Hewwo, I’m Panda! How many times have I said that now? uwu Before you start reading, note Shokugeki no Souma is the Japanese title and Food Wars is the English title. Anyway, welcome to my Shokugeki no Souma anime review!

General info about Shokugeki no Souma. 

Shokugeki no souma is a three-genre anime. This is according to MAL. School, ecchi, and Shounen. (A good school anime is Just Because.) Don’t get put off by the ecchi, I will mention this in the “Plot – Possible issues.” paragraph. The anime has three seasons, a nice size though how many episodes in each season is questionable. Alright so, Season 1 was 24 episodes. And Season 2 was 13 episodes. Finally, Season 3 was 12 episodes. They clearly thought people enjoyed fewer episodes in a season. In my opinion, I honestly despise having 10 or 12 episodes in a season. We need more. Though I see their thinking, at this point, animes started to have a shorter episode count in a season. 25 episodes, to 13 episodes, to 12 episodes is so unsatisfying agh. But this isn’t a major problem obviously. This amazing food anime was produced by J.C.Staff.

Characters

Characters.

I like the characters, I think they’ve been fairly well done.(I’ve been talking to the anime-reviewer and Romeo x Juliet has amazing characters.) They all have a unique personality and a ‘flaw’. It’s not that great of a flaw but the ‘flaw’ is a big part of their personality and something they have to overcome. I think it adds to their character and makes them more entertaining to watch. I will try my best to summarise the characters in short and then give my opinions on them. And thank God, my friend watched Food Wars and was able to help me a lot and thanks, if you’re reading this. Anyway, let’s start with Souma. 

Characters – Souma Yukihira

Souma Yukihira.

Souma works at a downtown diner and runs the place with his father. His father has to leave him to work at expensive, fancier restaurants (as he’s an amazing Chef). Leaving Souma to try and get into a prestigious cooking academy. Though I hate to admit it, Souma is an ordinary male shounen main lead. He works hard but acts carefree. Has a simple goal and is a determined character. His ‘simple goal’ is to impress and gain approval from his father as a Chef. He’s an adaptable character and is always experimenting. Being from a downtown diner, he struggles to prepare prestigious, fancy dishes. This is one of his ‘flaws’, that I previously mentioned. He’s an entertaining character to watch though he is stereotypical male lead. I really like the ‘downtown diner boy goes to fancy school’ sort of concept. It may not be as original and creative as other animes, but that doesn’t matter too much. And this doesn’t matter much but the red hair is amazing. (Kagami from Kuroko no basket has amazinggg red hair, I know this isn’t related to anything but how can you hate it?)  

Characters – Erina Nakiri

Erina Nakiri.

Erina is one of the main characters in this anime. She is the examiner Souma must go through to get a place in Totsuki Culinary Academy. I must admit, I didn’t really like her at all when I first started watching Shokugeki no souma. I didn’t like the concept of a rich, pampered girl. Though my opinion changed throughout the anime. First, the concept of a “God’s tongue” made Erina a more interesting character to watch. God’s tongue is a special ability where Erina is able to taste any food with accuracy. (If you’re interested, check out this page.) She has an amazing backstory, which obviously changed my mind on Erina. I won’t spoil it but it tells you the reason for her personality, which is cold and ruthless. Though she has a soft side. Erina is a tsundere. My favourite types of characters. Though I don’t know really if I like her sort of tsundere.

Plot

Ever since he was a child, fifteen-year-old Souma Yukihira has helped his father by working as the chef in the restaurant his father runs and owns. Throughout the years, Souma developed a passion for entertaining his customers with his creative, skilled, and daring culinary creations. His dream is to someday own his family’s restaurant as its head chef.

Yet when his father suddenly decides to close the restaurant to test his cooking abilities in restaurants around the world, he sends Souma to Totsuki Culinary Academy, an elite cooking school where only 10 percent of the students graduate. The institution is famous for its “Shokugeki” or “Food wars,” where students face off in intense, high-stakes cooking showdowns.

As Souma and his new schoolmates struggle to survive the extreme lifestyle of Totsuki, more and greater challenges await him, putting his years of learning under his father to the test. (Source.)

Plot – Possible issues

Now, I’m not personally affected by this but it’s my job to inform you why you may not like this anime. In my opinion, this doesn’t change anything. But, as I mentioned in my “General” paragraph, this anime is under the genre of ecchi. I know exactly why. This can be counted as both negative & positive, to be honest. But I’ll focus on the negative in this paragraph. When a character finds a particular food delicious and amazing, they have a foodgasm. During this foodgasm, there is a “sense of nudity”. (Honestly, this is so awkward.) Which is what makes this anime fall into the category of ecchi. So basically, don’t watch this with your grandma and you’ll be fine. Hopefully, you don’t get put off by this because it’s a lot more than ecchi. I recommend you read my “Plot – Positives” before making a judgment. 

Plot – Positives

Linking back to my previous paragraph, I’ll first start talking about the foodgasms. The foodgasms are done in a hilarious, comedic effect. Now, personally, I didn’t feel anything, neither amused or annoyed. However, I have been talking to many people and looking at other anime reviews, and yes, this is supposedly amusing. Do I just have no sense of humour? Anyway, they’re not done in a “dirty hentai” way. And yes, I am aware the words “dirty hentai” is 10/10 cringe. What I like about the plot is that although having a long distance goal, they manage to keep it entertaining throughout the anime. I applause this fact because it’s easy to fall into the trap of having a long distance goal but not keeping it entertaining throughout. 

Animation

Now, for a food anime, the art is very important. Why? Because for it to be a good food anime, the food needs to look amazing. Otherwise, is it even a food anime? However, on the other hand, bad food needs to look bad. It needs to give the effect it’s awful and you wouldn’t want to eat it. Shokugeki no souma does a brilliant job of both of these. The food will make your mouth water. The way it’s displayed and the art.. Honestly some of the best anime food. And their bad food looks bad. Souma likes to experiment – and by that, I mean he likes to make disgusting foods. For example, tentacles and honey. All of his “experimental food” looks absolutely awful. Now, don’t forget, this is a good thing. I’ve focused on the food but the characters, background etc are decent. I have no complaints. Good overall animation for me. 

Music

The OP and ED weren’t memorable for me. Though when I listened to them again, I enjoyed them heavily. It has happy beat but not something unbearably “loli, happy, sunny world” sort of type. I’ve said this so many times, but this honestly amazing. They got great singers and the music sounds great. What I found interesting is both the OP and ED are 1:30 minutes. Is this unusual? Regarding the video, it was chilled and I think it suited the music well. I would definitely listen to this music again. I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for some anime music. 

Opening

Ending

Entertainment value

I enjoyed this anime although it actually took me a long time to finish. I hesitated every episode because I knew I’d get insanely hungry again. Haha, make sure to bring snacks. And for the first time, I don’t have much to say. I feel like my opinions have already been said. I like how there’s a different mixture of personalities and there’s equal screen time, in my opinion. 

And… We’re done! Phew, this took me a long time but I’m really proud of this article. I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and do you agree with my score of 8.75/10? I decided to try and be more accurate with my ratings so I did the mean average and everything. Feel free to comment on this anime below or answer my questions if you feel like it. 

Ratings

[penci_review]

1. Do you watch food animes? If so, which ones do you recommend? 
2. Have you watched Shokugeki no souma? 
3. Do you usually call animes by their Japanese or English titles? 

If you want another long, detailed anime review, check out: Fruits Basket.