Shokugeki no Souma

Souma Yukihira has been cooking alongside his father Jouichirou for as long as he can remember. As a sous chef at his father's restaurant, he has spent years developing his culinary expertise and inventing new dishes to amaze their customers. He aspires to exceed his father's skill and take over the restaurant one day, but he is shocked to learn that Jouichirou is closing up the shop to take a job in New York.

Rather than tagging along with his father, Souma finds himself enrolling at the prestigious Tootsuki Culinary Academy, where only 10 percent of its students end up graduating. The school is famous for its "Shokugeki"—intense cooking competitions between students often used to settle debates and arguments. Jouichirou tells Souma that to surpass him and survive the next three years at Tootsuki and graduate there.

The academy's brutal curriculum and fiercely competitive student body await the young chef, who must learn to navigate the treacherous environment if he wants to stand a chance at realizing his dreams. But is skill alone enough to let him rise to the top?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yukihira, Souma Main

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Nakiri, Erina Main

Taneda, Risa Japanese

Tadokoro, Megumi Main

Takahashi, Minami Japanese

Nakiri, Alice Supporting

Akasaki, Chinatsu Japanese

Isshiki, Satoshi Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Kurokiba, Ryou Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Mito, Ikumi Supporting

Ishigami, Shizuka Japanese

Yukihira, Jouichirou Supporting

Koyama, Rikiya Japanese

Aldini, Takumi Supporting

Hanae, Natsuki Japanese

Hayama, Akira Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Kawase, Kouhei Producer

Maruyama, Hiroo Producer

Matsukura, Yuuji Producer

Hashimoto, Ryuu Producer

Reviews

Oct 1, 2015

Inferno792

Recommended

Shokugeki no Souma (Food Wars) is an anime about battles of cooking as the title suggests. The anime adaption of the popular manga of the same name has received the same kind of reception as its manga version did in terms of popularity as well as critique. But is it any good or is it just another one of those popular but dull anime, that I will discuss in this review.

Story - 8/10

From the synopsis itself, you must have realized that the anime revolves around Soma Yukihira who wants to become a cook and surpass his father in cooking. Some stuff happens and Soma ... ends up in Totsuki Academy, which is the best cooking school in Japan. After all this, you must have come to the conclusion that it isn't unique or special, but that doesn't make it bad. The story isn't anything even special to start off with but the other aspects of the show are so well done that it makes you feel that the story is better than it actually is. Not to say that the story's bad, by any means, it's pretty good but this is not a story-driven anime, it's character-driven.

Art and Animation - 9/10

The animation of the show, to be described in one word, is brilliant. While one can say that almost all anime that are released these days have really good animation quality, Shokugeki no Soma's animation is a level above most others. (while not being as good as something made by ufotable but its still very detailed and fluent). The best thing about Food Wars's art is the way they display food, it's just really awesome. The animation is consistent throughout the show and doesn't get bad at any moment. The openings and ending too are animated nicely.

The character designs, are, for the most part, unique as well, with most characters having different features. However, one can argue that Erina Nakiri(one of the female protagonists) looks pretty darn similar to Asuna Yuuki from SAO.


Sound - 9.5/10
The first opening is amazing; it a treat to the ears. It's simply beautiful. I am not too good at Japanese so I don't read the lyrics but just listening to the opening psyches you up for the episode. The ending is pretty good too but it still pales in comparison to the opening. (Says how excellent the opening song is). The second opening is good, but it's more of an opening for a fighting/action anime. The first opening was very charming and pleasant, which suits the theme of Shokugeki no Soma. However, the second OP's tone didn't quite suit it, in my opinion. It can be called pretty decent, nonetheless. The second ending is very good to hear too. (And they used the first OP at the end of the final episode 24 of the anime so that means it was the best of the series)
Now, on to the soundtrack, in my opinion, they lack a couple of battle soundtracks which they could use during shokugekis and stuff. There is only one track which played is over and over again, during food battles or while the characters are cooking something for their tests among other stuff. The track named Shokugeki no Soma Epic soundtrack(so much for a good title) on its own is thrilling to hear and you won't probably notice how repetitive it is unless you are watching like 8-9 episodes at once. But if you do watch a few episodes at once, there is a chance that you will come to complaint about the limited tracks. The limited amount of soundtrack is the only critic I could have in the sound department. The voice acting is funny when required, serious and tension-building during a shokugeki, which is also another plus to the anime. Simply put, the voice acting is almost flawless.

Characters - 9/10

The cast in this anime is pretty big, which you would expect from a shounen+school anime like this. There are rivals, friends, upperclassmen, etc but most of the relevant characters have gotten pretty good screentime to express their characters.

Our lovely protagonist, Soma Yukihira is just awesome. He can be OP sometimes with his dishes but he is awesome, nonetheless. He is and is not your typical shounen protagonist. When I say he is your typical shounen protag, I look into the fact that he has a goal of surpassing someone, he is pretty determined to do that, etc. When I say he isn't, the unique features of his characters come out : his confidence, his competence in stuff he does, his arrogance(at times). Now, here his arrogance does a great job because it's really fun to see the opponent's reactions after they are brought down by his words. However, most importantly, he entertains us. For an anime like Food Wars, he is the perfect protagonist.

The two main female characters of the show are damn good :
Megumi Tadokoro is your usual clumsy, scared girl from a small village who hopes of making it big here. While there is nothing much unique about her character, she has done her job well so far and is getting development and she does get braver as the anime progresses.
Erina Nakiri is the tsundere who is also known as "God Tongue" because of her ability to only acknowledge the best of foods. She is the daughter of the Director(or something big shot of Totsuki at least.) and her family is one of leads in culinary restaurants and other stuff in the world. She is prideful, arrogant and would destroy anything that could stand in her way of being no. 1 in Totsuki; anyone other than Soma. Erina hates Soma and you'll understand why she does after watching the first couple of episodes. The interactions between Soma and Erina are fun to watch, really fun to watch. Although, this season isn't focussed on Erina too much, I am sure she will be getting her time in this coming seasons.

The remaining characters, too, as I said, are entertaining to watch. Some of their interactions are hilarious while some will show you the intensity of the battles happening in Food Wars.

Pros :

1. Extremely entertaining.
2. Amazing comedy and you'll jump out of your seat while watching some of them.
3. Great animation and soundtrack.
4. Immensely amusing character interactions.

Cons :

Comedy can get out of hand sometimes with the ecchi. If you aren't a fan of ecchi, you might not like the characters' reactions after they eat the food. They get naked and act and act like they're having orgasms. A lot of people have enjoyed this but some might not. However, the good thing is that these get less and less as the anime progresses and by around episode 8, these foodgasms are reduced since the anime starts to get more serious and take off to the skies.

Enjoyment : 10/10
This anime is a hell of a ride and the entertainment value of the show is right up there. The first episode is nothing compared to what the next few episodes bring to you. The thing got better and better with each passing episode.

Overall - 9.5/10
In my opinion, Shokugeki no Soma is the best anime released in the year 2015. I guess, the stats it has on MAL speaks for itself.
I would definitely recommend this anime to you, even if you are not a fan of such anime, it's worth your time and I am almost certain that you won't regret watching it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Oct 1, 2015

rtil

Mixed Feelings

One positive thing I can say about Shokugeki no Souma is that it's an anime that knows exactly what it is - a ridiculously over-the-top sports/battle shounen with cooking as the centerpiece.

In the beginning, the plot seems familiar, but inviting - our hero Souma is faced with his first opponent - an aggressive businesswoman looking to put his father's humble diner out of commission to make way for her development plans. We all know she's simply a stepping stone into the universe of this anime. Predictably, she agrees to step down if Souma can impress her with his cooking. And, of course, he defeats ... her with relative ease.

It's an amusing start, and you know there's a much larger story and far more formidable opponents on the road ahead. Unfortunately from here on out, Shokugeki no Souma slowly stumbles into mediocrity as it attempts to constantly out-do itself.

The visual gags in SnS are the primary source of its "ecchi" tag, which mostly consist of its infamous food-induced orgasms, complete with clothes being torn asunder and physics-defying breasts superimposed on dreamy foodscapes. Funny the first time, but it gets old fast.

Though these scenes don't exist simply for humor, but also to beat you over the head with expository dialogue as to why the dish they're eating is just that good. Imagine your typical anime action battle scene - a combatant suddenly realizes their opponent's "secret technique", and inexplicably begins to blab out loud what is happening, as if they knew we were watching.

And that is SnS in a nutshell - every shounen trope you can imagine, but with food. This by itself isn't inherently bad, it's simply what it does with them that makes SnS very predictable, tiresome and - despite pulling out all the stops to be as epic as possible - ultimately boring.

STORY - 7/10

The story of SnS plays it relatively safe. We are all familiar with the archetype of the unexpected hero and his hometown roots. He's young, highly competitive and determined - albeit a bit naive and a sore loser. Trained under his mysterious and skilled father, he sends him off to a prestigious academy for aspiring chefs. Surrounded by peers of elite and privileged upbringing, he sticks out like a sore thumb - something that sometimes comes to his advantage. It is here Souma will face one greater challenge after another as he fights for the chance to be the very best that no one ever was.

It's a tried and true classic plotline. It can be inspiring, motivational and relatable in all kinds of ways. It's meant to resonate with the average viewer, and that's great! But there's little reason to be invested in - even if the stakes are high - if we don't care about the characters. Unfortunately, SnS fails in many ways to create compelling characters.

CHARACTERS - 2/10

One glaring issue with SnS is that the main character is almost too perfect. Souma is basically a "Marty Stu", or an idealized self-insert that just so happens to excel at everything he does. He seems incapable of doing wrong, making mistakes or showing weakness. Women fawn over him, think about him constantly and even spite eachother in order to win his affection, though he seems blissfully unaware or uninterested in any of it.

While Souma is capable of learning things and growing as a person, we don't ever really see it happen - we only see the results of it. And sometimes it happens literally overnight.

Souma's flaws are merely personality quirks, nothing really stops him from reaching the next plateau. His struggle is almost non-existent because of this, and it rarely adds any tension or excitement to his story.

Secondly, there are far too many supporting characters that overlap eachother. In 2 cours of SnS we are introduced to over two dozen supporting cast with some kind of backstory and motivation - mostly sharing at least two of the following attributes: 1. the desire to be the best in the academy 2. obsessively competitive and self-righteous 3. the desire to best Souma as a chef - and, as an added bonus, may possibly have some kind of unrequited affection towards him. Granted, not all supporting cast follow this example (for example, the far more compelling and likable Miyoko Houjou), but there are few and they get painfully little screen time.

On the whole, a lot of the supporting cast is generally flat and unlikable outside of Souma's dorm mates. True that many are merely rivals, but this doesn't mean that the character can't be complex and interesting. Sometimes the rivals and villains of a story can be even more compelling than the characters we're supposed to be cheering on.

The only character that comes from truly humble beginnings and experiences real growth is the female lead Megumi. Her flaws are human, her character is believable, and her struggle is familiar on many levels. Souma is so sickeningly idealized that it makes Megumi stand out even more, and it's hard not to cheer her on. However, with so many other characters competing for screen-time, she is sometimes absent.

ENJOYMENT - 3/10

SnS is constantly trying to reach new heights of epic showdowns with the same set-up in every arc. It goes something like this - a new character or characters are introduced, Souma encounters them, and they appear in the next "cooking battle". There's monologues, wide-eyed moments of revelation, montages and of course ecchi. They all generally end the same way, though - with Souma edging his way to the next challenge and stunning his seasoned rivals.

The problem lies in that literally every cooking battle ends in the same way - those judging the food are seen as jaded and impossible to impress. Yet that illusion is instantly shattered as Souma and his peers unexpectedly blow them away every time to the shock of onlookers. But when the audience is shown this over and over from the get-go, it's anything but shocking and the tension is artificial.

By the time you get to the 6-episode cooking battle finale, you already know exactly what's going to happen. Watching it unfold is hilariously predictable and the whole arc falls flat. There's not much of a resolution either as the manga is ongoing, so the ending feels more like a lull than anything.

One positive thing to say about the enjoyment factor is that the pacing of SnS is fairly well done. Many anime struggle with pacing, but SnS manages to pack in a lot without seeming rushed or taking too much time here or there. Unfortunately what's happening on screen is not awfully compelling.

ART & SOUND - 7/10

Not much to say here besides "good". This is by no means an animated masterpiece, but the animation is generally solid and consistent. The art style is also aesthetically pleasing. The only complaint regarding the animation are the sometimes poorly animated bouncing breasts - if you're going to do blatant fanservice, at least do it right. At times the breasts bounce as if they were being flopped around in an exaggerated video game physics engine with no rhyme or reason. Also, the art can sometimes go overboard on the blush with soft red gradients topped with white highlights all over the body. They look like awkwardly large pimples when they're not done subtly.

The paintings and animation of food are nothing short of stellar. You won't see food this detailed in many other anime. But at the end of the day it is just food and doesn't do much for what's happening in the story.

The music is well done and the sound effects will make you hungry (if the food on screen isn't already).

OVERALL - 5/10

At the end of the day, despite its many flaws, there are much worse anime than SnS. In this case, it's the cast of SnS that drag down a story and premise that had potential, and the result is something decidedly mediocre. While SnS never loses its focus, it shows all the cards in its hand too quickly, leaving the audience with no surprises left to look forward to.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Nov 25, 2015

-Remix-

Not Recommended

Sorry everyone, I honestly don't know why this show is so highly ranked as it is.

Shokugeki no Souma is a train wreck. And when I say this I don't say it lightly - what started out glowing with great potential came crashing and burning once the show got a little over half-way into the season.

The biggest and most saddening part of Shokugeki is the very poor (or lack of) character development. By throwing way too many characters into the mix, there is simply not enough screen time for most of the main characters. The only person who I would argue went under the most significant ... change was Megumi, and even so, her development was incredibly forced - her development was not so much based on her own sheer free will but rather because she wanted to mimic other individuals.

The other disappointing factor about Shokugeki is the over-stretching (if this is even a word, lol) of the plot towards the latter half of the season. This is especially exemplified by the Autumn Elections. Most of the tournament events could have been condensed into two to four episodes, but since the judges kept talking and basically giving the same, predictable reviews and reactions ("oh this doesn't look good... but it's so yummy! *insert overly used ecchi animation*), this was easily dragged on and on when it didn't have to be.

What does Shokugeki get right? Arguably the humor. The humor is quick, witty, and light and never fails to disappoint. The artwork and sound is also decent, albeit the ecchi animations are way too overused.

tl;dr
Pros:
- Humorous
- Interesting characters, although some were clearly drawn from stereotypical personalities
Cons:
- Poor plot execution, especially towards the second half of the season
- Poor character development
- Predictable
- Overuse of ecchi scenes - as the saying goes, the same jokes get old fast...

Story: 3
Art: 5
Sound: 4
Character: 4
Enjoyment: 3
Overall: 3

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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