Iron Wok Jan! ‒ Episode 11
Episode 11 of Iron Wok Jan! is a pure expression of cooking excellence delivered with surprising brutality.
And here I was thinking that last week was the most blood we were going to see all season. It turns out Akiyama was just doing a bit of bloodletting with himself as a pre-game for this week's violence. I would say this is probably the healthier option of the two, at least on a purely human level, but maybe not on the most humane level because… wow. That's a lot of dead birds killed in a graphic and public display, huh? I can't recall ever seeing a semicircle of birds with slit throats draining into bowls in any of the other media I've watched, and it ranks up there with some of the more violent displays I've witnessed.
That's what makes it such great television. It's a compelling mystery for the audience in the real world and diegetically speaking. We are all horrified yet deeply curious as to what Akiyama is planning. A dessert made with blood? Really? That's a curious choice for a dessert. This is a very natural outcome from Akiyama's actions, making the characters' questions, motivations, and more very relatable to the audience. I would say that for 99% of the population, it is normal to be shocked by the use of blood in a dessert.
Akiyama himself mentions how this is the Akiyama magic at work. That's a very astute way of putting it: the act of cooking is so curious it creates a kind of magic. Even though everyone knows the ingredients and it is being prepared in full view of thousands, no one can quite discern what he is up to. Akiyama himself resembles an evil wizard over a sacrificial bowl on the culinary altar, his fanged visage reflected in the vitae of the slain.
The result creates a grand juxtaposition with the preparation. The pigeon-shaped pie is adorable. It's this cute little dessert with these delightfully soft coconut eggs that completely belies the grisly nature of the cooking beforehand. And the reactions of the judges are full of childlike glee and exultation. Another masterclass in cooking drama.
Rating:
Iron Wok Jan! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
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