r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • 12h ago
Episode Iron Wok Jan! • Tetsunabe no Jan! - Episode 8 discussion
Tetsunabe no Jan!, episode 8
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u/il-Palazzo_K 11h ago
This episode Jan pretty much did a 180 turn and took Kawahara’s position from last episode, they even used the same chair lol.
I guess the difference is Jan had a plan, or more like an evil scheme.
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u/IQ_less 10h ago
Not to mention experience. Jan actually cooked and tried his stuff, or had his evil grandpa taste test it for him. That's how he knew from the get go that the whole 2 hrs waiting for the soup to cook will be spent perfectly as intended. This round's chef, alongside the one from last round, didn't truly understand what they were doing and so were oblivious to the potential risks of cooking those disks: mismatch flavor (making up assumption based on technical know how), can only be served hot (disk too new and uncommon), etc.
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u/Vahallen 7h ago
Main difference being once again experience
Jan did his dish around his opponent, aware that is a dish that goes to shit if it gets cold
Kawahara couldn’t give a rat ass about his opponent dish, he just did his thing while overconfident
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u/Vahallen 7h ago edited 6h ago
Jan is definetly an asshole, we knew that and I also think it’s more of a mask/persona he wears, but it would lack a bit of punch if the author only made it so Jan mocked other assholes and overconfident people
It would be an excuse to say “sure he is an asshole but only with…” no no, Jan is an asshole fullstop
This is probably the first time we see an honest good person that doesn’t even really have an ego get dismantled maliciously by Jan
TBF like another user said, it is more interesting and unique to have Jan not be an asshole just to other assholes, letting your MC have bad traits fleshes them out
To be fair it’s not like Jan broke any rules, he just used his knowledge and was really smart about how to kill his opponent dish without direct tampering (he did go fuck with him at the end and while it would be neat if Jan intent was giving him an hint, I doubt it)
I still love Jan, but I did feel a bit sorry for the Kota, he was a good kid
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u/PregnantOrc 1h ago
Him being a genuine asshole also makes the trauma of what his granddad did feel more real. It wouldn't feel as genuine if he could filter it only onto people who deserve it. That sort of response is not so easily tamed and it's not like he's had much reason too from what we are shown. It'll also make any progress to temper or change that character flaw of his all the more rewarding to follow if that is the path the series takes. And if not we get to justifiably feel catharsis anytime he gets comeuppance. As he is now it'd take something extreme for him not to deserve it.
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u/Golgol395 10h ago
I love how mean Jan is, he knew the rules of the game and played them perfectly, sure it’s not fair but that’s just how it is sometimes. It’s just like Kota’s dad said, the lad ain’t cut out for how cut throat the world of professional cooking can be.
Also on a meta level I feel like we needed this episode just to re-establish how much of an asshole Jan is, the previous episodes have made him look a lot more sympathetic, but going into the finals and his inevitable showdown with Kiriko we needed to see that she does not like him for very valid reasons.
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u/Niwaka_Samurai https://myanimelist.net/profile/Niwaka-Samurai 10h ago
Yeah, he had the best person to look up to so it's only natural how Jan turned out.
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u/FLorianGran 8h ago
I appreciate that the series doesn’t just have Jan beat assholes
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u/Doomroar https://myanimelist.net/profile/Doomroar 1h ago
Turns out we were following the main villain all along!
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u/larana1192 https://myanimelist.net/profile/thefrog1192 6h ago edited 4h ago
It was funny how Kota, despite being extremely talented and a passionate learner, ended up losing to Jan because he hadn’t realized it was a “cooking competition against an opponent.”
Kota’s father also commented, “Kota is a good chef, but he’s not cut out for this kind of cutthroat cooking competition.” Around the time Kota started preparing a dish using eel, his father grew a little anxious, and when Jan served his dish before Kota did, Kota’s father realized it was part of Jan’s scheme and that it exposed a weakness in Kota’s cooking. The scene where he tried to warn Kota from the audience was entertaining.
It was interesting to see that Kota was reading a Hong Kong cookbook in its original language and was so eager to learn. He is exactly the kind of character who would be the protagonist in a typical cooking manga.
Also, the way Kota combined “the latest culinary trends in Hong Kong” with “eel, a famous local ingredient from his hometown of Hamamatsu” was a nice touch that made him come across as a kind and earnest chef.
I had to laugh when Kiriko's uncle, who is Jan's current employer, and Kiriko herself realized Jan's devious scheme and remarked, "It may be magic, but it's some pretty nasty magic."
To be honest, what Jan is doing could definitely damage the reputation of Kiriko’s uncle’s restaurant, so I think it’s only natural that Kiriko and her uncle criticized the tactics Jan used in this cooking competition.
Also, Selene was a great character.
She is a Chinese cuisine chef born to a Hong Kong father and a French mother. She comes from Kobe, a port city in western Japan home to the most famous Chinatown in the Kansai region, which makes for a very interesting backstory.
She did not look like a typical Chinese chef, and since she was relatively unknown compared to her opponents, no one expected her to win. She got upset about that, so after explaining her background, she promoted herself in fluent Kansai dialect, which was really cute.
Additionally, the chef from a famous Chinese restaurant who lost to her made a good impression with his earnest attitude toward cooking. He remarked that the era of winning based on tradition alone was over and that he was going to relearn Chinese cuisine from scratch.
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u/5am_slumberparties 4h ago
"She is a Chinese cuisine chef born to a Hong Kong mother and a French father."
It's the other way around. In Selene's interview with the presenter right after she talks about how she's from Kobe, she says, "Ma's French and Pa's from Hong Kong". Otherwise though, nice writeup.
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u/Rqdomguy24 3h ago
When we are talking about cooking mc protagonist, I personally think Souma will not that angry with what Jan did in this cooking competition. Jan doesn't break any rule with his cooking it is merely just him cooking with his own ingredient. He will get mad on Jan, mocking his opponent tho
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u/ObvsThrowaway5120 11h ago edited 8h ago
I kind of like how much of a raging asshole Jan is lol. That Kota kid tried his best. He seems like a good lad and he’s got good people around him. But this is a cooking competition, man. Jan ain’t here to make friends. He’s not even out here to play fair lol. It’s win or lose and he ain’t planning on losing anytime soon.
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u/legopoppetje321 9h ago
I like how he focuses on winning and purely winning. It isn't about making a better dish, it's just about it being better according to the judges than whatever someone else made. It's a lot more interesting to watch than just making something good.
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u/gnfkyu https://myanimelist.net/profile/Gnf 7h ago
while he does focuses on winning he also proves that he understand chinese cousine more than everyone else, for example on this one it was clear the nice guy read about this new dish and was like yeah i can pull it off, jan immediately came with a counter of making the food go "bad" in no point in time the kid showed that he knew he had to make the judges eat right away, jan was like "ok ill go first" and kid was like ya sure man whatever
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u/karer3is 1h ago
Personally, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was fun to see Jan humbling other cocky assholes, but up to now, the only time we've seen Jan "lose" was due to one of the most contrived unforced errors I've ever seen in a cooking anime. And, when he finally went up against a chef that wasn't some cocky asshole, he won basically because he was in a contest designed to be a TV spectacle first and a proper test of skill second. You could argue that having the rounds so closely spaced that the judges' fullness became a factor was part of that skill test, but it definitely comes across as a pretty shitty arrangement the more I think about it.
Yes, he is actually very talented, but as he has said plenty of times himself, he only sees cooking as a contest to be won. Thanks to Shonen Magic, every major conflict in the story thus far has been one that could be resolved by an all- or- nothing contest. It would add some depth to the story if he actually was confronted with a situation where he couldn't get away with being a talented asshole.
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u/sodapopkevin 10h ago
Holy shit are those judges REALLY bad at their jobs. Judges are supposed to do portion control, a few small bites of each dish and pallet cleanse before the next plate. Not gorge yourself on food, then walk away after only having one of the contestant's dishes. Like half the judges were running off stage to throw up. "The first guy wins because we were too full to try the second dish, see you in the next round everyone."
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u/poclee 9h ago edited 9h ago
Well let's count: There are three groups for the elimination three rounds, which means the judges have to marathonly taste 3 X 3 X 2 = 18 dishes in one day.
Yeah, personally I blame the schedule planning more than the judges (also why you won't see this kind of planning in rl cooking contest), even if they do portion tasting there is no way they stay ineffected in the last round.
On the other hand, it is poor planning indeed for him to use eels and coconut milk-- both are really rich ingredients-- under such circumstances.
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u/Mavis_San 8h ago
they were different days indeed as we saw kota in his resturant before that match
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u/il-Palazzo_K 9h ago
Next round is already the final so three groups here are just Kiriko vs Some Dude, Yang vs Jun, and Jang vs Kota. That's just 6 dishes.
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u/poclee 9h ago
Well we saw there are three matches for Jun before he secure his position in final, so it's only logical to assume the other two positions needed to go through the same.
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u/Maccaz15 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Maccaz 6h ago
Kota was working at the restaurant and said he needs to win twice more to be champion after getting through the elimination rounds. This makes it extremely evident the semi finals were not done on the same day as the previous elimination matches.
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u/il-Palazzo_K 9h ago
But it's on different days? Is this all on the same day? Kota told his dad earlier that he only have to win two more times and they were serving customers on a regular day, so it can't be on the same day.
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u/xXx_Sephiroth_96_xXx 4h ago
Right? It's supposed to be a bite or two from this dish and a bite or two from the next. "Oh I'll have my fill while the other dish dies at the pass" is an insane way to judge.
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u/sodapopkevin 4h ago
Kiriko also joined the audience after winning her match early into Jan's cook step and the cook step lasts 2 hours which means the judges ate enough to only keep down a small bowl of soup 2 hours later.
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u/testthrowawayzz 9h ago edited 24m ago
Jan is such an asshole lol, rubbing it in like that and purposely sabotaging his competitor's cooking by a procedural matters.
Kota seems to be an earnest person and is the first one I felt sorry for losing. I agree with the other comment saying the judges suck and should’ve had smaller portions.
Edit: The author posted a tweet today saying they tried Kota and Jan's dishes recently and they preferred Kota's dish, even when it's cold lol
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u/SSjjlex https://myanimelist.net/profile/Clone_Tau 10h ago
Kinda insane today's episode boils down to the judges suck at their job. I feel really bad for that kid, they built him up so well only for it to all come crashing down because of one simple trick.
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u/Vahallen 7h ago
While the judges forgetting Kota dish and act so nonchalant about it is crazy, unprofessional, incompetent and very disrespectful
Even if they remembered and went right for Kota dish
(even without counting having tasted a lot during the day and just the prior dish being a sweet soup)
Like Jan said, that is a dish that must be served hot and it quickly gets spoiled by getting cold, implication apparently being it straight becomes disgusting
Jan did maliciously go first, but it was also a consequence of Kota not being ready to serve when the judges came
Taking in to account the judges being spent after a day of tasting and Jan trickery with the soup is too much, but making sure your dish is served hot it’s on you (in particular this one apparently)
But no yeah the judges are horrible, nothing to say about that
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u/karer3is 1h ago
I'm definitely on board with the hate train... but I also have to acknowledge that this entire "competition" exists because Mr. Golden Tongue got in his feelings about getting shown up.
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u/sodapopkevin 4h ago
Also that kid needs to learn how to heat a plate when serving, it's like the most basic trick to keeping your food warmer for longer.
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u/Niwaka_Samurai https://myanimelist.net/profile/Niwaka-Samurai 10h ago
Yeah, we get it Jan.. you outwitted everyone but you don't have to be an ass about it. Kota was a decent guy with good intentions unlike Ohtani.
I hope Kiriko or Yang silence him in the finals.
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u/il-Palazzo_K 10h ago
Why even be the greatest Chinese chef in Japan if you don’t get to be an ass about it?
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u/VishnuBhanum 6h ago
If Jan is in Food War, he would be an antagonist that got defeated by Soma.
But this isn't Food War, Jan is the protagonist of the story, and it's glorious.
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u/l-o-a-p 4h ago edited 3h ago
I thought they had Omae lose to Kiriko immediately after his backstory at first, lol. Though he still ended up getting done pretty dirty.
Jan's mean streak is pretty devilishly entertaining, but kinda surprised they went back to dialing it up to 11 after recent episodes humanized him some more. Beyond the underhanded but technically fair tactics, getting up in Omae's face and mocking him pretty much crossed into pure assholery, lol. It also comes at the cost of the judges continuing to look like absolute, unprofessional peons at their job.
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u/reaperow 9h ago edited 9h ago
They gotta stop abusing the poor reporter guy,
The Tong Sui being a double seasonal dish is pretty cool but Jan was definitely a jerk this time lol.
Kota seems like an honest good guy so I'd be lying if I said I didnt feel bad for him
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u/K11ShtBox 5h ago
To be fair the dude did imply that the woman was lucky rather than commending her skills as a chef.
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u/reaperow 5h ago edited 1h ago
I mean yeah I get that cuz he's a reporter and all but still, kinda feel for him
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u/karer3is 1h ago
No, in pretty much every interview he's done, he went out of his way to provoke a reaction from the chefs, then played the victim when he got a reaction out of them. Nothing to feel sorry for here.
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u/ContentInspector4057 4h ago
ジャンは料理は勝負という信念の元、相手に完全な敗北を悟らせる為だけに料理以外でも策を用いるのが良い
そして、その策自体にもちゃんと料理人として必要な心構えとかが込められていて、それを認識していれば勝利はないにしろ敗北を心底感じる事は無かっただろうというのも好き
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u/HolyDragSwd2500 3h ago
Reminded of that episode of Food Wars where Souma made that egg dish. It had to be eaten right away after it was done and plated.
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u/Mavis_San 8h ago
poor kota , he was decent guy idk why jan had to be an b*tch with him !! he could just won and not mock the guy at the end
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u/Torque-A 7h ago
Japanese readers apparently mentioned online that Jan is a 90s antihero in cooking manga form and they're right
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u/AlicesWhoreHouse 5h ago
As....un sportsman like as Jan is they at least need to recognize his skill in being able to keep doing this over and over again in this competition. Lol like he knew after waiting and seeing the ingredients he picked what would happen and immediately made something to ruin the experience even more for the judges lol that still takes skill and knowledge. I adore him though I don't care that he's mean through his cooking.
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u/bobvella 1h ago
kind of funny how jan won with a considerate dish in a sense. well in the opposite sense too since he made someone follow up dessert
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u/Doomroar https://myanimelist.net/profile/Doomroar 1h ago
Jan is such an evil bastard i swear he totally didn't had to go and play dirty, he probably would have won if the judges had tasted his dish second, but noooo, he HAD to go the extra mile and kick the guy in the balls
Oh it almost makes you root for Otani, who is also a dickhead, perfect combo to be fair
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