Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma - The Second Plate is the second season that’s based on the manga. It’s shorter than the first season, at only 13 episodes long. It skips the pleasantries and goes straight into it though. The last season ended with the first round of the Autumn Elections, and the first episode starts with the first match of the second round. This round consists of one-on-one matches, and conveniently, Soma’s a participant in the first match.
By having the characters jump straight into their matches, it feels the opposite of what happened at the end of the last season. There, we would be sitting through everyone else until Soma’s turn, whereas here, the pacing feels much faster, as if it doesn’t have enough time to cover everything it needs to this season and rushes it. Thankfully, this doesn’t drop the quality and it is welcome, although the amount of times “umami” is mentioned can diminish the impact of the word.
Going back a step though, the anime is about Soma, a talented chef with an confident (slightly arrogant yet still likeable) attitude attending the famous / infamous culinary academy Totsuki. Totsuki Academy is famous for its harsh and unforgiving course, with no hesitant is expelling students who make the slightest of mistakes. Soma, after bragging his intentions to the whole school, is aiming to become the best chef, but as expected, he has plenty of rivals along the way, the chief of whom is Nakiri Erina, also an extremely talented chef. However, Soma and Erina never truly faces off, since Erina is kind of like the final boss, the one Soma will face at the end of the story.
It’s surprising that the anime manages to keep the tension going. The eight contestants are each so strong that it is hard to determine who is going to win and proceed to the semi-finals and then the finals. Just when you thought that this character will win, it gives a compelling reason for their opponent to triumph over them instead. As a result, the anime gives plenty of surprises, and it resolves these faceoffs in a satisfactory way so it never feels cheap or overlooked.
Most of the background information about the characters were meticulously revealed last season, so there’s less flashbacks this time around. This isn’t to mean there aren’t any, it’s just less predictable and less tedious. The anime also has a better handle between the drama and humor aspects of the story, achieving a solid balance. You now look forward to the slapstick gag that you know is going to pop up. As a viewer, having a better understanding of the characters now also helps as the story manages to make each character unique in their cooking style and motivations, creating more reason for what’s happening.
As expected, the over-the-top reactions are back and crazier than ever. While they are some of the more imaginative aspects, they can also be some of the cheesier scenes. This thankfully doesn’t get carried over to the dishes, which feel a lot more grounded. It justifies and explains the ingredients and how they work together to form the dish in a knowledgeable and confident way. As a result, there are several times where it’ll probably make your mouth water as you consider how good the dish will actually taste if you had a chance to eat it.
Surprisingly, the anime blasts through the Autumn Elections arc and moves onto the next one before the end of the season. While it is definitely more of a low-key event compared to the flashy competition, it is nonetheless equally intense and important. This section also gives us an insight into the workings of a professional kitchen, and the pressures that come with it. It highlights the consequences of even just one person not pulling their weight and how it can drag everyone down. It also helps that the season brings back some familiar characters, who you may have disliked in the past but seeing the growth that they had gone through as well, can’t help but like them now.
Soma himself is also constantly growing. The best aspects about his personality is how he doesn’t spend the time wallowing in his own misery, despite having every reason to do so. He has confidence in his ability, even when everyone else looked down upon him. However, when that confidence is cracked, he doesn’t collapse and instead focuses on improving himself, and overcoming the next obstacle that’s in his way. It’s something to admire, and while it is idealistic, it is a good approach and angle.
Again, the season ends on a high note with a satisfying conclusion. We see Soma, while not getting over his opponents, look ahead and seriously criticise his own style of cooking. It’s a heart-warming scene, especially when we see all the other characters working hard. That’s the thing with the anime, there are no unlikeable characters. Everyone ends up being redeemed in the viewers’ eyes. The anime holds a lot of promise for its future and probably the biggest negative now is that the cast is so big, some characters naturally aren’t seen for periods at a time.
Overall, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma - The Second Plate is a great follow up season. The continues the surprisingly interesting story of Soma as he forges his way through Totsuki Academy. The season goes through at a fast pace to avoid burnout (unlike the last season’s finale), but still takes enough time to explain the intricacies of each dish. It’s an addictive mix and the best part is that there are no winners or losers, you root for each character even though you know not everyone will succeed, but all of them continues to learn from their experience.
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