List of Yakitate!! Japan episodes

Azuma Kazuma is an aspiring baker who has left his small town for Tokyo to fight for his dream of making a bread for all Japan. The story starts when Azuma is 5, living in the country with his grandfather, a rice farmer, and his sister. Although his family only eats rice, as they are rice farmers, Azuma's sister wishes to eat bread for once. Azuma's grandfather refuses, and Azuma has to make a bread that even his grandfather will eat. Little do they know, Azuma has the legendary "Solar Hands". These allow bread to ferment more quickly, and he is able to make a bread that his grandfather loves. 10 years later, he travels to Tokyo to compete in the Pantasia recruitment competition, to try to be accepted to Pantasia, the best bakery in Japan. The test uses a 10 point system, but Azuma immediately loses 5 points due to being late...

At the beginning of the episode, Azuma quickly loses another 2 points for his hair being messy & another 2 for (inadvertently) insulting the examiner. He is given a hairband by a girl who is in the competition. Azuma then meets Kawachi Kyosuke, another applicant. Compared to Azuma, who is relatively simple and has only ever made Japan (bread), Kawachi is quite knowledgeable about bread. As he sees Azuma kneading his bread, he determines that Azuma has the Solar Hands. After tasting a sample of Azuma's bread, he realizes that Azuma is strong competition and must lose quickly. While Azuma is preparing his dough, he rolls a rolling pin behind Azuma, which Azuma slips on, ruining his bread. However, Azuma rebounds to make a Mount Fuji-shaped bread, and gains two points back - comparatively, the strongest competitor otherwise, Suwabara Kai, has a zero point deduction.

The competition is down to four finalists - Azuma, Kawachi, Suwabara, and the girl who gave Azuma the hairband, whose name is Tsukino. Their challenge is to bake a croissant, but as revealed at the end of the previous episode, Azuma does not even know what a croissant is. Azuma and Kawachi agree to bake one together in secret even though it's against the rules. Azuma realizes that he has made a similar Japan, Japan 43. When Kawachi tells him that a standard croissant is 54 layers, Azuma says that this is too little, and that it should be 324 layers, which would be burnt to a crisp if baked. However, there is a secret behind the bread, and Kawachi reluctantly agrees to make it. It's the day of the finals, and Azuma is missing. But first, there is a surprise in store: Tsukino is the granddaughter of Pantasia's owner, and the owner of the Southern Tokyo Branch. Kawachi beats Suwabara with Azuma's croissant, but Azuma never shows up. It is revealed that Azuma dropped out because of Kawachi's siblings - Kawachi had earlier lied to Azuma, claiming that they were homeless. Kawachi, feeling guilty, gives up his employment at the Main Branch, but then both he and Azuma are hired by Tsukino and the Southern Tokyo Branch.

It's Azuma and Kawachi's first day of work at the Southern Tokyo Branch of Pantasia. Tsukino, their new supervisor, teaches Kazuma how to make French bread. When they hear that the manager, afro-sporting Ken Matsushiro, must sample it before it can be sold in the bakery, they seek him out at a horse race track. Instead of tasting the bread, he throws it to a horse, who will eat it or reject it. He tells the two of them to make a bread delicious enough to be eaten by a horse. When they return to the store, Tsukino tells them his story - his sister nearly died from eating bread because of an unknown allergy to dairy. He therefore aims to make a bread that anyone, even someone with allergies, can eat. Horses will eat this type of bread because although they love wheat, they hate butter and dairy products.

Azuma and Kawachi are attempting to create a bread that tastes delicious, but has no possible allergens like butter and milk, and their job is on the line. Azuma calls his sister, who suggests (and brings) the exact ingredient to help him stay at the store - goat's milk, which Azuma makes into butter. Kawachi uses oats in his bread, and the horse accepts it. However, when fed Azuma's bread, the horse strongly rejects it. Ken and Kawachi eat Azuma's bread, and find it to be delicious. As well, the goat's milk that Azuma used eliminates the main allergen in milk, making it a bread that fits the manager's request. Both Azuma and Kawachi keep their jobs.

Azuma and Kawachi are wondering why the store doesn't get more customers when the main store has lines dragging on and on. When they ask Ken, he points out that the main branch of St. Pierre, a rival bakery, is across the street. Soon, they meet the manager, a very effeminate man (it is strongly insinuated that he is gay) named Mokoyama, who is about to release St. Pierre's new line of bread. However, Ken tells Mokoyama Azuma is a much better baker, and he challenges the St. Pierre branch to a duel: Azuma's newest Japan against his new line. St. Pierre accepts, but the main Pantasia branch knows nothing about the challenge, or Azuma's new Japan, and their entire reputation is resting on their newest employee - especially since the duel will be broadcast on television.

The Bread Duel begins. Mokoyama unveils his new bread first, Kougin Pudding Amman, a pudding-filled butter roll. It is made using the highest quality ingredients, and all of the judges give it a perfect score. Then, it's Azuma's turn. His bread, which is fried, seems to go over well with the judges; he took leftover bread and fried it in a special sauce to make it soft again. However, the judges note that it is made from leftovers, and that people will not want to eat it. In the nick of time, the general manager of Pantasia appears, and asks the judges to take price into consideration. Mokoyama announces that the price of his bread will be 190 yen, only slightly higher than a normal butter roll, which is a good deal because of the high-quality ingredients. Then Azuma declares his price - 0 yen. This excites the crowd, and the judges give his bread a perfect score as well - it's a draw.

An invitation is sent to the two newest members of the Southern Tokyo Branch, for the annual "Newcomers Competition" - a tournament of every Pantasia newcomer. Their preliminary challenge is to make dinner bread that will last for three weeks without growing mold. Azuma automatically thinks of a previous Ja-pan, and offers to help Kawachi make it with him. However, Kawachi wants to do it on his own this time, so Tsukino suggests helping him get the legendary solar hands. Although confused as to how, Kawachi accepts the challenge. The special training is swimming - Kawachi is to swim many laps in a pool, with weights around his stomach. Kawachi goes into training, while Azuma decides to go to Izu to get an ingredient... by running. Izu is 3-5 hours away by train.

The newcomer duet is still working on their bread for the competition. Kawachi is in intense training to increase his muscle mass and obtain Solar Gauntlets. Azuma, understandably, faints on his way to Izu, but finds what he needs at a sushi restaurant he collapses near - wasabi. Meanwhile, Kawachi is trying to find his ingredients, so he can fulfill his deceased father's dream of working at the main branch of Pantasia, but feels sorry for himself. Ken Matsushiro tells him to stop being such a baby by dumping his liquor on him. Ken actually intended to give Kawachi the idea of using alcohol in his bread, and Kawachi gets the idea, making his Osaka-pan.

Kazuma and Kyousuke had made it past the preliminary rounds. Kazuma had finished creating his "secret weapon" with the help of Grandpa Umasaburou and baked his ultimate Japan #44 to thank him. The day of Pantasia Newcomers Battle has finally arrived, but Kazuma overslept. He barely made it and Kuroyanagi scolded him by shouting "You're late!! That's 5 points off!!".

Kazuma chose the worst possible butter and baked a dinner roll which was thought by Kuroyanagi to taste the worst but it seems that Kazuma has just pulled off a miracle.

Kazuma was initially disqualified along with other 13 people who chose the same butter as him (i.e.: butter C, revealed to be margarine) by Kuroyanagi, however Kazuma was re-admitted into the Newcomers' battle after Kuroyanagi tasted his butter rolls. This episode also introduces Mizuno Azusagawa, Tsukino's younger and bratty sister, along with the animosity between the two sisters. Near the end, after Kazuma and Kyosuke learned about the issue between the Azusagawa sisters from their manager, they decided to give their best to win the Newcomers' battle to support Tsukino. Mizuno also sets up a gamble in which if Kazuma loses to her, he will have to transfer to Mizuno's new Tokyo Pantasia branch, however should Kazuma win, Mizuno has to begin respecting Tsukino as her older sister.

Kazuma had made a bet with Mizuno, Tsukino's sister but he's totally clueless on baking melon buns. The sushi shop owner whom Kazuma met when he fainted arrived at the main branch to treat them to some sushi. While observing him, Kazuma got an idea on how to create Japan#58, Melon Sushi Bun and asked Tsukino out. Tsukino thought they were out on a date but Kazuma had just forgotten his money and needed her to come along to buy some ingredients. Kazuma's Japan#58 Melon Sushi Bun enabled him to defeat Mizuno and advance to the next round.

Kawachi's match between him and Motohashi. Kawachi wins, but only after trying his best after receiving a huge scare from Matsushiro. Shachihoko, Azuma's next opponent is introduced, as well as the next theme for the next round, which is yakisoba bread. The object is to make the yakisoba not the bread. Azuma who has only ever made bread is a terrible cook; Matsushiro calls an old ramen chef friend of his to teach Azuma and Kawachi the way of yakisoba.

In a hopeless situation, Azuma becomes depressed. Meanwhile Kawachi goes on to win his match, and gives Azuma an idea. The day of the match between Azuma and Shachihoko has arrived. Azuma ends up winning by making an okonomiyaki-style sandwich on panini bread.

The match between Azuma and Koala begins; the object is to create an animal bread that is attractive to both women and young children. Matsushiro explains that Koala (who was earlier revealed to be Mokoyama, in disguise) will beat Azuma, with his dragon bread. Near the end of the episode, Koala presents a dragon-shaped bread to Kuroyanagi and Azuma presents a green turtle-shaped bread.

The episode carries on from episode 16, and ends with Azuma's win. After Koala's loss, Mizuno fires Koala, but later re-hires him after realizing how much she loved him.

Tsukino goes to her mother's grave as it is her mother's anniversary while Kawachi is versing Katsuo "Pig-boy" Umino in the Pantasia main branch. Kawachi is surprised to see Tsukino not coming to his match and wins. Tsukino buys flowers and brings bread to her mother's funeral while Kyousuke, Kazuma and Ken Matsushiro go to her mother's grave to pray with her.

The semi-finals match, Kanmuri vs. Kawachi. Kawachi is confident in his battle with Kanmuri after obtaining a special yeast from Matsushiro. During the competition Kawachi suddenly has difficulty kneading his dough, and despite his efforts the dough refuses to ferment.

Just before the competition, Yukino placed endo-proteases into Kawachi's flour, causing Kawachi to lose to Kanmuri by foul play.

After Kawachi's dreadful defeat at the hands of Kanmuri, Azuma decided to take revenge for Kawachi. During Azuma's match with Suwabara, Azuma baked Japan #44, a bread that allows you to go heaven. The judges, Kuroyanagi and Dave go to heaven after eating Azuma's bread. When Kuroyanagi comes back to life after the effects of the bread have worn off, he declares Azuma the winner.

The episode begins with a short overview of the past few episodes. Matsushiro also suggests that Kawachi go train at a church during the finals, before facing Suwabara. After talking to Kanmuri in the kitchen, Yukino finds the petalite slab and then breaks it into sand pouring it into a sandbox.

Kawachi meets a young nun who turns out to be his mentor on baking bread, during his stay. The competition between Azuma and Kanmuri begins, however both are desperate to win, with Azuma's promise to Tsukino and Kawachi on the line, and Kanmuri's research that is threatened by Yukino.

Kawachi returns after shockingly changing his hairstyle into an afro. Meanwhile Azuma and Kanmuri battle it out, Meister Kirisaki, the judge for the finals, gives Kanmuri a full score by the display of peacock feathers on his mask. Azuma also receives the same result but the result allows Meister to suddenly fly around the room, shocking the audience. The match ends with Azuma's win.

Because of Kanmuri's defeat, Yukino as promised, destroys Kanmuri's research. The scene switches to Kawachi and the gang, and flashes back to Kawachi's training at the church. Kawachi also tries to get rid of his habit of saying "what was that?!" but it proves to be futile. The match between Suwabara and Kawachi then starts, with each of them introducing a new type of bread they developed.

The final match between Kawachi and Suwabara starts. Kawachi introduces his "singing" French bread, a technique he developed during his training, Suwabara also introduces his "dancing" French bread that takes the appearance of a coiled up snake. The match ends in a draw, and thus concludes the Pantasia Newcomers arc.

After the awards ceremony, Yukino tries to convince Meister and her grandfather that she had nothing to do with the sabotage of Kawachi's bread. In the latter half of the episode, Kawachi is shocked to find bread in the rice cooker and demands to know what Azuma is doing. This is the unveiling of Japan #2, shortly after a little boy demands to have some of Japan #57 but to his dismay, they are all out. To make it up to him, Azuma shows him and Kawachi how to make Japan #2.

Kanmuri is now an employee of the Southern Tokyo branch in place of Kawachi, who has moved to the main store. Kanmuri reveals that Yukino is secretly selling stocks of Pantasia to St. Pierre. Kanmuri later exposes his risky plan to Matsushiro; Kawachi overhears, when he plans to visit everyone at the Southern Tokyo branch.

Yukino hires three men from the St. Pierre Kyushu branch. Their ability is to be able to copy bread, Yukino tricks the men into making the special diet bread that is being sold by Pantasia. After noticing St. Pierre's plan, everyone over at Pantasia combats it with the special Black Japan. Pantasia challenges the men from St. Pierre, bargaining that they must stop making the diet bread if they win. St. Pierre admits defeat, and Pantasia starts selling the Black Japan which is good for dieting and for health.

Azuma, Kawachi, Suwabara, and Kuroyanagi now depart for France. Just before going through the gate, Kanmuri hands Kawachi a box which he can open in case he's in trouble. The three newcomers stay in France for a month for training to make bread especially for the French people; they train under Meister Kirisaki's younger sister Sophie Balzac Kirisaki. Kawachi later discovers that inside the box was a cellphone. Kawachi and Kanmuri then devise a plan that will allow the Japanese team to appear the weakest in order for Kanmuri's plan to work.

Kawachi goes along with Kanmuri's plan, suggesting Rodin's famous Thinker be made as their bread that will be presented in the opening of the Monaco cup. After its completion, Kawachi as planned accidentally ruins it. With no other choice, team Japan makes a new life sized statue, with Kawachi inside. Kawachi is eventually found out, and team Japan starts at a disadvantage with 8 points, as well as being considered the weakest team in the Monaco cup, as planned by Kanmuri.

The first part of the preliminary round begins. In the first round, a roulette wheel is used to select ingredients for the bread. The bread must be made with only the ingredients that were selected by the roulette wheel. Team Japan is put in a hopeless position after all three members ended up getting only eggs. But Azuma pulls through by asking for a certain type of flour and makes Japan# 21.

Team Japan ends up passing the first round. Pierrot the judge of the Monaco cup then relates the story of how he became a clown. At the end of the story, Team Japan has fallen asleep, as it was 3 a.m.

The second part of the preliminaries. In this part, a slot machine is used to get ingredients as indicated on the coins in the slot machine. But the more coins that are gained the more of a disadvantage is gained. Before the start of the match, Edward Kayser makes a bet with Suwabara, that the losing team must drop out of the Monaco cup. Despite the fact Suwabara gains too many coins, he ends up passing by making Lupan #3, also called Pain D'epice, a type of bread he developed shortly after losing to Azuma in the newcomers arc.

The Monaco cup goes into the finals, in which only the best teams remain standing. The Japanese team learn that Shachihoko, who was introduced in episode 14 is on the American team. Back in Japan, St. Pierre's owner Kirisaki learns that the Southern Tokyo store no longer has any capital, having bet it all on the Japanese team. Kirisaki uses this opportunity to run the Southern Tokyo branch out of business, by reducing all prices by 70%. Kanmuri counteracts this by using Kinoshita's cloning ability to create a live bread-making demonstration outside Pantasia.

The first part of the quarter-finals in Monaco is to make bread in less than 60 minutes; only then will 8 teams be left. The Japanese team nearly didn't pass because of one fatal mistake made by Azuma, using a microwave; it is revealed that Pierrot has an utter disdain for microwaves. It flashes back to Pierrot's plane trip to America; the former ringmaster warns that Americans will sue over anything, in which he relays a story of an old woman microwaving her cat, which is the source of Pierrot's hatred. In order to save team Japan, Shachihoko explains to Pierrot that it was only an urban legend and it wasn't real. After hearing this, Pierrot passes team Japan.

For the second part of the quarter-finals, the final eight are brought to a deserted island. There each team must make a sweet bread with ingredients that can only be found on the island. The Japanese team is stuck in a position where their base is washed away at high tide. While trying to swim to shore, Azuma gets lost in a whirlpool, and is later found by the Egyptian team. The chairman of the Monaco cup contacts the French team, and tells them to set the forest on fire after getting fruit from the forest. It is revealed in this episode that team France was indeed being told of everything beforehand and also the reason why they were at an advantage. It also was the reason the Japanese team is in the position they are in, thanks to St. Pierre's Kirisaki.

Surrounded by a sea of flames, Kawachi and Suwabara are saved by one of the Egyptian representatives. The Egyptians are really the Monaco secret police; they are currently tailing team France, who are believed to be cheating. During that time team Japan is reunited, however now that the forest had been burnt down by team France, there is no way to gather fruit to use in making the sweet bread. Azuma comes up with the idea of using potatoes, and the sap of a surviving palm tree. At the end of the week, team Japan presents Pierrot with their sweet bread Japan #9, and end up passing.

Because of the incident on the island, a re-match is being held in Mexico. The objective is to make a bread with fish or a bread that tastes good with fish. Each team must skydive down towards the San Agustin River, the place where the match is being held. But in order to eliminate team Japan, the professional skydivers that were hired for the match, lead team Japan away from the river and towards Huautla, the deepest cave in the world. Pierrot, noticing something is wrong, follows team Japan into Huautla. Eventually team Japan begins to lose hope about ever coming out alive, and the only possible escape route is to swim 2-3 km underwater. Pierrot convinces team Japan that he will go and call for help, but in truth he cannot swim.

Trying to delay the Japanese team as much a possible, Pierrot develops a long term reaction over the course of the episode. Pierrot's reaction includes a complex code that only Azuma solves, revealing he is very strong when it comes to numbers. After much procrastination, Pierrot finally dives in, discovering that because of his reaction to Azuma's bread he had obtained gills and was able to swim the 2-3 km.

After being rescued from the cave, Azuma and the gang finally meet the king of Monaco, who is also the new chairman of the competition after the former one ran away after being suspected of fixing the competition. The next theme for the semi-finals is to make a sports bread. As well Japan's opponent is France. Later while Azuma and the others are gathering ingredients at the royal palace, Sophie tells of a tragic story regarding her brother, herself, and their father. During the flashback, Kirisaki asks the question "Who do you give fresh baked bread to?" At the palace, the king asks the exact same question, and Azuma answers the exact same way Kirisaki did. Near the end of the episode, it is learned that the king and Kirisaki knew each other when the king was a child. It also becomes clear as to why the Japanese team must be eliminated.

Team Japan begins to prepare for their match against Kayser. On the scheduled day of the match, Kayser reveals their true form. While the match has started, Azuma has yet to arrive. During this episode, Suwabara's Lupan #6 is revealed, as well as Gran's special blue dough that will be made into the perfect bread for F1 racing, while Suwabara's bread has a fatal flaw.

The judging is about to begin, and Azuma arrives just before the final 20 minutes of the match. Pierrot refuses to eat Azuma's ready baked bread, because of too many unknown factors, but the king of Monaco, who Azuma was riding with, allows him to participate. The winner between France and Japan is Japan. It is noted that Kawachi's head was shaved off by Pierrot as part of his reaction to Gran Kayser's bread as a pun of one of its ingredients, Pearl Powder.

The group is outside a restaurant celebrating their victory, with Kawachi having a new wig for his hair after being shaved off. Kawachi is overconfident in their ability as usual, while eating lobsters. The winner between China and America during the earlier battle turns out to be America, with all three of their breads winning, and to top that Sachihoko's bread placed third in the semi-finals. The group learns of a new opponent, Shadow, the best in the American team, with Gopan#97, surpassing Azuma's Japan#51. It is made from rice flour instead of wheat flour. Kawachi experiences another mental breakdown in lack of confidence, and is told that to win, he must create a bread as good as Azuma's It turns out that Mikhail Schukapper (an F1 racer) had tasted both finalist breads, and in his speech about his victories and life, he states that he preferred the Gopan to Azuma's Japan. Kuroyanagi fears that Azuma will react badly upon hearing this as never in his life has he lost in a bread contest. Azuma ends up leaving, only to be discovered later to have visited Shadow, who turns out to be just as disturbing as he seemed. Azuma gets the determination to work harder after seeing him. It is revealed that the final will consist of three one-on-one matches, with three themes, the clothing, food and shelter of bread. Clothing is aesthetic appeal, the bread that is most representative of the clothes you wear. Food is to make dinner bread that is versatile and will complement anything and everything. Lastly, shelter is the bread with the best taste of your homeland. Suwabara takes the first match, Kawachi the second, and Azuma the third. We also learn that Kawachi knows much about F1 racers.

Despite its title, the two competitors in this episode are not actually nude, rather undressing into the bare minimum clothing appropriate for the younger age groups. The episode starts with Kawachi commenting on Suwabara being foolish in using his sword to carve a wooden log in the middle of the road. He doesn't understand why Suwabara is doing such a thing. Sophie announces that Monica Adenauer takes up the challenge of the first match; Sachihoko has the second, and Shadow the third. Kuroyanagi's old friend Kid informs the group of who Monica is in the story, suddenly out of the blue, with his power as the head of a NY investigation company named "KID". We learn that both Shadow and Monica were novices chosen for their promise, and the reason Sachihoko was there was to teach the two other teammates during the competition. Monica turns out to be a real challenge, as she is the Queen of Patisserie (revealed in manga to have won by default though). Monica adores junk food and candies, and we find out she is on the American team because Kirisaki promises to fulfill her dream to own a ‘Candy Castle’ if she wins. Suwabara isn't frightened though, and steps up to the challenge, revealing the wooden block carving to be something he's planned all along, for his Lupan #1:Pane d'oro Kai. Monica dresses up in beach attire at the competition, hoping to try to dissuade Suwabara but he only rips off all of his clothing except for a small loincloth, and both start baking in (relatively) no clothing. Monica uses five dough bowls for her rye bread, inspired by her mom, who was German. Suwabara uses two dough bowls though. He applies honeyed fruit to his bread, but Monica counters by making a candy rose. The match continues in next episode.

Monica and Suwabara are having their battle. Monica had already finished her bread not long after Suwabara finishes his, and when he does just as Pierrot was about to judge Monica's bread first, Monica told Pierrot to judge Suwabara's bread. Without knowing why, Pierrot did what he was told and judged Suwabara's bread first, then as he was about to judge Monica's bread Pierrot, Suwabara and the audience saw that during the time Pierrot was judging Suwabara's bread, Monica's sugar rose had bloomed into a beautiful flower which gave her an advantage to gain credit for the bread to be beautiful. During Pierrot's reaction to Monica's bread, Pierrot is arrested for hassaing^{[clarification needed]} Chinese cabbage, so both Suwabara and Monica had to go the police station to get the results. It is then revealed that Monica is the winner and when Suwabara wanted to give Monica a handshake, Monica refuses, so Suwabara pulls her hands. When he takes a look at Monica's hands, they are scarred as a result of molding hot sweets, and when Suwabara sees this he says that she has the most beautiful hands he have ever seen, as the marks on her hands are the mark of a true patissier. Monica is shocked because no one has ever told her that her hands were beautiful. This episode makes a reference to the Greek myth Pandora's Box as Kyousuke mentioned that Kai's bread Pan d' Oro is a pun on Pandora.

With Suwabara having lost his match (and his heart) to U.S. competitor Monica, Kawachi is urged by Kuroyanagi to start working on his bread. While in his room, Kawachi sees Ken Matsushiro, Shigeru Kanmuri, Tsukino Azusagawa, and Kageto Kinoshita, whose name he promptly forgets.

They present him with a scroll that has his father's name on it. Kawachi then realises that he didn't start baking because he wanted to make money, he started baking because he wanted to be 'cool' like his father, who kept trying to achieve his dreams no matter how many times he failed. He then creates numerous moulds, which Azuma points out as one of the symptoms of insanity. The episode ends with Kawachi making a mental note to himself that he would fulfill his father's dream.

The episode begins with the 2nd final of the Monaco Cup. While Sachihoko finishes his Egyptian bread, Alexandria, far ahead of Kawachi, Kawachi, unable to resist the urge to watch Pierrot's reaction, looks up to realise that time has stopped. He then meets fictional character Conan the Detective, who astounds Kawachi with his perfect deceptions of the frozen beings around him. Kawachi, fed up with Pierrot's mind games, starts calling Conan names. Conan pretends not to hear in order that Kawachi loudly repeats the phrase 'Conan, you measel!' repeatedly, until Kawachi sees through the ruse and yells, 'Kodaimai miso!', which was used in Spencer's bread. Conan then turns into Pierrot, and stumbles around drunkenly, revealing a dagger embedded in his back. Kawachi is accused of murder, but charges are cleared when Pierrot stands up, appearing fine. He then takes a bite of Kawachi's bread and launches into a story about his circus friends.

The story continues for 4 hours, before Kawachi cracks and says that Pierrot is simply rambling on and that telling a pointless story wasn't going to help judge his bread. Pierrot appears relieved and says that he was wondering if Kawachi was ever going to stop him. He then collapses, and his wound starts bleeding. Pierrot says that it was not a pointless story, but a story of 'Victor, Me, and Ed.', which was a pun on 'Victory Bread'. Pierrot announces that Kawachi won the match, before being escorted out by the ambulance service, leaving Ryou Kuroyanagi to explain Kawachi's superior mould, and his technique of using nutritious water instead of the leaves of the plant itself, a tip given discreetly by Ken Matsushiro.

Pierrot is revealed to have "Bombay blood" and is on the verge of dying. The King of Monaco reveals he has "Bombay blood" and goes to rescue Pierrot. After the King of Monaco leaves, Ryou Kuroyanagi deduces that in order for someone like Pierrot to have "Bombay blood", the parents must have the same blood too. In the hospital, the King pulls out all the stops to save Pierrot's life (even smashing the transfusion pump switch so that it cannot be stopped) and they meet in heaven in the same cabaret from Episode 21. Pierrot constantly badmouths his parents for abandoning him and never coming to see him and states that he never wants to see them again, but the King is grief-stricken and finally confesses to Pierrot that he is his son, Prince Leol. Pierrot laughs it off until the King hugs him tightly and weeps for him as he is taken away by the angels. Pierrot reawakens as the King dies and breaks down, longing to be with his father again. Azuma promises him that he can send him to heaven with a new Japan, since he can no longer make his Japan #44 due to not having his petalite slab.

It's almost time for the final match of the Monaco Cup. The theme is "shelter", a bread with the taste of the competitor's homeland. Kuroyanagi briefs Azuma, Kawachi and Suwabara on Shadow White, Azuma's opponent in the final round. It is revealed that Shadow had an innate ability to copy the winposes^{[clarification needed]} of many famous sports stars as a kid, but turned to watching and imitating the famous mime Marcel Marceau after being bullied because of his talent. He became so good at mimicking that he started mimicking people unconsciously and ended up becoming a star circus performer. After being fired for appearing "soulless", he was found in a bar by Yuuichi Kirisaki and enrolled in the Monaco Cup, and is being worked to death by Kirisaki to copy his Gopan technique perfectly. Pierrot (now called the Miracle Prince because of his miraculous recovery) picks up the team in a helicopter and flies them to the tournament. Kuroyanagi is worried because Shadow's bread can create impossible reactions on ordinary people, not just hypersensitive types like him and Pierrot, so he wonders how Azuma will fare. Azuma is unafraid and boldly yells "Bring it on!".

It's the final match of the Monaco Cup. The arena is crowded. Shadow makes a Gopan bagel with rice flour made from a very hard and sticky rice that is perfect for making rice cakes and boils it in fine English tea instead of water, while Azuma makes Japan #61, a doughnut with powdered hemp seeds and cannabis milk in the dough (the episode is peppered with references to a Tokyo restaurant that exclusively serves hemp-based dishes) and tops it with a mixture of handmade brown sugar and powdered hemp seeds. Shadow finishes first and when Pierrot tastes his bagel, he is transported into Night on the Galactic Railroad (his mother's favorite fairytale) where he speaks to the ghost of his mother up in space. Pierrot is ecstatic and it looks like Shadow has won, but while Kawachi panics, Tsukino, Kanmuri and Matsushiro remain perfectly calm. The match continues into the next episode.

Azuma has finished his Japan #61 and serves it to Pierrot. After eating it, Pierrot is transported back 23 years in time, before he was born, and appears in the Monaco court. The King and Queen do not recognize him as their son, but he claims to be a clown the King hired for the Queen's amusement and eventually becomes her favorite and most trusted servant. Pierrot is able to advise the over-eating Queen during her pregnancy on how to keep herself fit so she does not die during pregnancy and even rushes her to the hospital himself when her water breaks, but suddenly he begins to disappear inches from the hospital. Back in the present, Pierrot ends up crying bitterly as the reaction wears off until he is suddenly admonished by the King and Queen. Pierrot realizes he has altered the course of history and brought his parents back from the dead and excitedly pronounces Azuma the winner, meaning Japan has won the Monaco Cup. Shadow is in a rage, but Yuuichi Kirisaki suddenly appears and explains that he lost to Azuma because Azuma made all the ingredients himself by hand to give the bread a "home-made" taste which Shadow could not do. As a prize, Azuma is given a ring by the Queen of Monaco that she had given to 'Pierrot' in the past, however he decides to give it to Tsukino as thanks for her giving him her hairband in episode 2, and because the ring will get in the way when he is kneading dough - although Tsukino interprets it as an admission of love on Azuma's part...

After buying out Pantasia and merging it with St. Pierre, Mr. Kirisaki challenges Azuma and the others to another bread competition, the Yakitate! 9, which is to be televised nationwide, offering Kuroyanagi the position of judge and presenter. Kirisaki also makes Tsukino the president of Pantasia while Yukino becomes the president of St. Pierre. On the plane home, Ken Matsushiro tells everyone about when Kuroyanagi started training under him in Pantasia. Kuroyanagi and Ken had been at loggerheads for years after Ken drove Kuroyanagi away during his apprenticeship, but Matsushiro explains that he realized Kuroyanagi was meant to be a food critic after the young Kuroyanagi deduced the proportions of ingredients as well as the fermentation and cooking times and temperatures of a loaf of bread just by smelling it. Kuroyanagi overhears, and, touched by his former master's praise of his talent, makes his decision: he will accept Kirisaki's offer. This episode also shows a short clip of Takitate! Gohan which is a parody of the series. It is revealed at the end of the episode that Kawachi's hair was grown back at the end of the episode as well as the start of Yakitate!! 9

The Yakitate! 9 begins. Pantasia's Kazuma Azuma is set up against St. Pierre's Takumi Tsubozuka, a member of CMAP (Cooking Meal Assemble People), a team of Japan's top celebrity chefs. The theme is Ōma and the task is to make a bread using the local seafood. The town's specialty, fatty tuna, is expensive and out of stock (thanks to Yukino buying up all the frozen stock beforehand to cripple the Pantasia team), and no more can be obtained as it is the off-season. Azuma and Kanmuri get the idea of using sea urchins, but Azuma tearfully implores Kawachi to make some poor quality French bread with a high moisture content while sending Kanmuri off to obtain a 'secret weapon'. Tsukino, Kawachi and Kuroyanagi both think Azuma has gone crazy when he stuffs the bread into a garbage bag, but Matsushiro senses that he has a plan up his sleeve.

The episode begins with the bake-off between Azuma and Tsubozuka. Azuma begins hollowing out the poor quality French loaf he had asked Kawachi to prepare for him in the previous episode and hammering the crust flat. Tsubozuka finishes baking first and puts his Super Toro Aburi up for Kuroyanagi, who, after tasting it, transforms into "Super Kuroyanagi", a lookalike of Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z. Kawachi panics, but Azuma serves Kuroyanagi his Ōma Ja-pan: Sea urchin Chawanmushi bread. Kuroyanagi tastes it, and after apparently not reacting at all, pronounces Azuma the winner. Tsubozuka, shocked, immediately starts accusing Kuroyanagi of being partial to Pantasia, but after tasting the bread himself, transforms into a lookalike of Kitaro from GeGeGe no Kitaro, down to Kitaro's signature needle-hair attack. Kuroyanagi explains that Tsubozuka lost points because he used avocado to bind the tuna to the pastry, thus losing points for not using local specialties, while Azuma used only local ingredients including organic free-range eggs (Kanmuri's 'secret weapon'), hammered the crust of the hollowed-out French loaf to create a watertight shell and fried the bread from his hollowed-out shell as croutons to mix with the eggs. Tsubozuka meekly accepts defeat, much to the shock of his raving fans, and meekly asks Azuma if they can be friends, to which Azuma cheerfully replies, "Yeah!".

Due to an accident, Kuroyanagi loses his sense of taste. Azuma's opponent is Ken Matsushiro's old friend Ryuu Roumen, the ramen chef from Episode 14. The theme is Ōkuchi and this time the bread has been decided: Chinese-style steamed pork dumplings. After multiple edible experiments including eating pig swill, Kuroyanagi realizes his sense of taste is gone. He fears he might have to quit being the judge of the Yakitate! 9. The Pantasia team is terrified at having to face off against a professional Chinese chef, but Azuma suddenly comes up with a plan. On the day of the bake-off, Roumen finishes first, but the dumplings are judged by Coo, Meister Kirisaki's pet peacock, who gives them a perfect score by his display of tail feathers. A miserable Kuroyanagi is about to resign as the judge, but Azuma serves him his Tenobe dumplings, which miraculously restore Kuroyanagi's sense of taste. Kuroyanagi pronounces Pantasia the winners as the only local specialty Roumen had used was the Ōkuchi black pork, while Azuma had made the filling out of local ingredients including katsuobushi and sweet potato wine, and used Tenobe noodle dough instead of regular dumpling dough to provide a complementary texture to the pork. The episode ends with Roumen and Kuroyanagi fighting over the last of Roumen's dumplings, while Coo flies off into the sunset. This episode parodied the long-running animated series One Piece

Tsukino walks into her new office to catch Azuma, Kawachi and Kanmuri getting massages and acupuncture from Takumi Tsubozuka, who has now quit CMAP. The rest of the CMAP members, Hiroshi Kaname, Shizuto Narumi, and Go Chimatsuri, all of whom are at loggerheads with each other, are coerced by Yuuichi Kirisaki into working together for the next match: Kaname buys the ingredients and Narumi makes the filling for the bread, while Chimatsuri, who possesses the Flame Arm, will do the actual baking. The theme is Saito and the task is to make a bread with the region's local mangoes. While the Pantasia team is out buying mangoes, the CMAP team passes by and starts insulting them, as well as making fun of Takumi for deserting them. An enraged Azuma tongue-lashes them fiercely before being pulled away by Kanmuri. After buying the mangoes, the team tries to make waffles with them, but fails miserably because the waffles fall apart immediately after cooking. Kanmuri considers flash-freezing the mangoes before adding them to the filling, and Azuma seems to get another idea of how to mould the waffles by looking at a little clay haniwa idol. On the day of the match itself, Matsushiro, in the audience, gasps at the sight of the CMAP team's mango curry being cooked in demi-glace sauce; he furiously explains to Kawachi that the filling in curry breads has to be relatively dry and strongly flavored so that the bread will not go soggy. Kawachi panics when Kaname points out that Azuma has added fruit juice directly to the dough, rather than boiling it beforehand to neutralize the proteases in the juice. Does Azuma really have a plan to counter the CMAP offensive?

CMAP has finished their mango curry bread and serves it up for Kuroyanagi. Before he bites into it, a helicopter shows up with the CMAP team's "Goddess of Victory": a Malaysian tapir. After apparently not reacting at all, Kuroyanagi praises the CMAP team's mango curry bread, but then Azuma serves him his Saito Ja-pan: Mango Waffle Haniwa. Kuroyanagi and the tapir both eat it and are both transformed into haniwas. The doctor who treated Azuma and Kawachi during the opening of Episode 39 appears, and after listening to Kuroyanagi's heartbeat, pronounces Pantasia the winners. CMAP protests, but after eating the waffles themselves, all three of them are transformed into haniwas. The doctor explains that CMAP lost the match because their bread lacked the love that Kazuma put into the bread by painstakingly making his ingredients by hand, which was the same sort of love that the local farmers put into raising their mangoes. Azuma is worried about whether the CMAP team will be all right after their transformation, as the children in the audience are treating them like giant stuffed toys. Kanmuri sighs that Azuma's heart is too loving for this world.

The fourth match of Yakitate!! 9 begins and the theme is Ōmagari, a place which is famous for curved things such as bent houses. Pantasia's opponents are two mysterious ninjas and using the region's specialty, bent scallions, Azuma must make a Japan that will surely defeat his fierce opponents. Ironically, during the course of the episode, both teams independently come up with the same idea, down to the ingredients and styles of preparation; however, the St. Pierre ninjas have a secret technique that they believe will give them the edge. This episode parodied the popular anime series Naruto.

The two St. Pierre ninjas are unmasked as Kai Suwabara and Monica Adenauer, who are now lovers. As the Pantasia team leaves their dilapidated guesthouse, it suddenly falls apart and collapses flat on the ground as Kawachi shuts the door, apparently giving Azuma an idea. At the start of the match, both teams begin preparing their breads. Suwabara shocks the audience by twisting his dough into a giant spiral, but Azuma shocks Suwabara by folding his dough over twice. Kuroyanagi tastes Suwabara's bread and ends up twisting himself out of shape, but when he goes to taste Azuma's bread, Suwabara grabs it out of his hand and takes off. In an attempt to distract the audience, Suwabara throws pieces of Azuma's bread into their mouths, causing them to fold over backwards. Monica almost tearfully implores the Pantasia team to find Suwabara and prevent him from committing harakiri as he said he would if he lost to Azuma. Using Kuroyanagi as a sniffer, they track Suwabara to a river, where he is about to stab himself. He is deaf to all their pleas, but everyone is struck dumb when Ken Matsushiro reveals that Monica is pregnant. Later, when they are alone, Suwabara tells Monica a tragic story of his abandonment by his father, but promises to be the sort of father that his child will look up to. He attempts to propose to Monica, who accepts before he can speak, rushing into his arms and hugging him. Tsukino asks Matsushiro why he had to tell such a daring lie, but Matsushiro's ambiguous answer leaves her dumbstruck. The episode ends with Suwabara and Monica in a tender embrace as the sun goes down over the river.

When a platoon of limousines full of black-suited shade-wearing men pulls up in front of Pantasia, Ken Matsushiro single-handedly takes them on when they attempt to storm the store, but the men fall back and bow when Kanmuri steps out. Kanmuri explains that he is one of the two sons and potential heirs to Yazuka leader Takashi Hashiguchi (an obvious self-reference by the author), leader of the biggest Yakuza syndicate in Japan. The other is his older half-brother, Masanobu Tsutsumi, a cook in the Austrian court whose specialty is jam, which could be disastrous for Pantasia as the task for the next round is to make jam. Neither of the two brothers wants to succeed their father as a Yakuza leader, so they have made a bet that whoever loses the next match will have to abandon their culinary dreams and take over the syndicate. The team reaches the venue for the competition, Shinano, feeling optimistic, but their spirits collapse when Azuma collapses with a fever and is hospitalized. Kanmuri and Kawachi pick up some rhubarb and inadvertently blurt out their plans when buying sweet wine at a wine shop, but Tsutsumi runs into them and casually reveals his plan to use Calvados in his jam. Despite Kawachi's attempts to cheer him up, Kanmuri is depressed...until Azuma, who has escaped from hospital, turns up at their lodge and encourages Kanmuri to keep going and never give up.

Azuma's fever worsens despite Kawachi and Kanmuri's care. While nursing Azuma, Kawachi catches an unusual smell in the room that appears to come from the wood burning in the fireplace. This apparently gives Kanmuri an idea. On the day of the competition, Tsutsumi arrives with a pot made from volcanic rock and Kanmuri arrives with a log of apple-wood. The boys' father, Mr. Hashiguchi, who is in attendance, knows nothing about cookery, so he asks Matsushiro to fill him in. Tsutsumi makes a warm jam flambé that stuns the audience and when Kuroyanagi tastes it, he transforms into Uncle Jam from Anpanman and praises it highly. Kanmuri smokes his jam in apple-wood smoke; the smell of the smoke intoxicates Kuroyanagi and he begins walking toward it in a trance. Kuroyanagi declares the competition between the brothers a tie, but Tsutsumi accepts defeat. However, Mr. Hashiguchi allows his sons to continue their culinary careers; he has chosen Matsushiro as his successor, much to the latter's dismay.

Pantasia leads the Yakitate!! 9 with 4 points to none and has drawn with St. Pierre in the fifth match. This could mean bad luck for the Pantasia team, as if St. Pierre wins the next match, they could take all of Pantasia's points and knock them out of the tournament. The theme for the next round is Uppurui and the task is to make a bread with nori, and with the Pantasia team having to face off against Miki Norihei, a famous chef who is renowned for his skills in preparing nori, the situation looks grim. Azuma considers brewing the nori in cola, and when Kawachi tastes it, he transforms into a Pepsiman lookalike and rescues a girl from drowning. On the day of the competition itself, Norihei wins the hearts of the crowd by offering them his nori spread, which intoxicates them and turns them into rabid fans singing his praises. Things do not look good for Pantasia...

It's the middle of the sixth round of the Yakitate!! 9. Both Azuma and Norihei are using the same methods of baking, but while Azuma brews dried nori in cola and wraps it in rice paper, Norihei uses fresh nori and wraps it in filo pastry. Azuma finishes first and puts his bread up for Kuroyanagi, who, after eating it, performs a long and complicated reaction involving sixteen people with the same name and marrying a very ugly woman (only to divorce her while explaining his analysis of the bread). However, after eating Norihei's bread, Kuroyanagi's reaction causes the entire anime to briefly assume the painting style of Claude Monet. Kuroyanagi pronounces Norihei the winner, shocking and disheartening the entire Pantasia team. However, Norihei comes up to them and gives Azuma his book of nori recipes, and praises him on sharing the same goal as he: adapting Western food to Japanese palates and vice versa. The episode was filled with references to many artists including Sharaku, Edvard Munch, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.

The theme for the next round of the Yakitate!! 9 is Gero and the task is to make steamed buns: the kurikinton chestnut filling has been made beforehand so that both teams can focus solely on their bread-making. The Pantasia team, already down by five points, gets a shock when their next opponent is revealed to be a man in a panda suit, who Azuma immediately unmasks as Mokoyama once Tsukino's little sister Mizuno appears beside him. Panda reveals his ultimate weapon...Super Baking Powder. The Pantasia team narrowly escapes a train accident when they are left behind at a station, later revealed to be a trap by Yuuichi Kirisaki. As the team relaxes in a hot spring with bamboo leaves falling into the water around them, the smell of the leaves gives Azuma an idea and the team leaps out of the spring, narrowly escaping a bear attack (another trap by Kirisaki). The match takes place in the next episode, and it is revealed that Panda's baking powder causes dough to puff out and burst multiple times. Can Azuma really think of an idea to beat this ultimate weapon?

As the match kicks off, Azuma shocks everyone by pulling out dough that looks as though it was made in advance: a bullet-riddled Matsushiro explains that Azuma used the Old Noodle Method of kneading old and flavourful dough into new dough to make it fluffy. Panda finishes his "Triple Alpine Steamed Bun" and serves it to Kuroyanagi, who takes off and explodes three times like a rocket, only to reveal it was a robotic lookalike. Kuroyanagi praises Panda's tactic of freezing the kurikinton filling to use it as a temperature bridge to allow the liquid dough to explode at different rates; however, a bamboo smell permeates through the air and distracts everyone. Azuma serves Kuroyanagi his Gero Ja-pan: "Triple Bamboo Leaf" manju, which turns him into a Noh actor. In his guise, Kuroyanagi cuts down a few lengths of bamboo with a sword and poses as a tree, allowing the sprigs to stick into his arms. He pronounces Pantasia the winners, but when Mizuno protests, Kuroyanagi faints from blood loss when the bamboo sprigs puncture his arms. Mokoyama explains that he lost because he made his dough to a consistency similar to cake batter, thus making the bun too Western-style and resulting in incompatibility with the kurikinton filling, while Azuma used bamboo tea to make his bread and steamed it in bamboo-infused hot spring water to preserve the traditional Japanese taste: the bamboo aroma has even transformed Mokoyama into an actual panda. The episode ends with Mokoyama, who has now found peace with himself, giving Mizuno a ride home on his back.

Kazuma vs Yukino in the semi-final of Yakitate!! 9. The theme is Tomiura and they must make a tart from the fruit grown there: either strawberries or loquats. After a look around town Kazuma sees Yukino beat an old man because of his poor loquat preservatives. Kazuma makes a promise to the old man to use his loquats in his tart during the match so he can prove to Yukino they truly are delicious. At the match itself, Yukino stuns the audience by folding her dough in butter rather than the other way round, but Kazuma shocks everyone by folding his dough so thin it is almost invisible. Both Kazuma and Yukino finish their tarts at the same time and rush them to Kuroyanagi, knocking him down in the process. Can preservatives really beat fresh fruits?

Because of the rush to give Kuroyanagi the tarts in the previous episode, his reaction turns this episode into a parody of The Lord of the Rings with elements of The Chronicles of Narnia, starring Azuma as Frodo, Kawachi as Sam, Kanmuri as Legolas, Ken Matsushiro as Gimli, Tsukino as Arwen, the old man at the loquat store as Gollum, Meister Kirisaki as Gandalf, and Yukino as a cross between Sauron and the White Witch.

It's the final match of the Yakitate! 9 and Kazuma is up against Meister Kirisaki. Tsukino suddenly realizes that in the duration of the Yakitate! 9 tournament, Kazuma has not named a single bread 'Japan-number-something'. Matsushiro deduces that Kazuma's previous Japans were all experiments to create the perfect Japan, and he was now putting his final Japan up against Meister Kirisaki. After the two judges, Ryou Kuroyanagi and Pierrot Bolneze (the crown prince of Monaco) decide on a tie, its all up to Yuuichi Kirisaki, head of St. Pierre and the Meister's father. Surprisingly, after eating the bread, he declares Kazuma's bread the winner. Soon everyone learns the answer to the question of who you give your bread to. When you know your bread is good, you give it to everyone you want to taste it. You also want committed bread artisans to sample your bread. Throughout the episode, there are constant mentions of this being the series' last episode and the characters repeatedly question why they aren't given more screen time. Yukino Azusagawa even mentions that she was banned from interfering and sabotaging Pantasia; therefore she loses her chance to grab the spotlight one last time. When the reaction to Kazuma's Ultimate Japan wears off, Kirisaki sniggers at Kazuma and asks if his Japan is finally perfect, but Kazuma vows to keep experimenting and swears that one day he will beat Kirisaki with his Japan.