Shokugeki no Souma

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
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Shokugeki no Souma (Food Wars) is an anime about battles of cooking as the title suggests. This anime has gotten very popular in the few months it has been airing and it has also been received pretty well. 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

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 reading the synopsis, 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 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.

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, 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 really good. The art is consistent throughout the show and doesn't get bad at any moment. The openings and ending too are animated nicely.
The designs of the characters are, for the most part, unique as well, with most characters having different designs. 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 just really beautiful. I cant speak Japanese so I don't read the lyrics but just listening to the opening psyches you up for the episode. The ending is really 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 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 still considered good, 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, there lack a couple of battle soundtracks which they could use during shokugekis and stuff. There is only one track which played 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 around 8 episodes at once, there is a chance that you will come to complaint about the limited tracks. The limited amount of soundtrack is my 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 flawless.

Characters - 9/10

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

Our lovely protagonist, Soma Yukihira is just really 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, he is good at what he does, he is arrogant. 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, and 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 as of yet, 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 know 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, the show hasn't focused on Erina too much as of yet, but I am sure she will be getting her time in this second half.
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.
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Author's Note:

Lo and behold the return of the prodigal negative Food Wars review! Sure, some fanboys may cry, but manuscripts don't burn...and neither apparently do internet reviews!

Overview:

I extrapolated a mathematical equation to find the value of Food Wars!

Food + Moe + Ahegao = Shitty Animu

Food Wars has skyrocketed to the very top of MAL's ratings, but is it really the greatest anime of all time like so many keep saying? No, no it isn't. Is it even a great anime? No. Food Wars isn't even an average quality anime! It is an absolute shit anime that has managed to gain an unusual coalition of fans, both those that praise it ironically and those who have...questionable taste. Normally the elitist critics never side with the casual echhi/shonen-tards and create balance by bashing the shit tier anime, but occasionally a few highly popular threads will choose a shit anime to push ironically and see how many newfags they can trick into watching it or blindly praising it like zombies. Remember last year when EVERYONE was saying that Inferno Cop was the G.O.A.T? Most of those critics weren't actually being serious. However, with Food Wars a LOT of people seem to actually be taking these joke reviews seriously! This is quite saddening since Food Wars isn't even nearly as high quality as fucking Inferno Cop! At least Inferno Cop was relatively funny in a REALLY stupid way, whereas Food Wars is just cringe inducing. Look, I enjoy joke reviews and trolling n00bs as much as the next guy, but 4chan /a/ already exists. I would personally prefer it if MAL was able to not completely transform into /a/!


Plot and characters: 2/10

Food Wars is about a young chef named Soma who wishes to become a master chef some day and must strike out on his own to attend a super difficult culinary school. In the first episode, his father's restaurant is roughed up by Yakuza thugs and he must defeat them by giving their female boss an orgasm with the power of BACON! Who the hell gets an orgasm over fucking bacon!? Well, I guess Ukrainians in ethnic jokes from Eastern Europe, but this isn't Hetalia, so the joke astonishingly didn't occur in the ONLY anime where it actually SHOULD have been used! The plot and characters are very basic, but this could have actually been a decent cooking anime...if it actually focused on cooking techniques and not explosive orgasms and bouncing boobs. The comedy gets old REALLY fast and this show quickly becomes a mix between Hell's Kitchen and Queen's Blade. There really isn't a lot positive I can say here, so I'm just going to move on to the next paragraph.

Art and sound: 5/10

Not really much to say here. The art is fine for a decent budget production in 2015. Is isn't absolutely amazing, but it is more than passable. The music is ok. Once again, not bad but not great. This technical mediocrity across the board only adds to my anger at the positive reception this show gets.


Overall: 2/10

If you want a zany, screwball comedy about cooking and one man's journey towards becoming a master chef, watch "God of Cookery" with Stephen Chow. That's actually a good movie. If you want to watch an anime that takes extremely mundane topics and tries to them interesting, watch Spice and Wolf. If you want to watch an anime with LOTS of boobs and echii, watch Plastic Little, because at least it is so bad it's funny and you will only waste 40 minutes of your life. Don't fucking watch this show. This show sucks!
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~ Shokugeki no Soma ~

- STORY - 6 - [mainstream battle with food as its focus]
The Story Sticked from the Original Content of the Manga, JC-STAFF is a Daring Anime studio, which produced 3 ecchi animes that sticked to the orginal content with crazy plot and awesome fanservice(which is the oxygen of sales and business)
The Setting is Easy, yet they added some spice that made the people enjoyed it, It's a Cooking Battle Show, with Ecchi Expression in every judges, even GUYS gets NAKED. But the Real setting or the Titlte it self "Shokugeki no Soma" which means the "Fight of Soma through Shokugeki"(Cooking battles with a BET)
The Story is Unique, if it's your first encounter, But it isn't, it's a Mainstream anime induced something different like Kuroko and Haikyuu which is still a Battle in different way. But its the Only anime which is not predictable, and the mc is not always in the Spotlight, that's why I've enjoy it.
The pacing is one of the Best in this Anime, they decided to use 24 episode, which means, JC-STAFF is Confident in this anime...despite of the safe play of Front 13 back 9, or 12-13 episde anime.
The indvidual have never failed to entertain me, though Sometimes I feel gross if the Old Men gets Naked, but it's different from girls who gets Naked(OH YEAH)
Litterary techniques: Plot twist / Cliffhanger / Flashback /Ticking clock scenario(not really) / Poetic justice / First-person Narration / Magical realism / Second-person Narration / Stream of consciousness / Third-person Narration /[just go to wiki]
The Ending is Comparable to Kuroko no Basket and Haikyuu, which is also a Jump manga. The thing that they have in common is,"It's not their Time to get the GLORY" means that the conclusion close in the favor of their enemy. But in terms of Real life application, Winning is for Results and Glory, while Losing is for Improvement and Maturity. Just read Shokugeki no Soma [chapter 104] if you can't wait for another season, which is one of the most popular ongoing mangas that can fight against its own Anime.

- ART - 5 - [Prison school did much better[same studio], but it's ok]
The Art stick to the Original Content, which is good, the best art is the "Art of Expression"(if you know what I mean) and it's overall good
The only thing that will stick to your mind is "FOOD PORN"(but in manga it rarely appears) Well it shows the expression of every characters every time they cook or eat.
The mood was able to show Light Hearted Style while having an Intense Fight if it's Shokugeki or Competition, and the best is still the "Tasting Part". Basically, the anime was able to portray what is the expression and the message of the food as its obkective.
The art style was made by a Hentai Artist, and the Studio stick to it which fits the anime that was branded as "Food Porn"
I don't think there's a CGI or LIVE ACTION CLIP
The animation is fluid and was able to finish it with some problems(well there's a delay, but I'm a Patient Guy who can Read anime and manga for 2 weeks of waiting)
Well at least, even with the delay, the art in the last episode is still there.
The background was able to Match the Characters and the Food...I can say that it's quite average.
The Character Design quite lacks in terms of art in Manga, though they were able to match at least 80% of it, but the art of the manga is "Still way Better"
The Characters were at least not the average characters that you can see in many series, especially the mc, which has a different hair style not based on Kirito's Hair(the typical hair for boys) And the characters were able to match and portray their unique personalities.

- SOUND - 9 - [good sound, it can be used to light when reading]
Ohh the Voice of kirito is present here(the Harem Voice Actor) and every characters were able to Fit their Voice in their Roles perfectly. And the best is their "Expression" if they've tasted a Food(which is Hentai if it's only sound)
And there's no problem for the VA to adapt, it's just plain natural.
And I think, many VA were able to improve themselves(e
I would love to see the VA in their Live Performance, especially their "Expression"
They were able to make 30 bgm with different styles mostly Arabian style, and I'm a Musician, and BGM is one of the Reasons why I have watched Anime in the First Place. The BGM is one of the Best you can find in this Anime.
The Music is really good, it always catch my attention, especially the Piano(btw I play piano) which is a Sonata for meat(litterally)
And while I was Writing these, I'm listening in the BGM uploaded in Youtube, which is Perferct.
I like the first ending, but the rest is just light but not catchy
That's why the only notable ending of the first cour, and the rest is just meh..

- CHARACTER - 7 - [character develops, like a mainstream series]
I love the Characters here, they have their own personality and the characters are likable. They have shown their flaws as well as Strenght(it's pain to explain it elaborately)
And the Characters were able to react in realistic way, but by breaking the common sense of the people in the show, which makes this anime enjoyable. Though the best in this anime is the PLOT TWIST, which makes it really good.
I can relate sometimes with the characters, but in terms of Real Life Situations, I can only see Confidence and Natural are the best traits that I really need.
The Characters Grew here in this 2 cour anime, they were able to show their strenght in the Competition.
The characters are well balance, which is good enough for some characters not to show in the screen. but also to be in the spotlight sometimes. And the MC is not covered by any characters even they are Attractive.
The real Enemies only appeared in Manga, but for the anime, they are still on story where the Supporting Characters will become an Enemy in the competion(this is hard to explain) and mostly they appear in Shokugeki, or should I say" Friends Becomes Enemies and Enemies becomes Friends"
The supporting Cast can be found mostly in the Dorm, and only few outside of it.
They have used First-person, Stream of consciousness, Third-person as their Narration
Every Characters in this series Are Likable, even the Enemies. Especially in Manga, the enemies are so attractive(well just read)
I will remember the Characters in this Anime. They are not your average character nor the Extreme unlikable ones, but A Character that Improves Themselves to Protect themselves(expulsion) and to Fight Against Themselves through Cooking. And the Characters here were able to Show Real Life Application like Creativity, Confidense, Thoughtful, and Constantly Improves for better and last Being Natural that tends to create something unexpected.

- ENJOYMENT - 9 - [with foodgasm and food wars ["Simple Creative"]
If I were to be asked, this Anime is Overated. But does it deserves it? Well Yes!! The Anime ended unexpectedly, but it's not your Average Anime nor the Best of the Best, but were able to get something Unique Combination, and it's Mainstream Arena Battle, Cooking, and Porn(not really) This is a Very Likable Anime for those who loves Genres like Ecchi, Food, School, Romance(it's just potential) mixed with Battle, Betting(not really) and Friendship.
Though I can't recommend this for New or non anime viewers
I would Love to Re-watched this Anime, it was able to Mixed the Ingridients very well and was able to bring new flavor with satisfaction taste(I'm treating this like is a food)
Re-watching this is really fun, especially if you've a friend who's openminded
and who loves ecchi anime
I would Like to own this by downloading it, though I have to postpone it for the Upcoming and Late Animes
This is really good, I was able to Read the Manga before it was able to release its Preview. And this Anime was Able to Shake the World, which became trending and really popular, especially the Ongoing manga that Really shakes tha Whole Manga Readers Like me, Even With the Critical Analysis, I can't Hate this Anime. It was able to show something crazy and was able to create something good from overused genre like Ecchi. This is really Good in terms of Unique Mainstream Battle which is Cooking and Unorthodox Ecchi. And now, it's Up to you to Decide wether you want to watch it or not.(spent time for review: 1:30)

- Overall - 8 [worthy of being unique but not overwhelming]
How it was DONE was the good thing in this anime. This was able to shake the anime viewer because of its odd style of story, art for expression, creative sound and fair enjoyment. This is something good, but it also tells the viewers to read the manga, it should have ended with a 25 episode 2 cour anime. Any way, this is already a fair score for me.

- WORTH - 5 [creative mainstream, but it has value is something we can take]
It's a good example of an anime and fight for creativity. It was able to show weak characters will never stay weak, but will continue to develop every skill to make something new. It was able to portray that Badass is not needed, but Intelligence. And we can see that every character are good people. But it's still mainstream despite of it's unique features. But the best it can give is Enjoyment and Sound, which are better than the art/story and character development. It's a good series, better than average. read more