Episode 10 Hachiken Says Goodbye to Pork Bowl
Hey! Don't be so greedy!
Fine, fine!
You'll get more later!
Hachiken, you're smart, but stupid.
Huh?
You're always taking on stuff that's a pain in the butt,
like the pizza party and Pork Bowl.
The rest of us never really thought
a whole lot about killing and eating them, you know.
It was something we took for granted.
But you're flailing around thinking about it.
Just being brutally honest.
But it's become harder for me to make fun of you.
Maybe it's important to reconsider things you've always taken for granted.
Whoa!
Ow...
I'm gonna have a bump soon...
You okay?
Man...
It's because you spoil him that he's so friendly.
If I can't eat pork anymore, what are you gonna do?
You'd better take responsibility!
Uh, sure.
Do you really get it?!
Man, I'm soaked.
Huh? What's wrong?
I overheard you guys...
Yeah?
At the pig pen. You and Yoshino.
"What're you gonna do?"
"You gonna take responsibility?"
Oh, that?
I'm completely serious about it!
I'll take responsibility!
Hachiken, you're all grown up...
Uh, sure.
Later!
Good job.
What's the matter, Tokiwa?
Don't tell anyone...
...but Hachiken and Yoshino...
Dairy Science
What?!
Shh!
Don't tell anyone!
It doesn't leave this room!
So, uh, what the author's trying to say here is...
People with deep empathy
are not only struck by wonder when flowers are in full bloom.
They experience joy when flowers are about to bloom,
and also melancholy when flowers wilt and fade away.
Something feels strange...
Campus Motto Defy Logic Cooperation Diligence
Hachiken, Yoshino, come to the guidance counselor's office.
Okay.
What's this about?
Guidance Counseling Office
Improper sexual relations?!
Me?
With him?!
Yes. That's the rumor.
Well, you are going through heat...
I mean puberty, so I can sympathize.
Please say "adolescence" instead!
Wait, we're not!
When would we even have the time to hook up
with the way our lives are right now, anyway?!
We have club activities on the weekends, too!
Then the rumors are...
Totally unfounded!
I see.
Well, good.
Why are rumors like that flying around, anyway?!
Who knows...
Who was it?
Yay!
But at the pig pen, you guys were...
Just another cheerful day of forced labor! Yeah!
Oh, Hachiken's popular with the pigs, as usual.
Hey—
I'm gonna have a bump soon...
You'd better take responsibility!
Oh, that?
We were talking about pigs!
Huh? You got a pig girlfriend?
I think you can punch Tokiwa.
And I was almost done with forced labor...
Three extra days aren't enough!
They're really noisy today.
The feedbox is squeaky clean.
Maybe they didn't get fed.
You don't need to feed them today.
Huh?
Why's that?
We've made arrangements to send them off tomorrow.
We purge their digestive system in order to maintain hygiene
when they are being processed.
It's finally time to say goodbye...
Sorry, you guys must be hungry.
I...
I'll buy him.
What?
Sensei, how much does a pig cost?
Pigs this size would fetch
around thirty thousand yen at the livestock market.
What would you do with it?
Will you keep taking care of it as a pet?
Where would you keep it?
What about its feed?
Who will take care of it after you graduate?
I didn't say I'd buy Pork Bowl alive.
I'll buy Pork Bowl as meat!
What? Meat?
How many kilos would that be?
You have the money?
I do!
I have money from my summer job!
Very well. Sold!
Ooezo Agricultural High School Dormitory for Future Agriculture Managers
Sorry.
You guys must be hungry.
All right, time to switch.
Hey, Pork Bowl.
I'll brush you again later.
Jeez.
So heavy...
Your lives are so short...
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven...
Eight!
That's the last of them.
U-Um...
Yeah?
Um, well...
Please take good care of them.
Please separate out the meat from the pig marked with an "X."
Okay, got it.
Hachiken,
I'll let you know when its meat comes back in.
Okay.
Huh, so you bought him, yourself?
When's Pork Bowl coming back?
There's an aging period,
so maybe in about three days?
Right?
Yeah...
Isn't meat better fresh?
They say it's better when it's half-rotten.
It's about amino acids, right?
Sensei, how is pork aged?
Hm?
All right!
Chemistry II
Allow me to explain!
Carboxyl Group
Amine Group
Amino Acid
D-Amino Acid
Protein does not have any flavor by itself.
But when it's broken down by enzymes,
the amount of amino acids and peptides in the meat increases.
They're what you call flavor compounds.
That's how meat aging works.
The processed meat is kept at two to four degrees Celsius.
For pork, three to five days is considered optimal.
Are there any techniques to use during their growth period?
Yeah. Recently, whey-fed pigs have become popular.
Whey is the liquid that remains after cheese curds are removed from milk.
It's produced in great quantities during the manufacture of cheese.
In the past, it was a waste product.
Huh?
Pigs that are given such a diet are called whey-fed pigs.
Are you guys still in chemistry class?
Oh, Hachiken-kun bought pork made from one of the practicum animals.
They have tender, flavorful meat marketed as branded meat.
Whey has high nutritional value, so it's a hot research topic for meat manufacturers.
One whole pig?
Huh, he sure does unusual things.
Hmm...
Okay, in today's livestock science class,
we'll watch a video in the multimedia room.
It's about the slaughterhouse.
It shows the entire process, from the livestock being taken to the slaughterhouse
to their carcasses being processed into meat.
It will show life being taken from living things.
Anyone who cannot stomach seeing things like that
will not be forced to to watch.
I repeat,
no one will be forced to watch.
Okay, those of you who want to watch this should go to the multimedia room.
I think it'll be a little too much for me...
Okay!
The animals in holding pens are washed down to remove dirt.
Then, they're sent one by one into the slaughter area.
They're stunned using carbon dioxide gas or an electric shock,
because if the heart stops, bloodletting will be incomplete,
resulting in poor-quality meat susceptible to degradation.
Next...
What'd you think?
Well, I knew about it, but it was still eye-opening.
Aikawa...
Well, I knew what would happen, but it still got to me.
You okay?
If I can't get over this, there's no hope for me becoming a vet.
Yeah.
They could only butcher the animals so fast
because they know their anatomy in and out.
Since I want to be a vet,
I want to have as much knowledge and precision as they do!
Dorm bento boxes are here!
What is it today?
Beef bowl.
Ugh.
The guy working at the slaughterhouse I went to
was wearing something that looked like armor.
It's awesome to be serious about what you do.
They suddenly turn into "meat" once their organs are removed.
Meat and offal.
I wonder how many animals they can process in a day.
Were you okay, Hachiken?
Oh, yeah...
I cleaned a deer over the summer, so it wasn't too bad...
You still look pale, though.
If you're not hungry, can I have your meat?
No!
Hachiken, you here?
The pork arrived. It's in the meat processing room.
I had them debone and cut the meat into parts.
There is 51 kilos of meat here, from the pig Hachiken bought.
This is all of it.
51 kilos...
So, like, about as much a girl weighs?
Tokiwa.
Come over here.
What, what?
He's so small now...
We got 51 kilos from that one pig.
Right now, the market price for pork is 496 yen per kilo.
That makes it a total of 25,296 yen.
Did you bring the money?
Oh, yes.
Payment
Food Processing Department: Meat Processing Room
Meat Processing Practicum Room
But, 50 kilos, huh...
Wonder what I'll do with it...
Oh, you hadn't decided yet?
If you'd like, I can advise you about processing and distribution options.
Really? Thanks.
We're friends, right?
Don't worry about it.
If it bothers you, might I have a tiny bit of that meat as a consulting fee?
There, that psoas major muscle is fine.
Oh, you only want this little piece?
You're a good person...
Wait, that's the tenderloin!
The best cut!
Either way, you're going to eat it, right?
Let's see, for pork...
You can make bacon, sausage, ham...
Like a pork bowl?
No, no, no!
I heard the situation.
Whoa!
H-H-Hey! Please wait!
Um, I still haven't...
But what're you going to do with 50 kilos of meat?
If you don't make up your mind soon, it'll be gone.
Gone?
Girls love you when you have money;
guys love you when you have meat.
Hey, jump!
End of the Century
I knew he had meat!
Wait!
Hup!
Pork Bowl!
I'll become targeted by a meat hunt!
Please teach me how to make bacon!
Sure.
Do you have permission to use the processing room?
I do!
You have 50 kilos, right?
How many people are going to work on it?
Just myself!
Meat Processing Practicum Room
Formerly Known As: Milk Processing Practicum Room (Livestock Practicum Room)
Okay, done.
Next, rub this into the meat.
What is it?
It's a mix of salt and spices.
Because of the amount you're working with, it'll take a while.
Okay.
Oh, you can keep them on.
I'd like to use my bare hands.
'Kay!
Prepwork, done!
Good job!
Now you let it cure for a week in the fridge until it's time to smoke it.
My hands sting...
My wrists hurt.
Pretty intensive work, right?
It's unreal for an amateur
to prep 50 kilos of meat by himself.
You're right...
Partway through, I wondered what I'd gotten myself into.
But I kind of...
feel a little better now.
When the bacon's done, can I buy some off you?
What?
You don't need to pay me!
But you bought the meat, right?
I'll pay.
Tamako will get mad at me if I don't pay you for the work you put in.
I see. Okay.
Thanks, then.
Your hands are in rough shape.
I wasn't used to it,
so my hands got all cut and cramped and stuff.
I thought this when I cleaned the deer, too,
but I'm not cut out to be a cook.
But they're cool hands.
Huh?
Wait here.
Okay, here.
They're medicated compresses made from natural ingredients.
They don't have a strong smell, so feel free to try them out.
Thanks, Mikage!
I feel your love!
Oh, store-bought compresses stink.
Horses hate the smell.
Hurry up and put them on, Hachiken.
Nice, Mikage. I feel your love for the horses!
Smokehouse
Something smells good.
Did you start smoking it?
Yeah.
It should be done tonight.
So you'll be smoking it for a while longer?
Yeah.
Wait here!
Can you smoke this, too?
I've always wanted to try my hand at making smoked cheese!
Where'd you get this cheese?
That's a secret.
Oh, you started smoking it?
Y-Yeah!
Smokehouse
It smells really good.
Doesn't it?
It's like a funeral.
Huh?
Oh, it's just...
I just remembered my dad's funeral.
I guess this is like a funeral for Pork Bowl.
Yeah, appreciating the bacon will be like paying our respects.
So, let us eat already.
That's just your human ego talking!
If I were Pork Bowl,
I wouldn't care whether people ate every bit or made a mess!
I'd still hate it!
I'd resent it a lot!
Hachiken!
Piping hot rice!
But the meat isn't...
Hachiken!
Hey, that's Pork Bowl's tenderloin!
Making bacon out of tenderloin?
That'd be an insult to Pork Bowl.
Skytree Pork Bowl!
There's more meat than rice!
That's immoral!
No, idiot!
Meat is justice!
Okay, then...
Thanks for the food, Hachiken!
Okay!
Man, bittersweet!
This story is a work of fiction. The people and groups are fictitious, but the themes relating to food and life are firmly based in reality. Visiting the places and facilities used as models can be dangerous and may result it contracting diseases from the animals. Please enjoy this story as a work of fiction.