I don't like this update. It kind of broke immersion for me. Tosuki is revered because only the best of the best chefs can graduate. If they start kicking people out for reasons other then not being good enough, it kind ruins the point of why people join the school.

 

Obviously the Shokugeki being rigged is a huge deal but very talented students getting expelled through one can't be that uncommon given how people reacted to Soma doing it.

 

Wasn't the rigged Shokugeki essentially unofficial? Eizan has no obligation to accept challenges (if they're even relevant anymore), but does so anyway in an unofficial capacity to rub their faces in their own helplessness.

He's obviously of the Prickius Maximus genus.

He'll get his, and it'll be all the sweeter for it.

 

Nah, it was as legitimate as any shokugeki. Dude got expelled for losing.

 

It seemed as legit as the one vs Shinomiya.

Not even he's getting away with obviously rigging the judges in front of the whole school.

Or maybe he would. Nfi.

 

It was an official Shokugeki request that Eizan accepted to prove a point. Everything is under the control of Central, including the Shokugeki office. While it completely goes against the spirit of the thing it was 'legal' in every sense required at Totsuki.

 

Which leads to the entire point Eizan was making, doesn't it? While the Shokugeki still exists, it is no longer the great equalizer. Skill by itself doesn't matter anymore. Papa Nakiri and Central make the calls, with no input or reactionary ability from the rest of the student body.

Eizan saying that 'the Shokugeki is dead' isn't just him saying that the practise itself is now obsolete. The Shokugeki signifies everything Totsuki used to be. That culinary skill alone was the decider. If you were good, you got ahead. If you weren't, you lost and was left behind. Everything of value was decided not by who was right or by who had power, but by who was better.

That's no longer the case. Totsuki is no longer the same school. The Shokugeki is dead.

 

Honestly, not a fan of the latest arc.

It's a bit iffy that the students can fire the principal, even if it is the top 10. I can roll with it, because the manga is ridiculous enough for it to not be out of place but still.

I also dislike the father doing this because it makes Erina's problem, her conflict with her father and the pressure she is/was subjected to, the problem of everyone, especially Souma's problem, something from which she has to be saved from. Another "let's save the princess" narrative is utterly boring. I would rather have Erina's conflict with her father be in the background, making it her own, personal war, while Souma and the others do their best to get into/deal with the rest of the top 10.

Not this, grandfather begs Souma to save Erina thing, because she couldn't possibly do it on her own. It's so lamely shonen. While I enjoy the genre, it has so many dumb tropes it clings to.

On the whole creativity vs compulsory education bit, seems to me the middle ground is, as it is often, the more preferable option.

On one hand, yeah, getting kicked out because some jerk cooks slightly better than you is kinda dumb. And it would be helpful to learn from the best, as before, you really could only do that by becoming a lackey to one of those students. Now, instead of only acquiring skills in the one style of cooking they are interested in, they get knowledge and abilities in all sorts of styles.

On the other, it will no longer produce those few excellent cooks because there is no room for them to excel any more. They can't pursue their passion and their strength, instead getting a mandatory education without specialization. All of them becoming more or less the same cook, with the general same recipes. No outstanding curry cook or whatever, just streamlined recipes.

Only manner of being able to influence this is by becoming a top ten member or central member, and that seems kinda impossible unless one is selected by the dean, the dean.

Guess one method to combat this is defeating members of the top 10, taking their place, take over the majority and then vote the father out. Question is if it is possible to become a member of the top 10 any more, now that the Shokugeki have become meaningless. Doubt that waiting for the third years to graduate is an option.

I agree with Koalas, there is bound to be more to come, so far, the Top 10 hardly profited from this, and it seems to only benefit to jerks who love to kick everyone out.

The author is good with creating smug douchebag faces, too bad this is a cooking manga and we won't get to see someone punch that face in.

 

I took serious issue with Erina becoming a damsel too.

 

Yeah, but as long as I keep getting Alice pouty faces, I'm okay with it.

 

I feel like we've just connected on some metaphysical level.

 

Erina is ... I dislike her. She is insanely arrogant, she is dishonest, she is a bitch and her only relatable moments appear when she is being made a fool of. But she is not a damsel. Never was. She was somewhat refreshing from the usula shonen heroines, who like Megumi, need someone to hold their hand and are quiet little flowers. Fuck that. For all of Erina's faults, being utterly bland and boring was not one of those.

I feel that the author feels that he went to far with making Erina antagonistic (which he did, how he wrote her she has barely any pride on cooking, just on being a superior little shit) and used this tried and trued cliche to try and make her relatable. And I think japanese culture is to blame on this...

Alice still keeps being my favorite. She is just so full of personality, and her devil may care attitude is awesome, actually, everything about her and her mom is awesome. She is also incredebly adorable.

Soma is a grade above the usual shonen protagonists. Which isn't much. He pales before characters full of personality and depth like Alice, Erina (as much as I dislike her), his father, hell, even Megumi got some crazy development (and grew on me quite a bit) while he stayed the same.

Ryō is interesting. He could be an awesome rival/friendly rival/frenemy/whatever. But I just feel something is missing. His depth as character is 'fake', as in, you take a closer look at him and you see just there isn't much there. His relationship with Alice is weird too. We are told much more than show how they get along. When I see their interactions I just can't buy their relationship and history.

 

Soma stayed the same? Gtfo, heathen.

 

Not really. He just feels like that. Granted, I haven't read the current arc though, so who knows.

 

A damsel at the moment. I really think this arcs conclusion is going to come down to Erina judging a shokugeki between Soma and Eizan. Essentially between choosing to acknowledge Soma's lowbrow food (and by extension all cuisines) or her father's version of cooking. I think it'd strike a nice balance between Soma helping and Erina saving herself.

 

I completely disagree with Erina being a more interesting character/having more depth than Soma. I disagree with Erina having more depth than literally anyone, up to and including the cooking ingredients. She's a walking anime stereotype that doesn't even try to hide her nature. She has no character to her name beyond the bitchiness and station required by her basic character archetype, and nothing to appeal to readers or make her likable.

The only attempt to give her some semblance of character was made recently, and that only gave her the added bonus of making her a damsel for the protagonist to save by having her be completely fucking useless whenever the main fucking antagonist is around or does literally anything.

Erina is Shokugeki No Soma's greatest failure. Amidst all these great characters and situations, Erina's lack of any sort of character is completely jarring and one of my, if not the, greatest gripe with the series.

 

I really like Erina, so everything you've said is wrong.

Why are you so wrong?

 

Soma/Alice OTP. All the benefits of marrying a Nakiri, none of the resting Tsundere face. Embrace the light. Embrace the pouty faces.

 

Oi, when did you convert?

Actually, it might have been Rep who thought Nikumi was best girl (pffffft). Can't remember.