It’s been a week since the end of the new Iron Chef in Japan. Tonight, I present to you another finale. The end of the reign of Iron Chef Japanese Koumei Nakamura. The challenger is none other than Dr. Yukio Hattori. This episode is split into two parts. The first part is primarily about Nakamura and his time in Kitchen Stadium. The second part is the rest of the battle.
You will notice there are two versions of the first part of the battle: subtitled and the OA all-Japanese version. The OA version is about 5 minutes longer, but unless you are a completist, you’ll do just fine with the subtitled version. The main differences between he versions are the inclusion of footage of a visit to Doc Hattori’s dressing room and some minor image changes. (They seem to have removed any footage of soldiers and war during the section explaining why this battle is so important to Hattori’s family.)
Iron Chef 606a/b – a: Nakamura Retrospective – 2/13/1998 b: Nakamura vs Hattori – Tuna – 2/20/1998
(I’m heading to Houston for Opening Day of the 2013 Major League Baseball season this weekend. If you have any problems, please let me know. I might not get to it immediately, but I’ll take care of it as soon as I can. Same thing with the comments. I’ll approve them when I get a chance.)
I will have a couple of classic episodes up before the weekend, but I wanted to post this one now.
This episode is a rather unique one in that there was not a theme ingredient. The theme of the episode was Hanami (花見). Hanami is the Japanese tradition of enjoying the beauty of flowers, usually Sakura (桜) or cherry blossoms. The episode aired during the traditional Hanami time of the year. The judging takes place outdoors under the cover of Sakura. Nakamura vs. You.
GO HERE if you’d like to see some of the Sakura now on display in Japan via Google Streetview.
Iron Chef 513OA – Hanami Battle
Iron Chef 548sub – It is the last battle of the year (1997), and the chairman wants to use a theme ingredient he has been wanting to use for a long time. It is the largest fish that can be caught in the waters off Japan. The challenger is the “Don of Kansai cuisine” and frequent thorn in the sides of the Iron Chefs, Toshiro Kandagawa. (This episode is in Japanese with English subtitles.)
Iron Chef 601sub – For the first battle of the new year (1998), the Chairman selects a special challenger from Sendai. He is an expert at using Miso from all over Japan. (This episode is in Japanese with English subtitles.)
Iron Chef 602OA – The challenger is the owner/chef of a French restaurant in Japan. He trained with three-star chefs in France, so he should be a formidable foe for Kobe. (This episode is in Japanese with no subtitles)
Iron Chef 603OA – The challenger comes recommended by frequent judges Yasushi Akimoto and Tenmei Kano. (This episode is in Japanese with no subtitles.)
UPDATE: I’ve added .mp4 versions to the download page for these four episodes. If you want to stream instead of downloading, you can by copying the direct download URL into a media player such as VLC Player. To get the direct download URL, go to the download page and click “Download MP4”. The next screen will have a link under “Click here if you are not redirected automatically.” (You can cancel the download.) Paste that URL into the box that opens when you select “Open Network Stream” and the video will begin streaming.
Thanks for letting me put up my personal post on Monday. Here are some “new” original episodes for you.
Iron Chef 202 – The challenger is a Chinese cuisine chef from Hong Kong. He loves to cook on his super hot fire. (I thought I heard 60,000 kilocalories, but I don’t know exactly what that means. Someone feel free to enlighten me.) He has served Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan among others. Nice touch from the Chairman asking who he is going to battle in Chinese. It’s an all Chinese cuisine battle as he takes on Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi.
Iron Chef 203 – I believe this is the first time we have an amateur cook rather than a professional chef as the challenger. (You will hear the chairman say “Shirouto” several times. It means novice/amateur.) He will take on Iron Chef Japanese Michiba in an egg battle. Apparently the challenger’s wife is happy with the theme. Ota reports that as soon as she heard it announced, she did the “guts pose” in the royal box. Will her confidence lead him to victory?
Iron Chef 204 – The challenger was a gymnast, then a professional boxer, and now a highly trained French Chef. (He is still in the news, serving up dishes with dirt at his restaurant. Yep, dirt.) Don’t worry; the theme is not top soil. It’s sea bream and Iron Chef Michiba will be looking to deliver the knockout blow. (I don’t know what Fukui is really saying, but you know his dubbed version would be breaking out every boxing pun in the book for this battle.)
It’s time for another batch of original Ryouri no Tetsujin episodes. Tonight’s post includes the final three episodes of season 1 and the first episode of what I call season 2. (Why not 8-10? Well, I imagine most of you have already seen the Food Network version of episode 10, and I wanted to give everyone three “new” episodes to watch as I have done with the other original episodes.)
Ryouri no Tetsujin 108 – The challenger’s brother was defeated by Michiba less than one month earlier. Now, Shu Tomitoku comes to challenge the Iron Chef. (I think he says he wants to have a very entertaining battle.) The Chairman says, “Your younger brother lost to Michiba. And now, who do you want to fight?” With his younger brother Shu Tomiteru urging him on, Shu Tomitoku chooses Rokusaburo Michiba. (Keep an eye out for a very young looking Shinichiro Ohta interviewing the younger brother.)
Ryouri no Tetsujin 109 – Chairman Kaga knows that Christmas is coming soon and he is looking forward to many special treats. He is excited to have the first dessert battle in Kitchen Stadium. It’s a very entertaining battle with creative desserts from both chefs.
Ryouri no Tetsujin 110 – For many years, this was the only first season episode most Iron Chef fans outside of Japan had ever seen. (And it was the only one most of us expected ever to see.) It is another Christmas battle featuring Ishinabe. This time, he takes on French MOF winner Jacques Borie in a chicken battle. Since Food Network had to stretch this original 30-minute episode into one hour, we see more of the tasting and comments in the dubbed version than we do in this original. (The cooking portions almost lined up shot for shot.)
Ryouri no Tetsujin 201 – The first episode of the second season of Ryouri no Tetsujin. It’s the first battle of the new year. (The Japanese text at the beginning is the date: January 9, 1994.) Shu Tomitoku is back to take on Michiba once again in the first rematch battle in Kitchen Stadium. The challenger tells Chairman Kaga he doesn’t need to see all three Iron Chefs. Michiba alone is enough.
I will get episodes 8-11 posted tonight when I get home. I’m sorry I didn’t get any first season episodes posted last week, but I promise I’ll get them up tonight. Thanks for your patience.
Keith