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Delicious Party Precure
Episode 36

by Rebecca Silverman,

How would you rate episode 36 of
Delicious Party♡Precure ?
Community score: 4.3

If you thought that Gal Sone's character design this week was markedly different from most of the others in the show, you're right: she's an actual person putting in a cameo in this week's episode. Gal Sone is a Japanese eating champion (as in she competes in eating contests), and there's a decently good chance that Tatemotte, the gourmet influencer Ran looks up to, is also a real person; I couldn't find anything definitive on that front in an admittedly cursory search. In any event, they're there in order to help Ran to realize the reality of her dream of becoming a gourmet influencer herself, a dream she's almost embarrassed to admit to on her “future careers” survey. While that may be because it's at this point the equivalent of a kid saying that they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up, it's likely also because she knows that only a fraction of the people who do it can make an actual living at the job, so even if she works hard and loves it, it may not be a viable career path.

There's something to be said for that. Doing creative work is always a gamble, and for every person who becomes ludicrously wealthy, there are at least twenty more cobbling jobs together to be able to both do what they love and be able to eat. That Ran doesn't immediately succeed when a national TV program comes to her family's ramen shop is a necessity for the viewers; we've all seen Ran do great work with her Curesta reviews, but that's not enough to rocket her to immediate stardom when the cameras are suddenly turned her way. But the episode also takes care to make sure that all hope isn't lost – Tatemotte, seeing Ran's frustration, gently tells her that success isn't an overnight thing; even being a social media star takes practice and a lot of effort. She's kind and gentle with Ran, and that has the effect of restoring her courage and enthusiasm while still giving her a firm idea of what it takes to make the dream real.

It probably helps that Ran saves her when Secretoru shows up with her Gossori Ubau-zo. It's a nod to the fact that there are things Ran can do that her idol can't, and the threat to Tatemotte's livelihood – the targeted food is one that she's currently filming – gives Ran a chance to give back to her. (The food in question is a variation of anmitsu, with almond jelly rather than agar jelly. It's not actually tofu, it just looks similar.) But what's more interesting than the fight is Secretoru's motivation for the attack in the first place. Where Narcistoru resented people having good memories involving food, she seems to be a food snob, and she's aghast at the fact that people may use Tatemotte's social media as a way to create their own versions of the dishes she highlights. She's therefore motivated by a desire to gatekeep recipes – believing that only qualified people should be making them.

That in itself is an interesting element of her character. It's something that isn't at all unheard of; probably most of us have run up against someone who refuses to share a “secret” or “family” recipe because they don't want someone else making it. The implication is often that they're afraid someone will sully their memories of the dish by changing it, or that no one else could possibly make it as well as they do, and therefore it would be disrespectful to the recipe itself to share it. It's an insidious form of gourmet snobbery, and one that we're more likely to excuse, in part because there's often very little we can do about it. Either way, both Secretoru and Narcistoru's goals of keeping food away from people is clearly coming from two very different places, which may indicate an exploitable crack in the Bundoru Gang's defenses.

The cameo appearances are the least interesting piece of this episode, and they honestly don't do much to develop Ran's character, although it is good to see her run the gamut of emotions. Instead it's the little details that help this episode to show us where the story is headed: Mari's search for Ginger, who may well have erased a few memories before he vanished, Secretoru's motivation, and a preview that shows Narcistoru making a return to the stage. We're moving towards the finale, even though we've got a ways to go before we get there, and it's looking like the next few major reveals are going to be doozies.

Rating:

Delicious Party♡Precure is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.


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