Tonikaku Cawaii Chapter 139
Tonikaku Kawaii Fly Me to the Moon 139
トニカクカワイイ 139
Spoiler Summary/Synopsis:
Nasa and Tsukasa leave the yakiniku restaurant. As they walk, Tsukasa expresses a desire for another dessert. She’s happy when Nasa agrees to get something. As such, Tsukasa states she wants honey toast, something she’s never experienced. Nasa has never had honey toast either, but he thinks karaoke establishments serve them.
Upon entering the booth at the karaoke place, Nasa takes a look at the service menu, which includes cosplay rentals as well as food purchases. Tsukasa immediately kills any thought Nasa had of getting her to cosplay and sing. He orders honey toast and drinks, then wins the rock-paper-scissors to sing first. As he sings, the server brings in the order of honey toast, messing him up.
The karaoke machine gives him a poor score, so Tsukasa tells him he was fine and that her opinion trumps the machine. Nasa cuts a bite of honey toast for Tsukasa to eat as the server returns with their drink order.
Thoughts/Review:
In a surprising move, Nasa and Tsukasa’s date continues with Tonikaku Cawaii Chapter 139.
Always Room for Dessert
I’d never heard of honey toast, also known as Shibuya toast, until Tonikaku Cawaii Chapter 139. Growing up, I did have honey spread on a piece of toasted white bread. But that’s not honey toast according to the Japanese. And while I love many Japanese foods, a lot of Japanese desserts (not all) are not so great. Honey toast doesn’t seem that appealing to me.
That aside, I did chuckle at Tsukasa’s “always room for dessert” notion. My kind of girl for sure!
Karaoke Fun
American karaoke is not something I’d EVER do. The intimacy of a Japanese karaoke booth is what makes them charming. You and your buddies (or significant other) can sing in private and have a good time without bothering anyone else. And unlike American karaoke, there’s no getting up in front of a room full of drunk fools who can’t wait to boo you off stage.
The karaoke box is a staple of Japanese-centered anime and manga though. And leave it to Hata-sensei to once again bring up “Cruel Angel’s Thesis” from Neon Genesis Evangelion as a perfect karaoke song. (He did this in Hayate the Combat Butler as well, though for a giant party karaoke moment.) To be fair, it is an amazing song.
Speaking of Hayate the Combat Butler, Chiharu makes an extended cameo as the server at the karaoke joint. Gotta love these cameos, though I do get depressed knowing how Viz totally screwed the manga in America. But I digress…
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
In the end, Tonikaku Cawaii Chapter 139 was a fun chapter. I learned about a popular Japanese dessert I’d never heard of. I got to see a cameo from Hayate the Combat Butler. And Tsukasa and Nasa continue their lovely, wholesome date.
Oh my. I’d been curious about US karaoke, wondering if it resembled Japanese karaoke at all… that sounds more like a bar that allows patrons to get up and sing on amateur night. I’d much rather spend a couple of hours at the dentist.
But what else would you expect from a country that calls it “carry-oh-key”, and has developed trolling to an Olympic sport? (^_~)
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Had to look it up once you mentioned Japanese honey toast being different, and to me it sounds sort like of a strange hybridization that takes elements from fruit tarts and cakes but doesn’t especially resemble either. (It might be interesting to try once, but that’s about it.)
But what else would you expect from a country that invented potato-and-mayonnaise pizza? (^_~)
Pretty much. When I was doing some research, I guess these American-style karaoke bars are in Japan as well. And I even found that there’s a Japanese-style karaoke place in Denver. Basically, if you remember Hina’s birthday party from Hayate the Combat Butler, that’s what a karaoke bar is like, only not on such a grand scale.
Haha! True. But when it comes to Japanese desserts, I’m usually suspicious. That’s because shortly after I went to Japan, I got suckered into trying one that had almost no sugar in it at all. 😅
Indeed. My first Japanese-style candy, at least as far as I knew then, was an umeboshi. My taste buds got such a bad case of expectations-whiplash, you’d think they were reading recent chapters of Tonikawa.
(After that, it would be several years before I was brave enough to try taiyaki and mochi.)
It doesn’t sound bad, but the idea of Japanese honey toast weirds me out a little. It almost seems like the polar opposite of the understated sweetness I’ve come to expect from Japanese desserts.
Taiyaki and mochi are OK, but not something I’d crave. I do like melon-pan though. And when I lived near a Japanese grocery store years ago, they sold a Japanese cake roll that was pretty tasty. This wasn’t the brand, but they were like this, only as the whole roll and not slices.
https://www.google.com/shopping/product/6603729298298741679?q=Japanese+cake+roll+buy&client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=ALeKk03PXpFuf0SQ326WbyFVVOhVQkx-9g:1614920803080&biw=1250&bih=1268&prds=eto:13548805980225270954_0&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPnNWEsZjvAhVPSq0KHby5DgkQgwgIpAQ
They aren’t as rich as American swiss cake rolls, but they were pretty good.
I’m fond of both taiyaki and mochi, but not attached to either – they were just the first putative Japanese sweets I was brave enough to try several years later, after the umeboshi experience. (^_^)°
I’m lucky enough to live fairly close to a couple of Uwajimayas, but the only dessert I’ve ever gotten really attached to is green tea ice cream (not sure about origin).
Random thought, if you still live within reasonable driving distance of an Asian grocery store: I recently discovered how ridiculously easy it is to make a decent facsimile of miso soup, by shaking hot water plus a small dollop of miso paste in a sealable plastic container. Good way to start the day without the carbohydrate-induced funk. (^_~) (And just one tub will last several weeks… I’m both lazy and a cheapskate.)
Interesting idea on making faux miso soup.