This review is about the first season of Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma. So far I’ve only watched the first two episodes, but like Kamigami no Asobi, I will break it down. Shokugeki no Soma isn’t one of those “Oh, it’s just an anime about cooking, right?”.  No, it certainly is not. It is about a 15-year old boy named Soma who helps run the Yukihira restaurant with his father, Joichiro. I have to say when I first read the manga, there were definitely some “what the hell is this?” moments. This is by far the funniest anime I have come across as of yet; and it pretty much stays true to the manga. There are good, solid plots in the first two episodes. As I go through each episode, I will discuss them as thoroughly as I can. Be prepared for some really outrageous scenes.

The beginning we see a cooking showdown of Soma and his father in Yukihira. They come across as competitive in their cooking, but not in a brutish or ill-willed way. So when they serve their food to customers/Soma’s friends, we get to see how every reaction on food alone is completely over the top. When the decision is made by Mayumi Kurase that Soma’s dad has the tastiest dish, Soma gives her a peanut butter covered squid to try.

Of course, that didn’t go too well. Mayumi’s reaction is so hilarious. I would never have expected to see so much accuracy of this in the anime from the manga. But it does a good job of making people think: oh god, that squid must taste horrible….

Soma is approached later on by Yaeko Minegasaki. Yaeko has attempted to close down Yukihira to put in a housing complex before, and now she tries again. She asks Soma what would happen if they couldn’t give the customer their desired order, and Soma says they would shut down.  Being a manipulative business woman, she goes on her way. Or so it would seem. Soma gets a phone call from his dad and is concerned when Joichiro asks him what he is going to do after school. Soma tells him he wants to help run Yukihira. This conversation is actually perfect because it pretty much lets people know something is building up enough to change the direction of Soma’s life.

Soma shows up at Yukihira and finds it vandalized. All the refrigerators were opened, food on the floor, and Soma is completely horrified. When Minegasaki shows up almost instantly, it’s pretty much obvious she is the culprit. So what happens? She orders a meal from Soma and demands it to be the specific meal. There are, of course, not enough ingredients to make it, so Soma comes up with an idea by using the ingredients he had on him:Potatoes and bacon. He creates a potato “pot roast” wrapped in bacon and serves it to Minegasaki.

Of course she’s angry because it’s not what she asked for, but after tasting it, she goes into some sort of food ecstasy. It’s an overreaction similar to Mayumi in the beginning of the episode, but…it’s not as bad, since it’s not a peanut butter covered squid. Whenever Soma makes anything incredibly delicious, it’s almost as though anybody that eats it has some kind of orgasm… or to be clean-mode, a state of incredible bliss.

The first episode holds up on its own really, really well. In some instances, the first episode of a series can either lure you in, or it may take another episode to start getting really interested. This one is not the latter, but the former. The comedic portion stays pretty strong and there are a few funny moments throughout the first episode.

When Soma is successful in having Minegasaki promise not to touch Yukihira, Soma ends up leaving anyway to go to Tothsuki Dining Academy. This is due to his father closing the restaurant while he goes overseas to cook. Joichiro tells Soma he will send money to him once in a while Soma learns to cook even more and show what he’s got as a cook. To me, it seems like the beginning of the episode shows Soma at his best, as in knowing how to cook in his familiar surroundings, and now he’s stripped of everything and has to begin again, only in a new place and learning new meals. 

As Soma makes his way to the Academy, he realizes it won’t be easy and he will have to deal with a lot of stuck-up students. This will be discussed more thoroughly in the next posting. Episode one was pretty much an introduction to the series, and a build-up to what’s going to follow.

The second post will be about episodes two and three. Stay tuned!