🍜 Episode 6: Battle of the Bowls

The road takes our crew up into the mountains, where noodle-making is life itself. Menpaku is a town built on broth and dough — but instead of unity, the Mugimichi family is locked in a feud. Three siblings, each masters of their own style — udon, ramen, soba — battle for the family legacy, while their aging father looks on.

What should be a contest of skill quickly twists into something darker. The town’s beloved mikan tree, the heart of every recipe, is withering. And the more the tree weakens, the younger and stronger the patriarch seems to become. He’s draining both the land and his own children in a desperate attempt to relive his glory days.

🍜 Journey Journal: Morioka

We drew Menpaku from Morioka, home to Japan’s “Three Great Noodles”: wanko soba, reimen, and jajamen. There’s a healthy rivalry here, but also a quiet strength. Old shrines rest in the hills, and the famous Rock-Splitting Cherry Tree grows straight through stone — proof that tradition can bend but still endure. That balance of rivalry and resilience became the core of this episode’s setting.

🎶 A Taste of Rivalry

When Ume assigns each hero to the noodle they least prefer, chaos ensues — but it’s the perfect way to break habits. Kabu learns patience from soba, Kabocha finds warmth in udon, and Matsu picks up flair from ramen. Meanwhile, Ume investigates the patriarch and the mikan tree, piecing together the truth.

A mid-episode cook-off spirals into shouting when no one will share their mikan slices. The town fractures further, until the final judging day — when the patriarch reveals his own secret style, sakubei noodles, and erupts into a mikan demon.

🌳 Roots and Regret

The fight is fierce. A boulder crashes down and destroys the old mikan tree. The family’s legacy looks doomed. The heroes hesitate — will pulling the seed kill the old man? But as he weakens, he finally admits his regret: he pushed too hard, demanded too much, and divided the family he only wanted to make strong.

In a moment of redemption, he channels his power back into the earth. From the shattered stone sprouts a new mikan sapling, already bearing fruit. Everyone thinks he’s gone — until he dusts off his counter, laughs, and gets back to cooking. The family begins to reconcile, bickering like siblings should.

🌱 Why it Matters

Episode 6 is about legacy and pressure. It shows how regret can twist into obsession, and how love withheld becomes a curse of its own. For Kabocha, it’s a mirror of her own father — and a rare glimpse of what it means when a parent admits they were wrong. For Ume, it’s proof she belongs with the team. And for all of them, it’s a reminder: greatness only lasts if it’s shared.