Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma

Episode 24

Holy Basil, it's the end of Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Sōma! And honestly, while there's an implication that more story lies ahead, it doesn't feel like the series is expecting to get a second season. While that doesn't necessarily preclude that from happening, there's still a feeling of finality to this last episode, with just enough wrapping up to fill fulfilling and just enough left open to make you pick up the manga.

There aren't any surprises about the plot of this episode: it's finally Soma's turn to face off against Akira in the Fall Classic/Autumn Elections/any combination of those words you like. We're first reminded of the prowess and power of Akira's dish, which it turns out is due in part to his use of the awesomely named holy basil, a particularly potent form of the spice. Even Soma's impressed, but being who he is, he's not especially nervous, and sure enough, his dish is also spectacular. There is a bit of a twist as the final judging goes on, but on the whole the majority of this episode really plays out about as you'd expect it to, right down to Erina hearing mention of Soma's father for the first time. That feels like the least resolved plot thread for this show: Erina's contentious relationship with Soma and the fact that she has a case of, at the very least, hero worship for his father without knowing who the man in question is. We can, however, start to see her grow in this episode, albeit only a small amount – she's starting to realize that her emotional reaction to Soma and his cooking is much more complex than she initially assumed (“I hate him!”) and that he's clearly not as foolish as she had believed. She's still not mature enough to fully understand what's going on inside her head, which makes it look as if she ends the series where she started it, but enough time is spent this week showing her thinking about things to feel as if significant attitude changes are in the future.

In other relationships, this last episode really seems to be pushing the Megumi/Soma pairing, even as he remains unaware of much outside of his cooking. He clearly does have stronger memories of Megumi than of some of his other cooking buddies/rivals, however that does not necessarily denote romantic affection on his part. For hers, Megumi seems to be stumbling out of awe and into a crush, much to Nikumi's horror. But there's a general feeling of camaraderie as the main crew gets together at POLARIS after the competition to party in Marui's room against his wishes, with outsiders like the Aldini brothers and Nikumi included in the gathering.

Fanservice is back to being much more equal and largely less demeaning this episode, possibly because it doesn't really need any padding. It's a shame that the last shot before the end title card goes back to the tentacles of the first episode, however; as bookending the series goes, it was a poor choice and reflects the problems of earlier episodes rather than the much more entertaining show it became as it went on. That aside, there's only one inexplicable boob bounce and more sexualized men than women this time, with a special mention of the Aldini brothers' reaction to Isshiki's casual wear as a real highlight. (To say nothing of Isshiki's third form.)

Food Wars! had a bit of a bumpy run with a slow start and some problems along the way, but I'll admit that I'm going to miss it. Changing the standard shounen tournament into a cooking rather than a fighting battle made for a fun watch, and Soma's overwhelming confidence didn't detract from the fact that he was generally a nice guy. Throw in Megumi's evolution over the course of the series, the moments of humor, and some truly mouthwatering dishes, and this was a show that ultimately worked well. It's a shame that there's no mention of more as of this writing, but let's wait and see – we may get to roam the halls of Totsuki with this band of aspiring cooks once again sometime in the future. After all, it's clear there's more story to tell.

Rating: B

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rebecca Silverman is ANN's senior manga critic.