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?)