Some food is so good it makes you forget you don’t know how to speak a language. Wait, what?
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)
It doesn’t come as a huge surprise after even the buildup to the championship match took less than a full episode, but there’s still something to be said for just how quickly everything happens in this episode. It’s easy to get annoyed with shounen competition series drawing out their progress in excruciating fashion, but the format that has been established does demand some room to really take in all that is the final piece of this tournament that we’ve been following for such a long time, even with most of it going by more rapidly than one might expect. This is even truer for its inclusion of not two but three competitors, a first-time event that has been treated as evidence that these three are each of such a high caliber that each deserves a great deal of attention. So to speed through almost the entire match in just this one episode feels a little wrong, not only lacking some of the development the series offers at its best but causing all of the dialogue and actions to play as if it was being watched at 1.5x speed or something of the sort.
What’s even stranger but possibly makes for the best part of the episode is that there is sufficient time spent on Ryo’s character, even making room for some new backstory on him and Alice that takes its time to make its point. This is very valuable, as it reveals a great deal about their dynamic and how they have compared to each other throughout their long history together. It especially plays into the climax of Ryo’s part of the match, showing how much he has learned from Alice. If there’s anything that seems lacking from that, it’s that Alice’s own mother is one of the three judges and yet doesn’t acknowledge her daughter’s influence on the dish as much as others. This is great material, but it does result in the rest of the episode feeling much more rushed, and Akira’s part doesn’t seem to receive as much focus in comparison, with the main point still bringing Ryo back into the discussion, as both grew from their match against each other. Of course, this is still Souma’s series, so it’s a good choice to not try to cram every bit of his entry into the last few minutes of this episode, even if the transition into the ED is a bit abrupt.
The consistent thread keeping the episode strong throughout, though, is unquestionably the judges. While getting Senzaemon to bare his chest has been a major goal for all matches he has judged, the new judge Leonora has a “baring” of her own when the food is good enough, and it’s a particularly bizarre phenomenon that couldn’t be more anime. The importance of the Japanese language may give English-speaking viewers with limited familiarity a slightly lesser experience than its initial audience, but more than anything it just makes me feel sorry for the people who will eventually have to turn this into a dub. In general, though, these gags spice up the reactions well.
In Summary:
While it has been prevalent throughout the season thus far, the faster pacing is felt most strongly in the ultimate battle of this grand tournament, especially with three elite contenders to cover rather than just two. Fortunately it doesn’t quite cram it all into one episode, but it still feels like it could’ve been spread out a bit more. New backstory and judges still keep it compelling and fun.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Roku 3, Sceptre X425BV-FHD 42″ Class LCD HDTV.
