The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House – Episode 6 “One-Sided” Recap & Review

One-sided

In episode 6 of Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, we see Sumire play matchmaker and we finally get some more insight into why Ryoko is the way she is.

Sumire is now an apprentice maiko, and she receives her maiko name, Momohana. She gets her hair styled like a maiko, a process that takes several hours. But maikos have to sleep on a special pillow that is partially made of wood so they don’t mess up their hair. But Sumire is having difficulty sleeping on it. So, Kiyo, ever the faithful friend, stays up late to make amazake for her, despite the fact that she has to get up early every morning.

The next day, the maiko house is all abuzz because they’ve found out that Mother had a long-lost love, Mr. Yajuro. Sumire plays a central role in reuniting them by asking Mr. Yajuro to sign Mother’s old maneki, a special hairpiece that only geikos wear. Everyone is delighted by their reunion.

Cut to Ryoko, whose teenage angst is a little better understood when she walks by a park and sees her dad. But he isn’t alone. He has a wife and another small daughter. Ryoko chooses not to greet him and goes home.

While all of these events transpire, Kiyo saves up lottery tickets that are given out at local stores in the hopes of winning the maiko house a breadmaker. She finally gets all the tickets she needs, the last one given by Ryoko in a surprising act of kindness, and heads out to redeem them. But poor Kiyo wins a box of apples instead. But being Kiyo, she shows no outward disappointment, and the episode is completed with Kiyo courageously trudging home with her heavy box of apples.

The Episode Review

This episode was really interesting and heartwarming. Kiyo is the exact person that someone would want as a friend. One can’t help but feel like she deserves more, though, because she is constantly doing so much for others.

Finding out more about Ryoko was great, too. She has kind of been shrouded in mystery during the whole series.

But we’re on episode 6, and we still don’t know when the girls will see Kiyo’s grandmother again and Kenta, their friend that Sumire likes. Will we ever see them again?

This show has some really unique elements, and the charm that it exhibits hasn’t let up so far. Hopefully, it will continue into the other episodes, too!