Original subtitles

If you weren't my wife, I couldn't have made Manpuku Ramen.｡

I couldn't have come this far.

What are you saying all of a sudden, Manpei-san?

Thank you, Fukuko.

Showa Year 33 , August 25

On August 25, 1958,

Manpuku Ramen finally went on sale.

Please come take a look!

Welcome!

This is Manpuku Ramen!

♫Marumatteru senakani ni morai naki ♫I get infectious weeping looking at your stooped shoulders

Manpuku

Please Come Up With a Strategy

Week 21

♫Haji datte issho ni ♫We'll share the humiliation too

♫Hikoukigumo bonyari nagamu ♫Gazing absentmindedly at contrails

♫Kokoro kokoni arazu ♫Here in body, but not in spirit

♫Nenkan totaru moshi shitara ♫If I was to calculate an annual total

♫Tsukiau watashi sugoi? ♫Aren't I amazing for keeping you company?

♫Toboketeru mayuge ni morai warai ♫ I get infectious laughter looking at your comical eyebrows

♫Tere datta nandatte ♫Be it embarrassment or whatever

♫Ganko de mendou de hara mo tatsu kedo ♫Although you're obstinate and troublesome and you make me mad

♫Anata no jounetsu wa ♫Your passion is

♫Atashi no hokori de jiman de kakugo nano ♫My honor, my pride, and my resolve

♫Morai naki morai warai morai ikari ♫Infectious weeping, infectious laughter, infectious anger

♫Moraippaji don to koi! ♫Infectious embarrassment. Bring them on!

♫Seiten mo donten mo hekireki mo ♫Sunny days, cloudy days, thunderous days too

20 yen each?!

I understand why you'd think 20 yen is expensive. However...

- 20 yen for this? - But if you consider the time and effort, it's definitely...

- It's too expensive. Are you crazy? - Please listen to me!

- Just by pouring hot water? - Yes, just by pouring hot water

this ramen is ready to eat in just 3 minutes. Let me show you.

I can't wait 3 minutes. I'm busy.

It's just 3 minutes!

- This is ramen? - Yes.

What you see through this window is Manpuku Ramen.

It's just brown rice cracker.

So what you do with this is...

Oh, forget it. I don't need it.

It's not selling at all. There's a problem before we can even get them to try it.

I don't want to do this anymore. I'm beginning to feel miserable.

Things are like this at first, Manpei-san. You can't get discouraged, Mom.

- At first? - We've been doing this for an hour already.

- But we haven't sold a single package . I can't take it anymore.

- Mom! - I'm the daughter of a samurai, you know!

What does that matter now?

That's right... That's right! That's right, Manpei-san!

- The order was all wrong? - The order?

Why didn't I realize a simple thing like this?

Argh! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. I'm so stupid~! Stupid~!

Mother, is Fukuko all right?

Please help yourself.

Here you go.

Oh, something smells good.

This is Manpuku Ramen. Please have a taste.

- It's delicious. - Please help yourself.

It's good.

- Isn't it though? - It really is! - That it is.

- What's the broth from? - Oh, it's chicken stock.

Chicken stock.

- What a tasty broth. - Yum, it's delicious.

But Manpuku Ramen isn't just delicious.

You can make this in just 3 minutes.

- 3 minutes? - Yes!

First, open the bag and take out the noodles, and put it in a bowl.

Then pour hot water over it.

That's all you need to do.

It will be ready to eat in just 3 minutes.

- 3 minutes? - That's a lie.

It's not a lie. You won't believe how hard it was to make this.

The first time we thought of it was... Ah, yes! It was right after the war.

You all remember too, don't you?

People lined up at a ramen stall at the black market.

Seeing that, we realized anew that eating was the more important thing for people.

Isn't that right, Manpei-san?

But no matter how important it is to eat, it's hard on those of us who have to cook.

Housewives have to plan meals every day while cleaning house and doing laundry.

- We're busy. - That's right.

- And so I started thinking. - I?!

If we couldn't make a ramen that was tasty

and nutritious and that could be preserved without refrigeration.

That's when the painstaking research began.

- What kind of research? - Oh, Manpei-san.

Well... At first... at first,

we thought of mixing in the soup in the noodles themselves.

But that just didn't work out well.

Next, we came up with a method to pour soup over the noodles

and then drying them. We tried sun drying and shade drying,

and freezing and drying like koya dofu.

But none of them worked out well.

And what we finally found was!

- Deep frying it in oil! - How dare you steal that part!

- Oil? - Yes. You explain it to them.

When we tried frying it in oil, not only was all the moisture drawn out,

but when it was reconstituted in hot water, the aromatic flavor combined with the chicken broth

produced an indescribable taste.

- It certainly is aromatic. - Isn't it?

- 2 minutes! - 2 minutes. Uh~...

It became tasty when it was fried. There was a reason for this.

The gelatinization of gluten... Oh, that's not it.

Oh, that's right! We learned that the noodles were porosified.

- Poro...? - Anyway,

when they were fried in oil, sponge-like pores were created in the noodles...

- Noodles are like sponge? - Are they made from sponge?

Don't get into difficult explanations like that.

Then please forget what I just said.

- 2 minutes 30 seconds. - In any case,

we tried one idea after another to come up with this ramen.

It's not a sponge.

It's an epoch-making invention. True, you may think 20 yen is too much.

But if you consider the convenience and the tastiness of this ramen...

Yes! For housewives,

ramen that's ready to eat simply by pouring hot water over it

is just like buying time and manpower.

You know, you've heard that English saying, haven't you?

- "Time is money"! - 3 minutes!

Come and get it!

- It's ready! - Help yourself.

Don't worry. It's the same ramen that the earlier customer had.

Then I'd like to eat it!

- Let me try it too. - Me too! - Me too!

So did you sell all of them?

We only sold 2 boxes worth.

- How come? - Isn't that odd? According to your story,

Fuku-chan and Mom talked your heads off for 3 minutes,

after which you said, "Here you go, it's ready," and

everyone came pouncing on them. Isn't that how it happened?

There were customers who pounced on them. But everyone's still, should I say, doubtful...

It's also not easy talking for 3 minutes over and over again.

- I'm the one who was doing the talking. - But you folks couldn't sell either, right?

It didn't sell at all.

Although those who tasted it said it was delicious.

It's hard to explain to people what an amazing invention this is.

That's because you're such a bad speaker, Shinichi-san. You should've heard me. I spoke with great fluency.

- Why is it that you still couldn't sell? - I don't know.

The problem with you, Sera-san, is the more you talk, the shadier you appear to people.

How can you say something that's so blatantly groundless.

Daikyu Department Store's providing us with the sales booth for 3 weeks, right?

When you think about it, it's only been one day.

But I don't know what I'm supposed to do from tomorrow.

If we don't do something, we won't be able to take advantage of the chance we got.

We even got another phone line to be prepared to take calls from wholesale dealers at any time.

It's the price like I said. 20 yen is too much.

Are we talking about that again?

Let's not talk about this anymore. We've decided on 20 yen already.

I don't think the price has anything to do with it.

- What's the problem then? - It's gotta be our sales strategy.

Perhaps it's this bag.

- Bag? - I'm talking about the design.

At first glance, it looks cheerful, but

didn't Tadahiko-san say that this raging wave was designed

with Fukuko and Manpei-san's life together in mind?

That's right.

Why raging wave of all things? It's a bad omen. Who made the decision?

It was Tachibana-kun and Fuku-chan and Shinichi-san.

You were there too, Sera-san.

It's starting to look like "Tenpuku" Ramen to me.

Tenpuku Ramen?!

No, it doesn't!

It's because of... the bad design?

Well, that did come up but just in passing.

- That wasn't good, Yoshino-chan. - Forget what I just said, Dad.

The design is bad...so it doesn't sell.

- So we told you that's not it. - I think it's really good.

- I do too. - Me too.

Seriously, don't let it bother you, Dear.

I'm not qualified to be an artist.

- That's not true! - That's not true at all!

Who said it wasn't good?

This is Manpuku Ramen!

- Delicious and convenient. - Come and have a taste.

But the next day or the day after, there was no increase in sales.

I'm fed up with this.

The three of us standing there is just a waste of energy.

And that's why you came back?

Why shouldn't I? They're not selling.

How can that be?

That's an epoch-making invention without a doubt.

That's because words like epoch-making and invention aren't suitable for food.

Ah, what about "This is a new ramen"?

That won't do.

How about "It's an unusual ramen"?

- What do you think? - You don't have to glare at me like that.

Welcome.

- Man, I'm tired. - Sera-san!

Mom, what are you doing here?

There is no reason for you to call me Mom.

Did you perhaps skip work?

I'm taking a break. Speak for yourself, Sera-san. What are you doing here?

I'm taking a break too. Give me iced coffee.

One iced coffee.

You are iced coffee. Okay.

I've been thinking for a long time, but there's no such English.

You left the sales booth to Yoshino-chan since Manpuku Ramen isn't selling

and skipped out, didn't you?

I don't even work for Manpuku Foods to begin with.

I'm only helping out of the goodness of my heart.

Well! Who's the one who declared defiantly that he'll show us up by selling Manpuku Ramen all over Japan.

Isn't it your job to sell the product?

Speak for yourself Mom. You're slacking off too while your daughter and son-in-law are working hard.

- I'm taking a break. - Break.

Those two are a troublesome combination, huh?

- Like water and oil. - No, they're like birds of a feather.

I'd say rapeseed oil and sesame oil.

It'll take at least 50 minutes.

Maybe taking on ramen was my mistake to begin with.

Maybe I should start all over from scratch.

Don't be ridiculous, Manpei-san! How can you...

Hello.

- How can you be so easily discouraged! - Hello.

Coming!

Tadahiko-san.

Actually...

I came up with an alternative plan.

Alternative plan?!

Yes.

Here was one more person who had become easily discouraged...