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First half was acceptable but not on par with the other cours, however the second half got things back into gear again when we get a little bit of character development for Erina, and an insight on Saiba Jouichiro's past while he was still attending the academy.

At times the show is a little predictable but the way the cooking is presented is still fun and interesting to see, especially with the current arc of the former Elite Ten members and Souma's team fighting against Central in the final few episodes with a lot at stake. One thing I also noticed is that the show is very slideshowy, in the sense that the camera movements are always lateral or horizontal with the same generic shots and very little movement of the characters which is likely to make up for budgetary restraints.

I feel like especially with a cooking show, good animation is important, so it would've been nicer to have some better shots and more insight into how the dishes were specifically made rather than a quick summary at the end of the dish's production and a few shots in between. The first and second seasons did a better job in this respect, though I believe it just depends overall on how much time they are willing to spend on each match that determines how much detail they put into capturing the cooking process which is something I can understand seeing as Shokugeki no Souma is a seasonal one cour release (with the exception of the first season). On a slightly different note, while I understand Souma is supposed to be and is written as a playful / amicable character, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that his personality got a little on my nerves, and this seems to to be more apparent since the third season started, with the more frequent use of the chibi-like characters when "funny" moments are occurring. I've taken it with a grain of salt so this isn't too large of an issue in terms of his character writing, however for some people, his character may trigger them depending on how tolerable they are to such personalities.

In this part of the season, we're also being introduced to a bunch of new characters such as the provisional Elite Ten members and the second and third years that attempted the battle royale to win the selection and obtain a spot in the group that have very little depth to them with no explanation as to how they got their spots, apart from the fact that we understand they are skilled at cooking. I'm not sure if this will be expanded on in the following season but they just seem to come and go as opponents the main cast can fight against for plot convenience.

In any case, this is a relatively decent shounen series that despite it's flaws, I do enjoy, and have enjoyed throughout it's entirety as of yet. It's nothing amazing or fantastical in terms of its production values, plot or characters, but it's something that would be appealing to many people that want to just sit back, relax and watch a fun anime.