Site Update

Sorry that there have been no updates this week, I've hit a run of episodes that are in the WMV format and it took me a while to figure out how to get somewhat quality screencaps out of them. I also haven't had as much time with work to watch episodes, I've only got one other one left to review before I go back to watching.

I just posted Attack Of The Gravia Idols and with luck will have either one or two more up this weekend. I'm probably going to go back and get at least this year caught up, as those episodes are still fresh in my mind.

More shortly...

Update

Just another quick update, two new episode recaps are up. Thanks to everyone who has visited the site and posted comments.

Nori's Tower Of Doom

More Than A Little Cheesy

I know that the recaps are jumping around, I'm trying to focus for the moment on episodes that I have not seen. Which means the majority of of the Inoue Waka and Ogura Yuuko episodes will be some time before they get posted. I'm also going to focus on rewatching the late night episodes before I even start recapping the prime time episodes. The main reason is that the episodes are longer and have more people in them. I'm still filling in gaps, but sometime this week I plan on posting a rough episode guide based on what I have. It will help me figure out where there may be gaps (though I know pre-2002 I have huge ones).

As always, any suggestions or comments are appreciated. I hope that everyone is finding the ranking info and recaps useful. I'm going to try and keep the pace up, and hopefully will get more of the Wikipedia article translated this week. If you have a particular contestant that you like and know a bit about, feel free to write up a short bio and send it to me. When I start doing the Apron Girl entries, I'll need all the help filling in the gaps. While I enjoy J-Pop and Drama, this is the only recent cooking variety show that I follow. Most of the people I'm familiar with have never appeared on the show (it took me 3 months before I made the Joushima->Tokio connection), so I can use all the help I can get when writing about the idols.

Until then, keep visiting.

Fujita Noriko Returns

Air Date: 03/15/2006

Contestants: Sugita Kaoru (杉田かおる), Fujita Noriko (藤田憲子), Aoki Sayaka (青木さやか), Sakaguchi Ryouko (坂口良子), Nemoto Harumi (根本はるみ), Takigawa Hanako (多岐川華子)

Guest Judges: Kataoka Tsurutarou (片岡鶴太郎), Hosokawa Shigeki (細川茂樹), Tsuchida Teruyuki (土田晃之)

Theme Ingredient/Recipes:
Potatoes / Croquettes and Cream Stew

Recap: I love the things I learn about Japan when I'm doing the research on these episodes, especially uncovering what all the furor was over Fujita Noriko appearing in this episode. Although this is likely old news to sumo fans, Fujita Noriko was the wife of one of the great sumo wrestlers, and mother to two of the top competitors today. There was a nasty divorce about four years ago, and last May her ex-husband passed away. When it came to the funeral arrangements, there was a heated arguments between the two brothers about who should be the chief mourner. The Japanese press being what it is, this turned into an overnight media orgy (complete with live updates, interviews, etc that took place over weeks). Hmm, not unlike the LiveDoor raid that aired 'live' on most networks in January and caused an episode of this show to be pulled because it featured the CEO as a celebrity judge.

Anyway, they made a big to-do over her return to the show. I expected it to be the main focus of this episode, but instead it turned into a battle between Sayaka and Harumi over who would be the Captain for the April 12th special. After a quick intro of the ingredients and the start of Cooking Time, the show cut to the third of Sayaka's cooking challenges. This time the star she was cooking for was Tsugawa Masahiko (津川雅彦) and the dish he chose was stewed fish head (a traditional festival dish I believe). She did a very good job and ended up getting the Top-Epu ranking but not the Special-Epu that she needed to clinch. From what I can gather, the producers decided to have mini-battle during this episode between Sayaka and Harumi. I could be wrong, but I think Sayaka needed to beat Harumi to Captain the team.

Super-brief Cooking Time once again (there was footage in the previews that didn't even air here), then right into the Tasting Time.

Kaoru was the first up, and as they did a brief recap of her cooking, you knew that things weren't going to go well. She used Bleu Cheese in her Cream Stew. The tasting was fun as one judge exclaimed "Mai" (as in bad) and Kaoru asked hopefully "Umai?" (as in delicious). Apparently it smelled like a seal. Her croquettes were floating in oil and a bit on the raw side. She's just 7 episodes away from being hit with the 'Iron Rule'.

Ryouko had a strange combination for her Cream Stew as well. Sour Cream and Yogurt in combination is not good. I couldn't tell how her Croquettes were as they skipped the judging (if anyone can post a translation of why they were skipped, it would be appreciated.) It seems to be a common thing they are doing now and for the same reason each time. I think they do this when the dish isn't either really bad or really good.

Harumi was up next, and she pretty much hit it out of the park. Everyone loved both of her dishes. Then it was Sayaka's turn, and when she brought out a Brown-colored Stew instead of a Cream-Colored Stew, everyone was skeptical. But she also did a very good job with both dishes and got approval from everyone.

That battle over, left us with Haruko and Noriko. Haruko is on the path to replace Yingling as one of the worst cooks on the show. Not only did her Cream Stew feature huge chunks of potato (she basically cut them in half), but the sauce tasted like a hair conditioner. Better still, her Croquettes turned out more like dumplings because she tried to deep-fry them in a pan 2/3rds full of water and only 1/3rd full of oil. The oil floated on top of the water and the Croquettes sank to the bottom of the pan. instead of deep-frying them. They ended up chunky and raw.

After all this chaos, Noriko was pretty much an afterthought. She did good on the Cream Stew but had problems with the Croquettes.

The Ranking was a bit fun, as Kaoru's nameplate left the building and bumped Hanako from the Bottom-Epu ranking (but not by far, they share the same electrical post off the street). Harumi won a Special Epu Ranking while Sayaka is firmly positioned as a Top-Epu. Now this is where my lack of Japanese makes this analysis difficult.

It would appear that Sayaka will captain a team in the April 12 episode (the same one that she had for the New Year's Special. There will be 3 other teams competing (2 girls and 1 Men's team led by a woman), then the showdown between Sayaka and Joushima. It will be a 3-Hour Special and we won't get another episode until then. (which gives me time to catch up on the older shows).

Ranking (out of 104):
Nemoto Harumi: ?? -> 5 (Special Epu Ranking)
Aoki Sayaka: ?? -> 22
Sakaguchi Ryouko: 21 -> 63
Fujita Noriko: 79 -> 80
Takigawa Hanako: 103 (No Change)
Sugita Kaoru: 94 -> 104 (Bottom-Epu)

Episodes Added

Added two new episodes... I'm going to try to do one a day, which means it will only take about half a year to get caught up O.o

Eel Battle, Megumi Arrives

Horror From The Deep

I'm probably going to work through the older ones first, as they are shorter and have less contestants and judges per episode. I'm also thinking of doing brief posts for some of the regular contestants, in order to make it easier to locate their episodes. I'll wait until I've done five episodes that feature a particular person, then work up an info page with links to not only the episodes they appear in, but what they do outside of the 'Apron of Love' studio.

Update: Added another new episode today and the latest episode should be recapped sometime tomorrow.

The Fine Line Between Niwatori And Namatori

Additions and such

Added the most recent episode today and moving forward I will be putting in the preview info for the upcoming episode as well. I've added the info for the episode that will air on the 15th. I will also try to keep everyone updated as to Special Episodes or weeks that the show won't air.

I'm busy translating the wikipedia page, I've gotten about a third of the way through. I'm going to save the Judge and Contestant info for last, I've got probably 200 names to add to the page. I'm doing it all in one big post for the moment, but once completed I'll break it into sections and place it on the sidebar.

Over the next few weeks, older episodes will begin to appear. I've decided to stick with the current format of placing the episode recap and info on its actual airdate. It will be easier to help you locate episodes in the archives, and will keep things from stacking. I have over 100 episodes to recap as it stands right now, hopefully I can keep filling in the collect. Unfortunately the earliest I go back to is 2002, I wish I could get my hands on some of the earlier episodes.

I added a Frappr map, as I figured it would be fun to see where the fans of the show outside of Japan live. Check out the link at the bottom of the sidebar and feel free to stick your pin on the map.

As always, I'm open to any suggestions or questions or comments. One suggestion I've already implemented is adding the kanji for the names, to make searching easier. Once the info posts are completed, I'll be adding images of the personalities as well. If anyone has any good Emi-chan pictures, please forward them to me ^^;

Thanks for your support

Revenge Match - Enka vs. Ai Epu

Air Date: 03/08/2006

Contestants: (Enka Team) Segawa Eiko (瀬川瑛子), Harada Yuri (原田悠里), Shimakura Chiyoko (島倉千代子), Jounouchi Sanai (城之内早苗). (Ai Epu Team) Horikoshi Nori (堀越のり) and Mitsuura Yasuko (光浦靖子)

Guest Judges: Yamamoto Jouji (山本譲二), Yakumaru Hirohide (薬丸裕英), Katsumata Kunikazu (勝俣州和)

Theme Ingredient/Recipes:
Bok Choi (チゲンサイ) / Chinese Bowl and Won Ton Soup

Recap: This week it was a bit of a strange format. In addition to the normal ranking, they were apparently havng the Enka Team compete against the Ai Epu team, but although it might have been mentioned in the show, the actual competition was really downplayed. It would appear that the Enka Team won, but there wasn't any real fanfare.

Hardly any time was spent on the Cooking segment, moving right into the Tasting. It was interesting in that the Enka Team (who were much older than the two on the Ai Epu team), did not fare any better in the cooking. One of the most respected members of the team (Shimakura Chiyoko) had a very rough time with both of her dishes, and it was amusing to watch the judges try to make the best of it, stuffing their mouths even though it was really bad. The Ai-Epu team was a bit handicapped with Nori-chan, who has been struggling to get onto the Ranking Board. Her Wonton Soup turned out alright, but she ended up blowing it with the Chinese Bowl, forcing the judges to make a dash for the Bucket of Love.

In the end, the Enka Team had an ace in the hole with Eiko-san. She's been doing well recently and is just outside of the Special Apron ranking. I consider her to be the Japanese Sandy Duncan (as she looks much like her and has this habit of dancing all the time, including this episode). She had success with both of her dishes, while Yasuko-chan ended up with her usual hit or miss luck, this time being a miss. She hammed up the impact of the judge's comments by nearly bursting into tears.

There was another segment with Aoki Sayaka, and I think I understand what is going on. Because she came so close to beating Joushima in the New Year's Special, she is undergoing cooking training. The goal is for her to get a Special Apron ranking from one of the celebrities who she goes to visit. This week it was Ishizaka Kouji (石坂浩二) and his request was for Kakiage (sp?) Udon. She did a good job this time around and ended up moving up from the Lower Epu ranking to the Middle Epu Ranking. I believe that if she can get the Special Epu ranking, she will be the Captain for the April 12th special.

I mentioned this somewhat last week, but I should go into more details. The problem the show has had recently, is that there is very little time devoted to the actual cooking (which is one of the funniest segments). It's not that there isn't enough time, it's that they have too many contestants. The original format with three cooks, allowed for more than enough time to fit the show into a 30 minute timeslot. The hour-long format with the extra contestants and segments, leads to much of the cooking and tasting segments being cut from the show. I doubt there will be any changes forthcoming, which is a shame.

Ranking (out of 104):
Segawa Eiko: 9 (no change)
Harada Yuri: 86 (no change?)
Shimakura Chiyoko: 86 -> 81
Jounouchi Sanai: 83 -> 86
Horikoshi Nori: 99 -> 97
Mitsuura Yasuko: 68 (no change?)

Hinamatsuri Special

Air Date: 03/01/2006

Contestants: Apron Boys Special
Mashima Shigeki , Shirosaki Jin, Angles Tanaka, Degawa Tetsuro, Hasegawa Hatsumori, Izumi Motoya

Guest Judges:
Utsumi Midori, Aoki Sayaka

Theme Ingredient/Recipes:
Onion / Onion Gratin Soup and Rice Omelette

Recap: This week was an Apron Boys special, a bit different from the usual fare as they have men compete instead of the usual Apron Girls. Unlike other Apron Boys specials that I have seen, this one does not feature Joushima Shigeru (the MC or 'Leader') competing. I guess he is still tired from the New Years special.

The cooking segment was very brief and didn't even feature much of the Rice Omelette cooking. I don't know if this is a trend, but I've noted that lately they've been cutting both the cooking, tasting and judging segments. This episode isn't any different as there was barely any sign of either Takeuchi Emi or Isono Kiriko. I have to wonder if Emi-chan is long for the show as they've even taken away her announcing of the Ranking Board. I certainly hope not.

As episodes go, this one was pretty dull. Only a couple of trips to the Bucket of Love and no ranking movement outside of the studio. I did note that they've added a new feature, when the judges leave the set to place the nameplates far away, there is a little mini-map that comes up showing where in the TV Studio they are moving.

The only other segment of note is a new one that they seem to have created for Sayaka. They are having her do an chef-on-the-street segment, which has her going and cooking for a well-known star. This week she goes to Sony Pictures and meets with Agewaru Masako (sp?). After introducing herself, she asks him what dish he would like her to prepare for him. He chooses Hamburger with demiglasse sauce. Sayaka then goes out and makes it. He then judges it... which was okay except for the sauce (which looked to be more of a curry). She's going to do this again on April 12th. (Update: I've just heard that another segment aired this week, so I'm not sure what is up with the April 12th date that was mentioned)

Ranking (out of 113):
Shirosaki Jin 12 (New Entry)
Hasegawa Hatsumori 37 (no change?)
Mashima Shigeki 65 (no change?)
Degawa Tetsuro 76 -> 93
Izumi Motoya 79 (New Entry)
Angles Tanaka 102 (New Entry)