Some events in this volume might make your head spin as the story continues on the dark path opened up a couple volumes ago as Azami Nakiri’s plans to take undisputed control of Totsuki Academy move into high gear. Are there rays of light still flickering among all this darkness?
Creative Staff:
Story: Yuto Tsukuda
Art: Shun Saeki
Contributor: Yuki Morisaki
Translation: Adrienne Beck
Production: Mara Coman (Touch up art and lettering), Alice Lewis (design), Jennifer LeBlanc (editor)
What They Say:
The shokugeki to decide the fate of the Polaris dormitory nears its conclusion! Even with the judges firmly in his opponent’s pocket, Soma puts everything he’s gained from his time at the dorm on a plate, cementing Polaris’s future—or lack thereof—at the institute. Meanwhile, Central makes its move, beginning a full-scale purge of anyone daring to resist them! Will Soma survive to take on this next challenge?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Over the course of the past few volumes, we have seen the start of what is a major shift in the story from one of thrilling, but largely fair competition, into one where we have a small band of those who value freedom pitted against a totalitarian enemy. It started with the appearance of Erina’s father, Azami Nakiri, who comes across as a fascist of some sort or another. For those who think that description is hyperbole, look and think about it more closely: his appearance, clothing, and pallor (confirmed by the color cover to volume 16) are from the Vampire Cliche Catalog but also look about right for a Gestapo officer in a WWII movie, the only thing missing is a swastika lapel pin—note, I think Tsukuda and Saeki are sending nods towards both for him. Now, add to that his absolutist, “there is only one correct way and it’s the one that I say is right” ideology, his desire to dominate and centralize all power into a single faction/party at Totsuki, and his propaganda about “setting students free and allowing them to cook like the Elite Ten” which in fact is a lie as his goal is the opposite to freedom…when you put all that into a pot and cook it, you get someone who is just a couple steps short of handing out armbands, insisting on stiff-arm salutes, and instructing his followers to start marching in unison at torch-lit rallies during the night. The author and artist are sending messages on many levels that this man is evil, and possibly Evil with the capital E needed.
Such a move was (and could well still be) rather risky since up to this time what was (happily for me) lacking in Food Wars was a truly malicious antagonist for Yukihira and his friends. Takumi Aldini and Ikumi Mito were more spirited rivals than enemies. Akira Hayama and Ryo Kurokiba were honorable warriors fighting for status and acknowledgement (and to some degree also for other people). There was no one really whose aim was not only to defeat Soma but also to inflict gratuitous suffering upon him (or the audience). There was no one who was pure ego, pure self-absorption, whose only reasons for winning were personal pleasure, better yet, pleasure derived from others’ pain. Sure, we have already had Etsuya Eizan, but he was to some degree comical as his threats and plots often proved to be easy for Soma to counter and foil. Even now, in the newly darker world of Totsuki after the Azami takeover, Eizan remains an easy target for Soma to outmatch. In the seemingly hopeless trap that Eizan has set for Soma in the last volume, fighting in a rigged shokugeki for the survival of Polaris Dorm, Soma manages to outwit and outmaneuver Eizan who has the classic weakness of many villains: overconfidence. Of course Soma was going to win this contest and Polaris was going to continue. This is only volume 18 and up to about 23 or 24 have currently been released in Japan and the work is still in current serialization. The title character is not about to leave the stage just yet.
So, no one reading this should really have been hanging on the result other than because you wondered how Yukihira was going to escape the trap. I will leave that for readers to read for themselves.
But this is a volume that contains major revelations, which I’m not going to spoil in full. The bond that connects two of the major characters, Soma and Erina Nakiri, is noted and now both sides are made aware of it, having each only held half the knowledge while we in the audience have been clued in for some time. It was nice to see that happen, though not a real surprise as we knew this must happen eventually. What is much more interesting is how little Azami is taken aback by developments. And more, Azami implies strongly that he knows more of what is going on than everyone else (well, he is the Master Villain, so this is usual), including the audience who are left with a lot more grist to throw into the speculation mill. It’s as if someone in the past had set in motion a plan for all of these things to pass, though that plan might not have foreseen the reappearance of Azami.
With Eizan’s plan to destroy all of the clubs, societies, and other independent organizations on campus through rigged shokugeki defeated, we see Azami roll out a new means of taking full control of the school: his new Central, consisting of the Elite Ten who adhere to his philosophy and his handpicked crew of chefs who are near to the Elite Ten in their skills and also follow his way of thinking. They, while still a small group, will steamroll over the opposition in a series of shokugeki. The only minor thorn in their side is that someone has made sure that the judging of contests will be absolutely fair, preventing any further skullduggery of the sort Eizan would likely try to pull. In a sign of Azami’s arrogance and certainty, he allows the new Rules to be adopted. It may be that it does not matter if the judging is fair: Central’s fighters, composed of the Elite Ten and those who would be qualified to sit on the Council in future, look like they are more than capable of winning against any and all opposition.
Though the volume ends with a familiar couple coming in to battle Central’s attack dogs.
As I said above, there is some risk here. While in the past there have been high stakes to Soma’s constant charging head first into battle against powerful chefs who could get him expelled, there was a basic understanding that the contests would be fair and that Soma’s creativity would allow him to conquer almost all who stood in his path. What was lacking was a serious threat coming from opponents who were not just “opponents” but were in some way malicious. Malicious opponents who would resort to dirty tricks and upend the “fairness” of the entire shokugeki system and the idea that at Totsuki, the only acceptable way to settle a dispute is through the power of your cooking.
The new regime being brought in by Azami has changed the dynamic as some of the new chefs of Central, especially Rentaro Kusunoki, come across in the more malicious vein of Eizan than the honorable opponents Soma has faced in the past. Sadly, far too often, villains who are built out of malice and spite often prove to be one-dimensional and boring for me. Being “evil” for the sake of being evil is boring. Being egotistical beyond all measure, as Rentaro is, is a sign of weakness, rightly called out in story by a character many have now probably come to admire. Such thin characterization results in personas who tend to be brainless and shallow.
Could all the new “villains” (I might need to remove those quotes in future) be cut from the same thin cloth? Maybe. But there is also reason to think maybe not. Subaru Mimasaka turned out to be hiding a sensitive interior under his rough exterior. Tsukuda could surprise us. But there are warning signs too. I don’t think Kusunoki, from what we see in this volume so far, will have comparable depth. But he and the others have only just been introduced. I could be proven wrong and it’s in that chance for the unexpected that I continue to place my hope for the future of this series.
At the very least, the series has not lost its trademark humor as there is plenty of that to go around. But at times it feels a touch forced, ill-matched to the darker overall mood and heightened level of gloom and foreboding that has invaded the culinary school.
In Summary:
While the contest was meant to be a foregone conclusion, Soma manages to taunt Eizan and his handpicked judges into tasting his dish with the unsurprising result that Soma wins the shokugeki (though Soma himself is not entirely pleased, since he knows that Eizan did not take the contest seriously, so the actual certainty here was Soma’s win). This puts a minor damper in Azami’s plans…for about two minutes. Instead of a quick suppression of all opposition, it’s now going to take him and his handpicked Central chefs longer to overwhelm every source of independence at the Academy, but it seems to be just a matter of time, not a question of outcome. Soma and the Polaris residents take this time to scout the enemy as it is seems inevitable that Azami will launch a new assault on their home. In terms of setting and plot, the story has changed dramatically from a simple shounen fighting tale, of Soma defeating all opponents and trying to gain the skills to finally best his father to a more dramatic war between an oppressive government and the small band of freedom fighters hoping to save their beloved Totsuki from a descent into stagnation and darkness. That’s not to say there is no light at all, but the road ahead looks troubled.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: A-
Package Rating: A-
Text/Translation: A-
Age Rating: Teen+ (16+)
Released By:Viz Media
Release Date: June 6th, 2017
MSRP: $9.99
