The thing about this show that I didn't expect coming in was the intensity. The stakes always feel damn high even and you could tell each character is practically battling with every meal.
Even though the actual cook-offs are reminiscent of DBZ with the unrelenting explanations, the show manages to make it work in that the talking actually feels valid and useful. It doesn't feel like empty lines or just a rehash of common tropes (at least most of the time).
Even though some of the less involved characters seem like one dimensional tropes, their ingenuity in their cooking and their passion makes their character feel deeper. The more involved characters have adequate depth also (although Megumi's excessive shyness can bug me a times). Souma is basically just a run of the mill shounen protaganist in nearly every way, but you can actally feel the passion and ingenuity from him which makes him feel like so much more.
The show does have some shortcomings. The ecchi food scenes are a meh, but probably a bit excessive. I kind of wish the romantic elements were taken a little more seriously, even though that is clearly not the focus of the show. But all told the show is enjoyable and compared to the majority of anime a pretty fresh and original concept for a series.
