It’s Iron Chef time for the twins, as Illya and Kuro battle over Shirou with their cooking.
What They Say:
Episode 7: “Clash! Cooking Sisters!”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After the heightened drama and tension of the previous episode, we can hardly fault the writer and the anime staff for wanting to have a little fun and kick back before we head off to more action. Sadly, the rather trite and cliche material here feels like filler, an attempt to pass the time while waiting for the next dramatic development, not a real breathing space that provides any amusement on its own.
The peaceful home life of Illya is wrecked with Kuro’s entry into the von Einzbern/Emiya household. She quite predictably makes a move on Shirou, more than we really needed to see frankly. Illya’s cliched response of slapping Shirou did nothing to make it any better. The twins then decide to settle their fight over Shirou through a cooking contest (how…uh…original): their class is making pound cakes. The teams chosen are not exactly fair: Kuro has Mimi and Miyu on her team while Illya is stuck with Suzuka, Nanaki and, sadly, Tatsuko, a character who is getting less and less amusing the more you see of her on screen. Frankly, it was already clear that Tatsuko’s role is mainly to be a jerk and screw things up as much as possible. In small doses, such a character can work to advance the humor or the plot. Small doses meaning once in a blue moon during a leap year. In this episode, her little interventions start out as vaguely amusing and then ramp up to annoying. This is no longer funny.
Of course the two teams come up with different results (and the one semi-funny sight gag of Miyu’s accomplishments), but the judging will be done by Shirou back at home. During the face off, Shirou praises the cake Kuro’s team made, but notes that the flavor lacks something: this cake was not made for him. Illya’s cake, on the other hand…is not very good, especially the mints that Tatsuko threw in at the last moment. But, Shirou can feel the love in it, so Illya wins the contest.
The next day, Illya demands that things at home be brought into proper order (since Kuro has now twice snuck into Shirou’s bed…though Illya slaps Shirou, naturally). Irisviel thinks that’s a good idea, so she draws up a new hierarchical chart, with herself at the very top on the God tier, Kiritsugu below her on the Parent level, followed by Illya, then the maids, and finally Shirou at the very bottom. Illya quickly adds Kuro to the very bottom of the chart, but this has the effect of making her an elder sister. It soon goes to her head and Kuro is none too pleased about it.
At school, we hear of the plans to celebrate Illya’s birthday again (which falls on July 20th). Kuro now butts in and claims it as her birthday too (which is correct). To take away even more attention from Illya, it’s now revealed that Miyu’s birth occurred on the same day as well. Desperate to shore up her quickly fading elder sister authority, Illya surveys her friends for what traits make an elder sibling…with laughable results.
From the preview, we see that the mysterious personage hinted at in a blink and you miss it moment at the end of the first season appears, promising to make Illya’s life more interesting than she would probably want it to be. Considering that this show has done better at the action than comedy for the most part, this will likely be a welcome change. This episode…is a way to pass the time, before the next dramatic arc kicks in.
In Summary:
Illya and Kuro may now be under the same roof, but they continue to butt heads. While a breather from the action arcs was called for, this installment was so filled with tired and cliche “comedy,” I would rather have just had a meaningless beach episode or culture festival or something else to pass the time with. This was bland, with only a couple short gags that could make you crack a smile.
Episode Grade: B-
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
