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)