The kawaii boy you see on your left, is the protagonist of the show, Mao! ^_^ He is the son of Pai from Szechuan, and has an older sister Karin. He inherited Pai's creative genes, and therefore is very talented at cooking. He has a memory beyond regular humans because after having one taste of any dish, he is able to tell you all the ingredients used, by going through this "milky way" of food inside his head. No wonder he became the youngest ever Super Chef at the age of 13! The person Mao respects the most is his own mother, and his dream is to have the accomplishments of his mother.

Personality wise, at the beginning Mao is generally outgoing, friendly, considerate. He would do anything to make his friends happy, and hardly gets angry unless one of his friends are hurt. Even when Shirou claims to be the youngest Super Chef in episode 15, he stayed calm and decided to play along, thus showing his mischievous side. As the show progresses he becomes more mature and more courageous, because he realizes his new responsibilities as a Super Chef. In my opinion, Mao is probably one of the most noble characters in the show, because of his ability to forgive and forget. In episode 42, even though Shouan physically injured Mao, Mao is able to overlook this, and attempted to save Shouan from falling down the shipwreak into the fiery river in Episode 46. He still is fun and boyish once in a while though, particularly towards girls, under the influence of Shirou. This gets Meili quite furious at times ^^;

However when it comes to cooking, Mao pours all his heart and soul into it, no fooling around allowed! For cooking, he is willing to sacrifice his time and strength just to learn a new thing or two about it. Full of creative juices, Mao always manage to add spice to any ordinary dish, and even create his own special dish! He is always available for any cooking challange/problem in order to perfect his skills. Despite of his tremendous cooking talent, he is not conceited at all. In fact, he puts his skills in good use by helping others with their problems.

As logical as this sounds, Mao is not perfect. He sometimes can get too obsessed about cooking and forgets other things, including himself and also people around him Like in Episode 20, he spent all his money on buying cookbook and ended up sleeping in Tia's broken-down restaurant. ^^; Fortunately he realizes his faults in episode 49, when he and Meili were trapped in a cave. Watch this romantic episode to find out! :D Also, during the matches with the DCS, Mao openly praised some dishes made by the opponents when he is supposed to be against the DCS. It's a good thing I guess, because it shows that Mao is just, and does not take sides.

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