This Moon Festival arc was beginning to feel like it was being drug out far too long. However, it is important for our protagonist to face big challenges, and this has been one of Soma’s biggest challenges yet. As the episode begins, we are rounding up Day 3 of the Moon Festival. A five-day event where Soma has been in the red each day thus far. Still, ever vigilant and determined as always, Soma and Megumi continue practicing new dishes and coming up with new ideas to prove themselves Kuga’s equal.
On Day 4, Soma and Megumi finally unleash their secret weapons. Although he hasn’t been making money, Soma has spent every day observing Kuga’s restaurant and scoping out it’s weaknesses. Bright and early on Day 4, Soma and Megumi have made a cozy bench set-up for customers as well as a brand new dish to unveil. Kuga, of course, is unphased and not concerned as he continues to berate Soma.
But this is the day Soma has been waiting for. The busiest day of the festival, where people are not going to want to wait in line for hours, nor be rushed out after 20 minutes. With a burst of scent from his Yukihira style mapo tofu, which he dubs “Countdown Mapo Curry Noodles”, it doesn’t take long for the people stuck in Kuga’s long line to start migrating over to Soma’s booth. Kuga finally sees Soma for what he is, not a mere house cat, but a lion.
As expected, Soma’s plan works amazingly, with Megumi providing excellent customer service and Soma cooking up a storm. However, they are only two people, and they begin to fall behind….until Subaru (called it!) shows up, having been perfecting his profiling of Soma as well as perfecting the new recipe. Even with Subaru’s speed and assistance, the crowd still becomes overbearing.
And just when they are about to lose their tempo, some unexpected help arrives from Ikumi, and BOTH Aldini Brothers; Takumi and Isami. All of which prove that just the six of them can work as efficiently (if not more so) as Kuga’s entire restaurant. Though, each of them have actual restaurant (or something similar) working experience, which most students at Totsuki don’t have.
Meanwhile, Alice, Ryo, and Akira’s booth is still struggling. However, Alice a genius idea and drags Ryo away, simply telling Akira to “make curry that would be good with cacao”. You’ll have to watch past the end credits to see what happens though!
OVERALL SCORE: 9 / 10
The beginning of the episode was a bit slow, but as I said before, Rule of 4. The fourth episode is always when things really start to take off and take off they did. This episode finally brings all the characters we know and love back together. As much as I love Soma and Megumi, I want to see more than just Megumi being frantic and Soma being funny and then going into his chibi mode (which I do love).
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