Shokugeki no Souma (Food Wars)

Shokugeki no Souma (Food Wars) is an anime about battles of cooking as the title suggests. The anime adaption of the popular manga of the same name has received the same kind of reception as its manga version did in terms of popularity as well as critique. But is it any good or is it just another one of those popular but dull anime, that I will discuss in this review.

Story - 8/10

From the synopsis itself, you must have realized that the anime revolves around Soma Yukihira who wants to become a cook and surpass his father in cooking. Some stuff happens and Soma ends up in Totsuki Academy, which is the best cooking school in Japan. After all this, you must have come to the conclusion that it isn't unique or special, but that doesn't make it bad. The story isn't anything even special to start off with but the other aspects of the show are so well done that it makes you feel that the story is better than it actually is. Not to say that the story's bad, by any means, it's pretty good but this is not a story-driven anime, it's character-driven.

Art and Animation - 9/10

The animation of the show, to be described in one word, is brilliant. While one can say that almost all anime that are released these days have really good animation quality, Shokugeki no Soma's animation is a level above most others. (while not being as good as something made by ufotable but its still very detailed and fluent). The best thing about Food Wars's art is the way they display food, it's just really awesome. The animation is consistent throughout the show and doesn't get bad at any moment. The openings and ending too are animated nicely.

The character designs, are, for the most part, unique as well, with most characters having different features. However, one can argue that Erina Nakiri(one of the female protagonists) looks pretty darn similar to Asuna Yuuki from SAO.

Sound - 9.5/10
The first opening is amazing; it a treat to the ears. It's simply beautiful. I am not too good at Japanese so I don't read the lyrics but just listening to the opening psyches you up for the episode. The ending is pretty good too but it still pales in comparison to the opening. (Says how excellent the opening song is). The second opening is good, but it's more of an opening for a fighting/action anime. The first opening was very charming and pleasant, which suits the theme of Shokugeki no Soma. However, the second OP's tone didn't quite suit it, in my opinion. It can be called pretty decent, nonetheless. The second ending is very good to hear too. (And they used the first OP at the end of the final episode 24 of the anime so that means it was the best of the series)
Now, on to the soundtrack, in my opinion, they lack a couple of battle soundtracks which they could use during shokugekis and stuff. There is only one track which played is over and over again, during food battles or while the characters are cooking something for their tests among other stuff. The track named Shokugeki no Soma Epic soundtrack(so much for a good title) on its own is thrilling to hear and you won't probably notice how repetitive it is unless you are watching like 8-9 episodes at once. But if you do watch a few episodes at once, there is a chance that you will come to complaint about the limited tracks. The limited amount of soundtrack is the only critic I could have in the sound department. The voice acting is funny when required, serious and tension-building during a shokugeki, which is also another plus to the anime. Simply put, the voice acting is almost flawless.

Characters - 9/10

The cast in this anime is pretty big, which you would expect from a shounen+school anime like this. There are rivals, friends, upperclassmen, etc but most of the relevant characters have gotten pretty good screentime to express their characters.

Our lovely protagonist, Soma Yukihira is just awesome. He can be OP sometimes with his dishes but he is awesome, nonetheless. He is and is not your typical shounen protagonist. When I say he is your typical shounen protag, I look into the fact that he has a goal of surpassing someone, he is pretty determined to do that, etc. When I say he isn't, the unique features of his characters come out : his confidence, his competence in stuff he does, his arrogance(at times). Now, here his arrogance does a great job because it's really fun to see the opponent's reactions after they are brought down by his words. However, most importantly, he entertains us. For an anime like Food Wars, he is the perfect protagonist.

The two main female characters of the show are damn good :
Megumi Tadokoro is your usual clumsy, scared girl from a small village who hopes of making it big here. While there is nothing much unique about her character, she has done her job well so far and is getting development and she does get braver as the anime progresses.
Erina Nakiri is the tsundere who is also known as "God Tongue" because of her ability to only acknowledge the best of foods. She is the daughter of the Director(or something big shot of Totsuki at least.) and her family is one of leads in culinary restaurants and other stuff in the world. She is prideful, arrogant and would destroy anything that could stand in her way of being no. 1 in Totsuki; anyone other than Soma. Erina hates Soma and you'll understand why she does after watching the first couple of episodes. The interactions between Soma and Erina are fun to watch, really fun to watch. Although, this season isn't focussed on Erina too much, I am sure she will be getting her time in this coming seasons.

The remaining characters, too, as I said, are entertaining to watch. Some of their interactions are hilarious while some will show you the intensity of the battles happening in Food Wars.

Pros :

1. Extremely entertaining.
2. Amazing comedy and you'll jump out of your seat while watching some of them.
3. Great animation and soundtrack.
4. Immensely amusing character interactions.

Cons :

Comedy can get out of hand sometimes with the ecchi. If you aren't a fan of ecchi, you might not like the characters' reactions after they eat the food. They get naked and act and act like they're having orgasms. A lot of people have enjoyed this but some might not. However, the good thing is that these get less and less as the anime progresses and by around episode 8, these foodgasms are reduced since the anime starts to get more serious and take off to the skies.

Enjoyment : 10/10
This anime is a hell of a ride and the entertainment value of the show is right up there. The first episode is nothing compared to what the next few episodes bring to you. The thing got better and better with each passing episode.

Overall - 9.5/10
In my opinion, Shokugeki no Soma is the best anime released in the year 2015. I guess, the stats it has on MAL speaks for itself.
I would definitely recommend this anime to you, even if you are not a fan of such anime, it's worth your time and I am almost certain that you won't regret watching it.