The crushing feeling of inferiority can stop the most wonderful momentum dead in its tracks.
What They Say:
Eggs Before Dawn
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)
The training camp is over, and Soma has returned as a finer Kenshiro than Kenshiro himself, surrounded by the delinquents of Polar Star and the limited remains of Marui. The most terrifying thought is that Isshiki is wearing some amount of cloth below his shoulders. Fortunately he soon awakens from this horrible nightmare, wearing only the most important piece of clothing, the nightcap. For his kouhai, though, the nightmare presses on, and after the unprecedented challenge two of them were just part of, it’s hard to imagine what lies in store next.
It really wouldn’t be right if someone already as infamous as Soma threw down in a shokugeki against one of Totsuki’s greatest alumni without word spreading quickly (even though the fact that it was actually Megumi didn’t seem to make its way into the story), so it makes about as much sense as Isshiki sleeping without any unnecessary clothing that he would immediately be confronted about it. As Soma has made a few acquaintances (most of whom would prefer to consider themselves enemies of him) throughout his time at Totsuki, it’s only natural for a few of them to bump into each other while chasing him down, and with the kind of dynamic personalities this series creates, any new meeting of characters is a good time, especially those already as fun (in different ways) as Nikumi and Takumi. I wouldn’t have even thought about how similar their names were before now. Soma laughs off his loss (even though, again, it wasn’t really his fight anyway) just as you’d expect him to, but it’s obvious how much of his frustration he’s holding back, and how much he’s saying as little as possible to try to get these guys to shut up about it.
Instead of simply moving onto the class task of the next day, this night has its own new challenge, one that requires all but the most confident chefs to stay up all night. Making an egg-based breakfast might not seem the most daunting proposition compared to the quantity of food they had to prepare the previous dinner, but this time they must concoct a buffet for all the people who have made their time on this camp possible, coming from all different walks of life and levels of expertise. On the whole our friends seem to have grown enough in these few days to not have much issue in impressing their customers, and Erina gets to remind us why she’s the goddess of Totsuki as she does every few episodes, all of which is quite spectacular to watch. However, one familiar face is far behind the rest, and lacking in any of the confidence that has so strongly defined his character this whole time. Soma took the biggest risk and finally faced the weakness that lies within him. That’s not something he can brush off, and suddenly it begins to crack away at the persona of perfection he had built up all this time. This is the vulnerability that I hoped for.
In Summary:
This arc has had a few different kinds of episodes, and this is one of the less eventful kinds. However, it shows that Soma’s loss has affected him deeply, and the first results are fascinating.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Roku 3, Sceptre X425BV-FHD 42″ Class LCD HDTV.