~{Story}~
The premise is quite simple, Yukihira Soma is a teenager who worked with his dad for many years taking care of their restaurant. One day, his father leaves for overseas and makes Souma apply to Totsuki Culinary Academy, where only 10% of the students graduate yet Soma aims to be the top of the school. And that’s pretty much it. Add some shounen characteristics and foodgasms here and there and you got yourself a pretty anime. Throughout the anime, Souma makes friends and enemies and learns much more about the world of cooking and realizes if he were to stay at his restaurant, he wouldn’t be able to learn all these new things. The main plot is really simple, but it’s the story arcs in between that are really entertaining, such as the Training Camp arc and Autumn Election Arc. However there are filler moments in the anime where it seems like those episodes where there for no major reason, such as the Karaage Wars arc. However, the story, for Shokugeki no Souma, for most of the time, works. The anime succeeds in building up suspense, and delivery. However the anime is sometimes predictable, but it’s alright because it’s still entertaining.
Story: 7.5/10
~{Presentation}~
Shokugeki no Souma is more of a comedy shounen anime than anything. Sure it’s got ecchi moments too, but they’re not there for a considerable amount of the anime. However, it’s got more shounen qualities than other shounen anime. When food competition takes place, the cooking is so over-the-top, the suspense is so thrilling, and the characters are energetic, it’s hard to say that it’s not action-packed. Normally I don’t say this, but the uneven pacing of Shokugeki no Souma helps make the anime better. The anime will have a fast pace for its normal scenes, but during the moments when a dish is being judged, the pacing is brought down considerably low. An entire episode can literally end up judging only two dishes. But because of that, more suspense is actually being built (also, more foodgasms). And due to long judging moments, you actually get to learn quite some things about cooking and food. Its shounen style definitely adds more enjoyment to this anime. Its combination of shounen-style cooking, foodgasms fanservice make the show have an interesting variety of genres. The only issue is that it does end in the middle of the arc, and it would have been better it was a 3-cour anime to finish its arc, but don’t worry, a second season is a must after it’s high reception and popularity (and it’s from a Jump manga).
Presentation: 9/10
~{Character}~
Shokugeki no Souma has a fairly huge cast, and most of the characters end up being memorable, interesting and hilarious. Yukihira Souma is your typical shounen main character. His skills are over-powering and he consistently get challenged by other students, only to make Souma look better… most of the time. This anime doesn’t take much time to show that Souma’s not the king of cooking as there are many to whom he has lost too. However, Souma is a treat to watch to; he’s cocky, but also charismatic. Next you have Tadokoro Megumi who is your typical “I have skills but I’m too nervous to actually show my potential” girl. However she gets great character development throughout the anime. She develops into a more confident character by the second third and she ends up being the most developed character of the anime. Next up we have Nakiri Erina, who is your typical tsundere and… that’s it. Unfortunately she isn’t much in the anime to actually get proper development. However she is entertaining enough to not be annoying. The supporting cast is filled with colorful characters that together make an entertaining cast. You have that “weird-but-wise senpai” Isshiki Satoshi, the wannabe cool rival Aldini Takumi and his brother Isami, the bossy rival that pouts at everything Nakiri Alice (who ends up being the most likable supporting character), and so many others that are all fun to watch, even if they are being used as plot devices to move the story.
Character: 8.5/10
~{Art}~,
Shokugeki no Souma’s art style is quite simplistic and is the one you would typically see in a school comedy. However simplistic is what works best for this anime. Comedy moments would be shown using chibi-looking characters and that helps add to the humor of the show. Chibi faces such as Souma’s over-confident face, Erina’s tsundere face, Megumi frightened face, Alice’s pouting face and much more, creates a lot of funny moments. The art for the food is good enough to make you hungry and mouth-watery. The foodgasms fanservice are also very delicious (pun intended) and are fun to look. Also when judges are judging a dish, the background may change to describe the flavor of a dish and it helps the audience envision the feel of the dish. The character designs are also really nice. All characters look the same as the manga. Although it’s easy to distinguish one from another by just looking at their hair colour. However, all characters are very attractive and nice enough. Add that with the colorful backgrounds and food, and you got yourself an anime that’s easy on the eyes.
Art: 9/10
~{Animation}~
The animation is top-notch and consistent. Never once did it seem like they were saving budget and cutting it short. Sure, the animations are mind-blowing, but it works for this anime. During chibi moments, the animation is much more simplistic and “framey” but it works well with the context. However the animations used for when people are cooking are great as they are smooth and have this action feel to it that makes it feel like as if a shounen battle is taking place. The animation quality is pretty much what you would expect from J.C. Staff; nothing mind-blowing, simplistic, yet it works with the context and consistent.
Animation: 8/10
~{Voice Acting}~
The voice acting in Shokugeki no Souma is excellent, however most of the seiyuu are pretty unknown. Souma is voiced by Matsuoka Yoshitsugu (Kirito (Sword Art Online), Sora (No Game No Life)), who voices every other OP MC. He is everywhere, but it’s for a reason though. He is a talented voice actor and he knows very well how to place comic dialogues in serious situations without ruining the feel. Megumi is voiced by Takahashi Minami, who hasn’t done much roles in her life, but after this anime, her career might get a boost. She plays the part of an unconfident character well. Erina’s voiced by Taneda Risa (Kaori (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso), Saki (Shinsekai Yori)) who does a decent job. She does the tsundere role right without overacting too much. There are some really popular seiyuu in the supporting cast such as Shinomiya is Nakamura Yuuichi (Tomoya (Clannad), Gray (Fairy Tail)) and Isshiki is Sakurai Takahiro (Suzaku (Code Geass), Makishima (Psycho-Pass)). Overall, the voice acting is top-notch and the seiyuu are talented enough to be both serious and humorous.
Voice Acting: 8.5/10
~{Music}~
The music is mostly excellent in Shokugeki no Souma. The anime consists of two openings and two endings. The first opening, “Kibou no Uta”, is pretty catchy and represents the show very well. The second opening, “Rising Rainbow”, however is much, much better as it pumps your adrenaline and it really sound like something from a hardcore action shounen. The first ending, “Spice”, is one of the best I’ve heard this year, especially the full version of the song. The second ending, “Sacchan no Sexy Curry”, however is mediocre at best. The music is catchy, but the voice is kind of irritating. The soundtrack for this anime is much, much better than what I expected. My favorite ones, “Food Battle Start!” and "The Kitchen's Front Line" is used very well in the anime to create suspense. "The Secret Ingredient Named Victory" is used when Souma proves his badassary and it sounds awesome. The music used when dishes are being judged will make you laugh because opera music with foodgasms = hilariousness.
Music: 8.5/10
~{Enjoyment}~
It was hard for me to not enjoy this anime. On paper, it would be something that would make me think that this would be one disjointed anime; shounen-style cooking with foodgasms. But in reality this is a creative and well-written anime that knows how to target a wide range of audiences. Its over-the-top cooking can put anyone in a smile and its fanservice is a great example of “ecchi done right”. The show is predictable and formulaic, but it still grabs your attention. The characters interacting with each other and their own ego are fun to watch. Very few times do I actually watch an anime while it’s running, but for Shokugeki no Souma, I couldn’t just wait after watching the first couple of episodes.
Enjoyment: 8.5/10
In the end, Shokugeki no Souma is a must watch for those who have interest in anime. It is definitely a contender for the best anime of the year, and its style and presentation really makes this one enjoyable anime. It does complete justice to the manga, only cutting out scenes that have no purpose in the story (Ping pong scene (hopefully it’s an OVA)), and manages to have a pacing that is favorable for the story (a slower pace during tournaments create more suspense). Shokugeki no Souma is a fresh breath of air and it tells us that anime still can have creative writing and can properly adapt a manga series without putting fillers or without rushing. And as for this review I’m “Happy to Serve!”
+ Faithfully adapts the manga to be even better than its original source.
+ Shounen-style cooking, with fanservice done right
+ Fun and hilarious cast of characters
+ Training Camp arc and Autumn Elections arc
+ Great OPs and EDs and background music.
- Does get predictable sometimes, and ends in the middle of an arc
Overall: 8.4/10
