Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma is an anime based upon the manga series. The first season is 24 episodes long and it follows the titular character, Yukihira Soma. We’re immediately shown how Soma is a prodigy in cooking, he is the son of an even better cook. Soma has always aspired to eventually beat his father but has thus not succeeded. When his father suddenly decides that Soma needs to go to a prestigious cooking school, Soma is naturally surprised but eventually takes on the challenge with gusto.
For a show about cooking, naturally the food is the focus. This is where Food Wars stands out in that it over exaggerates absolutely everything. When people take the first bite of a dish, their reactions are over the top, and this is also where the anime puts in the fan service. There are actually some really suggestive scenes and actions, but it’s done in such a way that’s so ridiculous, that is crosses over to being funny and amusing. It is impressive at how creative some of the descriptions of the dishes are.
A huge part of the show is how when we’re introduced to Soma, he’s already amazing at cooking. His disadvantage, if it can be called that, is that he comes from a “common” background, and is looked down upon by a lot of the other students attending the school, many of whom are heirs to large businesses tied to the food industry. However, Soma’s attitude more than makes up for it. His personality can be overwhelming at first, since he’s straightforward and can be quite blunt, but by the time the fourth episodes comes, it grows on you.
It’s hard to verify if you’re not interested in cooking yourself, but the anime likes to throw in various tricks here and there that Soma uses to make his dishes so delicious. It goes into some detail in explaining why it works, and it does make the anime more interesting and personal. You can’t help but wait for Soma to one up his detractors. However, this makes the first half predictable, as it’s just Soma trouncing one opponent after another, and you know he’d win. It’s still engaging and addictive, but definitely predictable.
It can feel a bit weird sometimes when the anime jumps between being serious and being cheesy. It’ll follow a segment going slightly in-depth in its description of how the ingredients interact within the dish with stereotypical overexaggerated anime reaction by the characters. The anime is probably remembered for its over the top reactions from the characters tasting the dishes, but those can actually be the lower quality segments as it feels like an easy way out, making light of the situation.
Despite being an anime about cooking, it manages to make everything melodramatic, but in a good way. By the time you’re in the middle of the season, it really starts to gain momentum. It manages to somehow raise the stakes, or introduce something unexpected. And also despite Soma being an overpowered character in every sense of the word, his personality which encompasses loyalty and righteousness (as well as less desirable traits like arrogance), makes him a really likeable character. Megumi, the first student that became Soma’s friend, starts off weak and lacking confidence, but soon grows into her own as well.
The anime has a knack for making you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The dishes cooked by the characters of each major event has some deeper meaning behind it, focusing on themes around family and friends. The way it presents these can be clumsy at times, but does just enough to still elicit that important emotional response from the viewer. As the season progresses, Soma also becomes less of a perfect cook, and starts to encounter obstacles of his own. This is good since while we know he’ll still overcome those obstacles, we can see him putting in effort and striving to become better and better.
The anime wasn’t joking when it stated that the academy that Soma found himself attending is ruthless. Students fail and are expelled at the drop of a hat. While it is played up for emphasis, you can imagine how stressful and unhealthy the environment can be. The penalties can also feel too harsh considering all the students are just that, young high school aged students who probably has limited experience.
So while it can seem repetitive at times, it still somehow manages to make it interesting. The same goes for despite you knowing that Soma is probably going to win or get through to the next stage, it’s still tense and there’s just that niggling doubt. This comes to a head in the last few episodes of the season, at which Soma is participating, finally, in a large scale competition. At this point though, as it meticulously goes through each participant (introducing and highlighting a slew of new characters in the process) and the judges’ reactions to the dishes, the over-the-top reactions and short culinary lessons dramatically loses its effect. It starts to become a tedious slog to sit through, when you’re just waiting for Soma’s turns (and to a degree, some of his rivals).
This is still a great first season though and it ends on a high note. The point at which it decides to finish the season is technically in the middle of an event, but it’s a good stopping point nonetheless. By doing this, it hypes you up for the next season. The other good thing about the ending was how it gives depth to several other characters in Soma’s dorm. They were always secondary to everything that’s happened, and you might be forgiven for thinking that their abilities are average. At least the anime showed that this is not the case and they are all talented (which they’ll have to be in order to survive for this long at the academy).
Overall, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma is a fun anime. At times, it can be questionable when it focuses so much on the fan service during the tasting process, but barring that, it manages to balance both the serious aspect and the humor really well. Soma is a likable character, and there are no real antagonists, as they are either rivals to help Soma improve or loyal friends to push each other up. The over-the-top reactions may be inappropriate at times since it gives off an inconsistent tone, and characters might use the word “umami” too frequently, but this is a great anime to watch and enjoy.
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