Sakai Spotlight - Episode number?

[PicBuddy]

Here's a question for Tuthead (or anyone)...

Tonight Fine Living Network [FLN] aired a Michiba Spotlight Special from 1996. Since last night was the series finale we were curious as to what would air tonight. I understand that it's episode S04E02 according to what I believe is the most accurate episode list;

Iron Chef Collection » Full Series Episode List

Now tomorrow night they are airing one they call the Sakai Spotlight, yet I do not see it on the IronChefFans.info complete episode list.

Question is, what season and episode is the Sakai Spotlight?

[tuthead]

Good question. I hope I can answer it correctly. I believe that the Michiba and Chen/Sakai specials were produced for Food Network and were not part of Fuji's original run of the show. I can't find any airdates, but I believe they ran both of these specials right before they began showing the Michiba era battles.

Our episode list was taken from the one posted on Iron Fans Online. With the exception of a few incorrect challenger names, we kept it pretty much the same. To the person who created that list, I supposed they thought it was a logical place to put the Michiba Spotlight. (It is placed between the last Michiba battle and the first Nakamura battle.) I don't know why the Sakai/Chen Spotlight was not on the list.

So, I guess we'll need to add the Sakai/Chen Spotlight to our episode list at some point because we do have that episode. We'll probably make those episodes 402a/402b so we don't screw up any other numbers. Of course, if I am way off, someone please correct me.

[Food Network Fan]

I figured you would be the one with the answer.

[PicBuddy]

Hey thanks for the answer. We've poked around a little more by taking a closer look at the episode. To start with, my wife watched almost all of the episodes from seasons 1-4 in Japan as they 1st aired. (Ironically the ones that are missing from collections and we have never seen). When watching this episode we had to laugh and point out that the footage from episode 2, Foie Gras is very slow paced. Right when Chairman Kaga gives the 'Ala cuisine" they just start walking around very slowly and making menus. Really strange and funny to see that... But anyway.. She said she never saw this episode or the Sakai one that will air tonight. But she thinks she saw most of the Michiba shows.

Now, the closing credits say that this was produced by Fuji in Japan and we sort of agree there because it looks like the same type of production and it has Kaga giving quite a bit of narration (although dubbed in English most of the time). One could say that the closing credits were made by [FLN] when they changed the music to the new "Iron Chef Japan" [FLN] versions, but this one actually gives thanks to the song from "Backdraft" that was in the original and is no longer used by the US broadcasts (due to rights restrictions). And then we have the fact that it says 1998 as the production date. And one of the black and white pictures at the start shows Michiba with Morimoto.

So here is our take on it. It appears to have been produced by Fuji in Japan in 1998. Since my wife only watched from 1993-1996 and never say any compilation type episode like this, we think it was shown at the end of season 6, in 1998, in Japan, originally.

And here's a real whopper that I don't see how we missed when watching last night. The very last thing that Kaga says at the end of this episode "The world you fans long to see now begins with Iron Chef episode 1".... Hahah, really!!! So that pretty much rules out it being produced by FN or FLN, since they don't play season one.

So, our guess is that the episode should be titled S06SP1. And tonights Sakai one should probably go based on the production date with a similar SP. They do appear to be specials that were broadcast right before a repeat of an older season. So people would know who the legacy chefs were. Now why FLN would show this, I don't know, since tonight episode is certainly not the 1st episode that few have ever seen. According to the programe guide at least. Maybe FLN never noticed that this episode says the next one is the very first? We're just glad they played it as the footage of the season 1 episode 2 and the season 2 episode (cheese) were just wonderful to see and no one in the US has even gotten to see those. Well, except for my wife and any other people who lived in Japan from 1993-1996. Hahah! Another thing is that since the newer versions started to air on [FLN] they have never shown anything but episodes from seasons 6 or 7...

Now if you look up the Wiki entry for Rokusaburo Michiba, that says there was a special episode dedicated to him called "Legend of Michiba" in 1996. And since last nights episode does show those titles "Legend of Michiba", perhaps this was made in 1998 like it said, using footage from the original 1996 version, as a lead in / preview to Michiba right before they did a repeat of season 1 in Japan? Perhaps making it the second version of "Legend Of" which would have made since to air in 1996 when he retired? My wife said that Fuji TV did have a habit of making special episodes to lead in to repeats of older series... So that would once again throw it right back to the end of 1998 (season 6), perhaps making it episode 48, with the Sakai special being episode 49? One of the last episodes that [FLN] played from season 6 was in fact episode 47, Turkey Battle.

So what do you think of our theory? I guess calling the Michiba episode S06SP1 would not mess up the numbering system, and it appears to have been made in 1998, season 6. Let's see what tonight's production date says on the Sakai one to determine the season, and maybe at the end Kaga may say something to indicate why it was made as to what's coming up next (when it was produced)..... Time will tell..

[tuthead]

I'll take a closer look when I get home, but in scanning through it, I did notice they referred to Sakai as Iron Chef French I, totally ignoring Ishinabe.

I don't recall seeing the episode mentioned at all in the Iron Chef book or on Japanese language episode lists. (I still have a feeling this was a for FN production by Fuji and it probably never aired in Japan.) I have a feeling the Wikipedia entry got their information from the same place I got mine, which listed it as from 1996. Of course, the Morimoto appearance pretty much squashes that. I think the end of 1998 is a logical place to add it to the list.

Thanks for doing the research into this one. I'll admit that it was listed at 402 on our because it always has been. I never bothered thinking about it enough to question it's place until you brought it up. Good job.

[PicBuddy]

Okay, my wife is home now and the mystery is solved. She's laughing about our unnecessary conversations above now. Heheh

Here you go:

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There were three specials made by Fuji in Japan and sold on VHS Tapes by Pony/Canyon VHS, a Fuji company. They are called "The best of"...

It is unknown if they were ever show on TV in Japan.

Is your episode in Japanese or English? The tapes are -obviously- in Japanese. And yes I
will be bring the set back from Japan.... They also include extra making of Iron Chef videos on the VHS tapes as a bonus.

[PicBuddy]

Okay, now the Sakai-Chen episode is on. You are correct, these are episodes made for the US market. The opening statement tonight was NOT a translation of chairman Kaga, it's of the American announcer that cleared said "Now AMERICAN fans, we have the 1st episodes of Iron Chefs Sakai and Chen. But before getting two excited, I think they mean the 1st episodes of these Chefs that will air in the US. NOT, the -Real- 1st episodes.

I guess when Fuji made this for FN or FLN, or when FN or FLN put it together themselves they probably didn't expect any US fans to know what the real Japanese episode numbers, themes and broadcast orders are... So it's probably just hard core fans that are confused by it.

Now if you chop off the 1st 3 minutes that shows Kobe and then Michiba (whom were never on during the same season), and the part showing Morimoto, there you have the Japanese produced specials for which we located the video tapes.

So I guess there are not season or episode numbers, and it's hard to say what season they are really because the tapes were released in Japan on 8-1-1995 according to Amazon.co.JP And the FLN remake was probably made (with the english dubbing and the bland new music) last year or this year. Certainly not season 11....

[tuthead]

We have a Sakai special and a Chen special in our Original Episodes section. They are both entirely in Japanese, and I think the person who donated the videos to us got them from Japan. They are both Pony Canyon videos, so maybe they are the same thing? We do not have a Michiba special from Pony Canyon, though.

[PicBuddy]

Originally Posted by tuthead

We have a Sakai special and a Chen special in our Original Episodes section. They are both entirely in Japanese, and I think the person who donated the videos to us got them from Japan. They are both Pony Canyon videos, so maybe they are the same thing? We do not have a Michiba special from Pony Canyon, though.

Okay that's good to know. So we will only bring back the Michiba tape then. Actually, there are 9 tapes in the series. 3 sets of 3. With each set, tape #1 is the "Legends Of", tape #2 is behind the scenes of the Iron Chef during that chefs tenure, and the third tape is of recipes of the chef. Seems like those later ones are very hard to find.

So it looks like the Legends of Sakai and Chen that [FLN] aired last night was a cut down version of their two VHS tapes combined into one episode. Is your Japanese version of Chen a full hour?

[tuthead]

Our Japanese Chen special is 59:36. (There is no copyright date.) It shows portions of two battles: Bamboo Shoot vs. Munetaka Takahashi (ICC #214), and Potato vs. Katsuyo Kobayashi (ICC #232). Neither of these battles was shown in the FN "Legend of Chen" half of the FN special., pointing back to our thought that both Legend of. . . specials were specifically made for Food Network.