Making your examiner of the same age orgasm to get into a school has never been so clean.
What They Say:
Shokugeki no Soma centers on Yukihira Soma, a middle school student who is determined to surpass his father’s culinary skills. One day, his father decides to close down their family restaurant and hone his skills in Europe. Before leaving he enrolls Soma in an elite culinary school that is extremely difficult to enter with a graduation rate of only 10 percent. Will Souma be able to improve his skills, or will the kitchen prove to be too hot?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Soma is on his way to school, and that means passing an entrance exam! Anime has no shortage of kids spending huge chunks of their lives studying for entrance exams of almost every level of schooling, but the formula is naturally going to be a little different when they’re trying to get into something like a culinary school, and it actually makes the exam process worth watching. Of course, this isn’t just any cooking anime – it’s Food Wars! – and that means a passing score will be represented as erotically as television stations allow. What could be more anime about this? Well having the examiner be a beautiful girl the same age as Soma and the holder of the most discerning palate in the industry as well as a master chef herself, someone who couldn’t imagine a lowly commoner like Soma capable of anything edible, let alone something that could bring her so much pleasure, is a good start.
So that’s what we have here. Erina is fifteen years old and just finishing up middle school herself, but this is anime after all, so naturally her body is as adult as her status. That’s probably for the best, because by this point two things are pretty well established: that every positive reaction to a dish will be represented with intense orgasm scenes and that Soma is going to catch the hearts of a girl his age, or maybe a few. The plot of only getting into a school if you can elicit that kind of response from a gorgeous female examiner has probably been used before, probably even with girls of this age, but likely never in something that wasn’t actually pornographic. Food Wars! continues to unite worlds in the most bizarre ways.
The rest of the Soma’s introductions to the culinary environment outside of his home are as standard for this kind of storytelling. He’s basically the country bumpkin in a new world of stuck-up preps who have been groomed their whole lives to carry on the prestige of perfection that their families have established for generations. It’s almost a little disappointing that Erina scares off everyone but Soma immediately, because it would be even more fulfilling to see her express disgust at the attempts of those who tried to put Soma down only to noticeably lose her mind over the brilliant innovation of Soma’s work. It would also be that much more generic, though, and having the rest of the prospective class run away sniveling and then Erina’s eventual reaction to Soma’s food after speaking of him in the same way get the job done well enough.
If Food Wars! doesn’t do anything for your sex drive, it probably still will for your appetite. While most of the artwork isn’t as top-notch as it would be nice to have, the food looks as incredible as it needs to in order to get its message across convincingly, and I wonder how realistic it all is.
In Summary:
After the first episode established what Food Wars! is – a hard concept to explain – the story proper is underway. Soma works toward getting into school, and while the series takes a unique approach, it’s essentially still a standard competition anime. It’s weird, fun, and a little hilarious.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
HP Envy 14.
