Shokugeki no Souma: San no Sara – Totsuki Ressha-hen Episode 10

The battle has begun! In our opening bout we have surprise attendees Megushima senpai and Isshiki facing off against some new faces we likely won’t see ever again. However, the highlight match of the first round is a battle of soba between Yukihira and Nene Kinokuni!

The episode begins with a bit of Alice Nakiri exposition, explaining the arrival of all our favorite Polar Star members to the battle arena. Although a bit unexpected that they’d arrive in bulk thanks to Alice’s tantrum, it’s quite comforting to know that Souma and his team have their friends supporting them from the sidelines, especially considering how biased the rest of the crowd appears to be. Furthermore, Hayama is among their group and we get to see him banter with Kurokiba! Those two are such a pleasure to watch together and I’m glad that they’re finally back together, although being expelled is probably not the ideal condition for their reunion.

The group arrives at the arena itself and the show wastes no time before delving into the competition. Our beloved Urara Kawashima is the host as usual, although her eyes suggest she is not in the right state of mind. Perhaps just an aesthetic choice to portray Central’s control over everyone, even our hosts. Urara introduces Team Central into the arena and they arrive in Elite Ten fashion with both arrogance and style. However, the surprising team is not Central’s but rather Souma’s, thanks to his new recruits. Not only are they blessed with Isshiki’s help, but Megushima and Terunori! I was a bit concerned with which members they’d have to fill their ranks, but now I’m much more confident in Team Souma after their acquisition of former Elite Ten members.

Souma’s match with Kinokuni begins a bit badly with his unlucky drawing of the Soba topic. But this whole thing would be no fun if there wasn’t a challenge! What better foe for Souma to face during a Soba Shokugeki than the cultured, cold Nene? Nene herself is a character I enjoy because she’s not mindlessly evil, but rather just an arrogant second year. Her cold personality is reflective of the elite context in which she was raised, and so is her arrogance. However, never does she stoop to the level of someone such as Eizan and instead opts to defeat Souma through pure skill. I can respect that, and I’m sure Souma does as well.

However, I am very scared for Souma here. If he wasn’t the protagonist, I would be sure that he’d lose to Kinokuni. I just don’t see a way for Souma’s machine made noodles to somehow defeat Kinokuni’s years of practice, it’s just unrealistic. Luckily for him, arrogance seems to be a shining trait within her, and I’m quite certain it’ll lead to her demise. She also seems quite intelligent so I hope whatever loophole is exploited to defeat her isn’t something ridiculously stupid or obvious.

The highlight of the episode comes towards the end with Isshiki’s fierce display of culinary power. When Kurokiba explained the skills necessary to prepare an eel well, I was unsure of the purpose of that comment. Little did I know that Isshiki would blow the entire audience away with a filet so clean that it delayed the release of blood! I’m not sure what Isshiki is hiding, but he is most definitely a better chef than I’ve given him credit for, and I’m absolutely stoked to see what monstrosity of a dish he prepares for the next episode!