There will always be a special place in my heart for food related anime. They're universally appealing and usually has better recall than other genres. Of my early anime viewings, it's easy enough to cite Cooking Master Boy, Yakitate!! Japan and Yumeiro Pattiserie as memorable titles.
So, it was a no-brainer to include Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma in my viewing list when it first aired last spring. It took longer than I anticipated to finish it, which is the usual story of my life. Although a second season has already been announced, at least I got around to writing about it before it's follow-up season aired, unlike GATE and my forthcoming post on Akagami no Shirayukihime.
Yukihira Soma helps his father Joichiro at the family diner Restaurant Yukihira, hoping to one day finally beat his father in their usual cook-off. Noticing that his son is limiting his potential because of his dedication to the diner, Joichiro temporarily closes down the establishment to work abroad, and tells Soma that he has to pass and attend Totsuki Culinary Academy for his high school education. Much to Soma's surprise, the school is actually an elite cooking school where only 10% of the student population end up graduating. He takes it as a challenge to pass and become number one at the school in hopes of surpassing his father.
I always found it interesting that food related manga series are usually serialized in shounen magazines. But if you think about it, most food anime involves some sort of fighting. Whether the challenge is to collect rare ingredients, ala Toriko where actual physical fighting takes place, or by having competitions. In Shokugeki no Soma, which is adapted from the same titled manga series, it's food wars in the form of cook-offs. Students can challenge anyone, declare the stakes involve, and, as long as three judges agree to perform the taste test, a shokugeki is sanctioned. Which is actually quite perfect for Soma, who was raised either challenging his father or being challenged in return. Also, since he publicly informed everyone in the school that he will become number one, thus earning general disapproval, and aim to become a member of the school's Elite Ten, it was only inevitable that he would end up in a shokugeki. Or ten.
Soma is a fun lead character, with his brazen personality that either earns admiration or ire, confidence that's backed up with actual skills, and an airheadedness when it comes to things other than food. He doesn't have the advantage of studying at Totsuki during middle school, which everyone in his year has gone through, but the lack in formal training isn't much of a hindrance. Despite facing many cooking challenges, he proves time and again that not only does he have the necessary practical knowledge, he has a refined palate that allows him to elevate the food he presents, and that he can find out of the box methods that can solve the problems he encounters. It's seldom that Soma ends up panicking over a food crisis, but when he does, he draws on his years of working with his father to find a solution. And he isn't above to admitting that he made mistakes and that he has more to learn.
Shokugeki no Soma features a rather large cast of characters, and this is going to be one heck of a long post if I list every one of them. But the most notable are Erina, who is very vocal in her animosity towards what she claims to be lesser pedigree and attitude of Soma; Tadokoro Megumi, Soma's dorm mate who seems to always be on the verge of failing out of school because of her shy personality and quick to panic attitude; Isshiki Satoshi, also a Polar Star Dormitory resident, who holds the seventh Elite Ten seat; Mito Ikumi or Nikumi, a bombshell who is a meat expert and Soma's first shokugeki opponent; and Aldini Takumi, who treats Soma as a rival and specializes in Italian cooking with his brother Isami. As the series progress, they encounter many characters who specialize in one type of cooking or ingredient, as well as instructors who were also graduates of Totsuki.
The first season features the few shokugeki that Soma participates in as a primary or secondary chef, the first years' training camp where failure means expulsion from the school, and the Autumn Elections. With each different competitive environment, the stakes get higher and the prestige becomes more pronounced. The Autumn Elections is already a big deal, since students are selected by the Elite Ten to participate and food experts are called in to judge. The season covers the first part of the event, where only eight students with the highest scores can move to the next round, further highlighting the competitive nature and exacting standards set by Totsuki.
The presentation of food in the series is a highlight and actually educational, and the tasting process is hilarious. Since the manga illustrator Saeki Shun (working with writer Tsukuda Yuto for Shokugeki no Soma) used to draw hentai, the people who would taste the food are transported to a state of mind where they are usually in various states of undress or participating in rather questionable actions or making noises you should never let your children hear. Sometimes, the ecchi factor can be quite heavy-handed, but I suppose it does add to the charm(?... really, I can't think of a better word for this) of the series. At least, it highlights how special the food they're tasting is. The series is easy to watch, especially with the healthy dose of comedy thrown in, but it also has a lot of heart. While Soma would constantly encounter adversaries in the kitchen, more often than not, his opponents are sincere in their love of food and are equally passionate about showing that their cooking is the best.
The first season of Shokugeki no Soma ends in a high, with viewers still very much invested in the outcome of the Autumn Elections preliminary stage, where Soma is not only joined by Takumi and Megumi (who defies all expectations to fail and one you would root for so badly in the series), but also by Erina's assistant Hisako Arato who uses medical based cooking, Erina's cousin Alice who specializes in molecular gastronomy, Alice's assistant Kurokiba Ryo, and curry expert Hayama Akira.
I worried about the 24 episode run the series got, especially since the manga is still ongoing. As it turned out, a second season was already planned, which is awesome news especially since it would have been awful to suddenly end the anime adaptation right when the Autumn Elections preliminaries just concluded. With Soma's rivalry with Akira coming to head with their close scores, and everyone aiming to become the 92nd batch's top student, it can only get more exciting from here on out.
I just have to live with all the ecchi scenes that are bound to be included.
Happy viewing!!Labels: Adaptation, Anime, Comedy, Ecchi, Food, Must-Watch, Shokugeki no Soma, TV
