This week’s episode took a page out of a battle tactics book, which wasn’t boring per say… but it was not really my thing. Onward ho to the review!
Hakumei, Mikochi and Konju are heading into a “lawless” part of town where they hope to visit a big building called Honey House. Inside many criminals and other similar types of people live. Gamblers, smokers, and so on. People who are “lawless” for one reason for another, basically. There are eight floors in Honey House, with each floor being named for a different element, but all the “old timers” (people who have lived in the building for forever) live on the top three floors.
The conflict of the episode kicks off with the old timers supposedly destroying something wooden that belonged to the newer residents. When it looks like there might be a fight, Hakumei doesn’t even blink as she suggests that she and the other newcomers square off against the old timers. The unofficial new leader, a giant pink lizard named Tsumuji , readily agrees.
However it’s not long before Konju ends up kidnapped, and Mikochi and Hakumei are unable to retrieve her immediately. They then meet Higaki Yagatamori, the second generation owner of Honey House. He was friends with Ukai, the original owner of Honey House who is now deceased.
Higaki takes them to a quiet bar where he serves them a version of Ukai’s famous mint julep drink. He knows Mikochi has a reputation as an excellent cook, and he has a favor to ask her: he wants her to replicate Ukai’s original mint julep using Ukai’s recipe, as it has a reputation for calming conflict. Higaki knows that there has been a lot of fighting between the older residents and the newer residents of Honey House, and he wants it to stop.
So that’s how most of the episode goes: Hakumei helps the newcomers fight back against the old-timers while looking for Konju, while Mikochi sticks to helping Higaki with the mint julep drink.
Hakumei organizes the newer residents into a raid, and decides that together their group will raid the Kaku (leather) floor of Honey House. The first group from the raid pelts mushrooms at the guards outside Honey House, and while that attack is maintained, Hakumei flies (via paper airplane!) to another rooftop to pelt said guards with smoke bombs.
As the old-timers retreat, Hakumei sneaks inside an unused storehouse in Honey House to get some of Ukai’s honey wine, to use in the mint julep recipe. Tsumuji beats Hakumei to the prize but he doesn’t interfere; in fact he even hands the bottle right over to her.
Later in the evening some of the old-timers have Konju sequestered in an open guard tower. They’re hungry, Konju included, and they’re jealous of the delicious meal they can see the newcomers cooking on a nearby flat rooftop. But the feast is a distraction, for while Konju’s captors are drooling over food they can’t have, Hakumei and Higaki are flying by paper airplane under the cover of darkness to the guard tower to rescue Konju.
Hakumei and Higaki arrive and surprise the old-timers guarding Konju, and a truce is reached. Higaki offers Tsumuji some of what looks like Ukai’s mint julep… except that it’s not Ukai’s version of the drink. Higaki and Tsumuji remember how Ukai’s original mint julep was apparently super disgusting – the amounts of the ingredients used weren’t properly balanced, resulting in a very strong, gross-tasting drink. This version which Higaki has made with Mikochi’s help is much better.
Now that everyone’s made up, Konju serenades all of the Honey House residents while they share a meal together. Elsewhere Higaki and Tsumuji are drinking alcohol next to Ukai’s statue and remembering the old days. Hakumei and Mikochi show up and Hakumei asks to try some of Ukai’s original mint julep, which Tsumuji has in a flask in his vest. She tries a sip and confirms, through her lack of a response, that it’s pretty bad.
The episode ends with a flashback between Ukai and Higaki. Ukai asks Higaki what kind of a place he wants Honey House to be, as Ukai plans to leave the building to his friend after he dies. Higaki comes up with Honey House’s motto: “A place where anything goes.”
I’ve never been a huge fan of battle strategy, nor do I drink very much, so honestly this episode was a little boring to me. ^^;; But it was still a well-done episode, and I liked how both Mikochi and Hakumei had different roles to act out, roles which played to each of their personal strengths. (Mikochi being skilled in the kitchen and with creating food and drink, while Hakumei works well with others and is a good team player.)
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