Today’s Menu for Emiya Family 12
Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan 12
衛宮さんちの今日のごはん 12

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Illya, Sella, and Liz (Leys) are preparing the Einzbern Castle for the Christmas party. However, Illya’s not too happy with the tiny Christmas tree they have. Liz goes to get Rider, Saber, Rin, and Sakura for the party. They leave the city, causing Rin to note how far remote the Einzbern Castle is. Liz decides to save time by taking a shortcut through mountain trails. However, she nearly sends them off the mountain. Rider takes over and gets the group safely to the party, howbeit in a shaken state.

Shirou is already at the castle, making some dishes under the suspicious, watchful eye of Sella. She promises to ban Shirou if he doesn’t serve something worthy of her ojousama.

Meanwhile, Liz arrives with the guests. Since meal preparations are still underway, Rin suggests they help set the table and such. Sakura helps Illya make cookies. And so, a giant feast with turkey, roast beef (prepared by Shirou), and lots more is laid out. Sella reluctantly concedes that Shirou’s cooking is good.

Shirou goes looking for the toilet and encounters Berserker. Berserker has a giant Christmas tree that Sella and Liz quickly trim and decorate. Illya, sitting on Beserker’s shoulder, gives him her poorly made Christmas cookie. However, she’s happy that he accepts it. The group gets ready to eat cookies as Illya tells Berserker “Merry Christmas”.

Thoughts/Review

It seems my delay in watching this series paid off. That’s because Today’s Menu for Emiya Family 12 was a Christmas episode. Oh, and Berserker finally appeared.

Driving Fun

I know the bad driver story element is somewhat of a cliche in anime and manga. Nevertheless, I have to say that I got a good laugh at Liz’s shortcut though the mountains.

I also got a laugh out of Rider taking control of the situation. I half expected to see Pegasus show up, or their SUV start flying. Well, it did do some massive leaps, but that’s not flying. Still, it was pretty hilarious.

Berserker Comes

Illya’s Servant Berserker has been missing from the series to date. However, Today’s Menu for Emiya Family 12 rectifies that by having him appear. Since Illya had sent Berserker on an errand to get a Christmas tree, I couldn’t help but think of Carnival Phantasm, where Illya sent Berserker on an errand. And there was certainly an element of humor here, especially with Sella and Liz quickly trimming the tree.

I did love the closeness of Berserker and Illya that is shown in this episode. Fate/stay night did show this at some level. However, without the Holy Grail War going on, the dynamic of their relationship is a bit different. I loved her riding on his shoulder and her giving him cookies. And I loved how he took her ugly cookies over Sakura’s pretty cookies. 😍

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Time to wrap up my thoughts on Today’s Menu for Emiya Family 12.

• I know I’m probably looking to deeply at things. However, why doesn’t Archer come with Rin on these outings? Based on the previous episode, its clear he’s still her Servant. But I guess he’d distract from the pseudo-harem aspects of the series.
• It was funny seeing how Sella still dislikes and distrusts Shirou.

In the end, Today’s Menu for Emiya Family 12 is another bit of loveliness with some humor to boot.