Food Wars! The Second Plate

Episode 5

I have to hand it to Food Wars! The Second Plate – even the weaker episodes have enough to keep me invested in them. This isn't a “weak” episode per se; it just feels like one because it's one of the few times the story has bothered with that pesky preparation stage. Of course, this is because the stakes are now higher: Soma has agreed to Mimasaka's shoukugeki, adding that not only will he give up his knives, he'll also quit being a chef altogether. This definitely merits some extra care on the show's part to give us the lead-up as well as the match.

That said, it isn't particularly well handled. Manga readers will be pleased to know that the Erina scene has been left in, and even I am forced to admit that she's the teeny tiniest bit less abrasive – she does have the right to be circumspect in her words to Soma, because she's part of the overall organizing body for the Autumn Elections. Giving him clearer feedback could get them both in serious trouble. On the other hand, she's still pretty nasty about the whole thing, and there's an unpleasantness to her memories of Hisako, who has gone off on a journey after her loss. Erina misses her not as a friend, but as a gofer who would have known to have the next volume of her newly-discovered shoujo manga ready. Interestingly enough, Erina acts as if this was on some level a type of friendship; Hisako's face and attitude throughout show that she did not view it in that light. The very fact that she left indicates that she has realized they weren't "friends"; if Erina is ever able to come to the same conclusion, it will mark a real change in her character.

The issue with this episode is more that it feels like a collection of thrown-together scenes. We do have an obligatory (and totally creepy) scene of Mimasaka imagining himself in Soma's shoes (how has he not been arrested yet for this stuff?), and the little moments of Soma's friends helping him out, from a thermos of tea left by Megumi to a “care package” from Nikumi, are very nice touches. The introduction of Soma's little groupie, a middle school journalist named Mitsuru, isn't given quite the space it needs to make him feel like a worthwhile addition, but he acts as a nice counterbalance to most of the people Soma has to deal with at Totsuki. It is a little odd that he'd be more interested in his journalism career than cooking, but if you think about it, it would be an asset to a restaurant critic to be well-versed in a variety of high-end cooking techniques and skills, so going to Totsuki's actually a pretty good way to get a leg up in that profession as well.

The art is a little off this week, mostly in the Nikumi's Boobs Department. There's a flashback to a scene of her breasts blowing in the wind (sorry animators, they don't do that) and attempts at showing shiny skin on her cleavage end up looking like pimples. Other characters just look a little off, and there's a tendency to use collections of stills or panning shots of ingredients rather than actual animation for cooking scenes. As an added bonus, there's something off about Mitsuru's body, particularly from the waist down.

Despite all of this, it's really nice to have an episode to heighten the tension of Soma's upcoming showdown with Mimasaka. We all know that Mimasaka's a creep with borderline cheating techniques; the real question is what Soma will do to outsmart him. They still appear to be on equal footing for the moment, with Mimasaka about to explain his special twist – how will Soma counter it? We'll just have to wait until next week (or look at volumes eleven and twelve of the manga) to find out; in the meantime, those of us who make our beef stew in the crockpot can sit here and feel lazy.

Rating: B-

Food Wars! The Second Plate is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.