely well. Which leaves us with Nori-chan...

The panel first attempted to eat the fried anglerfish, which proved difficult because she didn't fry the meat of the fish. She decided to fry up the fins, tail, and other inedible parts of the fish. Which resulted in something that looked and tasted a lot like used tires. Should I mention that it was raw as well. While Joushima made a valient attempt to get to the 'Bucket of Love', Nori has a habit of dragging people back to the table. As bad as the fried fish was... it barely prepared them for the stew.

Faced with the finished product, the panel did their best not to collapse in laughter. Lots of great jokes were flying, including cracks about how Tooru should be used to horrifying things. He responded that it might be the subject of his next manga. Even with all the laughs, it wasn't enough to stop him running for the bucket. It took a while for Joushima to even get to the stage he would try it, and the best was when he bit into what I believe was the stomach, and it squirted all over the table. Somehow in the midst of running to the bucket (and I'm not clear because I haven't seen all the prior episodes), he pulled the nameplate of Rinka (梨花) off of his right shoe. My guess is that he's been walking around with it there for several episodes.

Which brings us to the Ranking...

Takako and Eri were ranked very well, but then Tooru decided to have a bit of fun with Nori. Going behind the studio to where her nameplate was lying on the floor, he happily brought it back into the main set. Nori was thrilled at the thought she would be moving onto the Ranking Board, until Tooru asked Joushima to show everyone where Rinka's nameplate was located (back on his shoe). He then asked to see his other foot, where he promptly placed Nori's nameplate. Giving her the lowest ranking of the series to this point.

Ranking ( out of 102 ):
Katou Takako: 23 (new entry)
Horikoshi Nori: 90 -> 102
Kitagawa Eri: 17 (new entry)