Food for the Soul

Mako, with Kurea, Shion, Tsutsuji, and Nana, went to a fashion shop Nana’s older sister owns. Yep, it’s surprising that Nana’s older sister dresses like a gyaru girl. After they had lunch, Mako had a big plate of Max Pancakes with berry sauce. It’s a foreshadowing of what is to come.

The episode’s primary focus is that Mako becomes subconscious about her weight when she tries on a skirt and can’t zipper it up. She wonders if she had the wrong size, but it was the size she usually wears. When she weighed herself, she went on a strict diet.

It’s interesting to see an episode of Mako, Tsutsuji, and Nana exercising and losing weight in an anime focusing on delicious food. Mako went on the treadmill while Tsutsuji did various exercises, and Nana did weights. They struggled, of course, but they kept at it. Eventually, Mako manages to bring down her weight back to when she started university as her new skirt fits. However, she needs to get past that.

Seeing her lack energy after going on a diet of only bean sprouts. As expected, there needs to be balance, and Tsutsuji suggests Mako having a cheat day once in a while. After all, the clerk tasked Kurea and Shion to take photos of the group eating to put on the website. Yes, they had burgers, and Mako was crying while eating it. Still, when she got home, she thought it was okay to have another snack and another since she could just burn it off. Sadly, I have a bad feeling that her progress will reverse.

Kurea and Shion decide to get a driver’s license. It’s funny how Kurea is the one who studies while Shion tries to do the bare minimum. The funny thing is that Shinon failed the test as she left the testing room. Still, the funny thing she said is that one of the rules of driving is not to hit people with a car. Wait, she realizes that driving a vehicle is unlike in Cyberpunk 2077 and Grand Theft Auto?

The girls go on a road trip with Kurea and Shion in the driver’s seat. As expected, Nana is shy around Kurea’s mother as she lets them borrow the van. Seeing that they drive without a destination makes it seem like one of those unplanned trips Chika takes. What is funny is that Shion manages to get herself on a freeway and is afraid since there are a lot of cars, and she is not used to them. It took a while to get used to it, and it’s easier than driving on local roads. It’s a matter of getting used to those trucks.

Eventually, Kurea took over, and they went to Tsukiji, where they ate various seafood. It’s funny how Nana froze up quite a few times, especially when they determined groups and Nana was alone in one group. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. Also, they went to a beach and rented a grill to have a seafood dinner. No swimsuits here, of course, but at least it was nice to see the girls do an on the whim day trip.

A new member joins the Food Culture Research Club. It’s a girl named Nana, who probably has the worst anxiety problems when it comes to strangers. It’s one of the friends Shinon, Kurea, and Tsutsuji made during grade school. Given her prior looks of her having black hair and bangs that covered her eyes, she is the introverted member of the group.

Nana wanted to create her puzzle-solving club, but she couldn’t recruit any members, given her looks. When she changed her hair and wore fashionable clothing, two ladies were interested in joining. However, her anxiety about strangers causes her to become unable to talk, and she eventually runs away. Yep, it reminds me of a cross between Hitori and Ikuyo, to be exact.

Thankfully, with Nana helping Mako with her German, at least Nana became less anxious towards her, especially during dinner. That is when Mako and Shion, who brought back some meat from her job, cooked some skewers and sandwiches. At least Nana got to apologize to Mako for accidentally bumping into her. While she becomes more open with Mako, when it comes to the clerk looking after clubs and talking to Mako, Nana becomes anxious again as she hides herself. I guess Nana getting over her anxiety problems with strangers is going to take a long while to resolve.

Now the club is finally established, Shion wants to go on a trip. The funny thing is that she misplaced her money. Yep, she tried writing clues around her apartment. Seeing the girls try to find where Shion put the money is fun. The funny thing is that Shinon never hid the money, so she still has it. While it’s not the best way to prevent oneself from saving money, at least she still has it.

As for the weekend trip, seeing them have fun taking the lift, having a dango, visiting temples, and climbing that long staircase was nice. It’s funny how Tsutsuji was tired of climbing all those stairs and drinking an energy drink to get a short burst of energy, just to get tired again. Mako eventually notices the restaurant that Mokotaro, a mascot, visited. Believe it or not, the girls eventually went to that restaurant, where there is a framed image commemorating Mokotaro and featuring the restaurant on the show. Also, the girls got to see a nice view.

It’s funny to see Shion walking with a hiking cane. It appears that she is anxious since she spent all her money. Yep, she should probably take some financial education classes to learn how to save her money before going out with her friends.

Mako finally joins the Food Culture Research Club, but she discovers that the club has nothing to do with cooking. Yep, Shinon, Kurea and Tsutsuji made the club just to have a club room. It becomes apparent that after the girls clean up the room, they bring furniture to hang out.

The funny thing is the lady who received their club activity application came to check on them. It’s weird how they started to act anxious after she mentioned fake club applications to get rooms. If the Food Culture Research Club doesn’t show any evidence of activities from their application, their club will be disbanded.

Well, at least thanks to Mako’s motivation to cook, they found stuff from other clubs to make their club activities a reality and made Camembert curry pilaf. At least they are saved by the bell, but of course, they need to make an effort to keep doing the activities they are supposed to do. That said, at least the food that Mako cooked looks good here.