Some kids just don’t know how to make friends.
What They Say:
That Chef Never Smiles
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)
Despite Erina’s attempts to fail the boy who introduced her to such pleasure that she couldn’t keep up her professional front, Soma’s talents are not to be taken lightly, and he’s let into the school as the only transfer student just before the big battles begin. Apparently that means he gets to make his own big speech, and in case we didn’t know what kind of person Soma was quite enough before now, he makes sure to confirm that he’s not the sort to be humble or self-deprecating; he’s shooting straight to the top, and he’s going to make sure everyone knows it.
Food Wars! is, at its most basic level, a shounen battle series. A high school is always an easy setting to make that kind of formula work, and there’s nothing Soma could do to guarantee an eventful journey through this world like declaring his inevitable victory to a student body full of haughty elitists already fired up by the headmaster’s Charles zi Britannia-esque speech informing them that most would be sacrifices for the true prodigies. As these speeches take place (along with Erina’s), we see all the students of the school, and start to get an idea of who will end up being important players in different capacities, especially as they’re separated into the top 1% and bottom 99%; the show basically tells you who to put in the former category at the same time.
Even before all of this, we meet another major character, the shy, adorable, and almost-failing Megumi, doing her best to keep from being expelled for the sake of her supporting community back home. Unsurprisingly, as soon as Soma has some actual cooking to do in his schooling proper, he ends up partnered with this seemingly hopeless girl who is his exact opposite in terms of personality and was just saying that she was hoping to never have to deal with him only moments prior. Soma may not be doing anything for Megumi personally at this point, but he’s certainly not going to fail himself, and that means she’s just as set. Given his bold claim at the opening ceremony, it’s to be expected that he has enemies everywhere now, whether they’re worth anything or not. The first pair of hopeful antagonists takes the first opportunity to launch a particularly juvenile assault on Soma’s meal, but of course that really just means Soma has to – and gets to – think outside the box and whip up something more original and amazing than anyone would’ve conceived under normal circumstances. It’s little more than the first major example of a pattern we’ll likely be seeing for quite some time, but it establishes Soma’s role in his new school as well as his relationship with an important and very endearing new character.
In Summary:
Food Wars! continues to use its unique combination of shounen battle, cooking, and ecchi elements to create something fresh and highly entertaining even for as much as its individual parts do little in the way of innovating. Soma proves more than ever what kind of person he is, and starts down a long path that will likely be fairly repetitive, but is more than fun enough so far.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Custom-Built PC, 27” 1080p HDTV.
