Alright episode 3!
The episode begins with a small introduction of the Elite 10 boarding a flight, but then wastes almost no time getting into the second challenge itself. Once again I was thrown off by the instructor’s face because it gave me vibes similar to the evil lady of the previous episode.
The lesson on Hokkaido’s wide variety of ramen made me extremely hungry and now I’m craving ramen, especially since the show went on like a two minute lecture on udon and soba as well. I was surprised to hear that almost all the ingredients were present for the “rebel” students, and was just waiting for the eventual twist. I really was not expecting all the noodles to be gone, and it left me a bit disappointed. I understand it’s supposed to be almost like a monster of the week type of structure, but refusing them noodles in a noodle challenge? That’s so absurd.
On the bright side though, this was not a situation they could fix by going out and purchasing the ingredients like the last one. Instead, all the residents of Polar Star used their knowledge of potato anatomy that they learned thanks to Nakiri! I thought it was great that they overcame their obstacle through the hard work they put in studying, and the entire making potatoes into noodles actually surprised me.
When Souma told the instructor about all the grueling training everyone has been through, I thought he might’ve meant the Stagiaire or maybe even the first boot camp. But nope, he meant Nakiri’s training seminar! I found that quite hilarious that of all the things Souma has been through, that’s the one that left a mark.
The Gosetsu Udon
looked amazing and it oozed of all the time that went into making it look delicious. The instructor’s reaction was mediocre with little crazy effects past his clothes tearing off. My only complaint would be that every instructor so far has been swayed by the excellence of their cooking, but I assumed Central would be ruthless enough to force a failure even on amazing dishes. They did mention that they cared very little for their image after all. Oh well, it’s not that big a deal.
The second half of the episode with the gang exploring Sapporo was easily my favorite part. Watching the entire gang and friends interacting with each other, without having to worry about a looming threat is honestly the best part of the show. The way they’re all relaxing and searching for the nearest food vendor that suits their interests, and how they’re ALL intermingling! Ikumi’s little sweet moment with Nakiri as they walked around Sapporo was nice, if a bit cheesy. It also feels like Nakiri has mentioned her tragic past like five times in the past three episodes. We get it!
The episode ended with a pretty hype note. The Polar Star residents are split up onto different trains and will have to face the elite 10. (Was I the only one who thought that Central threw the rebels on a train headed for nowhere? That totally would not be above them). I’m also 100% sure it’ll be groups of Polar Star residents versus the lone members of the Elite 10 because it would be crazy unfair for any single resident of Polar Star to face off against an Elite 10 member. It would be way worse of any single person in Polar Star to beat any member of the Elite 10 because that’d be some crazy power creep. Anyway, luckily for us, we have best girl Rindo facing off against Souma and gang, so we’ll definitely have an interesting show in the next episode. Rindo will definitely have a fun time since Takumi, Megumi, Nakiri, and Souma are a crazy strong team. Excited for the next episode!
I feel that you missed last part of the episode (after ED) with the newest member of Elite 10.
Yeah! I only found about it in a reddit thread afterwards 🙁
Very excited for Hayama’s return though, and his new hair style is on point. Looking forward to the rematch.