“Kneel before the victor and say ‘I am a loser’ three times.”
Impression
Shokugeki no Soma is as extravagant as ever with its foodgasm scenes – actually, with Hinako it’s been less foodgasm and more intricate descriptions of exactly how these various ingredients blend together to make a great dish. All her scenes are also really odd, which is very fitting for her. If I had a bit more cooking ability (and made the effort to gather all the ingredients) it would be nice to try making some of these recipes in real life.
Takumi is a great rival for Soma. I really like how he possesses a really genuine desire to beat him – anything else isn’t sufficient, which is a totally different mindset from what we’ve seen of his other haters so far (although the only other prominent hater is Erina-sama, who primarily has the aim of kicking Soma out of Tootsuki before she’s forced to try his cooking again). He doesn’t want to win because he sabotaged Soma’s ingredients. And a mere win by default isn’t a win either – it has to be a win in fact, and the dish he makes has to be better than whatever Soma makes under the same conditions. A draw feels like a loss to him – although it was heavily implied that it actually was a draw, or at least not a clear victory. I can’t say Hinako is the best judge, though! Maybe she would have made a decision eventually if Shinomiya hadn’t shouted at her. But the pair of them came away from their cook-off now recognizing the skill of the other. For Takumi, it’s that Soma does actually have the skills to back up his words, and for Soma it’s that there are people his age who are at least as good as, if not better than him.
That was once again implied in the final scene – involving another demonic challenge of serving fifty meals to a group of hungry, muscled men who keep coming back for seconds. Poor Yuuki had her heart broken. On the face of it, we’re supposed to acknowledge that Soma is really good – he has past experience serving customers, and it’s no surprise that a challenge of this level isn’t too hard for him. And beneath that, there’s the fanservice aspect – Soma and Erina-sama were both happily singing (without knowing the other was there) and we get this wonderful view of a very risqué-looking Erina (I did actually think she was wearing less than she was, in light of the camera angles). But Erina-sama was leaving the bath as Soma was getting in – for her to be already leaving must mean that she must have finished serving her fifty meals way faster than Soma did. We don’t often get a clear depiction of Erina’s cooking skills, but this scene is one example that she’s more than just God’s Tongue.
I’m surprised by how much I’ve come to like this show. I decided to try it out because of a friend, but I’m not a fan of ecchi at all and all the foodgasms in the first episode were very off putting. It seems like they’ve toned it down, and especially in this episode, made them more humorous which makes it more bearable.
What I’m really enjoying is the somewhat sports anime vibes the show gives off and the absolutely fun and interesting personalities that the characters have. I wasn’t expecting it, but I’m glad that there is more to it than just ecchi, and I’m so so so glad that there is nothing of a harem in this show because I probably would have lost my mind.
I did say in the first impression post, the ecchi does get toned down! A lot of people judge it based on that and drop it if it’s not their cup of tea, thus never realizing that it does eventually develop an exciting plot. And when there is ecchi, it’s very gender-balanced as we’ve seen constantly.
It’s also stopped being episodic, and the challenges are now there (that do make it kind of like a sports anime!) – Soma has rivals who can give him a run for his money, and it’s not just a guaranteed curbstomp win each time any longer. As far as I remember, romance is never even a thing. Soma gets friendly with some girls, but that’s about it – some crush on him like Nikumi, and some are incredibly tsun like Erina, but it’s a cooking manga first and foremost and that’s generally stuck to. Glad you’re enjoying it!
Yeah, I’m actually quite pleased that the ecchi is gender balanced. Though it still makes me uncomfortable, at least it doesn’t make me annoyed.
This is basically asking for a spoiler, but without too many details, can you tell me if Soma actually loses any of these cooking battles in the manga. As much as I love a strong protagonist, it’s a little unexciting if he always comes out on top.
[spoiler] He has lost, yes. And without divulging too much, it wasn’t impossible to win, either – i.e. he wasn’t up against the god of cooking, it was a fellow student of his generation who was simply better than him. I think you’ll like the fact he’s a lot like Takumi, in that there will also be situations in which he’ll still consider himself to have ‘lost’ because of something, even if he technically hasn’t. He’s quite hard on himself! [/spoiler]
Oh great. Thank you!!