1. 2 cups of spikey-haired, shounen head protagonist.
2. 4 oz of high school drama (kitchen drama is a good substitute).
3. 6 oz of (wo)man-children teachers, setting you up for failure, while not teaching you much of anything (sounds familiar).
4. Diced "non-battle, battle anime".
5. A pinch of roasted, Gordan Ramsay quotes.

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After mixing with some takoyaki (a lot of takoyaki) bake for 24 minutes at 528°. It will need to roast that hot, because what Food Wars, retroactively known as The First Plate is, is straight fire.

First, I’d like to take note of the series protagonist, Souma Yukihara. As an individual who isn’t really interested in usual shounen tropes, characters and stories, I can easily stan Souma, his optimism makes him a breath of fresh air, I can’t deny. Seeing him never quite lose his spirit or passion for cooking or hold toxic grudges against rivals, and remaining a laid-back kind of guy makes the whole thing an easy watch. I just never get sick of him. His straightforward story of wanting to surpass is father’s culinary skills is also enough for me to hold on for the ride ahead. Another high mark I can give him, is also to his dad Joichiro Yukihara, the proud owner, head chef, and operator of his self-named, no frills diner, Restaurant Yukihara. Father and sons, interplay and food “battles” are always a joy to see, and unlike many anime, absentee parents (guess I can’t speak for Souma’s mother though), Joichiro is there for his son always. Until he’s not by the end of the first episode, but even there he doesn’t just abandon Souma mysteriously, he clues him in. And not to soon later makes a casual check up on his son and how he’s doing in school.

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I’d being lying if I said the rest of the cast at large is a particular stand out, or deeply personified though. Don’t get me wrong, nudist Issihiki, and best girl “Meat-Meat” are a ton of fun watch. However, I found my personal attraction to a character was based a different barometer and that was how good of a foil they were to Souma. Characters I would normally have disliked (Erina) or found annoying (also mainly Erina or the beef bowl club guy, who I didn’t even bother to look up his name for this side anecdote) get picked up by Souma’s enthusiasm.

Obviously, I’d be missing hard if I didn’t take a moment to mention Megumi at this point. Megumi is a character you just want to see succeed. She has the potential to be a great chef, and surpass her anxieties (something I can relate to). And Souma is a perfect friend to help her see her own potential, just fingers crossed they are not shipped later. Right now, though watching them do their thing is fun.

I didn’t find much at fault with the show, sure jokes don’t always land and sometimes art and animation left room for improvement. I’d also mention that Food Wars hasn’t done anything much to push the boundaries of it’s genre, and hasn’t hit the heights some of it’s contemporaries hit. That said, this is still just the first season and it does spend it’s time building up the stakes and characters of it’s world.

And in the end, I stan good-boy Souma Yukihara.