Shokugeki no Souma: San no Sara

The 3rd season of Shokugeki leaves something to be desired in every way.

J.C.Staff's adaption of this manga series has never been masterful. For the most part it has been just phoned in. The spottiness of the animation, ugly CGI and off-model characters have always been somewhat present in this series, but the 3rd season marks a turn for the worse even when compared to the previous 2nd season.

Using manga panels directly as a storyboard and making sure the female characters' boobs look like they are about to burst from their uniforms worked fine for the first season, because that's when the writing and the ... plot was immaculate. This isn't so much the case with 3rd season. Even though the first arc has a very nicely structured conflict with a satisfying resolution, the following major arc that covers the rest of the episodes ramps up the action in a worst way possible, and goes almost full shounentard. As I had read the manga before diving into the animation this time around, I was hoping for J.C.Staff to salvage the plot and place emphasis on the elements which worked - which is the opposite of what they did do.

What made the first season of Shokugeki good, anyway? The characters, and both their *intrapersonal* and interpersonal struggles. Souma's ability to rise to the challenge and help the people around him do the same made him a superb character. The interactions between him and Megumi were especially crucial, giving the viewers catharsis shockwaves. The people found their inner strength, and the (romantic) tensions between Souma and Erina kept us praying for more development. The slower passages gave the long season a much better flow. (minor spoilers starting now:)

The introduction of a "classical" villain and a conflict which is fought between two factions ruins all these intricacies in the 3rd season. Especially the middle section of this season feels like an endless stream of boring shokugeki. There are too many new bad guys and not enough interest in the stakes from my part. The dramatic tension of the whole series is undermined by the illogical motives of both the villain and the supporting faction. It's impossible to come up with reasons for as to why half of the top ten seats voted to place Azami as the director of Tootsuki. The fact they did do so pigeonholes these characters and the rest of the supporting forces, as their motivations have to be justified somehow down the line, even though that's impossible.

Basically, the biggest plot twist of the entire series is a spectacular asspull.

The problems of the manga's plot are heightened by the fact that all the anime does is ramp up the tension, throwing caution out of the window. The sound design of this season is surprisingly stark. There are a variety of dramatic scores which are played surprisingly loud during shokugeki and otherwise. There are numerous instances where the director has decided to use montages and flashbacks to really try to bring out the feels out of the viewer. I was taken aback by how disconnected I felt from the story, even compared to my reading experience. The anime would have benefitted from downplaying the action and giving the characters more air to breath.

So why is this anime even good, then? The third season has still a lot of momentum and strong characters backing it up. Even though the plot is a little contrived, the development between Erina and her father is still very enjoyable. That’s all that matters and all that the conflict should really be about – resolving Erina’s literal daddy issues. Even though Erina’s payoff scenes were handled without much directional finesse, they still made the show worthwile. Additionally, even though Azami leaves something to be desired as the bad guy for the series, the first seat, Tsukasa Eishi, works much better as an opponent for Souma. If there’s something good to be said about the factions and the entire conflict, it would be the emergence of tension between these two characters.

The final verdict? Well, the animation is spotty, the sound design is crap, the CGI is fugly, directing is unimaginative, and emphasis has been placed on the wrong things. But it’s still god damn Shokugeki no Souma. It’s impossible to ruin the entire franchise at this point. I had fun times watching this season, and I’m hungry for the 2nd cour.

I just finished the series and i was amazed. In my opinion this is the best season so far and i think that it is my favourite show now. The story in this season was pretty unpredictable yet i would call it amazing. The Shokugekis were extremely intense and i was always excited how it turns out because as i mentioned before it is pretty unpredictable although the outcome is guessable. I love that the elite ten were intrduced and even a bit of their characters has been mentioned. I dont want to spoiler anything so i wont tell much but the ending where erina ... gets a certain information and everything seems connected now i love the show so much more.
It is unavoidable to watch this!

Perfect season!

Shokugeki is... A cooking battle shonen. For me some shows will always be defined by their premise, and this is certainly one of them. Gintama is historical science fiction comedy. Mushishi is supernatural hiking. And this is Chopped ramped alllll the way up to 11. The best part about this, is that the show knows it is, and consequently pours its all into being exactly what it is: a carousel of mouth watering food, excessive dinner-induced fanservice, and quirky, plucky characters.

To be honest there's not much more to say about this next installment in the series. The plot is advancing closer to the point we've ... been waiting for since the beginning of season one, the animation remains solid all around and beautiful when it comes to food, the characters are continuing their bits of growth while maintaining most of the running gags, and its an absolute blast to watch. And that lack of excess fat might be why its so darn entertaining, and a tie back to my first point: this show knows exactly what it is, and it does exactly that at a consistently high level. its self assured, and that's what keeps its edge.

Its sharpest point outside the premise comes in the form of its characters. The show as a whole contains a large cast list, and the vast majority of these people are not only given backstories, but evolve alongside the main character. The show desperately needs this to compensate for the lack of true action scenes one would typically associate with the genre, and it does so with aplomb. Accomplishing the balancing act of having a true main character while still developing other pieces is one that few shows attempt, and even fewer pull off to the extent Shokugeki continues to.

In short, this is not the deepest anime. But it keeps an ever expanding, colorful cast, an endearing main character, some incredible sounding food, and is conceptually an inventive spin on the standard shounen anime. An absolute blast!

Story wise, there is one main story, subdivided into arcs (seasons), subdivided into events. Events can be 1 episode or a couple.
With some anime you feel like wanting to skip to the end of the story just to know how it finishes, however, Shokugeki no Souma keeps me fixated to the screen the entire time. When the episode is finished, I am thinking 'already finished?' that was like 5 minutes max'. It just sucks you in.

I personally like cooking, but this anime is so much more than that. It is like Hyaku (I expect) or Diamond no Ace. The story is about a subject, ... but subplots and characters make it great. Also the side-characters add to the plot and are not just annoying.

The sound, the art and everything else support each other resulting in a great anime.

"Shokugeki no Souma looks stupid, it's just a story about a guy that likes to cook food"

Good god, this anime series....
The anime that made me start cooking good food other than eggs and burgers.
Shokugeki no Souma San no Sara showed me so much about what it takes and what is like to cook.
It's unbelievable the way they can put out such an intresting and joyful story, and combine it with the so well done music and sounds.
The time that we have waited for this season was not too long, but it was kind of painful, at least for me, in a way that I wanted ... so bad to continue watching and enjoying the way they make food and show it to the viewers.

Story-10/10
This season was so good, it's unvelievable how they made such good work with the adaptation, it was so good that made me rewatch some of the episodes in the same day. Its amazing the work Yuuto Tsukuda (the creator of SnS) has put into this season, it's unbelievably remarkable in every episode.

Art-10/10
Couldn't ask for better design and art, fits perfectly with the theme of food.

Sound-10/10
Undeniably my favourite openings and theme musics of all animes that I've watched until today, every second of the opening is amazing, it spoils much even though you have no idea until the end. The ending music is amazing as well since at the end of every episode makes me smile somehow.

Character-9.5/10
Yukihira Souma--->My favoutite character in any anime because of his behaviour and sense of challenge and doesn't stay depressed after losing any match.
Every othert character is so well developed, some of the times you think you know a certain character because what you saw in previous episodes, but in SnS is really intresting how they change ideas and opinions from one episode to another.

Enjoyment-10/10
Couldn't enjoy more than this, it's on my top 3 for some reason, every episode makes me feel like there is so much to the anime than it looks, its exceptionally amazing how they made every episode enjoyable to this point.

Overall-10/10
I can't say much more about it, it's most likely I don't have words to describe how outstanding this show is, I can only say one thing, and that is ---> Shokugeki no Souma

*this is an edit from my other review

For those who are familliar with the manga this 3 season of Shokugeki no Souma wasn't disappointing at all and Jc Staff did a great job at adapting the source material. The main focus in this season is presenting The Elite Ten members to its audience and how their power and status influence the lives of students and hierarchy of Totsuki Academy. You will see the real meaning behind the "Food Wars" title in this season, a clash of ambitions, ideals and cooking styles between Totsuki and the Elite Ten members.

This season starts off great with our usual fearless Souma who takes anyone's cooking ... challenge head on with his own style that he polished across years. I like how they connected the stuff he learned during the stagiare and autumn selections arc and used it during his confrontation with one of the Elite ten seat taking a step foward and improving his qualities as a chief at Totsuki. The battles give you a bump of adrenaline and they reduced the number of foodgasm scenes and replaced them with beautiful symbolism who is fitting for the cooking style of each character.

The recepies as we are used are very detailed, the food is delicious and this anime knows how to built up the tension before each match and release it at the perfect moment during the food challenge. It also showed a glimpse on how a restaurant works and the reality on the struggle to attract customers and please their needs during the moon festival arc.

As for the characters Erina , Alice ,Ryuu and Souma get nice development in this season. They did a good job at portraying Erina's reasons and motivations of becoming a chief and strenghten her bond with Alice . Beside our usual funny interactions between the characters we have some heartwarming moments that are perfect for your heart.They did a great job at showing Azami's clash of ideals and ambitions with the Totsuki director and created a fitting atmosphere for his character in this series.

In conclusion this season stands proud and is the Shokugeki no Souma anime that we all love and enjoy watching. So if you liked the previous seasons you will love this one!

First of all i would like to say that i´m not a native english speaker o i might have some mistekes.

Story: Food wars didn´t really had a plot in the last tw seasons, it was just the clasic shonen formula of becoming the strongest in something, in this case the best cheff. It was not a problem for the show, it could with it´s great art and animation, the epic soundtrack and the funny characters become an interesting anime to watch. Anyway, this "formula" was already a bit repetitive, so t was necessary to include some neew staff, the problem starts when this new ... story is bad.
when Azami first appeared, i was truly interested on him. I mean, Erina had always seemed to have a secret past due to her flashbacks so I wanted to see how it was going to be developed. It was really disapointing when i realized his objective. After the chapter 5, I think it turned into a cliche story in which the main characters have to fight against the bad guys whose objectives are just being bad. I know that we dont yet know why Azami is acting as he is but the felling that i get from what a watched is that noone would do that in real life.
The other aspect i would like to talk about is the inclusion of the filler characters that appeared on the last chapters. I just don´t understan how strong they are. they are much better than everyone else but they had never even been mentioned??? with them i will just pretend they don´t exist.
However there are some things that i have really liked. The fist one i the first arc os the seaon, which i conider to be teh best part of the whole serie. it is an extension of what we had already een in the other seasons but with a very good rival. Then I am interested in what could happen with yukihira´s father.

Art: It continues with the same kind of art from the last two seasons having great character designs and pretty decent backgrounds (thinking they are almost always in a kitchen). Then, the animation is solid, i wouldn say it is bad o good anyway. Finnaly, it makes a very good job a making the meals, which look gorgeous and makes you feel hungry at every moment.

Sound: I consider the soundtrack of the fisrt season to be the best one, but this one is also preety good and the voice actors are Ok. I like a lot both the opening and ending songs, being one of my personal favourites of the year.

Characters: In this season he only one who recives a bit of character development is Erina, she passed from being pride and powerful girl to become a "princess" who need to be saved. this is something very common on tsunderes so i wouldn´t say it is bad. Then, i have realy liked the personalitiees of the elite ten beingf pretty funny and intereesting to watch. I´ve already talked about Azami in the story part so i won´t repeat it here.

Persnal Enjoyment: this i a very entertinig show to watch, principaly if you like Shonens like me. I would just recomend not to expect too much abut the story and just relax and watch the show. i have really enjoyed it and I would give it a strog seven and a light eight.

The third season of Shokugeki no Souma is the season where the story takes an interesting turn. An antagonist is introducted who changes the dynamic of the entire anime and makes surviving at totsuki a lot harder for Souma and the other protagonists.

The story this season is really interesting because of the introduction of an antagonist. The first half of the season starts off normal with the moon festival which is another cooking event. After that however the story changes and totsuki goes from trying to weed out the weak to trying to weed out dissidents. Overall this is a great change which makes ... the story way more exciting and coherent which elevates this season above the previous two.

The characters are mostly the same apart from the introduction of an antagonist and a more in depth look at the elite 10. The reasoning of the antagonist is sound and he isn't evil for the sake of being evil. He simply has opposing morals that he acts on making him a great character that adds a lot to the anime.

The music, animation and voice acting are all the same or similar as in the previous two seasons.

Overall this is an amazing third season that I enjoyed more than the previous two. It's definitely worth watching if you liked the previous two seasons.

Here we are with the Third Plate.
Shokugeki no Souma is probably the epitome of the cooking anime genre. The first two seasons were groundbreaking, with the amount of research (accurate research at that) going into it being truly phenomenal. It is a cooking anime with a true focus on cooking as an artform, and following Yukihira Souma as he grows as a chef and a person.
Switching over to the third season, at this point, in compairison to the first two seasons, it is slightly lacking. The selling point of seasons one and two were the brilliantly and comically exaggerated foodgasms that people would experience upon ... eating a particularly memorable dish. However, upto this point in this season, there have been no truly notable foodgasms, though the series seems to be gearing up for something major, if the last episode was anything to go by.
The attention to detail is still there, And I find myself waiting for the next truly amazing foodgasm.

STORY - 9
ART - 9
SOUND - 9
CHARACTER - 10
ENJOYMENT - 10

Take the lid off the pot and a steam of emanating enjoyment comes out yet again in the third season of Shokugeki no Souma. The Third Plate is a cooking anime of high-stakes that delivered the same qualities that its predecessors had already achieved, bringing in more entertainment to the plates.

What was the key difference compared to the previous seasons that this season cooked for us? It was the heavy hitters of the prodigious culinary school. The very best of the best. The biggest players. After all, the majority of the story had only focused ... on the enrolled students so this change of pace was a welcome addition. Not only did it bring a realization to the existing characters, it opened up their mind into the world of professional cooking which developed a couple of characteristics. It also gave some of the most suspenseful food battles, knowing the risks and rewards in facing the upperclassmen. Another thing to see here was the skills they have accumulated over the time being together. Their support and trust towards each other goes to show their deep connections. They learned together, being able to progress with their friends and these interactions is one of the most strongest aspect of the show because of that. It served a crucial part in highlighting many of the characters or challenges during the journey. Well, enough with the seriousness and let's soak ourselves in comedy here for a bit. With the advent of new characters comes with it a bunch of different personalities that were amusing. Of course, this show wouldn't be the same without the fanservice or golden chibi comedy. There's a good balance between the transition from the important to funnier parts that just welled you up with a variety of emotions. Pure entertainment indeed.

On to the next part, maybe something that took a slight decline was in the art. Though it's only for a little, the use of CGI did felt a bit surprising because it was jarring. There were also scenes that had a noticeable crookedness in the character expressions. Thankfully, the visualization in the dishes were still top-notch so you better bring along a couple of foods while watching (or you'll eat through your screen). In the kitchen, you'll get a sense of how much efforts went into cooking with the smooth movements from the animation. While it's still as fluid as ever with that, for other things such as comedy, there's a lack of exaggerative action so it's not as effective as before. Something that did improved was the things related to the characters. One is the design of the new cookers which had their own charm. The second would be the voice-acting in the change of riskier atmosphere. As this time the consequences seemed a bit more closer to them, the doubt or panic within had a deeper significance. Particularly with a certain girl, I'm surprised by how much the voice can change when her hidden personality is brought out. Anyways, the soundtracks pretty much remained the same good quality, whether that'd be going side-by-side with the cuisine, tenser situations or happier scenes.

You can think of The Third Plate as a dish that got closer to completion as the episodes goes by. It started off with a rich base from the culmination of the two previous seasons and added in new things that changed the final flavor. There were a couple of issues with the art and animation, but the introduction of new characters and plot were effective in giving off that extra taste. In the end, the third season became an amazing food that was full of appetizing ingredients.

Disclaimer: This is a spoiler-free review on the anime "Shokugeki no Souma: San no Sara". Please excuse me if I make a mistake or you don't understand a part, as English is not my first language. Thank you.

Shokugeki no Souma: San No Sara leaves a good taste, despite its flaws


I said when I evaluated the second season that Shokugeki no Souma is a franchise of pure fun, that although it is not perfect, achieves its mission: entertain and make you hungry.

In Ni no Sara the biggest problem was that a large part of the manga was summarized, giving the sensation of haste. In addition, the ... art decreased in quality. These technical errors also moved to the third season, as I said in my first impressions. However, as far as the script is concerned, the speed was lowered a little.

And still it's a bit hasty.

San no Sara is slightly disappointing


The adaptation of J.C. Staff of this popular manga has never been perfect. While the first season had a higher level in terms of animation, art and accuracy of adaptation, sinned in certain excesses in the fanservice ... even more than the manga, which is already saying a lot. In addition, it also had rhythm problems introducing long flashbacks.

The second sinned in the opposite, venting tomes of the manga with amazing speed for a season of only 12 episodes. That accompanied by the aforementioned decrease in technical quality. In the case of the third season, divided into two parts of 12 episodes, we still see a little fluent animation, a subpar use of the CGI and failures in the models of the characters.

However, these first 12 episodes covered more reasonable ground than Ni no Sara, so from the point of view of adaptation, restraint has been resumed. Especially with the first arch, that of the Moon Banquet. There we had a well structured conflict and a satisfactory resolution was reached, but in the second the bets went up too much.

The introduction of Nakiri Azami turned Shokugeki no Souma to a very typical shonen, but it is an evil that also suffers the manga. One of the great strengths of this anime and manga is that Yukihira Souma is an exceptional character, both for his attitude of never giving up, and for the way he helps others improve and inspires them. His relationship with Megumi and Erina, although it has all the appearance of a typical love triangle, focuses much more on food.

And more than enemies, Souma has rivals in the art of cooking, with the exception of Etsuya Eizan, who has always been a caricatured villain. On the other hand, since the entrance of Azami, history has taken a more typical route. Now if there is a confrontation between good and evil in the kitchen, that although it is embodied in the differences of culinary philosophy, it is underpinned by the pathological fear of Erina to her father.

This serves to raise the emotion and risk in the story, but makes Shokugeki no Souma: San no Sara, be less unique.

The members of the Student Council of the Elite 10 have been replaced, many new villains are introduced, whom we hardly have time to know before they are defeated. The number of shokugeki confrontations soars and suddenly the series ends, choosing as final the "plot twist" of the identity of Souma's father. Something that was only a secret for Azami and Erina.

Even so, I can not say that San no Sara is bad, because it is not. The series continues to maintain its momentum and if we evaluate it as a unit, considering what has already been seen and knowing what is to come, the quality remains. Although Azami is such a classic villain, his introduction gives sense to the attitude that Erina used to have. This gives more strength to her personal change throughout history.

Similarly, Tsukaha Eishi, the best student of Tootsuki, is by far the best possible rival for Souma and his participation in history, although short, was very well executed. Although slightly disappointing, this third season divided in two, is still Shokugeki no Souma. It retains all the strengths of the series and remains equally entertaining and causes us the same hunger.

I'm already waiting for spring, to see the second half or fourth season, depending on how you say it. The question is, will there be another season later or will this resume everything until the end? Considering that the manga is at its peak, Shokugeki no Souma deserves another season to have a decent closing. Meanwhile, it's a solid 7.5 for me.

Not for nothing is one of the most popular series, always.

SUMMARY

Shokugeki no Souma is still not as good as in his first season, but remains at the same level as his second. In addition, it serves the table for the second part of San no Sara, which promises to be better.

Good god, this anime series....
The anime that made me start cooking good food other than eggs and burgers.
Shokugeki no souma is just so amazing, it's only been 4 episodes and they look so good, that all of them made me smile of enjoyment like it was nothing.
It's unbelievable the way they can put out such an intresting and joyful story, and combine it with the so well done music and sounds.
The time that we have waited for this season was not too long, but it was kind of painful, at least for me, in a way that I wanted so bad to continue watching and ... enjoying the way they make food and show it to the viewers.
The first episode was so refreshing, really made me feel like it has been so long since I last watched season 2, with the opening, the animation, the sound, and above all else, THE FOOD !
Episode 2 and 3 showed a little bit more what Souma wanted and we were waiting for the beast to come out of his den !
Episode 4 was so astounding, I won't spoil, but in the end of the episode, if you are like me, you will have that huge smile coming out of enjoyment.

This is my new blog it about the most intellectual anime charaters. You will find your idol in this post
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I believe no one needs an intro to this anime anymore since this is the 3rd season. And with the sequel for season 3 on air now, i believe everyone is SUPER HYPED WATCHING IT because i know i do! In order to commemorate the airing second course, let's continue reviewing season 3! The Prequel to a Storm

For those who have read my previous reviews on the series, you all should know i am a HUGE fan of this show and i have explained why that is in those reviews. For season 3, the hype is no less than the previous season, if not more. ... Season 3 of Shokugeki no soma lets us dive deeper into the Totsuki Culture and the mysteriously eluded Elite ten as well as introduce the prelude to the BIGGEST arc of the series, and most probably the best one!

[HEAVY SPOILERS] Proceed with caution

Story : 9 / 10

The story this time around is highly anticipated, especially for those who have not read the manga. This is because the entirety of the story is like a dive into the deep sea of mystery that is the Elite ten, and the beginning of a major arc of course! The story opens up with another traditional Totsuki Culture that is the Totsuki Festival! (Name validation required). Aside from the very interesting way of how the festival is ran and organized (the different levels of district, club stalls and food served), the real highlight of this is the challenge that Some has extended to Kuga. This is one of the more indirect challenges that has happened in Shokugeki no soma. While the previous battles had all been conducted in a Shokugeki. This indirect battle is actually spanned over the course of a few days. I find this very interesting as not only does it offer a fresh new perspective of battle. It also shows in detail of how Soma overcame the difficulty of matching an Elite ten member despite his inexperience in the festival field compared to Kuga who has dominated the field before. The process and determination of Soma to create a winning platform with a simple stall and innovative idea is overwhelmingly incredible. Not to mention, the cooperation of friends and foes alike to help Soma with the success of his stall is also nice to watch. All in all, this is one of the more creative and fun arcs of the story to watch because of how different and fresh it is.

The transition of the end of the festival into the latter half of the story is also very smooth considering both arcs are totally opposite from one another. From a lighthearted and fun festival challenge into a deeper and darker plot. The entirety of this arc is nothing less of astounding. There are so many highlights here it's really hard to conclude how fun this arc is so i'll try to describe how fun it is as clear as i can. First up is the of course, the Elite Ten. After getting a better insight of Kuga, you are shown a demonstration of the special First Seat's skills as a chef. Later on in the show, you can also see other elite's performance such as Eizan. That itself is already a treat on top of the already glorious food wars.

Next up is the irony of the plot. Shortly after the 2nd arc starts, you can clearly see how much of a twist the show takes. The show revealed the darker side of the story NONE OF US has expected up to this point. Director Azami's dark intentions with the future of Totsuki, Erina's sad, scarring dark past, and the unlikely event that the Elite Ten approved of Nakiri Azami's election and betrayed Totsuki. Everything about the sudden change in plot is filled with interesting plotlines and hints at a very excitable fourth season in the making.

Thirdly, is the individual character's reactions during the plot itself. Confused and bewildered, some even angered at the sudden change in Totsuki, many of the students are cornered to dealing with the Purge. Each using their own ways to cope. Soma being soma of course went for the hardest route to overturn fate, Alice and Hisako (Ryo being forced) decided to rescue and protect Erina from her father. During the entirety of the Purge, you can feel and see how each student struggles against the inevitable fate. And yet, even faced with such drastic odds, decide to keep fighting for Totsuki's future. How can anyone not want to be moved by something like this!? It contained everything! Fear, Cooperations, Struggle, Trust, Courage, Determination. Everything was there and it was perfectly executed into a twist of masterpiece. And the final highlight of the second half of the show, and that is Nakiri Erina. I will elaborate more in the character section since this is more character than story related

Art 10/10
Honestly, nothing i could say that haven't already been said. Creative graphics, mouth watering plates of food, side serving of ecchi.

Sound 10/10
Opening and soundtrack is awesome as usual. Soundtrack becomes something more to an ominous and tension filled song which complements the plot well. One major change for me is the ending animation. Not much on the song but the animation really captured me. Why? Well, the moment the ending song starts. every single plate that has been served is visually collaged and displayed. The rush of feels when seeing this is not easily described. It's like this short animation is telling you how much the show has shown us. And come on! The dishes all look visually stunning so if you aren't the sentimental type at least looking at the dishes gets your mouth watering thinking about the previous matches.

Characters: 7/10

I am honestly torn between giving it a 10 or a 5. So i decided to give it a 7 instead. See, anybody who watched this season probably knows what i'm trying to say. You might even get it if you see between the lines of what i was saying above. Basically, apart from soma and ryo, you don't really get any showcase from the returning characters! When i mean showcase, i mean that the returning characters do not get to show their skills in any of the episodes (mainly hayama, alice, takumi, tadokoro). After the intern at different shops, it'd be ecstatic to see how much the characters have grown in terms of skills just like Ryo did during his battle with central and soma during his battle with Eizan. Although you do get nice snippets of them during the festival and see them struggle to survive in the Purge, you don't actually see them cook as they did in the previous series (Season 1 preliminary matches and Season 2 official matches) . However, it is not all bad since this season is wholly focused on two different things. The plot and

The new characters!! That's right! With the sour one out of the way, let's talk about why we're here [apart from the story] First up, THE ELITE TEN! In the previous 2 seasons, there were scarce mentions of the Elite Ten but in this season you get to know them more, both in terms of cooking battle skills and personality quips. And both aspects were wholly entertaining. I do not even need to MENTION that we got 3 battles with the Elites this season alone!! What more can a guy ask for? To make things even more exciting, this means that next season, we won't be having any more intermission apart from the best of the best fights and plot! Imagine what the other Elite ten can do and their personalities! The second of course is the woman whom we owe the ferocity of this season to... NAKIRI ERINA! Seriously, this has got to be the biggest change in Shokugeki history. With her character growth this season, i'm actually surprised they managed to fit it in 12 episodes. From her nature as a born princess to be revealed to have such a tragic past and to turn her into a vulnerable and lost person is such a drastic change i never imagined possible in this series. Not only do you get to see her past, you also get to enjoy an innocent and new tsundere side of Erina you have never seen before! Watching her try to crawl away from her father's control and learn to live amongst other polar star students and exposed to their culture is nothing less than entertaining. It's like watching a person being reborn. It's honestly these characters that have brought season 3 to an all time high and built a great foundation for season 4!

Enjoyment: For strict anime watchers, go for it! Please! Do it! Even if it's just for my sake! Compared to the first 2 seasons, this is like tasting Tsukasa's dish! For Manga reader like myself, you probably will be more hyped for second course like me!! But no spoilers given for that season ;)

“You’re out of my league, first seat” – Yukihira Souma



Shokugek No Souma: San No Sara, simply put is, pure hype. You wait in anticipation every week for that 25 minute time slot where Souma takes on the elite chefs at Tohtsuki Academy with all the crazy foodgasms and each episode leaves you wanting more of this. Shokugeki No Souma, in general, makes great use of the Ecchi scenes by using them effectively and not going over the top. It’s a great combination of Shounen and Ecchi. I did like the first season the most and the second season was satisfying at the ... least, but I wouldn’t say that the third season is not worth watching, though it disappointed me in a few aspects.



First of all, the story picks up right after the “Stagiaire” and dives straight into the Moon Festival at Tohtsuki. It also introduces the Elite Ten as they play a major part for rest of the story. The Moon Festival arc is rather well paced and builds up a lot of anticipation for the rivalry between Souma and Kuga, the 8th seat, during the moon festival. I absolutely loved this arc and the eventual consequences of their “battle”. After this arc, I felt that the plot lost its edge. Enter Nakiri Azami, the main antagonist of the third season. He intends to “revolutionize” the Academy and has most of the Elite Ten backing him up. The previous director, Nakiri Senzaemon is ousted after a coup planned by the Elite Ten and Azami. This still doesn’t register with me as it doesn’t make sense that the director can be over-ruled by a bunch of students. They might be crazy god-level students, but students nonetheless. Well, whatever, as long as the story demands it. The plot is basically unrealistic after the first arc, but that doesn’t mean you will not enjoy it. It is still crazy exciting to watch the chain of shokugeki. As I said, every episode will leave you wanting for more and more of Shokugeki No Souma. The season ends with a great reveal, so I’m really thrilled for Season 4 and I hope it’s better executed.



The main cast returns for this season as well, obviously. Something I appreciate about SnS is the character development each character, however minor his/her role might be, gets. The entire cast gets their fair share of screen time and we know that they will be featured in the future episodes. Personally, I love all the characters in SnS and this season, the introduction of the Elite Ten added so many new possibilities to the on-going story. Kobayashi Rindo, the sociable second seat is probably my favorite character in the show right now. I also love Tsukasa Eishi’s character. He has a sense of supremacy over everyone else since he is aware of his vast knowledge of the ingredients and astounding ability to cook and yet he is also portrayed as pessimistic about his work and has his own insecurities. In my opinion, Eishi seems more intimidating that the primary antagonist himself. His unusual character is quite intriguing and I hope to see more of him. I did not understand what was Azami’s purpose for starting his “revolution”, but I’m sure there is a lot more to Azami’s character and it’ll be divulged next season, and that’s something I’m looking forward to.

The animation in this season isn’t as impressive as the first season. The shokugeki lack the intensity from the previous seasons. Even the foodgasms aren’t that appealing to the eye, but as I said, it’s Food Wars, and at this point I’ll take anything they throw at me. I’m delighted to say that the music is pleasant. The opening and endings were as good as the previous seasons and it added to the build-up.

On the whole, Shokugeki No Souma: San No Sara is worth watching. It won’t disappoint you, trust me. As a critic I saw a few faults but as a loyal fan of the series, I found it really gratifying. I waited patiently every week for every episode of the season, and I was left satisfied and yearning for more at the end. Even at the end of the season, I couldn’t help but think if I could jump to season four right away. It’s simply that good, at least for me it was. I’ll give this season an overall rating of 7 but if you ask me how much I enjoyed it, it’s a 9!

TL;DR This review is split into 3 paragraphs
1st paragraph= opinions for people who have never watched the show
2nd paragraph= opinions as a sequel
3rd paragraph= opinions as an adaptation of the manga

As a starting point for newcomers this season left a lot to be desired. A vast amount of characters are introduced to the season's detriment as the number of supporting characters already meant that some were struggling to stay relevant. This coupled with very few lasting effects from the final battle of two of the three story arcs leaves the season very disappointing. Compared to the stakes or tension of the fights from previous seasons, ... the fights this season felt like they were filler to the much heavier and darker story unfolding in the background. I highly recommend you watch the previous seasons before this one or at the very least watch the ending song fully as I feel like it recaps the story so far decently enough. That being said, why is anyone watching a show starting at its third season?

As a sequel, this season felt like a lot of set up for what is to come, feeling more like a interlude rather than an actual continuation, like a calm before the storm. Hopefully the next season will provide the pay off for all the investment put in this season. The music for this season is by far the best the series has had, the OP perfectly captures feeling of the series and the themes of the season, accompanied by visuals that hint at whats to happen in the season without spoiling anything. The ED feels like a tribute to the previous seasons with its farewell sounding lyrics and visuals of every dish ever made in the series and highlight scenes of the previous seasons.

As someone who knows what is to come, this season is everything I expected, I was a little disappointed with the 12 episode length but with the next season coming out 3 months from now instead of a year I can wait for the next season. The season adapted the source material faithfully and there is nothing left to say without spoiling upcoming events as my disappointment stems from the season finishing too soon and nothing about the season.

THE REVIEW IS STRICTLY BASED ON THE ANIME AND NOT THE MANGA.

I have been putting off watching this anime series for quite sometime because of the supposed eechi content. Now that i have seen it, it is not that bad. i watched 3 seasons including the OVA and i still ended up liking each season the same as its prequel.

i have given this anime an overall 9 rating because of the following reasons

1) The MC is a red-head- the reason is rather petty but i think a red head mc has a fresh outlook than the multi colour hair types.

2) The MC is calm, cool ... and badass. Unlike the shounen heroes who are loud and annoying, souma has the aura that says he is a smart cookie.

3)I love his improv and innovative cooking style that stems from down to earth yet quality ideas.

4) The best part of the story is in totski academy way of running the show. i have come to appreciate how every day is a competition that gives each student a run for his money. the shokugeki also keeps viewers on our toes as we wonder which dish will rip asunder whose clothes.

5) Ishiki's lack of clothes.

6) The supporting characters do not rant too much on the nakama crap. They are pretty self reliant who do support each other without imposing their will.

7) The humour is decent too. the aldini brothers, nikumi, erina's tsundere, they are funny. esp the way souma's face puffs up while he is trying to figure something out is so cute.

8) While Joichiro up and leaves like every good dad (who abandons the kid in an apartment with all amenities and who knows how the parent affords the cost), its nice to see him once in a while.

9) Tsukasa Eishi- As a chef of his caliber, everything about him screams Elite and intimidating. he is selfish, conceited and makes no secret of it. yet his attempts at projecting himself as a lighthearted and oddly wavering person who is nervous, easily succumbing to a non existent pressure and overly unmindful of his acting pegs him as a calculating person. there is definitely more that meets the eye. you cant hate him.

That being said, there were a few things peculiar to the shounen genre that puts this anime right back into the average aisle.

The clothes rip too many times to miraculously put back together

MC's father being a legend who is admired by anti-hero, possible love interest and friends alike.

the loud kurokiba ryo. its is like an anime cannot work without the loud guy.

The groundwork so far laid now is towards an average story revolving around a small town chef who ventures into the outside world to make a mark for himself. Somehow i feel that season 3 felt like some broken pieces were glued together just to hold up this predictable plot. While the competitions and shokugeki were the main part of the anime, the story line looks forced making joichiro's past either an important turning point or just a quintessential shounen trite that brings out some last minute ass pull. Then again, i have not read the manga and i don not know how much the anime deviated from the source material. so i can safely assume that the manga may be better.

What nakiri azami is trying to do roping in the elite ten and some promising yet short lived side characters is a plot development that i saw coming miles away. the yohan leibert look alike swoops in to purge a place he believes is ill run, the next thing the MC will set things right and anti hero gets a change of heart.

on chara:

todokoro megumi- she is that character we either love or hate. she made no impression on me.
The echi content magnifies the already revealing chara like nikumi. You hardly see her wearing more than a bikini. Or nakiri whose breasts looks like she came out of a wet t shirt contest.
while erina was just the pompous tsun, i thought Alice had much more to her personality. her dumb comedy is fun. with kurokiba, the duo has the most humour besides tsukasa.
Agreed that marui aka shinpachi, don club chief and cauldron witch brought some humorous scenes, all the other chara fell flat. They were necessary to the plot but the mark they made is superficial.

something i noticed: perhaps its just me.
some chara resemble chara art of other anime a tad bit too much.
shinomiya: midorima
dojima: hanamichi
rindou: ayato sakamaki
tsukasa: shun, ichigo hitofuri, yashiro and some others
kuga: kise
saiba: yomo renji
momo: random loli
takumi: alibaba(magi)
marui:shinpachi
azami: yohan leibert
eizen: aizen

i do recommend anyone who likes fast paced anime to binge watch it.

Picking up right where the second season (and its associated OVA) left off, Shokugeki no Souma: San no Sara continues the story of Souma, underdog student at a renowned and extremely competitive culinary academy, focusing especially on his latest ambition to challenge Totsuki's Elite Ten, a group made up of some of the school's most reputable chefs-in-training. This most recent entry in the series retains the heated cooking battles and whacky foodgasms that the franchise owes its incredible popularity to. However, unlike the seasons that preceded it, San no Sara throws in a polarizing plot development about halfway through, which shakes up the show's tone ... considerably.

Simply put, the show's most underwhelming aspect, objectively speaking, lies in its visual presentation, notably its animation. There is very little animation to speak of, overall, considering most scenes involve panning and zooming over still images, rather than actual movement. This is a shame, especially considering the high-quality, energetic animation of its previous installments went a long way in bringing the culinary battles to life, and was, in part, what made the series so appealing in the first place.

The artstyle retains the same quality as the previous two seasons for the most part. During the few instances when they are depicted, landscapes are detailed and picturesque, though for the majority of the show, background art is of little consequence and barely noticeable. Character designs are still wonderfully done, being both memorable and interesting, and newcomer Rindou Kobayashi is no expection.

The CGI used in the first couple of episodes is quite ugly and distracting, but fortunately, plays such a minuscule role that it is relatively easy to forgive. In addition, San no Sara seems to rely on more chibi scenes than its precedessors, which could possibly indicate the same lower effort/budget as the sparse animation.

The first story arc in San no Sara feels like an organic continuation of the formula Shokugeki has established since its first few episodes. What this means is that we are provided with more of the fun and intensity that we have come to love and expect from the show. Souma behaves and performs just as we expect him to, his opponent is fleshed out in a way we have come to expect, and hijinks from the supporting cast are served up as well, functioning as a decent way to remind us of who they are and allowing them to interact with each other in new and entertaining ways. This introductory arc works well by playing to its strengths, while consciously refusing to go out of its way in subverting any expectations. And maybe this is necessary, as the latter arc is like nothing the show has ever done before.

Smack dab in the middle of this third season, the show throws in a plot twist that shakes the very foundation of Shokugeki. Likely, this unexpected development will prove divisive amongst fans of the series, as it brings with it a wide array of strong changes to the formula.

For one, it leads to the emergence of a "main villain" of sorts, something which is quite typical for a shounen anime. Which is why the very idea may leave a bitter taste in some viewers' mouths, especially those who appreciated Shokugeki's refreshing new take on the genre, devoid of any big bads, and black-and-white depictions of morality. It also doesn't help that said main antagonist comes off quite one-dimensional, defined almost entirely by his cruelty and wickedness.

While the development serves to weaken the series' innovative approach to redefining shounen anime, forcing it closer and closer to conforming to more and more tired clichés, it isn't all bad. On the bright side, the shift does a great job of igniting Erina's character development, and causes a large portion of the cast to band together, which is incredibly satisfying to watch after getting to know them over the span of so many episodes.

Speaking of the cast, it continues to shine through as the show's strongest asset. Souma continues to be a fantastic protagonist, balancing goofiness and badassery incredibly well, and working well as a foil to the snooty, elitist students of Totsuki Academy. After Souma, the majority of San no Sara's focus is on Erina, who receives a lion's share of the character development this season and becomes increasingly more likeable and easy to root for.

Amongst the newly-introduced characters, Rindou Kobayashi is a standout, being equal parts mischievous and endearing. Though her role is relatively small, she leaves quite a lasting impression and will hopefully become more prominent in later seasons. Tsukasa also works well as a contrast to Souma, personality-wise, and an antagonistic force, cooking-wise. The most disappointing of the newer characters is, without a doubt, Azami, who functions more as a plot device than a fleshed-out character.

For a twelve-episode season, San no Sara also does a decent job of giving its supporting cast small moments here and there. The banding together that occurs in the latter half of the season provides an opportunity for generally-shunned characters to get some lines and interactions in before they completely disappear from the limelight. Given the considerable size of the cast and limited time to work with, the show's ability to fit this in is quite commendable.

In its third season, the wildly popular cooking series significantly deviates from its own status quo in a number of ways. Animation is underwhelmingly sparse, the visual variety can be distracting and questionable at times, and a controversial plot development at its midway point leaves a polarizing mark on the franchise as a whole.

At its heart, however, it still retains its charm, high-octane culinary showdowns, and incredibly likeable and memorable cast. On top of all that, it goes out with a bang thanks to a well-executed (and long-awaited) reveal in its final moments, which will make the wait until the fourth season even harder to endure. Overall, San no Sara still manages to hold up as a strong entry, thanks mostly to it recognizing its own strengths and keeping them at its core, even in light of its visual presentation and sudden plot twist, which are, at best, mixed bags.

This show brings a whole new meaning to Food Porn.
As a chef, it is inspiring and as a former student of Johnson & Wales University, it takes me back to the cutthroat grading of my chef instructors and watching classmates drop out left and right.

If you hate Ecchi anime, I can still recommend it. The adult themes are very tame for the genre.
If you love cooking or food, I would recommend 100%.

I don't know how to pad this out any more. It is a show well worth watching unless you are a super prudish anorexic with an aversion to comedy.

Shokugeki no Souma is a fun anime.
While my enjoyment is in a descending line, my intriguement in the show is evergrowing.

It has goofy characters, completely filled with over the top clichés and stereotypes, making the anime seem borderline parody.
Even the seemingly harem element to it is played as a joke, which is a pretty hard thing to do. And even when it does stuff which can never be done in reality, even that is a joke.

But, even that only goes so far.
A joke is a joke, and repeating it a million times doesn't make it endlessly funny.
And honestly, that's what Shokugeki no Souma is ... doing right now, not to mention that barely anything substantial happened in these past episodes.
Even the plot is barely a 5, because it's not really interesting or clever.
It sticks to the basics.
"My dad is secretly a super amazing chef"
"I make girls around me fall in love because I am also a super amazing chef"
"Evil figure related to main heroine takes over my school oh noo"

This doesn't stop me from liking it though, it's still a really fun anime.

"LA wanted more...LA wants a 3rd Plate for all LA cares... "

Order Up...ONCE AGAIN!!!

Shokugeki no Souma's 3rd Season left off where the 2nd Plate's OVA left off with by showing us the Elite Ten in all their glory with Souma bringing in a Shokugeki to Terunori Kuga voiced by Yuki Kaji, the 8th Seat during the Cultural Festival. The second half of this season on the other hand...

The Cultural Festival arc for LA, showed that Souma was improving his craft and even experiences form his past experiences brings him help and even victory. If there was anything the Cultural Festival arc gave off was showing ... us the prowess of the Elite Ten, or if anything a taste of them..pardon the pun.

The second half on the other hand brings in something LA had been waiting since the second season. ERINA NAKIRI development!!!!!!!!!. As well as one of the biggest changes to the plot ever in the form of Azami voiced by Show Hayami.

Azami is probably the first fully fledged villain in this anime and he even has a connection to Erina which brings about her development in the first place showing us HOW Erina turned into the cruel God Tongue she became because of Azami as a factor. Erina was LA's favourite character in the entire series even from the first season so seeing her develop out of her cruel and stubborn personality she had and now opening up was great for LA, even if Erina opened up even before this due to the second season and her coming out of her shell in a ways (just not directly through Souma but his friends instead).

Once Azami comes into the picture...just everything changes...maybe for the better in terms of the plot for LA and LA loves it, now Souma being the underdog of Totsuki Academy he now has become the saviour and last hope to save Totsuki instead. If there was flaws to this 3rd Plate, LA would say that people would say that they will always see the victory coming when it comes to Souma...because main protagonist but uhhh to defend this, LA would say that AS SOUMA being the main protagonist and him learning from his experiences and Shokugeki's he's becoming an even better chef time and again, sure it's victory and everything but it's showing us that Souma is growing as a chef and he'll need it with Azami in the picture. The second would be that Azami is just soo much of blatant villain it's hilarious, oddly enough LA can defend this too, as his ambition and being the Cerberus Syndrome changing the mood of this entire series breathes a different yet still good life into the anime series. Lastly would be.....it's too short but thankfully a second season...of this 3rd season wow t-t-t-that's a thing now is happening so bring in the main and dessert, LA wants that to be 24 episodes!!!

The animation once again done by JC Staff doesn't skimp on the animation and the ever deliciously animated food. So consistent and delicious as always and oddly enough JC Staff loosened on the fanservice this season...maybe because of Azami?...huh that could be a reason.

As for voice acting, well it's decent and expected as always. However there is one thing that has changed that LA will bring up and probably the most interesting chnage in terms of voice cast and that is the change of Erina Nakiri of Risa Taneda to Hisako Kanemoto. LA finds Risa Taneda to be synonymous to Erina Nakiri, so hearing Hisako trying to mimic Risa's tsundereness is actually done well. This is just LA and all but when LA hears Erina in the 3rd Plate, LA just hears Hisako over and over again, LA doesn't know Erina now has loosened with her tsundereness and lost her ojou regality and that's ok, LA is fine with it as it kinda makes sense to the plot and everything and Hisako Kanemoto still does a brilliant job in replacing Risa Taneda. But LA will always hear Hisako as Erina, not Risa but that's completely ok.

This 3rd Plate Entree, was showing us only the taste of what's to come, from Azami, to Erina's character development to showing us the Elite Ten and what Souma and the Polar Star dorm are up against in order to bring back order to Totsuki.

BRING ON THE 3rd PLATE...MAIN & DESSERT PLEASE!!!...