(L) Shokugeki no Soma [Manga]

[HayashiTakara]

Originally Posted by Moe Connection

"The cook to stand on the top is the one who has delved deeper in search of his own cooking!"

It's a what's called a cop-out, his cooking has always been unique.

[Avrorrange]

Originally Posted by HayashiTakara

It's a what's called a cop-out, his cooking has always been unique.

Not unique enough.If the taste you made was similar to what other chefs have made before,it wouldn't have been unique.The head master's point is that they have tasted something similar to Mad Dog and the MC's cooking before.On the other hand,they haven't tasted something similar to Hayama's.

[HayashiTakara]

Originally Posted by Moe Connection

Not unique enough.If the taste you made was similar to what other chefs have made before,it wouldn't have been unique.The head master's point is that they have tasted something similar to Mad Dog and the MC's cooking before.On the other hand,they haven't tasted something similar to Hayama's.

It's bullshit, they said Soma's cooking was the most creative and then 2 pages later they talk about TRUE creativity, the writing was crap.

[Avrorrange]

Originally Posted by HayashiTakara

It's bullshit, they said Soma's cooking was the most creative and then 2 pages later they talk about TRUE creativity, the writing was crap.

There's a difference between creativity and originality.When they praised him for his creativity,they meant making the fish taste just as fresh as the other two's fish using a different way.His creativity did not result in his fish tasting in a drastically different way.0The dish on the whole however was not as original as Hayama's.

[HayashiTakara]

Originally Posted by Moe Connection

There's a difference between creativity and originality.When they praised him for his creativity,they meant making the fish taste just as fresh as the other two's fish using a different way.His creativity did not result in his fish tasting in a drastically different way.0The dish on the whole however was not as original as Hayama's.

Akira's dish was barely even touched upon, his dish only had 5 pages with barely any comment on it.

Also, when they were describing originality they mention it being what's called "true creativity", it's nothing but bullshit play on words where the author had no idea what he's talking about.

[DOmus]

Wasnt his way to overcome the hardship of having the best fish the creative part?, at the end Akira was the one that made a more solid dish with his research and specialty, having a more complex creativity in the final product than the other two, who made a dish without using any kind of special focus like how akira did with the spices

[Sarun]

Originally Posted by HayashiTakara

It's bullshit, they said Soma's cooking was the most creative and then 2 pages later they talk about TRUE creativity, the writing was crap.

Creativity, originality, exclusivity, uniqueness (4 terms) means all different.

Consider the judging as:
Theme: They all met it.
Taste: All equally great.
Ingredients: Hayama & Ryo.
Creativity: Soma.
Blend of Uniqueness/exclusivity/originality (aka Focus/Specialty as @DOmus mentions above): Hayama.

But I would sympathize with your confusion because it seems that judges decided Hayama was better based on some blend of last 3 terms (without listing them out eloquently) and they didn't provide scorecard in a page.

[HayashiTakara]

Originally Posted by DOmus

Wasnt his way to overcome the hardship of having the best fish the creative part?, at the end Akira was the one that made a more solid dish with his research and specialty, having a more complex creativity in the final product than the other two, who made a dish without using any kind of special focus like how akira did with the spices

It irks be that when they were going over Akira's dish, it never gave that impression, it's just like, cool he used ramen sauce on the fish. Next please.

Soma's dishes since the very beginning of the series has always been focused on originality and uniqueness, and that's how he's always won, doing the unexpected. And all of a sudden he lost to what he's best at? I call bullshit on that.

[Randrak42]

I'm sorry, I just can't see how not having a specialty and being a versatile cook like Soma is considered a bad thing...

[HayashiTakara]

Originally Posted by Randrak42

I'm sorry, I just can't see how not having a specialty and being a versatile cook like Soma is considered a bad thing...

It's not, the definition of specialty is something someone focuses purely on. It doesn't make them unique or anything. All it means is that they are better at that one thing than others who don't specialize in that. Like a baker who specializes in muffins, he'll make better muffins than the guy who doesn't specialize in muffins.

The author is just bullshitting the results.

[OH&S]

I think its a waste of time getting bogged down with the semantics of the definitions of specialty vs originality vs creativity. I admit that on rereading the chapter (the fan scanlated chapter at least) that the explanation didn't do a good job to explain what the last factor that allowed them to decide was as they kept on using the above 3 words interchangably. If it weren't for Senzaemon saying:

"The cook to stand on top is the one who has delved deeper in search of his own cooking! The one who truly faced the question "What is my own cooking?"!"

...I'd have a much more difficult time forming a supportive argument. As soon as he said this, Akira was the only one who qualified.

As to why they chose this aspect instead of say, creativity for example (Souma would have been undisputed winner), it says more about what Tootsuki and Senzaemon value more in the cooks they raise than anything else.

Chapter 102 and pretty much the entire arc have basically said that Souma's creativity comes from hard work, thinking things through and a lot of trial and error. It is most definitely a positive quality to have (it allowed Souma to match Akira and Ryou's dishes in the first place). But in extremely close matches like this who do you reward?

Ryou? (Same thing, bigger and better)
Souma? (At a disadvantage; get's super creative; i.e. same as always)
Akira? (Self reflected on where his true strength lies)

For the record, I'd place Souma 2nd. IMO, Ryou had an advantage but he let Souma catch up and Akira get away. Disappointing.

[Arabesque]

Originally Posted by HayashiTakara

It's a what's called a cop-out, his cooking has always been unique.

Originally Posted by Moe Connection

Not unique enough.

To expand on this, Soma's problem at the moment is that his cooking has always been in the context of his father. Cook like his father, getting better than his father, defeating his father. It created an issue that he is fixating to much on perfecting Yukihira Style of cooking of the style that would be suited for him personally. That is where Akira has him beat at the moment.

Though given how thin the difference was with all dishes being equal to the point they had to go this far to find a winner, Soma and Kurokiba aren't far behind Akira in that aspect. They just need time.

Originally Posted by OH&S

For the record, I'd place Souma 2nd. IMO, Ryou had an advantage but he let Souma catch up and Akira get away. Disappointing.

I still think that Kurokiba's insulting Akira after the semifinals that really got Akira to up his game and give him the push he needed to win. Soma would have to come in second at this point otherwise the entire ranking would become a mess from this 3-way.

[GreyZone]

Originally Posted by Arabesque

I still think that Kurokiba's insulting Akira after the semifinals that really got Akira to up his game and give him the push he needed to win. Soma would have to come in second at this point otherwise the entire ranking would become a mess from this 3-way.

This reminds me... just before the announcment, the usually completely composed Akira was suddenly sweating as if he had just finished a Marathon. It seems like he really was tensioned this time and seemed to even recognise the other 2 dishes enough for him to doubt his own victory. Usually he would just calmly look down on the others and proclaiming his superiority.

[Arabesque]

Originally Posted by GreyZone

This reminds me... just before the announcment, the usually completely composed Akira was suddenly sweating as if he had just finished a Marathon. It seems like he really was tensioned this time and seemed to even recognise the other 2 dishes enough for him to doubt his own victory. Usually he would just calmly look down on the others and proclaiming his superiority.

Pretty much.

Hayama had his work cut for him having faced both Soma and Kurokiba in this tournament. Soma had only lost in the preliminaries by one point (and even then, Soma had managed to win over the judges that Hayama couldn't) and having tied with Kurokiba back when he wasn't taking him seriously at first (saying things like how hard it is to lose with his nose of his). Had he kept his arrogant attitude to the finals with both his opponents he would've probably lost.

Really the only match he had easy was against Hisoka, and that was due to how much she had nerfed herself in order to be Erina's no.2.

[Kirihara_R]

Originally Posted by HayashiTakara

It's bullshit, they said Soma's cooking was the most creative and then 2 pages later they talk about TRUE creativity, the writing was crap.

for me its a cheap way to end a tournament. It feels like there's someone who insisting " I really like Akira, I want him to win but the readers will be disappointed so lets just make it this way so it will be acceptable" (I wonder if the author is really writing for the sake of the readers)

[DOmus]

Its like, if u put a dish that is really creative vs a dish that is more complex and somehow has reach another level, I would go for the complex one, creativity may be good, but when its put in front of something that has a definite area, and reached a whole new level of experience there, there is not much the other dish can do

[ktb1]

I think this should just be considered like in an RPG system. Hayama is like a character with really high base stats with average scaling with levels while Soma has low base stats but ridiculous stat growth per level that's more evenly distributed. Their dishes in this particular match was just reflective of their own stats as chefs at this particular point in time, with all of them having approximately the same total stats but Hayama's having a higher stat in one individual field that makes it stand out more. It's ok though because Soma will always scale infinitely more into the lategame.

[GreyZone]

Originally Posted by Kirihara_R

for me its a cheap way to end a tournament. It feels like there's someone who insisting " I really like Akira, I want him to win but the readers will be disappointed so lets just make it this way so it will be acceptable" (I wonder if the author is really writing for the sake of the readers)

Sure, sure, but if Souma actually won, everyone would shout "so predictable!"


No matter what, from the beginning it was obvious that SOMEONE would complain about the outcome, no matter what would have happened. Well if Souma won, then maybe people would be like "ahh it's like typical shounen, since I see this being done in other manga, I am fine with it", but then I really doubt that the author could be blamed for doing a "disservice" if the predicted outcome does not happen...

[Kirihara_R]

Originally Posted by GreyZone

Sure, sure, but if Souma actually won, everyone would shout "so predictable!"


No matter what, from the beginning it was obvious that SOMEONE would complain about the outcome, no matter what would have happened. Well if Souma won, then maybe people would be like "ahh it's like typical shounen, since I see this being done in other manga, I am fine with it", but then I really doubt that the author could be blamed for doing a "disservice" if the predicted outcome does not happen...

Really ? .. then try reading the comments on 2chan..I dont know if that "rumors/comments" are true and my friends in japan also talking about it but I wouldn't said this sh*t if there's no source for it ..

I would really appreciate it if you ask first why I made that post ,

[GreyZone]

Can't say really say anything about the Japanese side, but at least in the english-speaking online-communities I have seen far too many uses of words like "generic", including these forums, but on the other hand when something relatively original is done, then it's "bad writing" or "bland".

Also I have to strongly disagree that authors have to write what the audience wants them to write. There were far too many cases, where authors were ruined because they gave in to "fan-pressure". Sometimes to established certain plot points, a few "sacrificies" have to be made, if there is a pay-off in the end. Since we didn't see yet what the consequences are, critisizing the author for his decision would be too rash.


It's not like like I have completely faith in the author of SnS though. The issue with Erina being the supposed "late-blooming main heroine" is still making me quite skeptical.