Love Rice

Somewhere in Japan is the historical school for grains, Inaho Academy. A new student there, Hinohikari, learns at the opening ceremony that the school is about to be shut down, and the only way to stop it is to beat out the bread. With that in mind, Hinohikari declares his intention in front of the whole school to become a HarveStar that surpasses even the alumni group Five Grain Rice...

Hinohikari has decided to enter the Harvest Festival in order to start not a rice boom, but a rice riot. He asks Nikomaru, Akitakomachi, Hitomebore, Sasanishiki, and Chinkobozu to join him, but none of them are willing. Finally Nikomaru can't bear to watch anymore and offers him a surprising suggestion, but can Hinohikari bring himself to take him up on it?

Hinohikari had just grown accustomed to being a member of Nikomaru and Akitakomachi's HarveStar unit, "Blend Mine," when the subject of Akitakomachi's past comes up and they stumble upon a fatal flaw in Blend Mine. So the new unit name suggested by Hinohikari after he had saved it up—no, kept it warm—for a long time is "Love Rice." Meanwhile, Sasanishiki watches the three of them from afar...

The three members of Love Rice are training when they spot Hitomebore hitting on someone. After seeing him so persistently trying to pick up a date even in the middle of a blizzard, Hinohikari asks him to join Love Rice, but Hitomebore says he has plans to become a comedian with Chinkobozu. Then he takes off, saying he has a date, and the Love Rice members follow him to find...

Sasanishiki continues to refuse the invitations to join Love Rice. Then, for some reason, there's suddenly a train track running through the school yard, and a dog is trapped on the track as a train rushes toward it. Love Rice is frozen in place, but Sasanishiki rushes forward. Sasanishiki's skill and drive when it comes to Harvest Shows was once said to rival Koshihikari himself, but the story Morinokuma begins to tell about his past is one nobody expected...

The five members of Love Rice are both excited and focused as they look ahead to their Harvest Festival appearance. Then An, Shokku, and Kyari, the hottest HarveStars from the Sacred Bread High School, arrive on the scene. After seeing their far superior Harvest Show, the girls who once cheered for Love Rice turn their attention to Yeast King.