Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Episode #15 Anime Review

Soma’s goal of surpassing his father is far more significant than he ever realized.

What They Say:
The Man Called the Demon

Shokugeki no Soma centers on Yukihira Soma, a middle school student who is determined to surpass his father’s culinary skills. One day, his father decides to close down their family restaurant and hone his skills in Europe. Before leaving he enrolls Soma in an elite culinary school that is extremely difficult to enter with a graduation rate of only 10 percent. Will Souma be able to improve his skills, or will the kitchen prove to be too hot?

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After a week off, Food Wars! is back in full swing, following up the training arc that comprised the first real arc of the series with some aftermath and transitional material, as well as the obligatory new opening and ending songs and sequences. Even just one week off was enough to make the week feel like it had a major area of emptiness, and as soon as this episode kicks off we’re reminded of why it’s become such a valuable entry in current anime. Considering how much it’s improved in just over half of its run, it should only be more exciting to see what heights it can reach by the end, hopefully only a temporary end as the manga is still going strong every week.

As the students leave the training camp, the alumni take the opportunity to try to scout some of the impressive students as prospective future employees for their restaurants. Soma and Megumi are the centers of attention for this appeal, thanks mainly to their shokugeki, despite it being something that many would view as a disrespectful challenge by Soma and also the one moment that Soma truly considers a failure. Most importantly, this provides what may be the last of many of these characters we see in a while, and while everyone loves Megumi, Hinako’s obsession with her has always made for some of the best humor in the series, especially when Hinako is also acting as the perfect foil to Shinomiya. These guys did a great deal to make this arc fun.

From that moment on, though, there’s one common thread tying together every aspect of the episode, and it becomes more and more critical as each element of the series is added to it: Soma’s dad is visiting, and he was one of the most legendary chefs from Totsuki himself, one with a far more enigmatic history than the ones who have achieved the finest success all over the world. One important note is that “Yukihira” is not a name he was known as when he was a student (not surprising, since Soma would’ve gotten a lot more attention otherwise), though the specifics of that are left unrevealed for the time being. It was implied several episodes ago that Dojima had a connection to Joichiro, but with uncharacteristic uncertainty it’s not until now that he puts all the pieces together and confirms his suspicions, which he finds as fascinating as anyone.

Arguably the second main character after Soma is the closest thing to a main antagonist we have at this point, the one chef most diametrically opposed to Soma’s values, Erina. As much as she tries to deny it, Soma has managed to impress her several times, and a momentary reveal from her in this episode ties into the many mysteries posed throughout it, adding even more questions.

In Summary:
After a brief break Food Wars! is back and onto its next big things, presenting an ostensibly calm episode while loading it with major revelations and layering them with implications of much more, increasing the intrigue exponentially. It’s good to be back, and it’s only continuing to get better.

Grade: A-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Roku 3, Sceptre X425BV-FHD 42″ Class LCD HDTV.