A series of 3-on-3 battles between Central and the rebel team is the entirety of this season and plenty of the cooking explanation, moaning, over exaggeration and Ecchi that normally accompany it are back in full force. The entire supporting cast is included in their own way but their interactions is extremely limited compared to all previous seasons. While I understand why it had to be this way I do think that the lack of "instant comedy", ruffling feathers or lighthearted comedy bits between various members of the supporting cast is the reason why I enjoyed this season slightly less.
There is plenty to be seen though throughout. We finally get to see a little more of whats underneath the upperclassmen a little more. Cooking styes, personalities, even a few habits. I was surprised by a few things we learned about a few of them. I have always liked Rindo the most out of the upperclassmen and learning a little about her made me like her even more. Her laid back style combined with the fact that she doesn't appear to have an ego the size of a mountain just because she's the second seat of the elite ten even though she seems to have self confidence
The rebel team came together pretty nicely even if their were a few clashes around the season. That doesn't lose points for me, just pointing it out. It was also really nice to see some other people that weren't Souma really shine in a few of these big time shokugeki. There was little bits of teamwork during the battles between a few of the rebels which was cool to see. There's some insane growth in people like Aldini and especially Megumi. It was pleasant to see them take their step forward in a heavyweight fight for lack of better terms since I'm pretty wiped out right now.
I do feel the last battle was a little sloppy... Not just because of what was happening on the rebel team during the battle. Quite honestly I expected some clashing between those titans but something about how things happened combined with remaining time presented as well as what happened during the final battles deliberations... It just felt super awkward, and super rushed in the last one or two episodes of the season.
My time spent getting back into and caught up on Shokugeki no Souma has been very enjoyable and I certainly look forward to watching the fifth plate whenever it completes. I honestly didn't expect to completely power through the seasons I hadn't seen the way I did.
