Reviews

Oct 7, 2015
Cooking is one of those hobbies that can be just a plain old hobby or even a full-blown career. Regardless of the style of cooking, a good dish is a joyous thing to experience. Still, one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done is cooking, creating something that will then be enjoyed, even if just by me, is a great feeling. And Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma is a great portrayal of that joy, albeit in a much more competitive way.

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, or just Shokugeki no Souma, is a 2015 shounen anime that adapts part of the manga of the same name written by Yuuto Tsukuda, with the collaboration of Yuki Morisaki, a food researcher, and illustrated by Shun Saeki, that is published by Weekly Shonen Jump. The adaptation is produced by J.C Staff (Bakuman, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) and directed by Yoshitomo Yonetani (Yuusha-Oh GaoGaiGar, Brigadoon).

The teenager Soma Yukihira and his father Jouichirou Yukihira share both a restaurant and a rivalry, in which the first trains to surpass the second. The protagonist’s routine consists in going to a regular school in the morning and cooking at the restaurant in the afternoon, all to surpass his father, but everything changes when the parent decides to close the restaurant. Because of this, Yukihira is sent to the top culinary school of Japan, Tootsuki Culinary Academy, to improve his cooking. There, he meets other aspiring chefs, takes part in competitions and tries to survive in a school with 10% graduation rate!

The Tootsuki Culinary Academy proves to be a great setting to a culinary series as it has some interesting internal mechanics, namely the shokugekis, which are culinary matches in which the chefs can bet anything they want, from club rooms to expulsion. Its introduction raises the tension in unforeseen ways, and from that point one it never stops raising the stakes. Despite being a cooking anime and not having flashy named moves, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma is more exciting than many others shounens, as it never slows down and keeps introducing new characters, new competitions and new dishes.

Another strength of the anime is, apart from the reactions, how credible everything is. Thanks to Yuki Morisaki's work, every dish has a solid scientific and practical background that is shown in the series through the judges' explanations. As I said, the only point that isn't in line with this affirmation are the reactions to the food. At first, that is, the first 6 or so episodes, those reactions are mostly fan-service in nature, but this changes from that point on, as it becomes more and more comedy focused. By the end, these reaction are hilarious, dramatic and quirky.

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma frequently uses its story and characters to poke fun at shounen tropes, for example the rival. At one point, a character proclaims himself to be the protagonist's rival and, instead of receiving a likewise dramatic statement, he is ridiculed by his brother, as he is too cheesy. That, of course, doesn't mean that the anime doesn't fall into any other tropes, for example, a former enemy becoming a friend. But the beauty is how that is portrayed.

In the setting of the anime, everything is based around and resolved through food and cooking. Naturally, character development also happens because of food, but don't let that fool you. Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma paints a tragical world amidst its awesomeness through these developments, as the characters always have a reason to be themselves and that reason is, most of the times really sad. The character development, despite being centered around food, manages to be better than many other anime, both in terms of depth and enjoyability.

The cast is varied, from the smug and sore-loser protagonist, who actually has a personality, to a regular tsundere love-interest to a student who wears only an apron. Being a cooking anime, each character has their own cooking style that serves to give them even more personality. From the main cast to the supporting characters, everyone is instantly memorable, with most of them being important at least once in the series.

The art is vibrant and colorful, without being too flashy. While the backgrounds aren't that well detailed, the food is chock-full of it and mouth-watering. The character design is slightly more exaggerated than in the manga, leaving the girl's boobs more prevalent and "fanservicey".

The soundtrack is a great accompaniment to every scene, being highly energetic and dramatic during cooking scenes, which make them even more awesome. There is a lot of care put into the voice acting, too. For example, a character that comes from the countryside has the accent of that particular region. As a final note in the sound department, the first ED is absolutely brilliant and is even used in some unusual ways.

As a fan of the manga, I am extremely happy with the adaptation that Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma was given, as it captures everything that is great about the series and made even me, someone highly familiarized with its plot, excited for the nex episode. This is just a small tastement to how enjoyable the show is.

I would recommend Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma to fans of shounens, as it is among the best. Also, if you are looking for a hugely enjoyable anime, watch it. It is a 12/10 in that regard.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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