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

Jan 27, 2026

hunterz263

Recommended

Do you like food? What about over the top animation and fan-service about food? Then Food Wars has you covered.

Food Wars is an absolute blast of an anime, starting out strong and only getting better as the season goes on. Characters are full of quarks, the animation is great, and the food is delicious looking. Not to mention, excellent performances from the voice actors that really sell you on the delights.

Starting out strong, we open up with our protagonist Yukihira, Souma working at his father's restaurant. Business is booming, but suddenly Souma's father decides to close up shop and sends Souma to a culinary university. ... The opening episode is fantastic, and shows pretty much what the whole anime is going to be like. We get some very funny interpretations of what food does to people's souls, and get some great fan-service along the way. The story will progress, but the real focus here is on the culinary arts and the process behind how these dishes were created.

The voice acting was excellent in both dub and sub. I think both versions of Souma fit the character and everyone else felt natural. The cast clearly was having fun recording some of these lines, and they don't hold back when it comes to playing up the exaggerated nature. I did find the dub to be slightly weaker when it comes to Zenji's character. Greg Aryes voices him, and it is great, though it was a bit too much at times. Rest of the cast however was perfect, and it felt great in both versions of the show.

The characters are very memorable too. Obviously the standout is Souma. who has this confident energy that is a major culture shock to the rest of the culinary school. It's a great dynamic to see him act cool and collected around challenges, that make other students panic. However, the big surprise character that really shined was Megumi. Tadokoro, Megumi is a nervous wreck in the anime, and at first felt like the classic anxious girl trope, but she grows on you very slowly. Her and Souma really stole the show with their dynamic and it was fantastic to see how both of them grow, with Megumi in particular having great emotional payoff.

Animation and art is also very good. Food Wars being technically slice of life does mean it is not as extravagant as an action anime, but what it does very well is a colorful and appealing art style. Characters are simple, have pleasing designs, and this compliments well with the fan-service scenes and the food itself. The food is almost always presented as a divine treasure, and it easily made me want to try what was on screen. Animation was also excellent, with great movement, and ramping up the visual appeal at appropriate moments.

There is one fault in this show however, and that is the fact that food very much is the central point. There is a storyline, and it does progress, but a lot of screen time is spent on characters eating food and going on poetic rants about how it tastes, the process behind its creation, and how it makes them feel. There's nothing inherently wrong with this if used sparingly, however it did get a little old after a bit, and towards the end, there were some episodes where it felt like half the run time was characters just experiencing and explaining food, rather than doing any meaningful progression. Perhaps these bits were suppose to be comedic, however I just did not find them enjoyable and it felt like a drag when they happened one after another.

Despite that, Food Wars is definitely worth a watch, especially if you are a fan of the culinary world. Personally, I am not, but there's still more to enjoy in this anime. It has a good storyline, some extremely memorable characters, and fantastic and great fan-service.

Final rating: 8/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 15, 2025

sunsetkugo

Mixed Feelings

I will never understand who I liked it more than some really loved shonen among the community of anime watchers but I swear it was so good. I don't know how to explain but it was comforting? Not only because of the food, but also because the character's friendships mixed with rivalry was amazing. I loved the MC so much, he was the type that everyone likes, I think he has to be the most loved characters. The fan service was there for sure... BUT it didn't really impact how cool the story was imo. I would mb not recommend it to everyone because people ... might think I am crazy.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jan 7, 2021

Rixxrdo

Not Recommended

Funny

Look, Shokugeki no Souma is not for everyone and it certainly isn't for me. The basic storyline is a cooking school we follow soma as he gets better at cooking blah blah, this anime is just trying to appeal to the horny boys, like me at the time, but the truth is I don't want to be horny all the time I want to watch an anime that I can laugh at and enjoy but this is just not right, and I'm pretty sure food doesn't have an effect where it rips all your clothes off and makes you orgasm. To be honest, I haven't ... completed every season of this "anime" and maybe it gets better but I highly doubt they change the storyline much it's just going to be new opponents and new tasks that have to be completed in a certain way all the while everyone's on enjoying the food as if they are going to die afterward. Also, I found it very difficult to eat during this anime, seeing as the people in it were eating divine food with fragrant smells and textures and whatever, whereas I'm eating a bag of chips, just makes me feel depressed. I guess they did a good job seeing as it is a more popular anime and it could be difficult to think up new ideas seeing as every other anime these days is just an isekai with the exact same story but they definitely could've come up with a better idea than sexualizing the whole thing. I can't give any ideas on how to improve nor do I think you even care about this review but this is just my interpretation of this anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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