Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma

Episode 3

If the world of Food Wars! were suddenly to sink in the ocean, most of the characters wouldn't need flotation devices – they could all just bob along on their enormous, inflated egos. Not that some of them don't deserve to be proud of themselves – Erina, for all of her issues, really is very good, and Soma truly is an amazing chef, as are other characters not yet named who we see preening around in this episode. But it does make it difficult to like many of the characters thus far, since their only discernible flaws right now appear to be “overwhelming sense of own importance.” Granted, new character Megumi Tadokoro does not suffer from this particular character flaw...but she goes too far the other way, freaking out at the certainty of her own inevitable expulsion. Yes, this is only episode three, but we've pretty much established a pattern already: people doubt Soma and get upset that he dares to think he can cook, he cooks awesomely, everyone else eats crow. It isn't quite monster-of-the-week, but it feels dangerously close to it.

On the other hand, there is something pretty great about rooting for the underdog, and that Food Wars!' third episode has in spades. After the opening ceremonies, where Erina finds that she's been overruled in terms of Soma's admission to Totsuki, Soma finds himself in his first official class at the prestigious culinary academy: French cooking with Chef Chappelle, known among students as “the chef who never smiles.” Being from a Japanese restaurant, Soma's never made a French dish before, and to complicate matters further, he's paired with Megumi, who barely made it through the middle school division at Totsuki and is positive that she's going down in flames. Between her panic and the efforts of snotty classmates who want to sabotage his food, Soma looks to have his work cut out for him...not that he's aware of it. One of the interesting things about him is that he never really freaks out, no matter what the situation, nor does he feel the need to get all wound up about anything – he just calmly assesses what needs to be done and proceeds with supreme confidence. He's only an underdog in that no one else in the school believes he's on their level; Soma himself never suffers a moment of doubt that he's the best. That does keep this episode from becoming a more typical competition of the sort we see in shounen sports or tournament series, because for us as viewers, the question isn't “will he succeed,” but rather “how will he blow the rest of them out of the water?”

This week the dish is a French beef recipe, and yes, it is mouthwatering. And, more pertinently, yes, there are foodgasms. There are sort of two, to be more precise – Megumi being drenched in honey by Soma-faced bees when she tastes the beef dish (followed by the teacher erupting out of the honeyed pool), and Megumi being harassed by honey tentacles when Soma makes her try another gross squid dish. Both of these are toned down compared to the previous episodes, and really it feels like it's the addition of audio that makes the first one uncomfortable. While there certainly are sexual connotations to be made from drizzling honey on a naked female body (and yes, Chappelle rising from the honey could be its own special metaphor), it isn't as nonconsensual or explicit as either Lady Land Shark's or Erina's experiences. This second tentacle assault also is less graphic, though it is still plenty icky; things are toning down, but they aren't yet at a level where every viewer's peace of mind is assured. Since the anime is thus far sticking very close to the manga, I am still hoping that the explicitness will continue to drop.

Food Wars! still feels a little shaky to me in terms of quality of the (nonfood) art, although the breast sizes and heights feel a like they're more stable this episode, and the early establishment of the formula has me concerned. I'm hopeful that next week's fuller introduction of more characters will help to even out the likability factor. Things do appear to be heading in a more tasteful direction, so it should be worth a few more episodes to see what Soma's going to cook up next.

Rating: B-

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

Rebecca Silverman is ANN's senior manga critic.