(L) Shokugeki no Soma [Manga]

[LeftSeven]

it's finally over.

well, in the end the author still can be so indirect about soma x erina being canon. it's not like i'm disappointed here more like i'm glad, based on my interpretation that it's clear now they can finally admit their feeling, it emphasized what soma really want to do with erina for the rest of his life while erina want her status with soma change beyond more than just a rival. pretty much their monologue alone sealed up their relationship to go into the next step in the future.

well, the last page is kinda annoying though, so it's better to think of it as she says delicous, holyshit.

[Sixth]

Not only the writing also became garbage, even the art quality dropped hard as well. Seriously what happened to both of them?

[~Yami~]

oi.. where is the childhood friend?

Soma X Erina is getting real but we could not see it happened from this chapter
Soma is still doing something he like... while Erina is waiting for him
It is sad to see that Erina is stuck working on Tootsuki while she should be someone who traveled and challenged the world abroad

at least, Shokugeki no Soma make me interested in cooking (and I'm grateful for it)
there are some likable chapters and twist... fun ride
I'll just put aside "BLUE arc" somewhere else and it is actually good

[Kanon]

The chapter made it clear that Souma and Erina have feelings for each other, so why leave it at that? It's the final chapter, go nuts!

The ones who benefited the most from the timeskip design wise were Alice and Megumi. As for Erina, another timeskip and she would have been bald.

Anyway, I'm glad it's over.

Originally Posted by Sixth

Not only the writing also became garbage, even the art quality dropped hard as well. Seriously what happened to both of them?

Usually artists get better over the years, but some become worse. In his case, I hope it's just because he wasn't motivated anymore and that he's still capable of producing the amazing art from the Autumn Election (which is where he peaked, IMO) for a new project he'll actually care about.

[DragonOsman]

I agree with Kanon; it's already clear as day that they love each other so why the heck are they not married and why the heck are they still on last name terms with each other? Although my biggest gripe is that we'll now have to just think that Erina finally said that Souma's cooking is delicious.

@GendoAizenPig: Both of their inner monologues show that they have feelings for each other, so it's really not open in that regard. Souma even pretty much said in said monologue that the special person he wants to devote all of his best cooking to is Erina. That basically means he loves her.

Aside from that I liked this chapter.

[SidVicious]

Disappointing just like the Ranma 1/2 ending.

[zerodragon]

Originally Posted by Kanon

The ones who benefited the most from the timeskip design wise were Alice and Megumi.

This!!! Megumi looks great and mature and Alice look like her mother who is the best looking older women introduce in this manga in my book.

also we know how soma's mother died, that was pretty much messed up for a young kid to come home to see.

[Wandering Soul]

So Souma x Erina is all but confirmed, but the author decided to leave it at that. Can't say I'm really surprised.

Megumi and Alice by far had the best epilogue designs, which is fitting I guess.

Overall I'm just glad that's it is finally over. Don't really feel like these epilogue chapters were really needed.

[GendoAizenPig]

@DragonOsman

That's fine if that's how you interpret it (just like a lot of other people did), but all that was confirmed in this final chapter is that Soma wanted to cook for Erina and that she looks forward to seeing him. Soma even shows that his person changed from his mother, to his father, and is now her. I very much doubt he had oedipal inclinations so "his person" has been people that he most likely wasn't in love with in the past. It's also notable that the chapter implies that at least some of his friends show up to eat his new dishes alongside Erina every time. So if anything my comment from months back that his "person" is actually all of his friends is pretty much right on the money imo. On Erina's end she simply says that she looks forward to seeing him and trying his food. There's no denying that they love each other, but there is enough leeway to let the reader decide if it's romantic love or not. That's why it's open ended.

This isn't even getting into the fact that even after 7 years their relationship hasn't developed romantically at all. Soma has decided to travel the world alone and shows little to no signs of stopping. Erina is directing Tootsuki and she likewise didn't imply that would stop anytime soon. They make a point to meet on occasion and both value each other, but that's really no different from all the other characters based on this chapter. Unless there's some sort of canon confirmation somewhere in the future, this is a very open ended finale. People are seeing what they want and honestly there's no reason to try to force each other's interpretations on one another. It's an everybody wins scenario.

Just a few notable things that I noticed for the story now that it's over

- There was never a female first seat introduced in the story. I thought this was being saved for someone important, but I guess not. They were mentioned to exist by a character in the story.
- Soma's childhood friend had no appearance at the end at all and got no closure. (as Yami brought up)
- Erina was undefeated in the end.
- Erina never said Soma's food was delicious
- Soma never beat his dad.
- Hayama is apparently married, but for some reason it doesn't say to who.
- Hinako is the best character and got Megumi just like she always wanted.

I feel it's necessary to say that on the whole shipping thing that I'm not going to get into a multi page argument over it. The story is done and it would be utterly pointless. If you don't agree with my interpretation that's fine, but that doesn't make it any less valid than you own and vice versa. In the end I hope the anime just drops the blue arc and just makes this finale follow the end of the central arc (without Asahi of course). I think that'd be the best course of action. Maybe reference the ending of Blue without talking about the Noirs at all.

[DragonOsman]

We can just think from the context at the end that although we didn't see it, Erina did say after eating his new dish that it's delicious.

On the Soma x Erina thing, yes, I guess you're right. We can just infer it however we want. I'm saying it's all but confirmed and that they love each other romantically. Some agree and some don't. It'd have been better if we'd gotten a definitive answer, though.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by ~Yami~

oi.. where is the childhood friend?

Happily married to someone who actually values her. Too busy with babies to visit on a whim.

[NAJ P. Jackson]

Originally Posted by ~Yami~

oi.. where is the childhood friend?

Forgotten by the mangaka so that the Souma x Erina ship won't have a competition.

[schedmaster]

Originally Posted by ~Yami~

oi.. where is the childhood friend?

Irrelevant to Soma and company regardless if they know her or not.

[eisai_haramasukoi]

Er... that's the ending?

I enjoyed it slightly. Could have been way better.

[Kuroageha]

Originally Posted by DragonOsman

We can just think from the context at the end that although we didn't see it, Erina did say after eating his new dish that it's delicious.

On the Soma x Erina thing, yes, I guess you're right. We can just infer it however we want. I'm saying it's all but confirmed and that they love each other romantically. Some agree and some don't. It'd have been better if we'd gotten a definitive answer, though.

That's why it's called open endings.

[Arabesque]

Originally Posted by DragonOsman

We can just think from the context at the end that although we didn't see it, Erina did say after eating his new dish that it's delicious.

Did she?

Because this isn't the first time this had happened. Erina had moments with Soma where he would cook something truly delicious and she would either decide not to comment on it, dance around how good it actually was, or say it was disgusting. What would make this moment any different, at this stage? What would make Erina actually admit defeat to Soma at this point in time? Because that is what saying delicious is to Erina, as it had been for the past decade they have interacted with each other.

---

What strikes me about this is that, when both of them in their mid-twenties, while still being on last name basis, they have just gotten to the point where they feel like they are attracted to each other and might actually be liking the other person. Maybe once they are 30 yo they can say they love each other, having known the other person half of their entire lives. And maybe they would then reach the maturity level needed to actually enter into a relationship. Would have been nice to see.

I dunno. I feel really sad more than anything at this ending. I really liked this series when it started out, and had been reading it week to week for the past 7 years, and to see the drop in quality had been heartbreaking.

The thing that gets me the most about this "epilogue" is just how ... pointless it all is.

The first chapter started us at a point in time to give us a look at what the third year is like, but it was so brief and lacked any actual information about anything that we might care about, that it is honestly making me wonder if there was a plan going into these 3 chapters. What were the final Elite Ten seat arrangements, why did Soma skip the majority of his third year, how did he graduate.

The second chapter was just a disaster in hindsight. I know that everyone points out to how absurd the second half of it was (16/17 year old Azami had been drunk (?) in a US bar (??) when this 20 something yo woman (???) picked him up, they had a one night stand (????) and she gave birth to his kid, who was Asahi (!!!!!) who became an orphan that eventually was taught by Jou, who then abandoned him ... wha) but the first half was also randomly inserted into what had little to do with it. The context of Jou telling Erina about how he met his wife doesn't actually work with what the story is about, and is more of a side thing that is only, maybe, tangentially related to Erina and her broken, fucked up family.

I also like how this makes Jou seem way worse as a father considering how he still left Soma fairly recently after losing his wife to go tell the orphan kid he had as a second son that he wasn't going to be seeing him again.

The whole thing is just insane. What's more, Asahi showing up to his mother's grave, learning that his father was an Asian man (which somehow makes him jump to the first idea that it was Azami???) and the story having retroactively ending on an arc about a brother trying to marry his little, teen sister was beyond the pale. Even for a series that is famous for people eating food that is so good it makes them fantasize about having their clothes blown off, this was absurd.

This is where the third chapter takes us further in time, and ... what does it tells us? That Soma and Erina have come to the realization, after a decade, they "might" like each other? That after the two having fought so much, both with each other and against one another (supposedly), Erina "might" say she likes Soma's food?

This is the end of the manga. This is an epilogue that was named after a rather infamous doujin for the manga. This is meant to be the treat for getting after the main story, the main dish is over. How is any of this meant to be worth it?

It is one thing if this was how the epilogue started out, with the two coming to such a realization before we go through them acting on it. It would be one thing is, rather than being in their mid-twenties, they were still teens and they had come to realize the way they feel slowly in this manner. It would be one thing if they had continued acting the way they had been while students at Tootsuki (or I guess, while Soma was a student and Erina as headmaster).

If the point is to show that Erina and Soma care about each other, then show that in your final chapter of the epilogue. Don't dance around it with such an ambiguous, internal monologue, go all out and show the two starting to date, telling the other they like them, something. I don't like the paring and even then I thought this was really disappointing!

The less said about the other members of the cast, the better. Megumi was the third most focused on character in this series, and the fact she went out of the story with losing to Asahi in such a bad manner (where he outright said she didn't manage to defeat anyone important) was such an awful conclusion to her character arc. If this was how it all ends for her, she should have won against Momo. This was outright awful, and I don't look forward to seeing how it plays out in the anime again later on in October. (Also, nice knowing that we never got anything out of the plot point of her feeling something for Soma back during the Tournament. Great writing there, great set up).

Shinomiya never showed up again aside from a brief cameo in chapter 1 of this, we never got to see the current generation of Polaris despite how big of a deal that dorm was to the story, Tsukasa ... oh man, Tsukasa, also lost to Asahi in just as bad of a way as did Megumi.

We never got to learn what made Rindou be "afraid" during the RdC. Takumi and his brother are apparently both on the same level of skill (pffffffft, okay) despite them never getting a proper send off (like, that Erina v Takumi chapter should have been way more important than it ended up being. This was 2 of Soma's biggest rivals having a match of their own, Christ). And of course, Soma didn't have one last match with his dad, instead getting the restaurant victory by proxy against Asahi. Blegh.

The list goes on and on. There is so many things that should have been in this epilogue that didn't make it in, and instead we got to learn that 1) Asahi is a Nakiri and 2) Soma and Erina are starting to realize they like each other.

They could have cut 2 chapters out of this, axed the Asahi twist, and just had this happen during graduation instead. We could have at least had a less embarrassing and disappointing conclusion.

[OH&S]

^
slow clap... My thoughts exactly. What a disappointment...

[n0m@n]

It's amazing how SnS still has an upcomimg anime despite this shit ending...
Or can we even call this an ending. Can't see the reason why they had to give 3 extra chapters under the name of La deserts when the only thing we pretty much got from this was the relation between Asahi and Azami.


And I only found out just now that SnS's spinoff L'etoile also ended months ago.

There's going to be 3 SnS books coming out btw on 4th October.
Volume 37 (which includes La deserts chapters), L'etoile volume 8, and a fanbook called creators' specialite.

[Arabesque]

So, ANN did an interview with the creators of the series along with the producer of the next season of the anime (that is probably going to end up being a disaster production-wise). Much of it is really fluff and isn't that hard hitting or that revealing about the creation process of the series outside of a few generalities, but there were a few point that I wanted to draw attention to:

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/fea...d-wars/.151017

The first was on this:

What was your inspiration behind the creation of the last group of colorful combatants Soma faces in Food Wars?

Tsukuda: In a shonen series, the final group of enemies is a major familiar trope for writers and readers. There is a popular older cooking manga called Chuuka Ichiban! In that series, there are many unbelievable chefs with superhuman powers. For instance, one character uses an ice-knife for his dishes, and if you touch it, it will give you frostbite. So I wanted to save that superhuman style of character for this important arc.

"Colorful combatants", lol. What a diplomatic way to describe the Noirs.

I know of Chuuka Ichiban!(and I know that it has a new anime coming up) but it wouldn't have been my guess as to why the series all of the sudden introduced supernatural abilities. I guess it does make sense that Tsukuda would draw from a better series as a way to improve on the one he's writing, but maybe he should have instead read how Bambino handled the run in with the Mafia and kept his premise more grounded ‾\_(ツ)_/‾

But when you take that quote into context of this:

What was your mindset heading into the final arc of the manga, and what were some of the challenges you faced when deciding how to end it?

Tsukuda: Of course there's always the concern of "Is it really okay that I did this? Are the readers going to be satisfied with this sort of ending?" What I'm going to talk about now is really spoilery, so I hope everyone has already read through to the end. I've always wanted to end the series with Soma and Erina getting hitched, but it was difficult for me to get to that point naturally in the story. So I had to rewrite it over and over before I could revise it to an ending that I liked. I really hope that all the fans are satisfied with the sort of ending that I reached.

And, man

what

Just, what

I do agree there was little if any natural progression on the supposed romantic aspect of the series in general (and moreso with Erina and Soma, who have as much chemistry between them as much as Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen did) but, like, dude

You introduced actual, honest to god superpowers in your manga (oh sorry, "freakish talents") and the idea that your two main characters getting together on screen ... was too much?

Maybe I'd buy the whole "it wouldn't be an organic type of development for Soma and Erina to fall in love and get married since they have never had a particularly romantic development thus far in the series run" so he decided to end it with them, a decade after knowing each other, realize that they might like each other ... had the rest of the series not gone into a total downward spiral when it comes to absurd shit that kept on happening week to week, and by the end, monthly basis.

What was the creative process like during Tsukada's attempt at making this romance happen?

"Yeah, I could make Erina stop being less of a hardass and Soma more aware of the opposite gender ... but would that be realistic? I dunno, let me introduce a murder clown who juggles his food to make it good, a bloodsucker death doctor chef, a Soviet chef who cooks exclusively with a chainsaw, and a main antagonist who can steal the cooking abilities of other people once he wins their personal properties, and maybe then I would figure out a way I can make Erina and Soma fall in love in the process"

Or the epilogue, what the fuck was the creative process for that?

"So, series is over, it has been a year in story, I could show Erina and Soma having gotten closer together while they were bonding off screen, thus paving the way for them getting together ... ooooooooooooooooooooor I could just spend a chapter on Asahi being actually Erina's half-brother, thus retroactively making the last arc of the manga about incest! Yeah, that last part sounds good, I think the readers would believe that more that two teenagers coming to like each other."

?????????????????????????????????

This is what gets me the most about it. Is it really okay that I did this? Are the readers going to be satisfied with this sort of ending isn't the sort of question you ask at the end of a story that you had spent a year making sure it was getting derailed and breaking its basic core over and over and over and over and over again. There was nothing coming close to a natural progression by the time the final arc came into full swing. How were any of the readership meant to be satisfied by anything you could do for the conclusion of the series when you couldn't even make a satisfying arc for the rest of the series?

Again, Megumi had been the third most important character, and her story arc ends on a loss to Asahi in the most humiliating manner possible. Takumi had been a major rival of Soma, and his last match in the series against Erina treated him as if he was a side goon. Hayama, Kurokiba, Alice and Hisako had nothing to do at all in the final arc other than showing up for glorified cameos. There was no conclusion to Soma vs Jou, there was no on screen conclusion to Soma vs Erina!

The problem with this ending isn't that Soma and Erina didn't get married. It's that after breaking everything apart in the story, Tsukuda couldn't even manage to get one thing right in the end, even when he strong armed to the story for that particular thing.

Is there any character in Food Wars! that you wish you could have spent more time with?

Tsukuda: Rindo is a character that I really wanted to explore more deeply. I didn't know she was going to be so popular! To be honest, I really want to write a version of the story where Rindo was the main character, where she's the one battling her way to the top and beating all these other chefs. But obviously, Soma was already the main character, so that kind of storyline wouldn't have been possible at that point.

Maybe you could have instead molded the series, as its writer, to fit more into that ideal. Yeah?

And lol, I wish we could have gotten that arc rather than what we ended up getting with the final arc.

Are you planning on collaborating together again soon?

(Tsukuda and Saeki high five.)

Tsukuda: Yeah, we've been talking about our future plans on this trip.

Well, this was cute. Good luck for the two of them, but I don't think I'll be checking their next work after seeing the mess this one became by the end.

[Kanon]

At least this interview made it clear the series didn't turn to shit because Tsukada was forced to rush it. He's just a plain bad writer.