Late Autumn...and Matsutake (晩秋、そしてまつたけ！！, Banshuu ... soshite ma-tsu-ta-ke!!?), or "Autumn of...Matsutake" in the Project ILM Scanlation, is the 158th chapter of the Urusei Yatsura manga.
Summary[]
Class 2-4's plan to cook an autumnal hotpot goes awry thanks to the meddling of the mad monk, Cherry!
Plot Overview[]
Onsen Mark is teaching Class 2-4 when he notes a daikon radish sticking out of Ataru's bookbag. Suspicious, he orders his students to turn out their belongings, and they reveal they have brought a wide variety of ingredients and cooking implements to the classroom. They suddenly pounce on him and tie him up, revealing that they have made plans to cook a big class hotpot now that it is late autumn. The mention of food brings Cherry crawling out of hiding, and when he is scornfully warned that only those who contribute may eat, he presents a basket full of what appear to be the rare and valuable matsutake mushrooms. The students eagerly accept this contribution, whilst Cherry keeps quiet on the fact that they actually are not matsutake, but instead wild mushrooms of his own cultivation. The suspicious old monk carefully avoids eating any from his own serve of hotpot, and is proven right to do so, as those who do start acting very strangely indeed. Carefully eating his fill of the safe ingredients, Cherry then wanders off and leaves the drugged students to their own devices, congratulating himself on being smart enough not to eat toxic mushrooms.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Onsen-Mark
- Ataru Moroboshi
- Kōsuke Shirai
- Lum
- Shinobu Miyake
- Cherry
- Shūtarō Mendō
- Ryūnosuke Fujinami
- Ryūnosuke's Father
Trivia[]
- In the opening panels, Onsen-Mark says the words "Saita saita sakura ga saita... Kirei da ne...". These are the romaji translations for a Japanese poem, and translate into English as "They bloomed! The cherry trees bloomed! Aren't they beautiful?"
- In the panel showing the bundle of edibles and cooking implements that Onsen-Mark's makeshift inspection has turned up, an eagle-eyed reader will spot a block of something labeled "kirimochi". This is an unsweetened version of mochi - steamed riced pounded to assume a cake-like texture - traditionally used to bulk out savory dishes such as stews and hot pot.
- Hot pot - or, in Japanese, nabemono, often simplified to nabe - is a form of one-pot dish where various ingredients are cooked together in a single large broth-filled pot. It's a popular dish during late Autumn and Winter, being warm and filling whilst also encouraging a communal attitude, as multiple diners can contribute different ingredients to the pot.
- Matsutake (松茸/マツタケ, lit. "pine tree mushroom") is an edible mushroom that grows throughout Eurasia and North America. Specifically growing on the roots of the Japanese red pine in Japan, but otherwise being found in pine forests throughout their territory range, matsutake has long been a prized consumable in Japanese culture due to its distinct spicy-aromatic odor. They are traditionally considered a luxury good, as no reliable way has been discovered to make them to grow in captivity, and those harvesting wild-foraged matsutake must deal with multiple complications, including a comparatively small native dispersal range and competition from animal or insect predators; though there was a brief window during the 1940s in which matsutake became more readily available, that window didn't last long as Japan's pine forests were devastated by the spread of the pine wilt nematode, making matsutake even harder to come by in the wild. Because of this, most matsutake available for commercial purchase in Japan is actually foreign imported, and the price range is steep; the average price for a single kilogram of matsutake is $90 dollars US, and has been known to rise as high as $1000 per kilogram!
- The plot of this chapter was likely inspired by the fact that there are three species of mushroom native to Japan that are closely related to matsutake; matsutake-modoki ("imitation of matsutake") shares the same range as pine forests as the real deal, whilst baka-matsutake ("stupid matsutake") and nise-matsutake ("fake matsutake") can both be found in Fagaceae forests. Of all three species, only the baka-matsutake has a flavor profile similar to the real matsutake.
- This chapter establishes yet another facet to Mr. Fujinami's abusive treatment of his daughter Ryūnosuke; deceiving her as to the true nature of the expensive and delicious matsutake mushrooms so he can eat them all himself without having to share. This will not be the only such food he has cheated her out of.
- On the last page of the chapter, Mr. Fujinami is seen summoning a dramatic backdrop of water around himself whilst shouting "I love the sea!" Although similar displays had appeared in earlier chapters, prior to this chapter, they had always been displayed as mere comedic backdrops and not a "real" part of the story proper. This panel may have inspired the 1981 animated adaptation of the series to eventually give Mr. Fujinami his own signature gag of calling forth a great wave from nowhere and dramatically riding it into the scene, flooding everything in the process.