Shokugeki no Souma: Ni no Sara

Grab a seat, sit back, and relax. Shokugek no Souma (Food Wars) is back and that means, fans are in for more treat and foodgasms. From the series that bought you excitement of cooking and extravagant culinary arts, the second season has a lot to offer as well and it’s no understatement.

First things first, the sequel is a direct continuation from the first and thus, the story connects from established characters and storytelling. Therefore, there’s no reason to watch the second plate without tasting the first. Do note that there’s also no recap so the second season really gets straight to the meat of the ... story. That’s a good thing anyway. Who wants to listen to boring narrative of recapping? Rather, the second season dives into the main course as the tournament (Fall Elections) gets underway. If you remember, main male protagonist Souma is an inspiring cook chef who wants to follow his father’s footsteps into the culinary world. As a guy who is never afraid of challenges, it’s interesting to see how he fares against his competition. The first of those is Alice Nakiri (Erina’s cousin) and we see how both sides demonstrate their talent.

What’s often interesting about Shokugeki no Souma is often the clash of ideals because characters come from so many different backgrounds. For instance, Erina and Alice were both raised in a high class society so they lack understanding about people from below their class. This also adapts the way how Souma responds. If fans took notice, Souma often uses his own creative ideas to craft food rather than using fancy or stylish ingredients from the start. The point is that with so many ways characters can use to build on their talent, the second season capitalizes on them to make them memorable. Souma’s talents aren’t the only one being highlighted as characters returning from season one such as Megumi, Ryou, Akira, Hisako, and others get their own moments. Every one of these characters has their own cooking style so seeing them demonstrate what they’ve learned shows their strengths and weaknesses. The season does a decent job at that through colorful explanation of the food making process while injecting humorous moments and details. Don’t worry, if you’re starving for some fan service because of the foodgasm, there’s also that too.

As the titular character, Souma is still the face that gets the most highlight. In particular, his personal rivalry against one competitor named Subaru is something to remember. It’s not because of what’s at stake but because of Souma’s willingness to take on the challenge. As I mentioned before, Souma is a daredevil. He likes challenges and often takes them for reasons beyond personal interest. Also do note that Souma isn’t unbeatable and he does take a major loss. However, it’s important that Souma is the type of guy that also learns from his mistakes.

Speaking of mistakes, I guess a season condensed into a single just one cour will result in what people call “rushing”. Yes, the first season ran for 2-cour length of 24 episodes while the second season is only about half the length. What does that mean? It basically means material will be skipped to get straight to the main meat of the show. The first few episodes had me worried me a bit especially in the early stages. However, it doesn’t destroy the storytelling altogether if you look carefully. In essence, the condensing is probably done to get the story flowing more or capture the more important elements of the manga. In particular, the second half of the season really gets intense with high level competition. Of course, there are still lots of room for humor and breathers in between. Just know that season 2 is much more about competition. Some of the final few episodes affirms Souma’s motivation to improve himself and we get more background storytelling about his character.

Once again, J.C. Staff is responsible for the anime production. The visual quality remains more or less the same as fans may remember. There are occasionally awkward camera angles but in most parts works well. It’s noticeable that with the variety of themes offered during the tournament (bento, seafood, ramen, etc), the staff is able to capture the thrill of that. Fan service seems to be tamer compared to the first season especially in the early episodes but they are still there to make the fans droll. Meanwhile, the soundtrack remains somewhat less noticeable. While the theme songs are quite catchy, it just feels like the OST is overshadowed by other factors of the season. Voice mannerism still works quite well though in terms of delivery. One of the more noticeable character is a woman who speaks in broken Japanese which can be quite amusing to listen to.

The gimmick of Shokugeki no Souma has been a clever one. Taking the idea of making food and transforming it into something so colorful is what makes the show special. It’s essentially a satire with characters using their talent to make food better than appear. I’d say, it’s a clever joke and emphasizes more on how characters deliver their talent. The second season offers plenty of moments with these rivalries and moments you’ll have hard time forgetting. We might not appreciate every humorous joke or foodgasm they throw at us. However, it’s still enough to show that Food Wars remains a must-watch on the bucket list.

Shokugeki no Souma's characters all have one goal: be the best chef. They all have different reasons for wanting to be the best, as the show will often remind you, but in the end their goals are one and the same. Perhaps that's what makes this second season of Shokugeki fall a bit flat. They're simply not progressing towards that goal for the majority of the show. It starts to make everything feel a bit pointless.

The majority of my complaints for this season come from the tournament arc:

-It barely matters who wins.

Winning the tournament simply shows that you are the best in the class. While ... that definitely aligns with the characters' goals, it also has no significance in the grand scheme of things. The series often reminds the viewer that these are just students we're following by showcasing the alumni of the school who are successful chefs. These constant reminders doom the arc's conclusion into the winner believing they still have a way to go. Of course, the losing characters all have the same thought. If the characters aren't satisfied with the conclusion and there are no tangible results win or lose, it's tough to find purpose in the events. Contrast this with the first season when expulsion was the result for failure and you can see how the intensity was dialed down a notch.

-The fights themselves are tough to follow.

This might be a personal thing, but I'm not extremely well versed in cooking. When Hayama is describing all these spices that I last used to cure status conditions in Star Ocean, I'm stuck just trying to imagine how these things would taste. When you're watching an action show you can tell who's winning by how much damage each side has taken. In a sports show you look at the points. Winning conditions are easy to follow. In Shokugeki it's much more difficult to gauge who is winning the battle. In the tournament in particular, you're often relying on the judges' and crowd's reactions to tell you who's winning. The results of the fights could be switched and I would be none the wiser.

-There's little forward impact on the characters (yet).

The arc gives a little motivation to Souma in the end, but by and large the cast is static. There's nothing inherently wrong with static characters. However, Shokugeki wants its characters to progress and get better at cooking. In that sense, it needs the characters to constantly improve. The best the arc does towards that is getting the characters to be more creative. In the short arc afterward we see some brief glimpses of the cast but no one besides Souma has seemed to change at all... and Souma is pretty much the same anyway. The tournament ends and it feels like the show is just like "Welp, on to the next arc."

Take my criticisms with a grain of salt. Obviously this season isn't a full adaptation of the manga. The results of the tournament might become more important later. It's the fact that there are little immediate results that makes the arc feel unsatisfying.

Thankfully, the following short arc brings the show back to its strength: high-pressure situations that aren't cooking battles. It puts the characters (but focusing on Souma) in a high-pressure situation in which they are quickly forced to improve or else face negative consequences. It's far more interesting and intense. I wish it had been longer.

Art/animation/sound... it's all basically the same as the first season. It's not so bad that you're going to complain. It's not so good that you're going to be awed. It's good enough to get the job done. Frankly, that's good enough for me.

Despite my complaints about the tournament arc, it still had its moments of fun. Shokugeki's cast is fun to watch. So even if what the characters are doing isn't interesting, the cast's exaggerated personalities and silly reactions can make it enjoyable all the same. If you enjoyed the first season because of the cast interactions, then this season will not disappoint.

Having enjoyed the first season I was glad to hear we were getting more, but what we got wasn't more. In the 2nd season of Shokugeki no Souma they've chosen to abandon anything resembling story or character development and given us a cooking competition. The first 10 episodes are a series of duels with different characters we have no reason to care about and the final 3 episodes are "restaurant rescue" episodes.

Now abandoning a story isn't necessarily bad. I like cooking shows, I watch Beat Bobby Flay, Cuthroat Kitchen and many others, none of which have story or character development either. ... However much of what is said on Shokugeki no Souma is factually wrong and it's clear the writers of Shokugeki no Souma have never even seen a Michelin starred kitchen let alone been in one. With food that are "scent bombs" that can instantly fill a stadium with aroma and where every bite causes an orgasmic clothing-destroying explosions in the judges, this show has as much to do with cooking as a bullet dodging anime has to do with fighting.

So what are we left with given there is no story and what they're doing is reality ignoring make believe? We have a kid who is the best in the world kicking butt and saving adult run restaurants better than Gordan Ramsay could dream of. In other words it's a chunibyou power trip with the magic being kitchen knife wielding skill rather than a sword or a spell. But don't fret, huge breasted high school girls all admiring the main character are there too for people that want a touch of harem flavor in their otherwise flavorless show.

So in summary, there is really nothing here to watch. Give the second season of Chef's Table a watch if you want to see some of the best chef's in the world at work, or Beat Bobby Flay, Knife Fight, Cuthroat Kitchen etc. a watch if you want to see a cooking competition. Not only are they better, they're also real, not magical nonsense.