SHOKUGEKI NO SOUMA: GOU NO SARA

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ComedyShokugeki no Souma: Shin no Sara
MANGA ComedyShokugeki no Souma
MANGA ActionShokugeki no Souma: Le dessert

REVIEWS

• 

  SnowCursed

  40/100
  Shokugeki no Souma: The season that should not have been

  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE FIFTH AND FINAL SEASON OF SHOKUGEKI NO SOUMA SO WATCH IT FIRST IF YOU DONT WANT TO BE SPOILED

  So finally after 4 super strong seasons Shokugeki no Souma is back for it's final arc. As a fan who's been following the series since all the way back in 2015 I will say I was surprised that a fifth season was even announced as many fans (myself included) expected season four to be the final season as the manga ending and the fourthth season being quite well recieved seemed to be a perfect place to end the show, and the fans werent too wrong. This season had its fair share of troubles and moments that just made me frown. Now SnS was never a series known for it's excellent storytelling or its beautiful animation or it's exquisite sound, it was known for being food porn the anime, a comedic show wiith come hilarious over the top reactions and really funny moment and some mouthwateringly good looking food. Though i knew this i was still dissapointed to say the least with the final season.

  Now where to begin... lets start with what i did like shall we.
  The soundtrack was actually pretty decent, nothing too amazing but not bad either, i personally didn't love the op but it wasn't horrid, in true SnS fashion the erotic moans are still as good as they were in season 1 and the voice acting and mixing were done pretty well. There's really not much else i can say as quite a lot of the soundtrack was reused so it wasn't amazing but wasn't Horrid either. Finally, the food closeups looked as delicious as ever so no complaints here on that end!

  Now if youve read the manga (or even if you havent), the general consensus is that the BLUE arc is by far the weakest and worst of all the arcs.
  Having watched every season and read the manga, i can confidently say i was thoroughly dissapointed. The entire arc lacks any sense of the old SnS that we all love. It provides very little if any sense of conflict for Yukihira, neither does it at all build upon any of the previous character's relationships to make the ending a good and memorable one. We are instead left with Yukihira's next main antagonist after azami, and the main "villain" for this season Asahi Saiba. I use the term villain losely as firstly he is merely just flung into the final season just fo that there's someone Yukihira has to defeat in order to truly understand and master his own cooking. To me he feels more like a roadblock than a villain on Yukihira's journey Asahi in the show feels like a place holder at best, almost as if J.C. staff threw him in there just while they worked to create another villain but then in the end forgot to swap the two... Saiba lacks any and all forms character depth, motivation and backstory ultimately leaving him as this empty shell of a "villain" who wants to win because... he wants to marry his (half) sister Erina?

  Moving on to most probably my biggest issue with this season (and quite frankly the past 2 seasons too). The vast majority of the side cast of whom many of us have grown to love and wanted to see more of, for instance Alice Nakiri, Kurikiba Ryo, Satoshi Isshiki etc.) were completely ignored and to an extent they feel almost forgotten, with the exceptions of Erina Megumin and Takumi of course seeing as they were the only ones of the gang other than Yukihira to make it to the BLUE. It really is upsetting because the enitre cast of characters is what made the show what it is, it was this vast and wide variety of characters each with their own cooking styles that made up a huge part of the charm (for me at least) of this show in the first two/three seasons, and now i dont even remember half the polar star dormitory member's names because it's been actual ages since anyone's said them out loud in the show.

  The plot as a whole was just so rushed and lacked that earlier season's charms and in many places just simply lacked attention to details. For example, why does the BLUE use a torunament format different to the traditional format they had us observe for the past four seasons in a row, Saiba's motives and then the whole concept of the NOIR group. These are all interesting ideas if fleshed out correctly but they werent so we were left with a sad emo boy who had the character depth of a cardboard cutout who felt like a cult leader leading a bunch of cultist chefs who blindly followed him and did his bidding so he could again very weirdly... achieve his goal of... marrying his half sister.

  Moving on to the characters. you may or may not have heard of a term called "jobbing". Jobbing is a concept most communly found in wrestling and in shounen anime/manga, jobbing is the act of purpesfully throwing a match, in shounen media it's used as a way to hype up new villains and or rivals for our mc. However, there are ways to job successfully and unsuccessfully, (if you want to see jobbing done correctly you might want to check out TGOHS ) . SnS season 5 shows you how NOT to do it. Having characters loved by the audience such as Megumi and Tsukasa completely annihilated by NOIR with no way to comeback or redeem themselves is how you don't do it, because you seriously expect me to believe Tsukasa Eishii a man Yukihira himself was never able to beat lost to the same villain that Yukihira then beat in the episode after that? you remember Megumi WON and beat out both Yukihira and Takumi at the BLUE preliminaries? well we get to see 0 of the skill she has gained from training and winning the prelims. Super unsatisfying to see as a veiwer no?

  As i mentioned if you like any of the side characters DO NOT expect any thing from them up until the last few episodes and even then don't get your hopes up. J.C in the end felt it was the right choice to downplay and ignore all of the characters we watched grow and become stronger and better chefs through the series for a entierly new cast of unknown characters who are either extremely boring or not fleshed out enough to even be remotely interesting. Which sure fine makes sense that not all our favourite characters would make it to the presitgious BLUE competition, but at the very least you'd expect them to show up to spectate the comptetion no? well boy would you be wrong most of the side characters dont even show up unti lthe last like 2 episodes by which point it is way too late.

  Overall this season was very lukewarm with only very few moments spread out here and there that made me feel like i was watching a SnS season, despite this being a season based on an unwanted arc written by the mangaka who literally wrote it so that they could end the story, it was watchable all the way through, it had funny reacton cooking scenes and the food look pretty good so was I inlove with this like i was with the first season? No. Was it absolutely dogshit and i think you shouldn't watch it? Also no. I simply believe that if you do watch it you go in with very few expectations and think of it as nothing more than maybe a side plot to SnS.

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• 

  costcochurros

  50/100
  Thoughtless, rushed, poorly-written farewell to a beloved series that deserved better.

  Thoughtless, rushed, poorly-written farewell to a beloved series that deserved better.

  For five years now, many of us have followed Yukihira Soma's journey through his culinary education both inside and outside the walls of Totsuki Culinary Academy. Along the way we've gotten to know his friends, a superb cast of supporting characters that not only buttress Soma as a character, but the series as a whole. It's a wonderfully fun and clever series that ticks nearly all the boxes. Engaging and likeable protagonist? Check. Beautifully animated food scenes? Check. Fully-realized supporting cast? Check. Quirky comedy that is unbelievable yet somehow fits the setting? Check.

  Each season, Soma and his friends at the Polar Star Dormitory have been faced with a challenge where the stakes were high: in season one he faced expulsion, in season two, passing his stagiaire meant his continued studies at Totsuki, and in season three we had the Moon Festival arc and the beginning of the Central arc. All three of these seasons made us root for Soma, Erina, Megumi, Takumi, Isami, Alice, Ryo, Hayama, Subaru, the list goes on and on. All of these characters had something to lose and the road to success was never easy, which made their victories that much sweeter. In Season 4 we were treated to Soma and his friends facing off against the Elite Ten in a bid to overthrow Central. All of these seasons have had high stakes, we feared failure alongside Soma and his friends. Watching them overcome these challenges and then finally ascend to replace the graduating seniors of the Elite Ten felt immensely satisfying.

  An overriding theme through the entire series been that no man is an island. Soma is never truly alone. Whether he's learning from Shinomiya during his stagiare, or was motivated to improve after losing to Tsukasa Eishi, Soma's grounding force has always been the people around him. This is a theme that I loved watching run like a current throughout the series. When Megumi would falter, the people around her would cheer her on, every single person in the Polar Star Dormitory found strength in the others around them. Most of Soma's rivals became his friends and whether they liked it or not, through their friendships and Soma's unconventional view of the world, they became better chefs.

  Watching this fifth and final series was an odd experience. I kept waiting for something bigger to happen. The stakes didn't feel very high. What would happen to Soma if he didn't win BLUE? Nothing, absolutely nothing. He had no skin in the game, other than to further his own personal achievement. I could understand his own personal motivation had we known who either NOIR or the Bookmaster was prior to this season, but we didn't. Out of nowhere, several antagonists appeared, one of which had a backstory that was just not believable. The entire time we've gotten to know and love Soma, we've seen numerous flashbacks to his childhood. At no point did we see Saiba Asahi prior to Season 5. How are we supposed to believe that somehow Soma, or Joichiro for that matter, just never mentioned this orphan child that Joichiro took in and taught how to cook? Furthermore, his organization, NOIR, had never been mentioned. There was nothing to fear and their character intros felt like characters written for Jojo's Bizarre Adventure that didn't make the cut. And the Bookmaster? We knew next to nothing about Erina's mother. The fact that she was the Bookmaster felt REALLY predictable, but it was difficult to conjure up empathy for Erina when we've gotten such little insight into her relationship, or lack thereof, with her mother.

  What upset me the most was how horrible the last episode was; it was as if they wanted to cram a lot of information in but weren't sure how to do it. In the middle of the episode, we watch a montage of all the Totsuki students (past and present) who weren't competing in BLUE, do their part by attempting to hinder NOIR. This would have been great had it been spread through the entire season and given more time to flesh out. If this montage had instead been made into B-stories that were interspersed throughout the season, not only would it have made more sense, but some of our favorite characters would have gotten more screen time. Soma's dish impresses the Bookmaster, but we don't see how Erina fared, except a throwaway line about Soma being upset at losing. Then we have a ten second exposition to explain that Soma took time off from school to study abroad, that too felt like a throwaway. Then we find out that Saiba Asahi is Nakiri Azami's son; he was "reckless" in his youth and had a son he didn't know about. Wow, with Asahi's color scheme I would have never known he was Azami's son, QUELLE SURPRISE! And somehow, Nakiri Mana, Erina's mother, forgives him and welcomes Asahi to the Nakiri family, with a short scene depicting them all having a picnic together.

  BLUE felt like the most pointless arc. We had a paltry 13 episodes to wrap up the previous four years we've spent with these people. The antagonists felt half-hearted and there were literally zero consequences should Soma or Erina fail. The entire season was a major disservice to the characters and the fans. The only silver lining is that the writers didn't suddenly have Soma and Erina hook up. While there was definitely inner monologuing on Erina's behalf where she reveals feelings about Soma, they aren't acted on, which was a small relief. My only hope is that we're given an OVA that serves as an apology to fans gives these beloved characters the ending they deserve. (HINT TO THE WRITERS: it'd be real nice if we got the Chapter 3: Future arc from the manga!)

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• 

  Yahshuhaz

  71/100
  343.- Une fin qui me chagrine beaucoup..

  WARNING HEAVY SPOILERS
  Histoire 6,5/10
  Le grand final de Food wars que j'attendais car c'est un anime qui est rentrée dans mon top 10 all time. Cependant j'ai du mal avec cet saison.. Elle reste correct cependant attention pour conclure un anime si gros que food wars je suis assez déçu et je reste sur ma faim : On retrouve ici nos amis qui vont participé au concours blue le fameux concours ou Jouichirou n'a pas participé. Mais l'arrivé d'un nouveau professeur va changer la donne : c'est Asahi saiba. On apprends qu'il a battu Le père de Soma donc un véritable adversaire se dresse contre Soma. Saiba fait parties des cuisinier noirs et veut épouser Erina pour la faire sortir de son cycle infernal du palais divin et en aidant aussi sa mère qui est la chef du WGO ( world gourmet organisation ) car elle possède aussi le palais divin.Bref mise a part qu'on assiste a une saison habituel de food wars ou soma perd contre le ''méchant" puis le bats plus tard, je n'ai pas trop aimé le délire des chefs de la pègres je veux dire qu'il sont mal amené ils n'ont eu aucun devellopement ou très peux. ils ont été présent juste pour perdre en soit. Mais bref le majeur problème ici est que l'anime a été rush ( a cause du COVID ? ou autre ? ) ce qui donne donc des passages plus appréciable a voir certes mais d'autre ou tout va trop vite. Comme le moment ou le fils et le père au début se retrouve et que jouichirou entraine Soma j'aurais voulu voir l'entrainement car Soma est devenu monstrueux en un cours temps. Plus subjectivement maintenant, je trouve abuser l'ecchi dans cette saison : les explosion de vêtement a tout va, on va chercher loin pourquoi les personnes perds leur vêtements car le palais divin est satisfait donc on explose le château, les vêtements.. Bref stop.
  MAIS on relève des bons points dans la saison : La génération Diamant ou on apprends que tout les personnes convoqué ( les amis de Soma donc et lui) étais dans une optique pour que Erina puissent sauvé sa mère et j'ai trouve ça intéressant ! Ou encore, comment avoir le meilleur palais peux détruire une famille de cuisinier, ou le retour du père de Erina,on ne laisse personne dans l'ombre
  La final est assez incompréhensible car Soma fais un plats incroyable qui ravis les deux palais divins mais il perds quand même ? Attention c'est normal qui perds pour moi c'est a Erina de sauver sa mère mais pourquoi mettre autant d'importance dans son plat pour au final perdre ? j'aurais voulu voir le plat de erina aussi pour faire un comparatif et que même si Soma perds on se disent : Dommage ! incroyable ce combat final
  Personnage 6,5/10
  Les cuisiniers de l'ombres étais assez pitoyable je dois le dire sauf asahi qui étais sympathique. J'ai beaucoup apprécie sa defaite car la moral derrières est que la défaite est source de redemption : sans connaissance de celle ci comment pouvons nous devenir une personne meilleurs ?
  c'est tout pour les personnages.. Car même Mana reste un personnages correct et sympathique mais on n'a pas plus d'information..
  Art 7/10
  J.c Staff a été correct mais pas d'évolution entre la dernière saison
  Ost 7,5/10
  Le opening et Ending sont Excellent ! Même les ost pendant les épisodes sauf que je sent peux de variété
  Enjoyement 8/10
  J'ai quand même passé un très bon moment devant et une fissure au cœur de savoir que Food wars est finit.. J'ai beaucoup de souvenir devant cette anime qu'il soit bon ou mauvais et il restera dans mon cœur longtemps
  OVERALL FOOD WARS
  Food wars est un anime basée sur la cuisine qui sait attirer les lecteurs. Cependant il a diminué de saison en saison même si on passe de excellent a très bien. Le problème étant que on tourne facilement en rond mais bref si on arrive a éteindre son esprit critique ce que j'arrive a faire,Food wars est vraiment un anime génial qui nous donne toujours plus envie de voir ou Soma peux aller et franchement on adore. Espérons que une suite sera effectué
  S2>S1>S3>S5>S4

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