WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Candy Flurry Chapter 3, "Irie Senpai" by Ippon Takegushi, Santa Mitarashi, Junko Goda and James Gaubatz, available in English from Viz Media.
Candy Flurry has been a delectable ride in its first couple of chapters, but Minase is considering putting her life in danger in Chapter 3, “Irie Senpai.” It starts off with Minase asking Misaki about the requirements to join the Recette Agents, an elite group of individuals tasked with the job of taking down Sweets Users.
Minase’s goal is to use the Recette to uncover the individual responsible for destroying all of Tokyo with lollipops, but she's not considering the flaws in that plan. The Lollipop Sweets User is the most wanted criminal, and Minase just so happens to be one as well. If she joins the Recette, can she even make it up the agent ladder to face the lollipop culprit, or would she be found out before she achieves her goal?
On the off chance that Minase actually joins the Recette Agents, she would have to climb the ranks and earn a 3-Star or higher promotion to be tasked with the mission of finding the wanted Lollipop Sweets User. That's going to be a near-impossible task for Minase, who has been shown to be a threat only when she uses her powers. She is skilled at beating enemies with her enormous lollipops, but she would have to adapt to the weapons the powerless Recette Agents use to avoid raising suspicion.
It would be great to see Minase pick up some kind of fork or spoon weapon that mimics her lollipops' abilities, but she’ll never feel comfortable with them. If by some chance she joins, the majority of her battles will have to be fought in secrecy, or away from the other agents. Even if Minase defeats an opponent without her Sweets power being detected, a villain could awaken from their defeated state and reveal her secret. It almost seems like the secrecy is too hard to maintain, unless the story takes a turn and has Minase act like a vigilante. Regardless, that would only put her life in greater danger.
However, the possibility of Minase hiding her abilities could be easier than anticipated. After meeting Irie, a 3-Star Recette Agent, the actual level of intelligence the Recette higher-ups possess is questionable. Irie always seems to be forgetting important rules the Recette must abide by, and it seems like she’s constantly being tricked by simple diversions. If the other Agents are similar to Irie's dunce nature, then Minase just may be able to hide her powers while joining them.
Even if Irie seems a bit dimwitted, her abilities as a Sweets User exemplify what it means to be a 3-Star Recette Agent. She can manifest massive amounts of ice cream while also causing the temperature around her to change, leaving the landscape in a grand dessert spectacle. If Minase has to compete with Irie’s abilities without her lollipops, then her chances of becoming a 3-Star Recette Agent appear slim.
Likewise, Minase’s motivation for becoming a Recette Agent is not that convincing. She believes she can become a high-ranking agent because she’s beaten others in the past, but Misaki makes it clear that she’s only been facing off against 1-Star agents. Her fighting abilities alone are nothing special, and if you take away her use of lollipops, her task becomes far more difficult.
Minase seems like a carefree individual trying to reconcile her name as a lollipop user. Her goal is not to save others from villainous Sweets Users, but this could be a turning point in Candy Flurry where Minase learns the meaning of actually holding power. Maybe in her struggle to protect herself from exposure, she realizes she doesn’t care about others discovering her powers -- so long as she gets to save innocent lives from danger.
Though she's slowly creating a name for herself, Minase doesn’t really pack a punch if she's unable to use her Sweets power. It’s going to take a lot more than her devotion to clear her name to make it as a 3-Star Recette Agent. Although Minase’s chances are low, the Candy Flurry story is only beginning, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see her come up with a creative way to persevere as a Recette Agent.
