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SHOKUGEKI NO SOMA


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#3321 harry4e

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Posted 01 June 2019 - 11:44 PM

Only three more chapters to go, even though it does appear to be the end for the manga, (though it could be the end of the arc, they do sometimes pull these kind of stunts.) I can't say I'm all that surprised that it is ending, but at the same time it feels like they left plenty of unfulfilled potential on the table, the grown of pretty much everyone seems half baked, even Souma who despite being the number one seat never felt like he really should be there.

 

Who knows maybe it will return as a monthly manga or something, oh well let's hope the mangaka takes his time to plan the long term direction of their next manga better  and not just run itself of a cliff like Souma did.


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#3322 Phantom_999

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Posted 02 June 2019 - 01:28 PM

It only feels half baked because everything was rushed and growth was forced because it was insisted the story for the last two major story arcs be treated as a shonen battle series when it wasn't supposed to be. I actually would feel the series wouldn't really get better until it sticks back to its roots but I honestly feel that it has the potential to continue the story did not have the stakes upped  so badly so soon. Anyway lets see what happens.


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#3323 harry4e

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Posted 07 June 2019 - 03:45 PM

So we finally find out what the old mans plan was, aaaaand i'm not sure I'd consider it a plan at all, wasn't it the job of the school to gather the best talent from around the world anyway? It's the most elite gourmet school in the world so you'd expect the most talented upcoming chefs to go there, and if Jouchirou never gave the go ahead the plan would have completely failed, because not a single one of these talents considered going up against Erina to challenge her, (well Hayama probably would, and Alice was going to challenge her no matter what.) Without Souma, they'd all go to school together, Megumi would get expelled, and the rest would graduate. Even with Souma if Azami never came in, Erina would only really interact with Souma and Alice who'd continue to challenge her, everyone else accepted that Erina was in a different league to them, and did their own thing.


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#3324 Bail o' Lies

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Posted 07 June 2019 - 05:58 PM

The looks of things it was he was just planning on throwing every possibility he could and hoping one of the students could save Erina and then hopefully Mana as well. He knew he had the right one when he tasted Souma's entry dish. Yes it was a gamble, it was likely to fail, he admits that, but he wanted to do everything he could to save them.



#3325 Phantom_999

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Posted 07 June 2019 - 05:59 PM

Yeah I'm not buying, because as you've said the writing never supported that. No one besides Soma or Alice ever challenged Erina or her ideas of perfection, so the very notion of raisng an entire generation of chefs that could bring Erina out of despair from her god tongue is rendered moot


Edited by Phantom_999, 07 June 2019 - 05:59 PM.

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#3326 harry4e

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Posted 08 June 2019 - 01:54 AM

Yeah I'm not buying, because as you've said the writing never supported that. No one besides Soma or Alice ever challenged Erina or her ideas of perfection, so the very notion of raisng an entire generation of chefs that could bring Erina out of despair from her god tongue is rendered moot

 

Yeah if anything with the exception of Souma (and Alice with her use of technology) the rest of the Jewel generation were all similar to Erina in how they stayed close to traditional cooking methods, and it was Souma who broke them out of their conventional thinking methods and helped them grow, so even if they were to challenge Erina they'd be swatted aside like every other challenge put in front of her.

 

Also maybe I'm wrong isn't the despair and so called storm that's consuming Erina have everything to do with her mothers reintroduction and have nothing to do with the God Tongue she posses?


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#3327 Phantom_999

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Posted 08 June 2019 - 08:16 AM

The Whole God Tongue plot point was resolved when Soma gave her the Tendon bowl for the first time, THEN she hit the reset button on her development for this idiotic arc. Which, by the way she did not even enter B.L.U.E. for her mother in the first place, but to settle the bet with Asahi so He would stop stalking her. I just feel that this was written in last second to ATTEMPT to make sense but fell flat on its face. Again Ive only tolerated it thus far to see Sorina happen, because MAN was the "cross knives" the most idiotic out pf place @$$pull Tsukuda thought of in the entire series' run.


Edited by Phantom_999, 09 June 2019 - 10:54 AM.

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#3328 harry4e

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Posted 14 June 2019 - 11:12 AM

Well the main manga is now over, as far as finale goes this was a odd one, on one end, I'd be happy with this kind of ending if it felt like the arc itself was resolved, it went from a adopted son that we'd never heard of, to a mother we'd never read anything about to a despair that again never was touched on before, to pretty much ending on the same tone as the previous arc, with Erina getting over her parent issue and butting heads with Souma again, the blue competition became irrelevant, it could very easily be considered a filler arc.

 

 

Though for me the Building stripping was probably the funniest thing I've ever read, it's took a concept that was ridiculous and took it to a whole new level, Super seiyan stripping.


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#3329 Phantom_999

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Posted 14 June 2019 - 11:55 AM

I believe there will be 3 epilogue chapters on Jump Giga so we will see if those either enhance or degrade the entire thing


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#3330 Bail o' Lies

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Posted 14 June 2019 - 06:20 PM

I think it clear that the writer didn't know what to do once they introduced Azami and it never recovered. The thing is before that the school was the primary antagonist with Erina being its main..."avatar." As such she should have been defeat first before going on to the next villain. But instead to increase the stakes, and so they don't have Erina be defeat by Souma so early they moved onto the next villain before the first one was defeated. Also since they couldn't fight Azami directly he needed minions for them to defeat (which I suspect is a major reason for his early intro) the Elite Ten. The greatest cooks in the school, and half of them will be graduating at the end of the year -so to not get everyone blue balls about them not fighting Souma they were made the minions-. The problem with this is that the year was more then half done by the time Azami appeared which gave him very little time to actually be the villain before he had to be defeat by the end of the first year. Also in order to defeat the Elite Ten they had to become better cooks then them...meaning they are now at the end of the first year better cooks then people that are about to graduate. Which means once Azami and the Elite Ten were defeated the school in either its challenges or its students could no longer be a threat to the main cast as far as cooking went. Which means they had to go international to find foes. Which led the current arc. Also they have become increasingly reliant on food fight over other tests of the characters' abilities.

 

Ideally the arcs should have been this:

First year: Souma Vs. Erina and the Elite/Capitalistic School System

Second year Souma Vs. Azami and his Socialist School System.

Third Year: Souma Vs. The International Community and the Blue.

 

The rush removed the second year, and all Azami accomplish was getting Erina over to the good guys side early without being defeated, and kick starting the Souma/Erina romance.

 

Also another problem is Souma first fight with Eishi. Souma lost the fight and as a requirement of their fight should have became Eishi's assistant and join Central. Eishi dropped it, and it led to problem for the manga; Souma can never truly lose now. Before anytime Souma wagers "dropping out of the school" we know he is going to win, because it would end the story otherwise. But he could still lose other competition where he doesn't make that wager. Now even if he does lose; he never has to suffer negative consequences for any lost. Which means any food fight Souma get into is no long interesting because he will always win regardless, or the fight didn't matter anyway. Look at his lost against Asahi all the happen was: lost a knife with no magic power init (yes that was also a problem but it was only introduce in the blue and I suspect to try to make Asahi a threat,) get thrown in a garbage bin, and Erina gets carried away bridal style (which doesn't woo her and she quickly get annoyed by Asahi's antic making even less of a threat to any bond between Erina and Souma.)


Edited by Bail o' Lies, 13 April 2022 - 04:50 AM.


#3331 harry4e

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Posted 14 June 2019 - 07:35 PM

First year: Souma Vs. Erian and the Elite/Capitalistic School System

Second year Souma Vs. Azami and his Socialist School System.

Third Year: Souma Vs. the international community and the Blue.

 

This is similar to how I expected the manga to go, before Azami was introduced, though more, first year they got a taste of the elite 10 and it was the second year that they really battled with them, and last year focusing on a International competition, then final battle against his old man and Erina.

 

After Azami was introduced, I was partially hoping that Souma would actually get expelled, and we'd see a time skip, where Souma returned and was equipped with the skills needed to take on the new regime, with the way the manga felt it never really felt like we saw a convincing growth period that put Souma at the same level as someone like Eishi, and even despite being the number one seat in the last arc, he never felt like he really should be there.


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#3332 Phantom_999

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Posted 14 June 2019 - 08:44 PM

I think it clear that the writer didn't know what to do once they introduced Azami and it never recovered. The thing is before that the school was the primary antagonist with Erina being its main..."avatar." As such she should have been defeat first before going on to the next villain. But instead to increase the stakes, and so they don't have Erina be defeat by Souma so early they moved onto the next villain before the first one was defeated. Also since they couldn't fight Azami directly he needed minions for them to defeat (which I suspect is a major reason for his early intro) the Elite Ten. The greatest cooks in the school, and half of them will be graduating at the end of the year -so to not get everyone blue balls about them not fighting Souma they were made the minions-. The problem with this is that the year was more then half done by the time Azami appeared which gave him very little time to actually be the villain before he had to be defeat by the end of the first year. also in order to defeat the Elite Ten they had to become better cooks then them...meaning they are now at the end of the first year better cooks then people that are about to graduate. Which means one Azami and the Elite Ten were defeated the school in either its challenges or its students could no longer be a threat to the main cast as far as cooking went. Which means they had to go international to find foes. Which led the current arc. Also they have become increasingly reliant on food fight over other tests of the characters' abilities.
 
Ideally the arcs should have been this:
First year: Souma Vs. Erian and the Elite/Capitalistic School System
Second year Souma Vs. Azami and his Socialist School System.
Third Year: Souma Vs. the international community and the Blue.
 
The rush removed the second year.
 
Also another problem is Souma first fight with Eishi. Souma lost the fight and as a requirement of their fight should have became Eishi's assistant and join Central. Eishi dropped it, and it led to problem for the manga; Souma can never truly lose now. Before anytime Souma wagers "dropping out of the school" we know he is going to win, because it would end the story otherwise. But he could still lose other competition where he doesn't make that wager. Now even if he does lose; he never has to suffer negative consequences for any lost. Which means any food fight Souma get into is no long interesting because he will always win regardless, or the fight didn't matter anyway. Look at his lost against Asahi all the happen was: lost a knife with no magic power init (yes that was also a problem but it was only introduce in the blue and I suspect to try to make Asahi a threat,) get thrown in a garbage bin, and Erina gets carried away bridal style (which doesn't woo her and she quickly get annoyed by Asahi's antic making even less of a threat to any bond between Erina and Souma.)

 
Yeah, agreed entirely. although the MC never losing if there was never any real stakes to begin is typical "shonen writing". You've come to expect it, truly. they only one that truly subverted that was Naruto who never won Against Sasuke, although that is not a real stake so much as it is losing his best friend and the fact that Sasuke is Kishi's "favourite pet". That does not negate anything criticism towards the whole thing, I'm just saying.
 

First year: Souma Vs. Erian and the Elite/Capitalistic School System
Second year Souma Vs. Azami and his Socialist School System.
Third Year: Souma Vs. the international community and the Blue.
 
This is similar to how I expected the manga to go, before Azami was introduced, though more, first year they got a taste of the elite 10 and it was the second year that they really battled with them, and last year focusing on a International competition, then final battle against his old man and Erina.
 
After Azami was introduced, I was partially hoping that Souma would actually get expelled, and we'd see a time skip, where Souma returned and was equipped with the skills needed to take on the new regime, with the way the manga felt it never really felt like we saw a convincing growth period that put Souma at the same level as someone like Eishi, and even despite being the number one seat in the last arc, he never felt like he really should be there.


The only problem with that is, WHY WOULD Azami accept a challenge from Soma after Soma had already been expelled from the school, and Azami completed his "true gourmet" plan as intended? You saw his ego. there was nothing Soma had that intrigued him even whne Soma hadn't been expelled yet, and Joichiro offering himself was only because Azami did not assimilate his final piece yet which is Erina. Once Erina is his again I don't imagine Azami would bother with havin his ideals challenged because in his head he is proven right  and would have everything he ever wanted so even if Soma got stronger the point wouldn't really matter anymore.

 

I feel that Azami should have come at a later story arc if at all. but again he only appeared when he did to DEVELOP Erina. My biggest complaint is what happened AFTER, the whole Asahi and B.L.U.E debacle which threw everything out the window even worse than Azami ever did


Edited by Phantom_999, 14 June 2019 - 08:56 PM.

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#3333 Bail o' Lies

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Posted 15 June 2019 - 12:08 AM

First year: Souma Vs. Erian and the Elite/Capitalistic School System

Second year Souma Vs. Azami and his Socialist School System.

Third Year: Souma Vs. the international community and the Blue.

 

This is similar to how I expected the manga to go, before Azami was introduced, though more, first year they got a taste of the elite 10 and it was the second year that they really battled with them, and last year focusing on a International competition, then final battle against his old man and Erina.

 

After Azami was introduced, I was partially hoping that Souma would actually get expelled, and we'd see a time skip, where Souma returned and was equipped with the skills needed to take on the new regime, with the way the manga felt it never really felt like we saw a convincing growth period that put Souma at the same level as someone like Eishi, and even despite being the number one seat in the last arc, he never felt like he really should be there.

Food Wars is a very safe story, part of the problem is when they tried moving ahead instead of following along their set path and I don't think they would have been able to handle doing something that off the rails.

 

 Yeah, agreed entirely. although the MC never losing if there was never any real stakes to begin is typical "shonen writing". You've come to expect it, truly. they only one that truly subverted that was Naruto who never won Against Sasuke, although that is not a real stake so much as it is losing his best friend and the fact that Sasuke is Kishi's "favourite pet". That does not negate anything criticism towards the whole thing, I'm just saying.
 

The only problem with that is, WHY WOULD Azami accept a challenge from Soma after Soma had already been expelled from the school, and Azami completed his "true gourmet" plan as intended? You saw his ego. there was nothing Soma had that intrigued him even whne Soma hadn't been expelled yet, and Joichiro offering himself was only because Azami did not assimilate his final piece yet which is Erina. Once Erina is his again I don't imagine Azami would bother with havin his ideals challenged because in his head he is proven right  and would have everything he ever wanted so even if Soma got stronger the point wouldn't really matter anymore.

 

I feel that Azami should have come at a later story arc if at all. but again he only appeared when he did to DEVELOP Erina. My biggest complaint is what happened AFTER, the whole Asahi and B.L.U.E debacle which threw everything out the window even worse than Azami ever did

It is true Shounen protagonist rarely lose, but their fights are still consider dangerous and their enemies can hurt them if they don't give it their all. That's where most of the suspense come from. The problem is Food Wars slowly removed that by Souma constantly using expulsion as part of the wager for any interesting matches he had eventually makes so the wager removes tension instead of adds to it. The fight with Eishi just made sure now all Souma's fights had the same problem.

 

Azami let his people challenge Souma because if he failed he wasn't worthy of being Saiba-senpai's son but I don't recall him ever going out of his way to antagonize Souma; after he learning who his father was. When he eventually did go after him; it was more just stamping out the last resistance against his rule that was left in the school. 



#3334 Phantom_999

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Posted 15 June 2019 - 01:47 PM

While it is true expulsion is not any real danger, what I was getting at is that Shonen anime don't necessarily use threat of death as drama always. One example being the beginning of Yugioh GX where there was a similar theme ( a re-occurring gag actually) of Chronos/Crowler threatening to expel Judai/Jaden on a regular basis. Or in fact, there was an anime/manga series with a practically identical premise- Yakitate Japan, which was about baking bread and the characters always entering bread-making competitions, and so were never in danger with the worst thing happening to them is the humiliation of defeat/not making enough money to keep their bakery open, etc. It may seem that SnS was not the the type of manga to have those high stakes battles that seem like shonen battles series and I can agree in many ways. It was fine as it was all the way until the end of the moon festival arc. But ultimately that is what it became, as silly and out of place as it was. I am just clarifying that Shonen manga has occasionally had had competition like series where losing itself is treated as serious business and does not always deal with risking the characters' lives. This is especially true of card game anime, no? Even Yugioh does not always deal with potential death as drama for the series yet the main characters win their battles anyway and you see it coming.

 

As for Azami, I am not saying that he was ever really antagonizing Soma personally, but that he has refused Soma's challenge when Soma had nothing of worth to make him accept the RDC remember? He only accepted when Joichiro offered to be one of his's "true gourmet enforcers". So how believable would it be if Soma lost, got expelled then trained to get stronger then comes back to challenge Azami again? At that point Azami would have acquired Erina already and his plan would be complete so I don't imagine that he would listen to nor bother giving his time to a Chef that embodies everything he is trying to get rid of in his envisioned  "true cooking paradise", especially if he already lost any rights to be at the school. That is all I'm saying. That would be a character consistency with him


Edited by Phantom_999, 17 June 2019 - 12:18 PM.

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#3335 harry4e

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Posted 28 June 2019 - 03:47 PM

The first chapter in the epilogue might actually be better than the accumulative content of the entire previous arc. The schools moving in the right direction, Erina is behaving like you expect her to behave, Megumi new found confidence is clear for everyone to see, and Souma is doing what I expected him to do years ago.

 

Maybe this was what the original plan always was, and it was the editors that pushed the new direction that sucked. Next chapter we finally get to get a more detailed look at how Jouchirou met his wife.

 

Artwork look different though, everyone looked younger and softer(?), not sure what to make of Erina's new hair style though.


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#3336 Bail o' Lies

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Posted 28 June 2019 - 08:51 PM

So they were in the second year. Now, they are in the third...my comment from before still stands the early introduction of Azami led to a rush story.

 

So why are they required to put this as another magazine again? Was it at risk of canceling due to low sales? Or they not want to get Hinata-ed? So they moved it over so they could do the ending they wanted?


Edited by Bail o' Lies, 29 June 2019 - 09:05 AM.


#3337 harry4e

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Posted 29 June 2019 - 02:18 AM

Maybe they wanted to write the epilogue without the pressure of producing a 20 page mange every week to do it justice, with a monthly manga they can take their time with the content and make a shorter contained ark without worrying about a cliffhanger every 20 pages. or maybe they intended to end it last month but with the fourth season getting green lit, they wanted a bit more content to take them to the start of the season.

 

Have to say I am surprised how soon the fourth season is going to air, usually they take longer between announcement and airing, but it's airing this Autumn, I hope Risa Taneda returns to voice Erina, her replacement, while extremely talented didn't quite suit the role as well as Risa..


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#3338 Phantom_999

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Posted 02 July 2019 - 12:32 PM

Well truth be told, I feel that many if not all shonen manga have been having that" ominous syndrome" where they end on a terribly open ended manner that feels so inconclusive and without closure that it pisses fans off. If I was told that is how SnS ends after following it for these last 7 years I'd actually be very upset. Probably the reasons for that is that the authors could not conclude the series the way the want it due to the company pressuring them to end it as quickly as possible so new publications could start, or they deliberately leave it open ended so the readers could come to their own conclusions. So let's see if these "dessert" chapters give us anything of value by comparison.

 

P.S. That actually makes me very worried about other Shonen series that I love to death. :ermm:


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#3339 Phantom_999

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Posted 25 July 2019 - 11:40 AM

Well chapter 2 of Le dessert came out today. The chapter was pretty cute for the first half with the flash back then the later half kind of ruins it :ermm: So apparently for Asahi, being a crappy ill written villain IS IN THE BLOOD :th_yeah:  :hehehe: Also EEEWWW :twitch:  :yucky:

 

It's on Viz manga if anyone is interested


Edited by Phantom_999, 04 September 2019 - 08:28 PM.

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#3340 harry4e

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Posted 26 July 2019 - 12:00 PM

I know the second half reveal does leave a disgusting taste in your mouth, but I found the reveal to he hilarious, it cheered me right up, it really does run in the family and not sure if there were many who shipped Asahi/Erina (and I'm sure they were some.) but there chances of that happening just got nuked. (see Kishi you can find a solution to everything if you try hard enough.)

 

I also liked the small touch how they felt the need to retcon Tamako's haircut from the early chapters. Tomako looks a lot like Hisako there.


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