(Uno Meiko) Dad?
(Uno Daigo) How dare a freakin' amateur criticize my work...
~Music~
(Uno Tora) "This one little newspaper article
changed everything.
~Theme: "Ame Nochi Hallelujah" by Yuzu~
Week One: A Once in a Lifetime Strawberry Episode 3
Suddenly, unexpectedly, or inevitably?
We don’t notice when it begins.
Things don’t always go as expected.
When that happens, all we can do is grin.
As the raindrops fall one by one, the colors of the town change,
and without an umbrella, I can sing to the rainy sky above.
I love you for who you are.
Please look up and let the light shine on your face.
So that the river of tears can return to the ocean.
Hallelujah! Everyone’s heart will make it through difficult times to the brighter days ahead.
Uno Meiko
Uno Teruo (Meiko’s younger brother)
Is it good?
Let Teru and me have a taste.
No way! It’s mine!
Uno Tora (Meiko's grandmother)
Pardon me your majesty.
If I may offer you this in exchange...
The entire bag? If it pleases my majesty.
To be honest, I feel this trade will be beneficial for the both of us.
~Music~
Just like that, you didn’t give any to your dad either?
He surely asked you for a taste, right?
Well dad was…kinda scary. Huh?
He had some meat and was like chop chop chop chop
Hmm…I wonder if something happened?
(Sound of a knife chopping on a cutting board)
(Uno Iku, reading to herself) “The chef trained at Teikoku Grand Hotel.
So as to be expected, his dishes are done quite well,
but the taste imitates where he trained.
That is to say, there’s really nothing at all unique about this restaurant.
Being a food critique, I've eaten many upscale dishes like his before.
So as far as originality, or creating something new, there’s nothing of interest here.
As far as fine dining is concerned,
it simply can’t compare to restaurants in the big city.”
(Iku) Nevertheless, it pretends to be a five-star restaurant,
but only comes across as pretentious by not offering rice or chopsticks to its customers.
By no means are the prices cheap either.
Therefore, in the opinion of this writer,
you are much better off going to the Teikoku Grand Hotel itself
rather than this poor imitation.
(Sound of a knife chopping on a cutting board)
(Flashback) Umm…is it possible to get a pair of chopsticks? No matter how I try, it’s quite difficult using these utensils.
Ah, it was that customer…
Uno Daigo (Meiko’s father)
*sigh*
Well, we’ve got to do something.
English subtitles provided by Kimigayo Fansubs.
What’s that? Jam!
You’re quite the little piggy, aren’t you?
Hey, isn’t Daigo late?
Yeah, I think you’re right. Did something happen yesterday?
Actually…
Here we go. Sorry it took so long.
Dad, what’s that? This? Well, it’s…
Excuse me.
Here we are.
What is all of this? Well, I thought I would think of some new dishes
This is steamed foie gras with egg and soup
Here we have minced meat pie.
And this is shrimp simmered in a tomato sauce.
Wow!
This is classic French cuisine that they don’t even serve at Teikoku Grand Hotel!
What do you think? Looks great doesn’t it? Yeah!
Hey now, this is…
Well, before it gets cold… Itadakimasu!
(Together) Itadakimasu!
Mmm….
~Music~
It’s delicious, isn’t it?
Your dad’s cooking is the best in the whole world, right?
Yes. Yes. Yes!
Hey, this is stuff that you can still serve to customers, isn’t it?
Considering the circumstances, I thought we should start using better ingredients.
Where the heck do we have the money for this? Now we’re…
Wow!
You can’t have it! Meiko!
It’s fine. When it's easier to get ahold of strawberries
maybe your dad will make you the best strawberry jam in the whole world!
Really? (Daigo) Yeah!
Everyone has lost their mind.
(Iku) Leave it here.
It’s not something that you should be taking to school.
If I leave it here, it’ll all be gone.
If you get it taken away from you, it’s not my fault.
Good morning! Morning!
(Chiyo) What do you have for lunch today? Maybe some tomato rice?
(Genta) Hey, Meiko! Good…good morning.
What do you have there? Medicine. My stomach kinda hurts.
Huh? I guessed you would have a stomach ache when pigs fly.
(Chiyo) I’m so glad your stomach is feeling better. Huh?
I mean, if you’re able to eat like that… Oh yeah, it feels better now.
Ouch! Wow, all of a sudden…
(Giggling) (Genta) There she is.
Mmm…
(More giggling)
Hehe…I got a lot this time.
Hey Meiko! That’s not medicine!
Yes it is!
I won’t tell anyone. Just lemme have a taste.
Hey, give it back! Here it is. Nope, over here!
Give it back!
Let me have it.
Give it to me.
~Music~
No way…
That’s what you get for not letting me have any.
Gimme my jam back!
Give it to me. I want my jam back! (Genta) What the heck?
I want my jam!
Back off.
(Teacher) Putting aside that you brought this to school with you,
wouldn’t it have been a good idea just to let him have a taste?
You guys are friends, right?
We’re not friends.
We aren’t!
Yeah! Definitely not!
(Thinking to herself) I didn't do anything wrong.
Whoa!!!
What’s all this?
This? Well…
This is an orange duck sauté.
This is a rainbow trout chaud-froid (hot and cold)
Amazing!
(Daigo) This is butter grilled sea bream stuffed with crab.
This is duck pâté.
Wow! Teikoku Grand doesn’t even serve
dishes like these.
Ready to try it? Yay!
Itadakimasu!
Mmm… Great, isn’t it?
Your dad’s cooking is the best in the whole world, isn’t it? Yup!
Aren't you just running from reality?
If you let her eat like that…
Of course she’s going to say it’s “great”. You already know that.
Spending all this time and money…
There’s no way a small restaurant like ours should be serving dishes like this.
How the hell much money and time are you spending?
It doesn't matter, I already made it. We can’t continue like this!
This is our reality.
We don’t have money to pay for a chef. And we’ve already accumulated quite a bit of debt.
Making extravagant meals like these aren't going to solve our problems.
Well, what the heck do you want me to do? Huh?
All it is is “monkey see, monkey do”, right?
There’s nothing special or interesting about it! He even said so!
So I thought I’d try to reverse it by making something different! What’s wrong with that?
Your dishes are too pretentious!
All you do is say things like “It’s delicious, isn’t it?” and “My dishes are authentic!”
Customers don’t come here just to worship your abilities as a chef.
They are here to eat good food and enjoy themselves.
They want to have rice with their meat.
They can’t savor the food more just because they are made to use a fork and knife.
You're mistaken about what's really important here.
That's why the critic wrote what he did, right?
Well, what kinda food should I make then? Tell me.
Since you seem to think you know
so much more about this than I do…
(Iku) That’s not what… Why don’t you do it yourself!
To be continued…