Shokugeki no Souma: Shin no Sara

Out of all the anime that have come out this year, I think this was the biggest disappointment for me. After 3 seasons of slowly diminishing quality, I was worried that this season was going to be a slog to get through. When I say that though, I was still hopeful. I mean, they were going to tackle an arc from which I had heard was a decent arc. It could've been good but J.C Staff really went out of their way to make this one of the cheapest and lazy productions I've seen in a while. I hate saying that for a show I ... used to love. I loved the characters, I loved the foodgasms and yeah, the animation wasn't the worst, but it at least looks decent enough.

This season, I truly think J.C Staff didn't care about this show. With the last three seasons, there were some production issues, but there was at least solid music and some good shots here and there. With this season? If feels like they got out a powerpoint presentation template and just stuck the clips of the show they had into said template. Hell, I can break down a good amount of episodes of this season with bullet points.

- We are introduced to the main competitors

- We see the main ingredient

- Some words from the peanut gallery

-Some trash talk

- A flashback here or there to one of the totsuki ten because the shows forgot to develop literally any of them minus Tsukasa and Rindo, I guess.

- More words from the peanut gallery

- Chefs show off their dishes

- Judges eat and foodgasm

- More words from the peanut gallery about said food and what makes it special

- Judges choose the winner.

- Some more words and repeat the cycle.

The biggest problem with this repetitious cycle is that you slowly see the flaws within it. You realize that no matter what Soma will win his food battles because he's main protagonist. That would be fine if they spaced out the food battles but they don't. You're supposed to watch all of these food battles happen with the same repetitious cycle and it's just a bore. The show ended up this year as background noise for me. Just like how the peanut gallery was this season

Let's talk about that peanut gallery because if you wanted any characters like Mito, Ryo, Alice, Hisako, and anyone apart of the dorm anything this season, well that sucks. Literally all these characters do this season is sitting behind literal character jail and spout out stuff about the food they make. It's probably the worst crime that this season does because the main strength of this show is its characters and them interacting off one another. It's insanely stupid and for a solid eleven episodes, it's just sad to watch characters that I love as Hisako do jack for the majority of the season.

This then leads into the actual team rebel squad who consists of Takumi, Soma, Erina, Megumi, Kuga, Isshiki, Mimasaka and some random guy. Yeah, this show decides to use this arc to introduce another new character and instead of giving more interest in any of their other characters. "Yeah Mito and Alice haven't done much in a while and some characters like Ryo who are rivals to Soma have done zero anything with Soma but who cares! We need more one off characters!" - Some guy that works on Food wars. I also realized that in this show, I don't believe Megumi has one a single food battle that wasn't an election. In actual food battles, she has won none. That is stupid and something that pissed me off while watching her getting beat by some girl that uses cat paws as oven mitts.

Yeah, let's talk about the Ten because they're all forgettable. The only ones exempt from this are Tsukasa and Rindo, I guess. Thier not funny and Tsukasa's whole thing is dumb. I only liked Rindo to an extent. Azami is stupidly evil to the point where he ruins the tone of the show and while he does add to one of the more positive things about this season, he's not that interesting of a villain. Eizan was better.

As much as I have been complaining about this season for its soulless production, for its constant amount of throwing characters into the show without thinking about the characters in literal jail or even the diminishing quality of foodgasms and backgrounds which are generic to letter, there are some positives. Erina's whole arc is finally done with and it feels satisfying. While Megumi still hasn't won a single food battle, Takumi has and that was cool. The music stays pretty solid and the OP was solid, though a little samey.

Overall, this season was a big disappointment. Flat production, waste of characters and the constant adding of one-offs and this overall feeling of emptiness. It's sad for a show that had such solid first and second seasons. While season 3 wasn't great, it was still fun to an extent. This felt like such a waste of time. It's a shame. I can't wait for the fifth season because it apparently gets worse.

Story: 5/10
Art: 3/10
Sound: 6/10
Character: 6/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Overall: 5/10

Another Plate, another panning shot yet the culmination of one of the best character arcs yet!.

So Shokugeki no Souma Shin no Sama leaves off right where the Totsuki Ressha-hen season in where the tournament for the fate of the rebels contines and well it's roughly what you'd expect but LA will note this season did improve slightly even if they continue to use panning shots though utlize it when they can't think of any new way of showing the transitions which is most of the time unfortunately.

The 4th Plate visually is the same with some flourishes in the Shokugeki's here and there but where it ... lacks in animation, the characters gets some well deserved mentions, from Megumi, Takumi, Rindou, Tsukasa, Isshiki and finally ERINA having the the best character resolution to her rebellion to her father with this arc.

Though her rebellion started during the Totsuki Ressha-hen, once Erina steps up to the plate (PUN) she not only develops as a character but since this season is much more about the rebels and their camaraderie AS well as the Elite Ten Council and why they cook the way they cook and in some instances how Azami influenced them into his side, you'd thought it was SOUMA who would get the glory of this tournament, no we forgot how this all started and with Erina being the face of the rebellion like daughter to her overbearing father, what Erina cooks for him at the final bout not only shows off Erina's trust in her friends, but shows off her rebellion in full force and all the hopes and dreams that will crush Azami's authoritarian take on cooking and just MAN does that final bout delivered, LA KNEW investing into Erina (from what LA remembered LA started getting invested at the tail end of the third plate) was worth it and culminated and essentially exploded here in all of Erina's glory.

This season though the payoff was great, does still have it's flaws, one LA well get into a bit later. The pacing of the tournament bouts if anything seemed really rushed, from Isshiki and Tsukasa's bout to Rindou vs. Takumi is glossed upon (showing no prep to give us a hint to hows it's made etc.) and the thing is most of the bouts this season was or would have been interesting if not for it's rushed pacing, though the pacing doesn't ruin Erina's final bout, but everything leading up to it...LA can't ignore it and yes does sorta ruin elements of those season much like the previous 2 or 3 seasons before it.

And now for the elephant in the room and that is animation. Well it was done once again by JC Staff and welllllllll yeah the panning shots isn't going away and admittedly uses it the majority of the time, but where the panning shots are prevalent, the battles and especially the focus on the food (not so much on the prep anyways) is still great and of course the foodgasms were great and expected for Shokugeki no Souma for all manner of reasons. Overall same as Totsuki Ressha-hen, not much has changed for animation which is a damn shame since the plot and it's characters is now holding this season up while the animation is inbetween lazy to "trying".

The voice cast is back and LA will give the MVP's here as there isn't much to say considering the voice cast is pretty much intact and hasn't changed "as much". LA will give out the obvious, being Hisako Kanemoto as Erina, Miniami Takahashi as Megumi, Shizuka Ito as Rindou and Show Hayami as Azami.

The 4th Plate was essentially the payoff season or in culinary terms, the main dish for LA and man besides some messy side dishes of elements, the MEAT of this season was excellent with great character development seasonings, great battles though slightly underpinned by rushing the sauce and the presentation was PANNED as per usual and of course great aftertaste at the end.

There's another plate?...SIGN LA UP!...

Erina best girl, can't change LA's mind.

War for the elite ten seats has continued. As we know, Yukihira Souma and his friends now have to fight the central members to fight over their obligations as totsuki school students. As you sow, so shall you reap. That adage is suitable for this season, a group of students who want to know the wider culinary world ... They are a polar star residence.

This season took a long time to reach the point where Yukihira Souma achieved her ambitions. We already know that now the polar star residence must fight Azami's ideology of food that it does not recognize is ... rubbish. Yukihira Souma and her friends have to fight Azami but they get the role of rebels, they get insults from all school students but they ignore it because they know that their actions are the right thing.

Watching this season proves that Yukihira Souma's abilities have also improved from previous seasons. Spending time developing each food recipe, fighting with unequal opponents to the point where he has to get lost in the current storm of confusion, even they have to sacrifice the principles they believe in but all for one thing is to be greater than previous.

Like the previous seasons, you will witness many exotic foods. The short list includes a food theme that is determined by fate, even though it is not their cooking skill but they are required to cook the dish because otherwise they will be eliminated and expelled from school like some of Yukihira Souma's friends who have been expelled from the previous season. This season is different from before, the judges taken to do the assessment are not taken from just anyone but they are the chosen people who have experience in assessing a food, they are called WGO.

As a fan of this series, I say this season is a season full of battles between great chefs. It became aware that this season was very tense. The seconds of Yukihira Souma's goal will soon be reached. Are they able to reach that point, and instead they will reach the peak they want so far.

Let me be frank: This show is not worth your time. If you feel watching it is the only way you'll enjoy the story then by all means, go ahead and do so. In my opinion, however, it'd be much easier to read the manga. "Easier?" you may ask yourself, "Why would it be easier? Surely the anime can be accessed with the same ease as the manga?". Well, dear reader, it would be correct to say that both are equally accessible, but that is not what I mean. In this case, easier means easier on the eyes. Put bluntly, the show is headache-inducing (more ... on that just now).

Story [6]:
Many people are of the mind that the story for Shokugeki starts to fall off around the time the new director, Azami Nakiri, takes over and the main cast effectively become criminals in the eyes of the rest of the student body. I think it's a bit far-fetched, but others may enjoy the escalation and that's perfectly fine. At this point, I'm not as engaged as I was in previous arcs.

Art [4]:
The characters look great! The backgrounds, when they exist, look good too! Most importantly, the food looks God-tier as it does in previous seasons! Now you may be thinking "This guy just praised three of the most vital visual aspects of the show! How does art get a 4?!". Well the answer is quite simple (it's what we've all been waiting for!): panning shots.
The art of a show is the overall visual presentation of everything, that much is obvious, but this is not just limited to the way things are drawn but also the manner in which they are presented to the viewer. This show presents almost EVERY FRAME in EVERY EPISODE with these godawful panning shots. For 20 minutes at a time, you sit and watch the characters stand dead-still; their mouths flapping open and closed as they deliver their lines. But the directors must've realised that characters standing and talking would pointless as people could just read the manga. They realised they had to animate it somehow! So instead of, you know, animating cooking or something, they made every single frame a panning shot of some sort! YES! Because this would simulate movement and thus make everything okay! But alas, it looks like crap. Every new frame is panning in some random direction across the screen, along with random zoom-ins, zoom-outs, and diagonal/slanted shots. All of this means there is zero visual consistency for the most part, and makes the otherwise semi-interesting episode into an absolute nightmare to behold. It completely kills any and all chances to enjoy any episode.
The parts where characters react to the food, one of the best parts of the series honestly, is still enjoyable to witness (despite the fact that the panning shots even infect these scenes).

Sound [7]:
I generally don't notice sound too much but Shokugeki has a fairly good soundtrack which bolsters the impact of each scene (despite the fact that the panning shots ruin said scenes).

Characters [7]
If you've watched the show up until now, you probably like most, if not all, the characters to some degree. The main cast and the Elite Ten have a variety of personalities and the way characters interact is good. The same formula of "thing happens and everyone is shocked" resumes in this season as well and makes everything seem more intense than it otherwise would've been. Some old faces make a reappearance and I was glad to see them back. Both factions have characters with powerful plot armour, however.

Enjoyment [3]:
Panning shots.

Overall [6]:
It's not great, but it's definitely not terrible. If you like the story, read the manga instead. If you've watched and enjoyed the previous seasons, or just like watching something mindlessly for 20 minutes and are immune to headaches or motion sickness, go ahead and watch it.

Keeping this short and precise.

The hate towards this season is unreasonable. Just because there isn't as many 'cute' or explicitly detailed areas as the previous seasons, the show is still great and should remain to be appealing to most viewers. The show features a lot more straight forward and climactic moments than usual, which also isn't necessarily a great thing, is also beneficial to people who want to see more action and less kawaii parts. Although the art does appear to be rather rushed, it is still enough for viewers to get the main point, and the anime imo never happens to seem melodramatic.

Welcome to the Fourth season of Food Wars, or better said, Food Fetish. The best culinary school in Japan just had a change in directors and things are facing an impending revolution. Last season, we saw how the new director is gonna revolutionize the gourmet world by snatching the freedom of chefs and making them adhere to strict defined rules of elite cooking. Our heroes strongly value their ability to experiment on food and strive to achieve new heights of culinary greatness. So, in order to protet themselves and their new tsundere comrade from get stripped of their freedom, they form a rebel group. In ... this verse, everything is decided by a Shokugeki and hence, the Shokugeki tournament in this season.

This season takes everything the anime had built over the past 3 seasons and tarnishes it. For the past 3 seasons, we have been presented with fantastic progress and each event was better or atleast, on par with the previous. However, that set the bar a bit too high. This season, fails to surpass what it had formerly estabilished. It doesn't even try to go high and still, it ends up surprisingly subpar.

Let me elaborate. Until now, we had 3 parts to a Shokugeki: The Preparation, the cooking and the judging. Each part excelled in its own way.
---The preparation helped in showing the character's hardwork and out of the box thinking. We all loved to see Soma rack his brain all night and come up with new, innovative ideas.
---The cooking part lay emphasis on new cooking techniques, be it french, italian or japanese, new technology, sudden pivots to up one's game and ofc, aroma magic. Do not sleep on the aroma factor, aroma defines 50% of taste. Also, we got to see SOma being a sous chef, which is a huge experience in the culinary world. After all, chefs work as a team in restaurants and they properly coordinate their efforts. This is what the internship arc was for.
---The judging part makes food wars one of the most unique anime out there. It is here that we get to see what compliments what, which ingredients change the direction, which ingredient adds extra flair, how arrangement works, how to take atmospheric effects into consideration, etc. And then came the foodgasms; the place where ecchi is so damn delicious. Nearly all the food tastings showed a unique way to please the judges and so many different ecchi postures. Don't get me wrong, the ecchi is food wars is actually enjoyable.
The former seasons gave proper time to these stages and fleshed each of them out carefully. Both the main character and the oppoent got their own screentime, thereby creating a sense of tangibility. Often, they'd interdigit two of these steps and create a seperate, non linear experience. It riled things up and kept everything fresh for the viewers.

Now comes season 4. It is incredibly rushed, mushing in 12 fights in just 8 episodes. Cumulative prep time and cooking time were cut down to nearly less than 8 minutes per episode. So, the positive impact of these got lost. The judging got sufficient time but even then, it fails to impress. The creative ecchi coupled with incredibly delicious sounding, detailed judgments were reduced to bunch of cliched ecchi and ingredient listing/complimenting. They saw that we enjoyed the judging part the most and so, they put all their chips into the judge slot and STILL, lost the bet. As an end result, we got a half assed combination on very short, nearly non existant cook-prep time and another set of longer, still half-assed judge-prep time.
Its a tournament arc but it falls flat. There is no real fear of loss, no proper motivation to win, the battles were completely lacklustre and on top, EVERYTHING is horribly rushed. the first 8 episodes went by in a so quickly that i didnt even realise tht im watching a water down version of what i love. It is at episode 9 when shit slowed down and I got some time to think about what I watched. [If I had watched weekly, I'd have realised sooner. But I binged, so it took me some time.] There is no build up of hype, only milking of former hype. There are only a handful of glory moments. Most fights are lacking in all departments and so, none of them are distinguishable(except 1). I didn't get ANYTHING to cherish. Felt more like a glass of cold water that i gulped down when i excepted hot chocolate to savour.

Lets get to the characters now. A tournament is one of the best methods to flesh out a character. Most of the characters in season 4 are quite developed already. So the anime uses this chance to neglect it. Only 1 character gets decent development, the rest get little to none. Neither sides of the battle are allowed to shine properly, whereas previously, they shined equally. As i mentioned, there is no prep or cook time so the window of further development is very narrow. The antagonists were being built up right from season 1. They were shown as a bunch of legendary figures and boy was I excited to see them. Unfortunately, I got just a teeny tiny portion of what I expected. Their development was simply sidestepped by giving a shallow backstory to each of them that accounted to nothing. None of them were fleshed out properly here. Out of 10, only 3 of them felt somewhat satisfactory because they were already partially developed in the previous seasons. Remember, if the opposition is not good enough, the hero's victory doesn't look half as good as it should.

The animation is still fluid and refreshing to look at but it has lost its dynamic edge. Repetitive shots and unimaginative movements are all over the place. The OP is good, maybe it catches on; i wouldn't know cuz I'm already obsessed with "Toss a coin to your Witcher". Soundtracks weren't bad either, some of them did a remarkable job in compliment the scenes.

In a nutshell, S4 is a big disappointment. The 3 episodes of the stagiare arc had better quality than all 12 episodes of this season. I'd sooner rewatch the first 3 seasons 10 times than rewatch this one.

So that concludes my review. If you feel I'm being biased or wrong in some ways, feel free to comment on my wall. But, before you do anything, try comparing the 5th bout featuring Soma-Erina and Eishi-Rindo with the Triple threat featuring Soma-Hayama-Ryo, you'll probably see why I'm this disappointed.

I don't get why people are being annoying about this season. To me, this season was just like every other Food Wars season. I heard the ending isn't very good, but complain when the actual ending gets out, not now. If you like Food Wars for being Food Wars you get what you want. Of course, I will admit that the 11th episode of the season felt like a final episode, with the 12th being like an epilogue. I would like to see more Food Wars content, but if it is going to end in the next season maybe they'll change it up

I had to make sure I wasn't crazy.

I re-watched several episodes from the first season. The introduction of the Aldini brothers in the training camp arc... The one where Soma and his dad have an early-morning cook-off in the Polar Star dormitory... The one where Megumi stands against the fearsome Legumes Magician, and saves herself from expulsion with some wholesome veggie magic of her own.

This series is EXCITING. Fast-paced cuts of frenetic food-flinging; a soundtrack hot enough to simmer your soy sauce; gorgeously-drawn dishes that could hop off the screen and into your gullet; and of course, over-the-top ecchi foodgasms that make you wish you ... brought headphones. The stakes are raised (and steaks are braised?) as the battles rage on. And the journey is brought to life with superbly voice-acted characters worth following to the very end.

This show used to be a lot better. It DESERVES a lot better.

The Fourth Plate feels really, really cheap. Fun and charming, at times. But this tournament arc-- in which Totsuki academy and ALL of our main and supporting characters' careers are at stake-- ultimately seems shallow, repetitive, and nothing like I remembered Shokugeki to be.

It's especially disappointing because of the year-long wait for a single cour. To me it seems staff was still pressed for time, and fell back on the series' most formulaic and unimpressive storytelling techniques to carry on. A few examples:

1) Panning over still shots of characters at Dutch angles, with some abstract background. Used VERY heavily this season

2) TELLING the judges how the food was made, instead of SHOWING the process in real time. This allows for last-minute revelations and mini-plot twists, and can make things more exciting. But not in excess, like this time.

3) The peanut gallery. Characters in the audience will explain to the viewer, in succession, why the competing dishes are so super-awesome/clever. This season, it is the SAME set of characters providing commentary EVERY episode! And the lines are spread so thin, it's often totally irrelevant who's saying what.

... and so on. It made for a really dull presentation. Most concretely, I could tell the animation quality had declined, but... otherwise it was hard to pin down what had changed. In fact, I began to question why I ever liked this show so much to begin with.

And that like, really sucks.

"You're stagnating, aren't you? ... For us, stagnation is akin to regression."

Many will say this was inevitable. The show was too repetitive by design, and would eventually get stale. A tournament arc like this would only emphasize this repetitive nature and fall flat, no matter what. This show is built around still shots, hokey last-minute reveals, and padded exposition. It's part of the formula. That's the recipe for Shokugeki, followed to a T, and we were bound to get tired of it.

Maybe they're right.

Or maybe they just lack imagination. Because that first season still feels fresh and fun. I could watch it again and again, because that sh*t is quality. It's a genuine, heartfelt, and surprisingly horny celebration of the culinary arts. Just like the winning dish in every Shokugeki, there's a little something there that puts it over the top. A secret ingredient. An extra bit of creativity. Over time it's been lost, but it WAS there. With more time & effort, I'm sure the folks J.C. Staff could have found it again, even within the bounds of an adaptation.

To conclude:

If you've stuck with the show this long, here's your finale. Though it leaves much to be desired, Episode 11 is where our story feels the most finished. Episode 12 makes for a decent epilogue. Then, if you're still left wanting more, bless you. I hope you enjoy next season! But left with such a "MAZUI!" taste in my mouth, I think I'll pass on seconds.

I'd like to start of this review by saying I can see why some are not liking this season compared to other seasons. As other seasons allowed us more lightheartedness in terms of story, and I guess freedom. While here we're thrown into a heated battle for a number of episodes, which can seem a bit of a chore to get through if you just want to go back to them having fun in class or back in homeroom.

But does it mean this season is a drag? Not at all! The cooking is as visually stunning as it normally is. Along with many lovely dishes ... that you'd just love to try for yourself. It's also quite nice to see how the characters truly have bonded, and how certain things have come together for them all to be in this position.

The sound is great as normal, along with a great opening song that I just love. I'll be listening to it for a good while even when the anime is over.

So should you watch this season's Food Wars? You should! Even if you haven't followed the story up to now. It's a great anime, with a great set of characters that in my book shine just as much as the food does. From being just likable in general, from how they act and how they present themselves. A must watch.

Ok so the 4th plate has ended, and it looks like the 5th plate won't be far behind as soon as Erina meets the new antagonist that will challenge them new Elite 10.


So:

Story:

Pros: New food were being introduce, that teases our gastronomical senses

Cons: To simply put it , the story plot was still them same and yes it was still on that Shokugeki thing where only this time them rebels were battling for their survival and it was way too predictable.
...
Verdict: 5 over 10.

Art:

Pros: More fanservices were introduce, in fact this was the only sequel where studio J.C. Staff didn't pull any punches to to also tickle our lust for sex.

Cons: We still see the usual eye candy and Yukihira still wears his signature middle school uniform....

Verdict: 7 over 10.


Sound:

Pros: still them usual seiyuus.

Cons: Still them usual seiyuus.

Verdict: 5 over 10.

Character:

Pros: We get to finally see them protagonists have their characters' developed and we see them antagonists got beaten and we see them senior graduate.

Cons: As one set of antagonist goes another one comes in and yes whoever they are, their now gonna be a threat to the new Elite 10's seat.

Verdict: 7 over 10.

Enjoyment:

Pros: One wouldn't get enough of the food porn that come with this anime and not to mention the foodgasam fanservices that come along with it.

Cons: It was just too predictable.

Verdict: 7 over 10.

Overall:

Verdict: 5 over 10.

As always this franchise still rely on the foodgasam porn and it looks like it's gonna be that way until Shounen Jump decides to pull the plug on Original Creators Tsukuda, Yuuto and Morisaki, Yuki.

Happy New Year to everybody.

I've loved the entirety of this show from the start but this season so far is quite average at this point. If I were doing reviews for the previous seasons I would have given them an average overall of 8 up until the moment that change this show for the worst; Sanzaemon asking Souma to help Nakiri. I am absolutely sure that this fun and interesting show took a tonal hit when the Nakiri arc was introduced and it hasnt been able to recover since. Most the interesting characters like Alice, Hayama, Kurokiba and Mito are almost relagated to the background characters to make way ... for Erina whose character simply doesnt work in this enviroment because she isnt written as a funny or facinating character which makes her not engaging enough. The characters in the show also had a comfort and looseness around each other that seems to have disapated because of how on edge everyone has to be around Erina, like she were the "It" girl walking into the D&D club and expecting everyone to behave like normal. Every character before came in seemlessly because they all had an element of being cast-outs in one way or another and they came in without commanding the story to themselves so as to intergate without ruining the over-arching tone of the show. This has nothing to do with the character of Erina ofcause because even a casual viewer could tell that Erina would eventually have her own program (arc) in the show but the issue is that the writers didnt do much for the Erina character in the previous seasons to than expect every viewer to be fine with everything being dropped to deal with her family issues.

I might be wrong but I can also see that the ratings in this season have lowered during these few episodes so far and I have some faith in the show runners to improve the show but so far its been pretty average. All the other issues in this season are not as bad as seasons before, this show has never been perfect but its always been authentic and the predictability of this arc and tonal shift the show has committed too has made this season a "high stakes lowbrow comedy" which sounds like Shokugeki no Souma but doesnt feel like it.

I usually do not write before I finish watching a series with totality, or at least a full season, but I have been in need of writing about this 4th season of Shokugeki No Souma because I am not agreeing with the ones they are publishing and see necessary give my point of view on it.
First it is necesary to clarify nobody has to tell them what to see and what not, that is a matter of each one, those who write here try to guide so that people have a different opinion or just one more. No one can come to impose their authority ... and tell you what is right and wrong.
Second this fourth season of Shokugeki No Souma has the same style and I creativity as the previous ones, but above all the justifications of who wins and why the duel. It is obvious that we are no longer impressed by meals, but because we have been watching it for a long time, it is like the animation of Shingeki No Kyojin and his characters moving through the air, but the writing I think is still at the same level.
The characters are so well constructed that it is logical and natural the decision they make at each moment. Duels are justified by those who win and who do not. When the rebels win there is a construction that exemplifies the story and how he knew how to take advantage of his virtues in front of a much higher rival in the roles, but when he wins the Elite they simply tell us that they are better than rebels and ready, and even if it seems forced or simplistic is right, of course they are the best of the prestigious Tootsuki.
In summary, Shokugeki No Souma is still as good as before, perhaps the events and dialogues are somewhat rushed and the drawing is not completely detailed as we would like, but I think it is not an impediment to discredit so much this season that it is just as Good than the previous ones.

Honestly speaking, does anyone even care about Shokugeki anymore?  The manga unceremoniously ended last year without so much as a big splash on the community, and I can only imagine what the popularity for a series that doesn't have its manga run anymore is like over in Japan. 

Story:

In an effort to go against Central and Azami Nakiri's ideals of 'True Gourmet", we arrive at the climactic end to the Central Arc where Soma and Erina head the rebels in a final team bout against the Elite Ten for not only the coveted seats of the Elite Ten, but also for the fate of the cooking ... world.  And, of course, it will all be done in an Iron Chef-style tournament arc and nothing else.

For a series that prides itself on showcasing extravagant flavors and varied arcs that revolve around different aspects, techniques, and facets of the culinary world, this season is so woefully bland that I'm actually upset that J.C. Staff decided to prune this part of the arc off in order to make it its own, separate season.  Because this season showcases the Team Shokugeki and only the Team Shokugeki, there really isn't a lot of variation in the storytelling.  The entire season only has one setting (that is, the cooking arena), and just seeing bout after bout after bout makes the show feel static and uninteresting.  This is made even worse by the fact that since its previous season aired somewhere in the early-mid 2018, whatever context a returning viewer would've had would be long gone save for maybe a lingering memory of what happened prior.

While food is very much one of the central focuses of the series, I can't help but feel like that in and of itself posed several problems.  Even with a culinary consultant as part of the manga's creation team, the dishes these HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS manage to cook seem improbable even for 'master chefs'.  Each dish always seems to have a secret hidden layer underneath the first bite and it's boorish having so many characters, the protagonists especially, bring out an extra bowl of something, or have some hidden extra section of the dish the judges didn't get to yet that 'elevates their food to another level' as if that adds tension in any way after the first time it happens.  On top of that, so much of the screentime is devoted to the veritable plethora of side characters and rivals turned side characters constantly popping in their two cents and explaining the ins and outs of each dish.  While this served as a boon for the series at the beginning, it now feels obtrusive since in the span of one episode, at least 75% of it is devoted to explanations and praises on at best three dishes and the techniques used to create such a culinary marvel.

The slight bits of variation that Shin no Sara provides exists in (at least attempting) to finish up character arcs and/or give backstories to the members of the Elite Ten and other characters that desperately needed it.  Each bout contains at least one side having flashbacks to detail what led them to this point, whether or not that be their motivation for cooking or a showing of their determination to give it all they've got.  A lot of these points really just end up being flavor text for the characters, which isn't a bad thing.  But it doesn't really feel all that impactful.  Especially since a lot of the Elite Ten members feel woefully underused, having never been given the time of day prior and had to get their explanation and details as characters here and now instead of letting them show up progressively like the pillars they're SUPPOSED TO BE.  The only character I feel like gets any amount of satisfaction is Erina, as her character arc finishes in a poetic way that befits the series in a way that at least feels earned rather than just handed to them.  (Among other things...)

But despite that, Shin no Sara's story largely feels hollow without substance.  The show sporting battle after battle without any variation in either the format or storytelling just doesn't feel satisfying.  Yeah that's what tournament arcs are, but those usually have action on screen to draw your attention; these people are cooking.  It doesn't gel all that well, and the end result creates an extremely wordy series where it's constant explanation after explanation of how the food tastes and only a couple mentions as to why they're doing this in the first place.  Also, the majority of this cast is still in their first year of high school!  Who the fuck decides to put the equivalent of a world ending arc at the end of the first year of high school?!  That's like beginning of third/last of third year at worst!

Characters:

Erina Nakiri...definitely gets the award for best character arc in the series.  Out of everyone in the entire run of the series, she's the only one that has any amount of tangible loss should her father succeed in enacting Food Communism (Yes, I will still call it that), and has shown the most drastic change in character from her original haughty self into someone who actually enjoys what they're doing.  While she doesn't show up that much in the season due to her only having the limelight at the very end, the one time where she does get the spotlight actually feels gratifying and works to the show's favor.  Though I don't particularly like the end result she gets given that she's at best sixteen at the end of the season.

Soma however, is largely uninteresting in terms of growth and succeeds only with his goofy self taking the forefront of his character.  His bouts have drastically less tension for him since he's the protagonist of a weekly shonen series in the middle of an arc 'determining the fate of the world'.  Hell, they even have like 2-3 episodes of the fucker just sitting back and drinking tea.  While I do still find him amusing, there really isn't much to say about him aside from his upstanding qualities of becoming more humble, wanting to improve through the teachings of others and challenging bigger fish so he can one day surpass him.  Great, but not really all that important since the series barely makes any effort to show it.

And then we have the rest of the cast.  I don't even want to talk about Azami because his motivations are farfetched at best, and his plans have too many logistical problems to justify taking him seriously.  Compared to the set of nobody antagonists prior, the Elite Ten at least have some foot to stand on, being showcased prior and at least most of them having motivations beyond just smacktalking the protagonists because they're not part of the super cool club of "Gourmet Chefs".  They all still vary in character quality, but some like Rindo are still standout characters in their own right.  Other members of the recurring cast not involved in the competition like Miko, Hayama, and Alice, are quite literally put in a box and serve as a bunch of talking heads who comment and interject on whatever is happening at the moment.  I despise this direction, since it makes the interesting and diverse cast of friends and rivals just a bunch of useless supporters who can't do anything.  Dwindling character importance is never fun, and their expulsion never even felt like a factor to consider in terms of the stakes for the series.

Aesthetics:

I don't know why it took me until Season three to realize that this show has almost no animation, but hey, the fourth season is better than never I guess.  The art for Shin no Sara is about the same quality that J.C. Staff pulls for this series.  The characters themselves look good with consistent models and decent detail on them with the occasional chibification for that comical flair.

The food is as gorgeous as ever, and the many, many, many foodgasms this show has are so commonplace that they really lose their luster.  The actual stripping isn't all that exciting, but the metaphorical images that the judges have while eating the food are...amusing to say the least.  (And may or not be scarring at times.)  My one complaint with the art is the way the girls are drawn.  This is commonly seen with Erina, where the clothes she wears fit so tightly around her figure that they cup around her chest to show that she does, in fact, have breasts.  A fact made worse by the fact that her resting stance is her crossing her arms underneath her chest.  Like she's fully covered guys; do you really have to do that?

However like I said before, on the animation side of things, Shokugeki has almost no animation.  Save for lip flaps, some arm motions, body quivering, and slow hair flowing, the entire show pretty much sports one kind of shot and one kind only: closeups where the camera slowly pans from one side to the other.  Because there's so much talking in the series, the show spends basically all of its time sitting on one shot to let one or several characters talk, cut to another character so they can add their two cents, rinsing and repeating until the judging is over.  Repeat that about a dozen times, and that's what we have for the visuals for the show.  Hell, no one just walks.  If they can get away with still frames, they will, and it's somehow agonizing watching anime only to just see a slideshow of talking heads.

"Chronos" by STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION and "Emblem" by nano.RIPE are both song that...I really don't care for.  They're nice to listen on their own, what with Chronos's techno, energetic beat, and Emblem sporting a hopeful tone that echoes a sense of comradely amongst the rebels.  But nothing about them makes them song that I really care to either remember or listen to again.  Most Shokugeki songs have had this quality about them, with only the first OP of Season one being the one that I think stands out the most, probably only by virtue of being the first one in a long lineup of songs for the series, but also because I think it's the most unique being not as 'Shonen-y' as the others.

Personal Enjoyment:

If this was it for Shokugeki, I would've been fine.  But no, there's gonna be a Season five, and holy fuck I don't think the anime-only audience is ready for nor should be subjected to the horrors of the Blue Arc.  Putting that aside, the problems I've had with Shokugeki is largely in part due to the insane amount of escalation and stakes put at play on a series whose story at face value has barely scratched the surface of its 'runtime'.  In a typical long-running series set in high school, the story goes through 2-3 years of high school, starting either at the start of either the first or second year depending on the series, and end with graduation at the end of the third year.  At the end of the season, the protagonists just ended their first year at Totsuki.  Of three.  When you factor in the fact this season is basically devoted to trying to topple a regime that threatens the nature of gourmet cooking on a global scale, where do you go from there?  (Especially since the plan makes it seem like if anyone wants to eat at a restaurant, they can only eat this 'true gourmet' stuff.  Which probably has a price point 98% of the world cannot afford.)

Escalation aside, the thing that I always found that made Shokugeki interesting was how grounded it was while also being spectacular in its own way.  The Stagiaire Arc remains my favorite arc in the series because it forced the characters out of the comforts of the school and thrusted them into the real world where the skills they learned would be applied.  It wasn't just about the Shokugekis, but about what these kids were learning and the value they got from their education, honing their skills as chefs so that they can be better while also pitting them against each other to see who was better and how much they improved.  Shin no Sara has some of that with the bouts serving as the culmination of what the "rebels" have learned.  But it feels cheapened since a number of things they've learned are only told through flashback instead of being a previously viewed section of the story.  So the quality wavers heavily in that regard.

As such, I don't particularly find this section of the story, or Central as a whole to be good storytelling.  It relies too much on the stakes being equivalent to 'the end of the world' to add any amount of tension in the story instead of the personal journeys of the characters, and the repetitive storytelling makes the Shokugekis feel bland and uninteresting with the Elite Ten feeling like a bunch of obstacles in the way instead of a budding pantheon of the best of the culinary world has to offer.  I definitely find Erina to be a much better character compared to who she was before, but at the cost of the vastly more interesting arcs we got prior, I don't think the trade was all that fair.

Regardless, my recommendation for Shin no Sara is to watch it only for closure.  Erina's conclusion is definitely the most rewarding part of this season, as well as numerous members of the cast bouncing off each other because I do genuinely think this series has some fun characters.  However this recommendation comes with the warning that the rest of the series really isn't all that interesting.  Sure some of the bouts can be amusing, but a lot of them feel self-congratulatory with the series pulling a "BUT WAIT!" moment to try and add some last minute tension in an attempt to curry favor from the judges, which gets tiresome especially since no normal viewer has an attention span big enough to digest and process all of the information thrown at you by the Bookmen and other characters since every dish has like five layers to it with a hidden sixth layer hidden in the one part they didn't eat with their spoon.

Also, just a suggestion, I would highly recommend anime-only viewers to consider this as the end of the series and just leave it there.  The next and final arc of the series is a bastardized husk of what made the series great to begin with, and ruining the results of this 'ending' with that one will almost assuredly leave a bad taste in your mouth.  I'm not a big fan of the Central Arc either, but I greatly prefer this conclusion to that one.

The art in this fourth season is crave-worthy as ever! But I'm not going to miss this constructive criticism here, as the plot setting in the arena of Shokugeki is a lot off. I can't feel its massive surroundings, the thrill when they cook, let alone when they serve the dishes and getting scored. Ecchi-ness of the seiyuu's effort is still there even though it gets wishy-washy and I can't tell the difference in-between the moans for all dishes. Felt like it's just existed for the sake of the formula, but it's getting dull overtime.

Worst part of this season is the stagnancy of the story. ... There's no heat in the game. Everything's just a come-and-go. Even a simple plot like MasterChef has a lot of thrill. The episodes should've been shorter with more tight story.

The fourth season of Shokugeki no Soma is easily the most non-progressive and ultimately the worst from all seasons.

Characterization: 3/5
A stretch, here. The characters in the series have brought me many laughs over the years, and their individual quirks often make me smile. But I've generally found character development with the female cast instead of the males. Erina and Megumi are the highlights.

Plot: 2/5
None of us came into Food Wars! for the plot. And tbh, I don't think we're really staying for it, either, because it's pretty dull. This season is all about our rebels cooking against the elite ten to win back their school. My problem is with the last episode.

Realism & Authenticity: 1/5 
I'm beyond disappointed for this point. I loved the first ... season of this show so much, but it's like I'm watching a poorly written fanfiction of it instead. The sexuality doesn't tap into the humor in new or refreshing ways. It's lackluster and just... bad.

Sound & Animation: 2.5/5 
Pretty decent. Nothing extravagant, mind you, but I wasn't bored thanks to the soundtrack sending me to war. I'll say that most of the time it feels less like true animation and more like panning over still images like Windows Media Maker... so there's that.

Food Wars! was a gem I found while studying abroad in the UK. The first season was downright saucy (puns forever intended) and blended humor and ecchi in a way that had me crying from laughter.  Since those prime days, though, the series has gone downhill, decreasing in funnies and spiciness.

In truth, the characterization is frustrating: some points are good and some are bad. We get little nuggets of truth for most of them: why Tsukasa and Rindou, the first and second seats respectively, side with Erina's father, for one. But it's really not enough to add meaningful depth. Even Azami Nakiri's motivations are tepid at best. You're telling me you expelled students and disbanded countless groups because you're upset your buddy just went off on his own and did his own thing? Seriously? What kind of character motivation is that? Give me something proper and juicy for a "villain", please.

Megumi's characterization has always been spot-on for me. Not only is she the ultimately wifu, but the girl fights crushing anxiety everyday. We've gone from the timid thing writing the character for man on the palm of her hand to battling the third seat at this team shokugeki. Some people complain she cries too much, but hello: she's a cry-y character. It's written into her arc to cry, so let's not get upset over being properly consistent, all right?

She doesn't win against Miss Cute Baker or whatever. And the boys do their best in comforting her, but it's Erina who gets through to her and she breaks down crying.

The tears are important. Why? Because they're not shed from fear or shame. Megumi gave her best effort and fell short and her tears lie from frustration. She has pride now, some confidence even. This is what she's gained from Soma and the others, and the reason for why she fights against Central in the first place.

Besides Megus, most characters are surface level and only exist to provide exposition and context rather than being proper characters, background or otherwise. We get a touch here and there with Takumi and Isshiki, but most of the time it's just like eating prawn crackers at a curry shop: that stuff isn't gonna fill you up or nourish you if you know what I'm sayin'.

We just get some poorly done flashbacks of Megumi wanting to be in a sports anime playing ping-pong instead. The plot points feel largely cyclical, in part from the nature of what the show's about, but it's done worse than how the autumn elections were handled. Nothing feels overly fresh or exciting and the cookie-cutter episodes just add to the horrid predictability.

We know from the onset Soma and his gang are gonna win, right? I mean, this is a shonen show. The whole point is discovering how they're gonna win. We know where our destination is, but we're still unsure about what the journey will hold. However, Food Wars just painfully shows us its hand painfully slowly and using atrociously predictable plot. Talk about boring. It doesn't even feel like cooking anymore, not really. One of my favorite parts of this series was that I felt I was learning a little bit more about food. They've somewhat taken it out of the equation here. Instead of really seeing how things are made and why, we're given words from the peanut gallery, some gutter quality trash talk, some flashbacks about the characters and then the food part is done. They present the dishes and we're supposed to think the dish is special because of what our jailed peanuts say. There's no real knowledge exchanged in all this, and it overall makes the series less impactful and memorable. 

The concept of the gifting was just silly. You're seriously going to tell me a guy can magically make other peoples' clothes disappear when he's not even biologically related to the Nakiris?!

But Maybe the entire point is about character driven plot and stuff. Characters? Really? We're hopping back to that point when we consider the majority of our minor characters were shoved into a literal jail and reduced to audience oohs and ahhs?

But I digress. Let's take a look at the main character for growth: Erina Nakiri. Throughout seasons three and four Erina has shown unbelievable strides. While there’s no doubt Erina develops as a character, I have my reservations about her cooking and specifically, her ‘specialty’. She calls it a ‘don’, or a rice bowl. Her ‘secret ingredients’ are a combination of squid and peanut butter, and she uses the gelatinous substance (which Soma uses in season one’s God Tongue episode).

Soma. Her specialty is Soma.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Throughout this time, the first OP from season one in playing, in case, for some ungodly reason, you didn’t catch all of the allusions going on. And while I love that OP and wish the series stayed with that theme instead of going to the edgy, we’re going to war business they’ve been doing since season two, it’s really nothing more than a cheap shot at nostalgia feels. Like, season one was a lot more successful… you know what we could do? Play that OP and we’ll magically be as good. Yeah, best plan ever...

The time skip is the other frustrating part of this series. For the final episode, aptly titled “The New Elite Ten”, we get to see our cast of characters as a grade higher, even though time has had a weird flow since season two’s autumn elections. To show that time has passed, people are given… NEW HAIRSTYLES! OMG. -_-“ Please, no.

There were positives to the series, and overall I'm left with feeling a mixture of ranty and meh. It was flat on so many levels, but Erina and Megumi's growth, plus Takumi's win made me smile. The music was okay, though feels very much the same for seasons 2-4. 

This season is supposed to be the biggest event in the entire series. All the trainings and the battles from the previous seasons were built for the regiment de cuisine and opposing the best chefs of totsuki academy.

However, as an audience, this tournament is the most boring and predictable of all. It has something to do with the concept being overused in the series. The large amount of matches made me bored and wanted the arc to end. Also, most matches were rushed in order to compress battles in an episode or two.

Despite these things, the development of characters were lived up to its ... fullest potential. All the rebels got their spotlight; whether it may be a win or a loss, it resulted to their flourishing.

Opening and ending song were mediocrely done, unlike the preceding songs. The OST felt like the show is a battle manga which i think is not a good thing to maintain the high quality level of a cooking anime.

It is not bad, though. It it not just as intense as the previous seasons because of its predictable plot. Nonetheless, they made up for the bland portrayal by tweaking the last episode and giving more details that were not showed in the manga. The last episode could be a wonderful conclusion showing how shokugeki has been a culture of fun and camaraderie through cooking.

Overall this season is very good, but for some reason i can predict the winner everytime the shokugeki began, very easy to see the winner when you already watch from previous season.
I mean the pattern for this anime is very common, you only enjoy this anime because of how they make the food not for how they must win for the competition between them.
For example, when you watch 1st season this anime you might be very excited with the story they build, souma need to learn with food, he need experience with various kinds of customers, he need to adapt with new kitchen everything he ... does is very interesting to see.
And now this season begin, without any explanation on how souma decide the food (with his struggle on it), they just skip souma progress skill to inform the audience that he is the 'master of food' lmao :).
From previous season when Souma with his friends make shokugeki with his father help it done already, it doesn't make sense for me, is he the best chef in the world? even nobody challenging him on shokugeki with equal skill, equal intelligence. He just made 1 vs 50 (which is below him), but it's not fair if you know you will win already. And the last is when they practice on the train with very simple method but very difficult way to describe on how they become stronger from that training.


I won't to write spoiler so, if you haven't watch this season yet just go for the food, not story because there is no need to think about.

I will not lie to you, as much as I love this series, the story in this is mediocre at best. It is just the bout against the Elite 10, the ending gives it a more satisfactory feeling but other than that this season was very lacklustre in terms of the story.


The art in this was phenomenal. The detail they put into the characters, the environment, but most importantly the food. When they are describing the dish in terms of ingredients and how it is cooked you can see it, and there is almost always an underlying feature that is revealed in each and every ... one of these dishes that makes you wish you could taste it yourself!


Souma Yukihira - The son of Jouichirou Yukihira, he worked at the Yukihira Diner until it closed.

Erina Nakiri - Coming from a prestigious background, she often looks down upon whomever she deems "common" initially due to her having the "God Tongue" ability, but it is clear how much that has changed in this season.

Megumi Tadakoro - From a small port town, aiming to make her family proud!

This series has scarred me so badly that it motivated me to write my first anime review. Anytime I see an actual good anime, I think about this one and what it could have been. I will now be using this as my measuring stick for a terrible anime.

Let me start by saying that I love Shokugeki no Soma. I love cooking, I like anime, I like hentai, and I love the manga. Despite all this, JC has done their damn hardest to make this season as unwatchable and as unenjoyable as possible.

This isn't an anime. There is hardly any animation. This is ... a slideshow with moving mouths, and motion sickness-inducing pan on every. single. frame. I know this is a cooking anime, but holy crap there does not need to be this many pans. There isn't even a pan that stops at the end to let your eyes rest for a moment; there is a constant slight motion throughout every shot. Since nothing is ever still, you get a feeling of uneasiness and motion sickness, which makes the whole thing near impossible to watch or enjoy.

This constant panning is a pathetic attempt to make it look like there is some motion happening to compensate for the fact that nothing is animated. An egregious example would be when Saito, the samurai chef, does a 360-degree slash through ingredients to show his proficiency. THEY COULDN'T EVEN BE ASSED TO ANIMATE HIM DRAWING HIS SWORD. He just stands completely still, as a circular slash of light comes out. That's it.

They have somehow managed to achieve the worst of both worlds in terms of pacing. Somehow, you feel like it's extraordinarily boring and that nothing is ever happening due to the animation, while also feeling that the story is extremely rushed. There were a ton of moments that I was very hyped for while reading the manga that happened this arc, but they all fell flat due to the sheer laziness of the animation staff. If it was properly animated and the staff actually gave a shit like in season 1, this would have been an easy 9, but alas, this is what we get.

the story is always the same , the main character wants to be the number 1 , ok we got it but i feel like the anime is always the same , like wheres the character development as all seasons of thisanime go by?
well , theres a good thing in all this season , the Opening ,I feel like it has been one of the bests (on all this seasons) so far.
the story is a level 6 , it doesnt have much development
the art is good , i mean its not the best but its good
the opening is awesome
the characters are great
well , ... even tho its very repetitive when it comes to story development , its still nice to watch and you can have a good enjoyment watching it
thats it , over all i think its a 8 . like the past seasons , a 8 almost 7 but a 8