Menchi

Biodata

Appearance

Menchi wears a red apron and presents herself with the practical authority of an examiner. 41

• Short pink hair 42
• Curled eyebrows 41
• A distinct burn scar wrapped around one arm 41

Personality

Menchi is blunt, demanding, and unapologetically confident in her standards. She openly states that she dislikes people who are rude, careless, or tasteless, and threatens to eliminate examinees who cannot keep pace. 41

Her strictness is rooted in her professional view of Gourmet Hunting: unfamiliar ingredients must be assessed for edibility, danger, and preparation rather than judged as mere cooking exercises. 43 Despite criticizing Ryan's sushi as mechanical and insufficiently tasty, she acknowledges that it demonstrates a correct understanding of the dish's essential form. 42 43

Abilities & Skills

Gourmet Hunting and Culinary Evaluation

As an A-rank Gourmet Hunter, Menchi evaluates food by its essential composition, safety, and practical quality rather than presentation alone. 42 43

• Set the second-phase task of preparing traditional sushi without explaining the dish, testing independent reasoning and adaptability. 42
• Passed Ryan's roughly cut but structurally correct sushi because its vinegared rice and raw fish demonstrated basic understanding. 42
• Explains that Gourmet Hunters must identify unknown ingredients, determine whether they are poisonous, and prepare them safely. 43
• Identifies the precise cooking point of Spider Hawk eggs: they are ready when they float. 48

Field Mobility and Terrain Navigation

Menchi can safely traverse the hazardous Spider Hawk nesting canyon, using spider silk and thermal currents with controlled movement. 44

• Demonstrates the egg-retrieval route before the examinees begin the trial. 44
• Uses both hands and feet to cross thick spider-silk strands toward nests suspended among the cliffs. 44
• Navigates mist, heat waves, and air currents without damaging the fragile eggs. 44

Hunter Examination Role

Second-Phase Introduction

After the first phase leaves 148 of 405 examinees, Menchi takes over as the second-phase examiner. She orders the survivors to follow her through the mountain forest, immediately establishing a strict pace and threatening to eliminate anyone who falls behind. 41

Sushi Trial

Menchi assigns the examinees two hours to prepare sushi, offering no explanation beyond its name. The task exposes candidates who imitate incomplete information—such as “raw fish and rice”—without understanding the dish itself. 42

Ryan submits sushi wrapped in bamboo leaves, using crudely sliced raw fish over seasoned rice. Menchi judges it barely acceptable but passes him because he understands the dish's core structure. 42 43

Replacement Trial: Spider Hawk Eggs

Following widespread protests over the sushi trial's subjectivity, Chairman Netero directs Menchi to devise a clearer replacement challenge. She sends the examinees to Spider Hawk Nest Valley, where they must retrieve an intact egg from nests suspended across a hot, wind-filled canyon. 43 44

Menchi sets a six-hour limit, prohibits candidates from taking eggs claimed by others, and eliminates anyone who returns with a cracked egg or fails to submit one. 44 47 She formally passes Ryan after he retrieves an egg using the canyon's updrafts and spider-silk elasticity. 44

At the trial's conclusion, Menchi announces that forty-two candidates have passed, while warning that their performance was only “passable” and that later stages will contain smarter and more ruthless opponents. 47

Relationships

• Buhara — Fellow Gourmet Hunter and co-examiner. Buhara is more tolerant of rough but conceptually correct dishes, often balancing Menchi's harsher judgments. 42 43
• Isaac Netero — Hunter Association Chairman who intervenes after the sushi-trial dispute and instructs Menchi to create a replacement challenge. 43
• Ryan — Examinee No. 199. Menchi passes his sushi for demonstrating correct understanding despite its crude execution, later observes his wind-pressure chart during the Spider Hawk trial, and passes his egg retrieval. 42 44 45
• Hanzo — Examinee No. 301. Menchi accepts his crude but structurally valid sushi and later declares him successful after he retrieves an intact Spider Hawk egg. 43 44

Trivia

• Menchi's examination standards extend beyond taste; she prioritizes whether a candidate understands the nature and purpose of a dish. 42 43
• She describes the forty-two successful Spider Hawk egg retrievers as merely “passable,” even after they survive the canyon trial. 47