Shokugeki no Soma – 12
Eat your veggies or you’ll make the veggie spirits cry!
And now…we shall determine which dish was the winner of the shokugeki! Was it Megumi or Shinomiya? If I were a judge, I probably wouldn’t pick either of them because a dish without meat is a dish without love! Awards or not, I’d go to Nikumi’s restaurant over Shinomiya’s. NIKU RABU!
What happened to that cuteness?
I’m not a judge (thankfully) so I don’t have a say in who wins. Obviously, if you watched the episode (why else would you be here?), then you know that Megumi actually loses. I was convinced that her motivation would be rewarded with the other chefs dropping their coins in her plate since Shinomiya underestimated her and avoided making his signature dish. This loss was a bit of an unpredictable twist, although the predictable inevitably happened when Dojima persuaded everyone to call the match a draw in the end. To be fair, it definitely more realistic to have Megumi lose to a professional French chef on her first try. Her dish was good, but clearly not as orgasmic as Shinomiya’s was. The way things turned into a tie was a liiiittle unrealistic but hey, I’ll take it. We all knew these two would have to stay in the school somehow! After watching the asspulls in Jojo’s finale, I think I’m ready to be more forgiving here.
The benefits of having Megumi lose at first are that it shows she still has room for growth and it gives Soma his first taste of loss. I’m glad he didn’t blame their loss on Megumi’s lack of finesse, instead rightfully taking the shame on himself. It’s the best way to trip him up without directly having him lose his own shokugeki match. Which basically means this is probably the one time we’ll see Soma in such a position of weakness, so you gotta savour it! I don’t think this will have much of an effect on Soma since he’s always extremely competitive and hard-working, but I do expect to see some changes in Megumi. At the very least, she should be getting less “Grade E”‘s on everything now that she has confidence. I know her “arc” is technically over, but I want to continue to see her grow as the show progresses – even if she’s not the main focus.
“If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it~”
Based on how the character development is going, it seems like we rotate through the cast of characters, gradually learning more about them one by one. Their pasts, their ambitions, their cooking style, and their personality all start to shine through as time goes on. With almost every character, I’ve had a definitive “Ooooohhhhh!” moment where I completely understood what exact moment or upbringing style made them into the person they are today. For example, Mito came off as a rough and tumble bully at first…but it became obvious later on that she was a rough and tumble bully because her family forbid her from being feminine, so she ended up going to the opposite end of the spectrum. That was my “Ooooohhhhh!” moment where I had a deeper understanding of the character and immediately began to like them more. Yeah, she’s still kind of rude, but it’s kind of cute to think about what kind of person she really is deep down inside and how that brazenness is just a cover.
I had that same moment with Shinomiya this week. I didn’t think I would want to learn even a smidgen of information about this jerk, and we ended up getting his whole life story taking up an episode. I can’t say I like him too much even after he poured his heart out, but at the very least I can say that I dislike him less. Shinomiya simply climbed too high too quickly, and ended up with nowhere to go. The skills he used to get there – working alone and forcing his sous-chefs to be more like underlings than part of his team – actually limited him once he reached the elite level. Sometimes you can find cheap ways to get good at something quickly, but then that method isn’t good enough to differentiate you from the pros who got there building up the right skills in the right way. Shinomiya learned bad habits early on, and that stopped him from being able to listen to anyone giving him advice about how to change his recipes and even improve upon them.
The closest his backstory came to making me feel sympathy was the imagery of him as a child living out in the country. He wasn’t always a gourmet French chef – he was once a country bumpkin like Megumi with an equally adorable accent/dialect. That was really sweet. Too bad he grew up and became a sourpuss. :<
Some Megumin for the soul
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
OMG! Megumi Koro-pok-guru! That was sooooooo freeking squeeeeee! Easily the best of three.
To me this was a win, not for the Megumi/Souma pair, nor the experienced chef, but for what cookery is all about. Cooking for people. After all, a Michelin Star just means you cooked for people, not the star. Plus that git was put himself stuck in snooty central, cooking for a plate cost and a reputation. Blah. Gimme an honest greasy spoon any day…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Anime news: Food Wars Anime Casts Nobuhiko Okamoto, Chinatsu Akasaki
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
I’m not really surprised about this casting. More like, Chinatsu was one of my picks for Alice. There are several seiyuus that get casted together with Matsuoka Yoshitsugu either as a major role or a minor supporting role like they’re always together with him.
The first culprit is Ai Kayano. She and Matsuoka have been together in several main roles like KamiMemo, NGNL, Sakurasou and Saekano. Kayano is also in a support role in Absolute Duo, DanMachi(which I guessed correctly) and here in Souma. They’re also together as supporting roles in Mikagura.
Second culprit is Hikasa Yoko. They were together in Campione, NGNL, M3 and Trinity Seven. I somewhat guessed correctly her role as Freya in DanMachi(who is lusting for Matsuoka’s character). There’s one character that I’m really guessing can be played by Hikasa here in Souma but I doubt we’ll cover up to that part. I’m going to laugh if I’m right though.
Akasaki Chinatsu also gets together with Matsuoka at times with either in support roles. Love Lab, Trinity Seven, Saekano, DanMachi. And now here in Souma she’s a Nakiri who’ll surely encounter Souma at one point.
There are some notable mentions like Oonishi Saori and Tomatsu Haruka. Matsuoka has a sizeable harem in real life, which is ironic for a guy who always get casted as the male lead in harem roles. Even more ironic is that he’s actually pretty awkward around women.
Though his BFF is actually Nobunaga Shimazaki, whom he’s pretty honest and close that they get shipped so hard.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
To be fair, I think the game is more like “One Degree of Yoshitsugu Matsuoka” at this point, given that he’s in pretty much everything, especially stuff with huge casts.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Let’s not forget to add Risa Taneda (Erina Nakiri) to the list. She has a number of series where Matsuoka has had lead or supporting roles as well.
DanMachi: Bell and Riveria Ljos Alf
High School DxD New/BorN: Freed Sellzen and Xenovia
Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei no Kyoukan (Summer 2015): Kanata Age and Yuri Flostre
M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane: Akashi Saginuma and Heito Isaku (Young)
No Game, No Life: Sora and Queen
Strike the Blood: Kira Lebedev Voltisloa and Yukina Himeragi
Tari Tari: Makoto Miyamoto and Midori Ueno
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
ANN article: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka Heads to the Kitchen for a Third Time
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I really liked the way they handled this. It was good to force Megumi to take the lead, because she was relying too much on Soma. Then having her lose gave it a sense of taking the setting seriously, because she obviously was going to lose against a world-class chef.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Though it was harsh, Megumi learned a vital lesson. Constantly relying on Soma would’ve handicapped her. The Academy already made it crystal clear that students will be excised if they can’t perform well on their own.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Be careful how you phrase that. You sound like a carnivore. 😛
Once again, the events went out of expectations. Given this is a shounen, you’d think that though Soma and Megumi aren’t pros, they would, by some miracle, still win the challenge against all odds. Color me surprised and impressed with choice of sticking to reality by letting them get bested by the more experienced chef. Lucky they got saved on a technicality by the crafty Dojima.
So in a nutshell, Shinomiya is one big tsundere prodigy who endured an experience so bad and overwhelming, it made him turn down toward a dark path that ultimately made him a douche. I guess his backstory and him finally acknowledging Megumi’s cooking skills is a start at humanizing his character. However, I’m still a bit hung on what he did during his session by sabotaging the other students. I’ll remember that whenever I see him but I guess that over time, the effects left behind will dissipate.
Dojima for one of the show’s best character by saving and educating three chefs with one Shokugeki. As I remembered him lurking in the shadows during Shinomiya’s session with a disappointed expression on his face, it’s safe to say he was looking for a means of correcting Shinomiya and got it when Soma challenged him. After this episode, mostly on the lecturing of stagnation, everything felt too well calculated.
Soma losing the way did sits well. With it, the chances of overconfidence have been cut down, allowing more thought on diligence and striving to better himself. Personally, I think it was needed because he shows similarities of Shinomiya in his youth, especially the declaration of reaching the top (Soma’s speech at the opening ceremony the day of his transfer to the school). One wrong move and he’ll fall the same way he did.
Last but not least, it’s official: Hinako is a bona fide masochist. When you look things again, you see that everything Shinomiya does to her is retaliation for whatever she starts.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Now that I think about it, looking at the flashback of 10 years ago with Shinomiya and the other soon-to-be alumni and comparing it with present events. It’s safe to say this is a plausible enough indication that everyone in Soma and Megumi’s dorm will make it out alive with each having their own restaurant.