Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

Food Wars....
Let me just start by saying that I loved this series and no matter what, nothing can corrupt my experiences of this series, whether its the mediocre or very worst parts of Food wars the experince for me was unforgetable. This short piece will be me saying why I loved this manga so much and why to me it feels like more than a over the top cooking show.

Lets start with a few aspects of the story, This is the story of an aspiring young Dinner chef named Souma whos dream is to one day surpass his farther and take over the family buiness, this may seem like a small goal too others but littel did Souma know this task took him away from home a into a much tougher enviroment, where everyone thought of Souma as just this peice of garbage and therefore inferior to them and not capable considering the great prestige of the school to do anything. But Souma dosent take any of that shit and just brutally beats them with his cooking techniques (by that I mean hes slapped them with eggs and rice :) . One of the reasons I like Souma so much is that his farther who is seeemingly his main objective as a chef seems to get away from him the further he progresses with his cooking skills, or when he meets a rival who bests him and theres nothing he can do about it, when this happens typically most people would suffer from it . Souma however dosent care because even when things look at there worse and hes threatned to be expelled (5 billion times), does he give up? Fuck no!!!!! Becasue thats just who Souma Is.

Another thing I loved was Souma's journey through Toutski.This School is a Cutthroat academy where only 10% pass and there isnt a day going by where somebody isnt cut from the school or mentally shot during a Food war, oh and Did I mention that the school Is ran by The elite 10 which in reality is insane as fuck just becasue how busted there privilege's are, But I like how these guys dont receive that title for nothing, (becasuse on the Elite 10 offcial sign up page on facebook you have to be able cook a-live alligator and some how get it in a pot while still alive!!!!!!!! yes one of them did that), And When Soumas journey eventually crosses with them I couldnt help but think "Fuck there cool" and soon after I saw the 10 and just how powerful they are I couldnt help thinking "Cool 5 year old (Souma) + Elite Ten Stauts)" Souma you go get that 1st seat my boi, just beacuse the effect of power and aura that the elite 10 give off.

Next is the cooking aspect, what can I say but wow, the first time I saw a shokugeki (Food war) it gave me chill i mean its a show about cooking how can this be so tension filled and epic, and i think some of that comes from the fact just how much then characters are willing to put it all on the line to cook, Im not just saying that becasue most of the time its fail or loose and you get expelled situation beacuse that does happen alot and can get a little cliche sometimes, its more the fact that this is Souma's everything and loosing may bring a reliastion that his dream isnt achievable and thats why Souma and his friends make it so epic, its becasue they always put everything they have on line in an effort to grow stronger.

Next let me talk about a character of course lets start with Erina Nakiri, without a doubt my second favourite character and while I respect Souma for his never give up attitude she is just... Well...Erina?. I think she goes through the most growth and its easy to see why from her past situation to the moment Souma walks through the enternace exam doors, she a fukin tsundere and a cool one at that, shes bascially the queen of the school with her only friend at the beginning being her secretary Hisato whom I suprising like thanks to admiral behaviour around Erina and her being cold to anyone else, Erina dosent let much get past her having a tight leash on the school and the people who arent as strong as her (Mito before she met Souma) basically meaning everyone bar 10 people, she also often cut ties with thoose who make any mistake thinking that weak cooks arent worth spending time with (Until Souma of course cahnges her perspective), making her hard to approach and feared by others, but Souma is the one exception to that because no matter how many times Erina pushes him away, he wont give up as he sees Erina as Rival that he needs to get stronger and will stop at nothing to make her say his food is delcious as he feels as if he is owed it due to their first encounter, and even though it maybe a constant source of anoyance for Erina she galdy learns to accept the fact that he wants to be friends and after she is grateful to Souma for brighting up her life and for not giving up on her when she doubts herself, why does Souma go this far? well because thats just who he is. The realtionship these to build over the course of the series is not only funny but kinda sweet at the same time and I cant help but smile every time they interact with eachother.

Next Lets talk about Souma and what he does that makes him so damn likeable (more so than waht Ive already stated which is alot I know but jsut bare with me), The first moment Souma sets of on his journey to improve his own style of cooking he is critisised due to his background but when insults are thrown at him, they may be because he's a bit over confident in his skill but the none the less and overall nice guy however not many people see that side of him which leads to having the whole school on his bad side, however while that is true Souma's carring and go get em personality allows Souma to make some friends, such as the shy and failing Megumi to the self declared Rival Takumi Aldini who at first pretty much hated him beliving that Souma is all talk and cant speek for his fellow average dinner and lower end restaurants, however he then ends up going through alot with Souma and realise that hes something special and him having the odds stacked against him is what makes him fun and an inspiration to be around and soon enough like Takumi and Megumi he has many friends who all take a page from Souma's book and try to go head first after there dreams just like he does which eventually leads to them growing under Souma and becoming some of the best shefs and all consider Souma as there rivals and friend.

Later in the series the school is taken over and its up to Souma to stand up to this behemoth of a task and conquer it, as it get further to the arc Souma and his friends are treeted less than other students by being given impossible challenges to thoose who oppose the schools new leadership which dosent approve of Souma's ideals leading Souma and his freinds to disagree and rebel against them. meanwhile favouring thoose students who agree with the schools new direction, which leads to one of my if not my favourite part in the entire series where, When faced with impossible odds Souma and his gifted friends do impossible things just to prove how fucking awesome they are, such as completing task set up by the school that even normal students who are supposedly in right in terms of the future off cooking couldnt complete in a million years, personally I love how its set up that Souma and his friends are this jsut and unstopable force and that nothing can stand in their way of reaching there dreams and even iff all is stacked against them they dont give up, and this is because that is the influence Souma has on people, and if it werent for him they wouldnt nearly be as strong because thats just who Souma is.

Understandably this series isnt at all perect, particullarly after the Rebel vs 10 I could fell as if there was a loss of insentive for Souma to keep going and at time certain parts felt rushed and not needed, but all that aside I still love the story of Souma and all the friends and connections he makes with others through his toutski time, and honestly im happy with the conclusion it left me with because Food wars hasnt been something I want to predict or write, because I love the fact that Souma just does what he wants and its nice to know that Souma will keep on moving foward without the need for others opinions.

In the end if you look at this as a Romace or A slice of life or a story telling masterpiece, you will be dissapointed but Food wars is a Journey of a Boy and his friends who have dreams and will go through hell to reach them, and although at the end of the day you may think this show is an over glorified cooking show, I doubt your watching it for what it actually is. Its and experience of what it feels like to have the odds stacked against you and the target being you and your own aspirations and just like Souma does, Dont give up.

P.S sorry about my last review.