Damn... What's with this school?!
It's ridiculously huge!
Guide to Polar Star Dormitory
When am I gonna reach Polar Star Dormitory?
The sun's about to set.
I'm so tired...
To top it off, I'm freezing!
I'm so hungry that the squid's not cutting it anymore...
Still...
I gotta say,
there's a bunch of important-looking buildings everywhere.
Some, I have no idea what they're for, but...
I guess this is a rich school.
I bet their facilities are all top-notch.
Oh, maybe the dorm's pretty swanky, too.
Maybe I can have high expectations...
Polar Star Dormitory
Seriously?
The Madonna of the Polar Star
Hello?
Smoke...
Is there a fire?!
A-An earthquake?
Usako!
Kamosuke!
Shikanoshin!
No! Don't leave me!
Hey, Room 116!
Don't you dare let game animals into your room!
If you do it again, I'll flay you alive!
Sorry!
And Room 208!
You turned an empty room into a smoker without permission again, didn't you?!
Want me to string you up above some smoke chips?!
Yes, yes.
I'm deeply sorry.
And Room 205!
If your floor falls out,
I'll punch a hole in your gut!
We'll be more careful!
You wanna fight?!
There are guys fighting in my room.
Bring it!
You must be Yukihira Soma, the transfer student who wants to live in the dorm?
I am the caretaker, Daimido Fumio.
Daimido Fumio Polar Star Dormitory Caretaker
A.k.a. Fumio-san, the Madonna of the Polar Star.
That's what you're to call me.
How'd I end up in another freak show?
So, what'd you bring by way of ingredients?
Huh?
What ingredients?
What else?!
It's our famous challenge for anyone who wants to live here!
First, dorm applicants must make one meal.
Only those whose cooking passes muster will be allowed to reside in the dorm.
Rules Regarding the Dorm Entrance Challenge Only those whose cooking passes muster will be allowed to reside in the dorm.
Second, the caretaker will serve as the examiner.
Third, the applicant may choose their ingredients.
This is news to me!
I haven't got any ingredients on me!
I guess that means you lose by default.
I won't let you cross over the threshold without seeing what you're made of.
Huh?
Then that means tonight I'll have to...
Camp out, of course.
No way!
You can't be serious! Even in April, nights get freezing cold!
I'm already half dead from exhaustion and hunger!
The challenge is an absolute requirement.
Just give up!
We only have leftover scraps in the dorm kitchen, anyway.
Consider today your unlucky day...
Does that mean I can use those leftovers?
What?
I'll take on the challenge.
Where's the kitchen?
Oh, hey.
It's a really nice kitchen, considering what the place looks like from the outside!
Listen up.
I hate know-it-all brats the most!
How many student-cooked meals do you think I've tasted so far?
Don't presume to think I'll give you a passing grade
for something you're going to slap together!
Onions and other odds and ends for vegetables...
Eggs...
Panko Bread Crumbs (Soft)
Panko bread crumbs...
Rice
The usual assortment of spices and seasoning,
and...
All right! This should be more than plenty.
What'd he say?
Hang onto your seat, Polar Star Dormitory Caretaker
Daimido Fumio-dono!
There wasn't a speck of ground beef or pork left!
What magic is this?
How'd you make this meat-filled hamburg steak?
I used canned mackerel.
Mackerel
It's a mackerel burger!
Canned mackerel?!
I used eggs, onions, and panko,
then I added drained canned mackerel,
and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Cook it up, and you get a fluffy mackerel burger!
To top it off, I took the drained mackerel juice and made an easy light sauce
by adding ponzu, and thickening it with potato starch!
I'll call it the Yukihira-brand Kitchen-Clearing Mackerel Hamburg Set!
Have a taste.
Don't be ridiculous.
A hamburger made from canned mackerel
would be way too fishy...
DE!
LI!
CIOUS!
If he were to tell me that there was actual meat inside,
I might actually believe it!
Yet it's light... the texture is excellent!
How about the egg soup?
What is this?
The soup base can make or break the soup's flavor.
This fragrant flavor indicates a high-quality soup base!
But how'd you come up with this?!
There was neither kelp nor bonito to use as the soup base!
Well, I happened to have something I could use.
Squid?!
You made a soup base using squid?
Dried squid is basically umami in concentrated form!
If you reconstitute it in hot water and add salt,
you can create a great soup base with depth of flavor.
This kid sure is something special.
I can't believe he managed to concoct something this good
from just those ingredients...
What a soothing flavor.
It's as though I'm being warmed body and soul...
Mackerel and squid... their beautiful marine rhapsody of flavor
reminds me of my younger days...
A-Aren't you cold?
Fumio?
Hey, Kou-chan.
Do you know what I want you to do right now?
Huh?
Uh, well...
C'mon, don't make a girl say it out loud.
Come closer.
I want you to warm me up...
Please.
Take me!
Let go of me, old lady!
He made me try so many of his creations
that I'm exhausted from reacting to all of them.
I hate you, Soma-kun!
You treated me like some plaything!
Right, Ducky?
You'd be in a pickle, too.
Very well!
I allow you to enter this dorm.
Glad you liked it!
You'll be in Room 303!
Here.
Yeah!
He demonstrated impressive flexibility with the limited array of ingredients...
Guess we have an interesting addition to the dorm in Yukihira Soma.
This has been the only place I could relax since junior high.
Fumio-san's kind of scary,
but at least there are no strict teachers or Soma-kun here.
A bath!
Let's start with a hot bath!
Oh, I guess I forgot to warn him
that it's the girls' turn to use the bath right now.
Waaaah
Ah, that hit the spot.
Oh, right. I've left my home of 15 years for the first time.
Liver and chives set, here you go!
Maybe I'll go with the braised beef-and-tofu set.
I'll go for the daily special.
Got it!
One beef-and-tofu and one daily special!
It's so quiet...
Hey, transfer student!
C'mon, we're having a welcome party.
Like I said,
I'm busy studying for the written exam!
Go have your party in some other room!
Why do you guys always party in my room?!
Marui Zenji Room 205
What choice do we have?
Yoshino Yuki Room 116
You have the biggest room.
Who said you could sit on my bed!
Sakaki Ryoko Room 112
Your room's always clean, too.
I just finished cleaning up!
There were books scattered about earlier.
Sato Shoji Room 107
Aoki Daigo Room 211
That's because you guys were on a rampage in my room!
Anyway, you should have more chairs around.
Like hell I should!
Ibusaki Shun Room 208
Whoops.
Tadokoro Megumi Room 302
Yukihira Soma Room 303
Not the books again!
Listen, Megumi.
You shouldn't be showing skin to just anyone.
Anyone...
Sorry, Mom...
I can't get married anymore...
Well, who knew we'd end up in the same dorm, too?
Yeah...
Wait, does that mean you passed the dorm entrance challenge in one try?
I guess.
I'm glad I managed to scrape by!
That's amazing.
Almost no one makes it through on the first try.
Huh, how'd it go for you, then?
Oh, um...
So-so, I guess...
I'd die before I tell him that it took me three months...
Here, Yukihira-kun.
Oh, thanks.
Huh?
Why's it cloudy?
A 1.8L-bottle with a handwritten label on it...
It's just rice juice.
Uh-huh.
Still, are you sure we're not going to get in trouble for partying this late at night?
It's fine.
The dorm's in the middle of a forest.
Well, but...
There's that dorm lady...
Hey, guys!
I have some buri daikon!
Come get some!
Yeah!
I love that hag!
Seriously?
Just come back before Fumio-san starts her spiel about the Elite Ten.
The Elite Ten?
Back away!
Do you know who she is?!
Who is she?
She is the top of her class in the junior high division,
and the youngest member of the Totsuki Elite Ten Council,
the highest decision-making body in the academy, in the academy's history:
Nakiri Erina-sama!
The Elite Ten...
Hey, what's this Elite Ten thing?
Huh?
Are you seriously asking that question?
You really came here without a clue, huh?
Marui, explain.
Why me?
Quit whining.
It's for the newbie.
Fine.
The Totsuki Elite Ten Council
is a committee composed of the top ten students within the academy.
Totsuki
Students are allowed to decide many of the academy's affairs,
so a wide variety of issues are settled by the Council.
Director
Totsuki Elite Ten Council
They are, in effect, the academy's highest decision-making body.
In the academy's hierarchy, they are second only to the director himself,
and not even the instructors can disobey their decisions.
Decades ago,
when the dorm was consistently at maximum capacity,
a bunch of Elite Ten members were from Polar Star.
There were even years when all of the Ten were from Polar Star.
Once Fumio-san gets going about those times, it turns into a long story.
Huh.
So Nakiri Erina is currently one of the Elite Ten.
Here!
Hi there, Yukihira Soma-kun!
Welcome to Polar Star Dormitory!
Isshiki Satoshi Room 206
We're glad to have you!
I'm Isshiki, a second-year.
Call me Isshiki-senpai!
Hi.
Oh, I'm so happy to have you join us!
It means we have yet another comrade with whom to share our youth!
There's nothing better!
Listen, friends!
We all live under the same roof and eat the same food.
That's youth right there!
The epitome of student life!
I joined the dorm because I aspired to that kind of life.
Now, let us savor this shining dorm life together!
Well, sure,
but can you please stop coming through the attic to call on us?
Oh, I can't?
Well, maybe I'll use this for guys, too.
Whenever I use this, Tadokoro-chan comes over every time!
W-Well...
Tadokoro-chan, are you asleep?
I'm having a lot of fun!
Well, I'm all by myself,
but I have a lot of wonderful food.
If you're still awake, come on over... okay?
If I don't go,
he keeps talking to me every couple minutes...
He gives up eventually if you ignore him.
You're so conscientious.
It'd be annoying to have him talk at us all the time.
Maybe the attic's better.
Uh... Guess this dorm's full of weirdos.
You'll fit in right away, Soma-kun.
Everyone have their drinks?
So, here's to the future of Yukihira Soma-kun
and the glory of Polar Star Dormitory.
Cheers!
This rice juice is awesome!
See, you're already fitting in just fine.
Born again, right here and now...
Note: They are drunk strictly on juice.
Fly beyond the sky we only dreamed of...
Food!
We need more food!
Okay, how about something I smoked today?
Smoked cheese and three kinds of jerkey!
Damn, check out the smoky saltiness!
Ibusaki's always spot-on!
Of course.
Here, eat up!
Fried mixed veggies fresh from the garden out back!
This has got to be good!
It's good, right?
Of course it is!
Well, the fried shrimp I made last week was better.
Hey, wait a minute.
Do you have the worst palate in Polar Star?
What'd you say?
Hey, not again!
If you call yourself a chef, talk through your cooking.
Fine! Just wait eight minutes!
Hey!
This is why you keep making too much food every time!
Hold back!
Shut up, game animal bitch!
You stink of wild game!
Especially around your room!
For saying that,
I'll have to school you
Smile
on the charms of my wild beasties.
Wait about an hour.
You're going to strangle a duck or something at this hour?
Yuki-chan, calm down!
Hey, hang on.
How about one of my own new creations from today?
Oh, Yukihira, bring it on!
Oh, sorry.
That one was a fail.
Disgusting!
Sorry, sorry.
He's going to die!
Jiggle
Wiggle
Jiggle
There we go!
It's Isshiki-senpai's impromptu naked apron getup!
Wiggle
Jiggle
Wiggle
Nice job!
Times may change, but two things remain constant:
the laughter of students,
and the gathering of stars beneath the moon.
Well...
Tonight was really fun.
Again, you're very welcome here, Soma-kun.
Oh, thanks!
We're all out of food.
I have some filleted Spanish mackerel.
I'll go make something.
Wiggle
You're gonna cook dressed like that, huh?
Nakiri
Elite Ten
Totsuki Elite Ten Council Ranking
Ten
Nakiri Erina
Okay, all done.
Dig in.
It's Spanish mackerel with Chinese pepper and a puree.
Thanks!
It's heavenly!
This dish maximizes the seasonal ingredients of spring!
How could he put together such a delicate dish in so little time?!
He's head and shoulders above all the other students in this dorm!
And he's just a second-year!
Is that already enough to make something like this?
By the way, Soma-kun.
I heard you said some pretty interesting things at the opening ceremony.
Gunning for number one at Totsuki
may not be as easy as you think.
Allow me to re-introduce myself:
Totsuki Elite Ten Council
I'm one of the Totsuki Elite Ten...
Seven
The seventh seat...
Isshiki Satoshi.
Seven: Isshiki Satoshi
Now...
I'd like to try your cooking next, Soma-kun.
Show me what narrative you'll create on your plate.
End
Preview
Next time on Food Wars,
the fifth dish:
Menu The Ice Queen and the Spring Storm
"The Ice Queen and the Spring Storm."
Bon appétit.
Take me!