Shokugeki No Souma has been a staple of Weekly Shonen Jump for over 6 years now and at times it sat near the top of the mountain as one of the most unique ongoing shonen series out there that took your typical battle manga and flipped it on it's head. It seems however that the best days of this manga have long gone by and what we are left with is something that is a shell of it's former self, begging to just be put out of it's misery.
The problem's arising here is not one isolated to this series but in fact often shared with many other series under the same publication and within the industry. Just like in the fall of Bleach or the consistent escalation of villains and power in Dragon Ball and just about 80% of battle manga. The problem with Shokugeki No Souma is that it keeps on going on and on. To be able to consistently write a consistently entertaining series for years all the while under the pressure of the weekly demands of Shonen Jump is extremely difficult to do and it's not surprising to see author Yuto Tsukuda fall into the pitfalls so many before him have done.
So just how has this once new titan of Weekly Shonen Jump fallen?
- STORY -
The story of Yukihira Souma was once quite simple. Our protagonist Yukihira Souma runs a diner with his father of which he has near daily has cooking battles with to determine who is the better chef. Souma has never once defeated his father in these cooking battles and due to his father is worried that Souma will never grow as a chef. So in order for our protagonist to grow to the level where he might some day defeat his father and be worthy of running his own diner, he is enlisted to become a student at the most elite culinary school in Japan where quite similar battles take place, titled "Shokugekis".
That was it and of course during the story our protagonist meets friend and foe alike. Now this may seem very generic and boring minus the cooking part but that's because Shokugeki No Souma seemingly purposefully followed the generic trends of your average battle manga and flipped them on it's head with it's battle system. The "Shokugeki" is a genius concept because cooking is not a life or death subject so that means that a lot (but not all) battles in this battle manga don't have physical connotations but instead emotional ones. Pride, hopes, dreams are what is often at stake here, there are times where there are things such as expulsion from the school on the line but those are far less interesting then simply having our protagonist and side characters revealing their motivations and ideals through non-lethal clashes, which means whether they win or fail, we still get to see how they are affected by the results of these clashes.
But here lies the problems with the manga in it's current state, more specifically the last few arcs. There was only so many times that Tsukuda could write the same characters in the same battles with the same motivations and same ideals. So in come the introduction of newer characters with abilities that surpass our protagonist simply because we need someone new for our protagonist to eventually beat. These new characters are very hit or miss but whether we love them or not is regardless but when they're beaten they often seem to disappear off the face or the earth or become just another side character. All the while our protagonist's ability seems to reach levels of a god despite not having even finished his first year in the academy yet. Side characters, once with their own dreams are reduced to commentary, villains turn good just because we have a new villain who is somehow worse and all of the sudden people go from actual cooking techniques to using "spice chainsaws" and that last one isn't a joke.
- ART -
This is where Shokugeki no Souma has shined and continued to do so in spite of the decreasing quality of everything else within the series. Shun Saeki has done excellent with the series and has brought exceptional amounts of life into nigh every panel. One should prepare for a watering mouth at the sight of a singular panel of the food in Shokugeki no Souma, as it's often more appealing than the real thing.
Character designs are so entrancing and unique that despite the character's often short shelf life of appearances within the manga they are always immediately recognizable upon any reappearance and has lead to a cast that is extremely lovable based on the individuality of their design alone and the motions of their often ridiculous actions whilst taking part in shokugeki are illustrated to perfection and usual hilarity.
It can however be said that Shokugeki No Souma perhaps on occasion a little too far into the ecchi portion of the series and illustrations leave little to the imagination. However on the flip side of that, it is not just the girls of Shokugeki No Souma that receive such treatment so the paradoxical nature of the series towards your average Shonen manga is still left intact.
- CHARACTER -
This will be kept brief as it's very similar to the story section of this review but Shokugeki No Souma suffers once more from the same problems most shonen manga does if it runs for any extended period of time. We are introduced to characters that are fleshed out with their own ambitions, backstory, etc. Then they are shoved to the backline in favor of our protagonist and his love interests. People that once were intrigued the reader to wanting more appearances now offer little more than running commentary as they haven't been awarded the same astronomical power boosts that our protagonist has.
Another thing to note about the characters of the series are the villains. Understandable and interesting when they were fellow students who resorted to cheap tactics to advance their culinary skills and therefore contradicting the ideals of Yukihira Souma, however by advancing Souma to a point beyond the academy so quickly, we are left with Tsukuda introducing villains simply for them to be beaten because Souma has already surpassed anyone remotely interesting. Villain comes in, has no motivation other than going against our protag, uses some ridiculous new cooking technique that Souma has never seen before, Souma wins and will use their technique in the future, repeat. Congrats villain, either disappear or join the commentary booth.
- ENJOYMENT -
As you can probably tell with the tone of this review, their was love for this series in my heart at one point and a genuine excitement for every chapter. That love has been lost to say the least and any interest to be found in the series, it's story or characters have waned. The initial arcs are worth reading and for the most part fun, engaging and interesting. However it would be unwise to invest yourself in a new series if when you catch up with it you are only left with disappointment and a bitter taste in your mouth.
Shokugeki No Souma was great. Shokugeki No Souma was enjoyable. Shokugeki No Souma IS average. Shokugeki No Souma IS tedious.
- CONCLUSION -
Looking at Shokugeki No Souma and all I can see is an author who is struggling under the break neck format of Weekly Shonen Jump, desperate to just get this story over with as quickly as possible. It has been a long time since a chapter that could be deemed undoubtedly satisfying and if it wasn't for the efforts of artist Shun Sakei, their would be little to no merit at continuing with this series. This series is a sick dog, reflected in it's sales and decline in the ranks of Shonen Jump.
I'm just waiting for the day where Weekly Shonen Jump tells us all that this sick dog can't be saved.
- SCORE -
Story - 3/10
Art - 9/10
Character - 3/10
Enjoyment - 3/10
Overall - 5/10
