Searching for Melonpan (索敵メロンパン Sakuteki Meronpan) is the second track and first audio drama of the Shakugan no Shana Assorted Shana Vol. III soundtrack.
After throwing out Shana's melonpan, Wilhelmina embarked on a quest with Yūji to find replacements that would satisfy her.
Summary[]
As Wilhelmina finished that day's cleaning of the Hirai Residence, Shana walked into the room, searching for the bag of melonpan she had bought from a convenience store. Wilhelmina had thrown them out because the bag looked like a trash bag and that day was when non-burnable garbage was collected. Shana got angry and Wilhelmina apologized before leaving to buy replacements.
Wilhelmina returned with replacements, but Shana stated that they were the wrong ones. Wilhelmina asked for details and the brand of the ones Shana wanted in order to exchange them, but Shana angrily left, saying that Wilhelmina didn't understand at all. Wilhelmina thought she had to do something.
Wilhelmina went to Yūji's room and asked for his help in identifying the melonpan that Shana likes, even though requesting help from a lowly Mystes was usually a disgrace which deserves death for a Flame Haze. She imposed herself on him and threatened to bring out her Divine Vessel Persona, but Yūji was willing to help anyway. Wilhelmina and Tiamat wanted a quick explanation, but Yūji stated that melonpan were not so shallow that a quick explanation would suffice and talked about "karimofu", Shana's description of the balance between the crisp cookie outside and the fluffy bread on the inside of melonpan. Wilhelmina and Tiamat had no idea about karimofu, which surprised Yūji. Wilhelmina had once bought melonpan for Shana and she had been so happy that Wilhelmina kept buying them for her despite having never tried them herself. Yūji vowed to share his secondhand knowledge and suggested going to a convenience store.
At a convenience store, Yūji spotted a melonpan that Shana liked, but it was the one she had rejected earlier. Wilhelmina was disappointed in Yūji and began to regret asking him for help. She found another product, one which smelt like real melons, but Yūji explained that this was heresy; melonpan got its name from its shape and has nothing to do with real melons. It wouldn't have karimofu. Yūji teased Wilhelmina by saying she was the type to be led astray by appearances, but quickly apologized when she threatened to trigger the Reiji Maigo's Random Transfer. They left to look for more melonpan, with Yūji wondering if Wilhelmina had been serious.
Yūji was unable to get to a truck selling freshly baked melonpan before it drove off. Wilhelmina grabbed Yūji and ran after the truck at high speed. The two people in the truck and Yūji were fearful as Wilhelmina's chasing was causing traffic problems. Wilhelmina thought that she couldn't return home without some melonpan. Yūji convinced Wilhelmina to stop by saying he had more places in mind to look, and she dropped him onto the ground. Yūji's next idea was the basement foodstuffs floor of a department store.
At a department store, the two found a popular melonpan shop. Wilhelmina cut into the line for the shop in front of an old woman, who complained to her. She thought of the woman's complaints as vulgar and reflecting on the quality of the shop's melonpan. The woman complained further and called for a shop assistant to come, not buying Yūji's excuse that Wilhelmina was a foreigner who couldn't speak Japanese well. Wilhelmina shut the woman up with a Fūzetsu. Yūji got Wilhelmina to leave the department store.
Outside, Yūji urged Wilhelmina to calm herself and try to understand melonpan, or else she won't be able to buy one Shana would like. A little boy ran past them, worried that he'll be late for the Melonpan[censored]-chan show. Yūji explained to Wilhelmina that melonpan was popular with children and was the heroine of an anime. He saw a poster advertising a stage show for the anime which will be held on the department store roof. Wilhelmina left for the show in order to gain a deeper understanding of melonpan.
Yūji arrived at the show just as the Bacteria Army had claimed the venue as theirs. Just as the army leader claimed the children watching as their servants, he was confronted by Melonpan[censored]-chan. The wooden actress inside the costume was Wilhelmina. Melonpan[censored]-chan wouldn't let the army have the children and attacked with Shining Melonpan Attack, but it was ineffective. The leader retaliated with Bacteria Beam, which put Melonpan[censored]-chan in a predicament. The little boy told his mother that this Melonpan[censored]-chan was inauthentic and that the character who always said "indeed" at the end of sentences was from a different anime. Melonpan[censored]-chan broke out of the attack and began to battle the army leader. The spectating Yūji found it hard to believe that he was watching a Flame Haze, but also wondered why Wilhelmina was going through all this trouble just to buy melonpan. Melonpan[censored]-chan won the battle with Melonpan Rolling Neckbreaker, which seemed to actually hurt the army leader actor, and with that the show finished.
Later, Wilhelmina told Yūji that she now understood how profound melonpan was. She spotted a building which will hold a bread-making class and Yūji urged her to attend and make melonpan for Shana. Wilhelmina went in while Yūji waited outside. After Wilhelmina's strong suggestion, the teacher decided that that day's lesson would be about making melonpan. Wilhelmina couldn't afford to keep Shana waiting.
After waiting for a while, Yūji thought Wilhelmina would be finished soon. He had heard that she couldn't cook but felt assured that a teacher would be with her when an explosion occurred.
Yūji tried to cheer Wilhelmina up as they walked away from the scene. Wilhelmina had made an oven explode and had paid reparations. Having no more melonpan leads, she didn't know how to face Shana. Yūji commented that Wilhelmina really loved Shana as she tried so hard for melonpan. The bread-making teacher caught up to them and gave Wilhelmina a bag of melonpan, which another person in the class had made and wanted to give to her because she seemed to be really attached to melonpan. The melonpan looked really good. Wilhelmina started to run for home but stopped to reluctantly thank Yūji for his help that day. Yūji said he had fun.
Wilhelmina returned home to find Shana waiting for her. Shana had bought the same melonpan as before for Wilhelmina. Though Wilhelmina didn't recognize them, they were the same product she had given to Shana when they had left Tendōkyū. It was a re-release of that product and Shana had wanted to eat them with Wilhelmina, but Wilhelmina had thrown them out. The two ate the new ones Shana had bought. Shana liked the taste but Wilhelmina didn't. Wilhelmina stated that it didn't have enough karimofu, repeating what she had learnt from Yūji. This melonpan was special to Shana and tasted good to her, and Tiamat suggested that Wilhelmina say it was good too. Wilhelmina kept saying that this melonpan didn't satisfy the conditions for good melonpan that she had learnt that day, but Shana was no longer listening.
Characters[]
- Wilhelmina Carmel
- Tiamat
- Shana
- Yūji Sakai
- Melonpan truck man
- Melonpan truck woman - voiced by Hitomi Nabatame
- Department store melonpan woman
- Old woman in department store
- Little boy at show
- Children at show
- Bacteria Army leader - voiced by Masashi Ebara[† 1]
- Show's MC
- Little boy's mother - voiced by Hitomi Nabatame
- Baking teacher
Voice actors for unnamed characters are among the 4 actors credited for unspecified roles: Hitomi Nabatame, Nobuyuki Kobushi, Minako Ichiki, and Hajime Iijima.[1]
Powers and Abilities Used[]
Unrestricted Spells[]
- Fūzetsu - Wilhelmina
Locations[]
- Misaki City - Hirai Residence, Sakai Residence, convenience store, department store
Quotes[]
- Wilhelmina: "Normally, requesting help from a lowly Mystes who can be easily blown out is a disgrace which deserves death for a Flame Haze."
Yūji: "That's quite a way of saying things."
Wilhelmina: "But this is an emergency. I have no choice but to bow my head to you, indeed."
Yūji: "No, you're not bowing at all, rather you've been trying to impose yourself in my room." - Yūji (to Wilhelmina): "Do you think melonpan are so shallow that they can be explained so briefly? Melonpan aren't just bread that are randomly round. The exquisite balance between the crispy (karikari) cookie on the outside and the fluffy (mofumofu) bread on the inside! That surely is the golden rule of the sweet bread world! You can't talk about melonpan without knowing about this "karikari mofumofu", abbreviated as "karimofu"!"
- Wilhelmina: "After all, you're a Mystes. It was a waste to bow my head, indeed."
Yūji: "Nah, you didn't bow." - Yūji: "Surprisingly, you seem the type to be led astray by appearances, Carmel-san."
Wilhelmina: "The Random Transfer of the Reiji Maigo."
Tiamat: "Acknowledged."
Yūji: "Ahhh! I'm sorry! I got carried away!" - Wilhelmina: "How vulgar. The melonpan of a shop liked by people such as this would have the most horrid taste without me even having to eat it."
- Wilhelmina (to Shana): "However, melonpan are popular with children and must be suitable for and be highly satisfying as snacks, and as this melonpan does not meet these conditions, I can't say this melonpan is tasty after all, indeed."
Trivia[]
- Yūji's knowledge of Shana calling melonpan with features added to resemble real melons heresy came from when she had told him, in the third chapter of the first light novel volume and eleventh manga chapter.
- The melonpan Shana had bought was the same product Wilhelmina had given her when they left Tendōkyū, in episode 16.
Cultural References[]
- The stage show's characters are references to ones from Anpanman, with Melonpan[censored]-chan being based on Melonpan'na and the Bacteria Army being inspired by the main antagonist Baikinman.
Notes[]
- ↑ Ebara was credited in the Assorted Shana III booklet as Alastor for his performance in Crimson Lord Secret Conference.
References[]
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Assorted Shana Vol. III booklet