Original Air Date: August 13th, 2016
The second semifinal match, between Akira Hayama and Ryou Kurokiba. Doujima pictures them as an eagle and tiger respectively, hence the title.
This episode provides examples of:
- Evolving Credits: In the opening 'Rough Diamonds', the four female judges are finally named. In the ending 'Snow Drop', the person lying in the flower field is Alice.
- Foreshadowing: The end card announcing the next episode shows images of Shun, Ikumi, and Ryoko — taken from the judges' reactions to their preliminary-round dishes.
- Impossibly Delicious Food:
- Akira's Canard Apicius — a honey-glazed, spiced, duck breast.
- Ryou's Eel Matelote — eel filleted, stuffed with rehydrated prunes and reformed with caul fat, and simmered in a red-wine sauce.
- Mood Whiplash:
- At the end of the previous episode, Soma had been taunting Erina, saying he'd soon be in a position to challenge her. At the start of this, he's sitting beside her, chatting about the upcoming match.
- When Alice pulls off Ryou's headband, he drops out of 'berserk' mode. Akira and Soma have trouble keeping up with the sudden change.
- Mr. Fanservice: Ryou is introduced shirtless, doing one-armed push-ups.
- The One Guy: As in the previous match, Gin Doujima is the only former First Seat and male judge in the panel. The other four are all female former Second Seats.
- Second Place Is for Losers: Despite ending in a tie and both of them going to the Finale with Soma, both Akira and Ryou were livid about the result, since none of them could find a closure on who did the best dish. Compare to how Soma and especially Takumi felt when Hinako failed to decide which of them had the better dish.
- Take a Third Option: Four judges are split 2–2, and the fifth is hopelessly undecided. Rather than force a decision one way or the other, or try to schedule a rematch, Doujima decides to call this match a tie, and let both candidates go on to the final.
- Tranquil Fury:
- Despite Alice taking Ryou's bandana away, he still was so frustrated that he requested Alice for a cooking match once they got home.
- Soma tells Akira that it's fine to express anger after this, which he dismisses quickly. Moments later, a bunch of girls could feel his bottled fury from the distance.
- Tsundere: Erina made clear to Soma that he couldn't be in the VIP zone with her, while also scolding him inside her own head. She still didn't boot him out, though.
