Shokugeki No Soma Chapter 91-93 – Unprecedented Event

What a curious final; hot on one side, cold on the other and Souma in between =D

While I did feel either Akira or Ryou would be great opponents for Souma in the final, I honestly did not expect the final to be between the three of them. But thinking about it, the way the scoring was set-up in the preliminaries (Souma drawing with Ryou and losing to Akira by one point), the best course of action to settle the lack of finality in the scoring was to have Souma defeat both them. And seeing how Souma had not met either of them again prior to the final, the three-way final should have been expected. But regardless, that twist was extremely satisfying and I look forward to seeing how this unprecedented event intensifies.

Shokugeki No Soma Chapter 90 – Into The Fire

Who will face Souma in the final? The battle begins…

So it begins, the battle to determine the chef who ends up facing Souma in the Autumn Election final. Both Ryou and Akira have shown themselves to be incredibly talented chefs who have different styles of cooking and ways of approaching challenges, so whoever wins, the battle they will have with Souma in the Autumn Election final should certainly be grand and epic.

Shokugeki No Soma Chapter 83-89 – Souma VS Subaru

Despite the hurdles and despair you face, you continue on because that is what it means to move forward

While some people perceive the way they can move forward through paths that manifest in front of them, Souma is able to transcend such a constructed perception and instead sees an open sky, one in which he is free to go where-ever he desires. That ability of Souma really does make him immensely enjoyable to watch, especially seeing how he takes existing dishes and evolves it further with that unrestrained mind he has.

Shokugeki No Soma Chapter 81-82 – Battle Of Creativity

Basing his victory around a match with the same starting point, Souma truly desires to win over Subaru

Interesting strategy by Souma, to bring Subaru to equal footing in regards to the beef stew dish Souma had chosen to be his dish for their match. The fact that Souma had already advanced his beef stew dish in the past, that he considers it his greatest masterpiece from when he was middle school, makes improving it now that much more difficult. Souma himself is unsure how much he can advance the dish, but I suppose given his excitement in trying to defeat Subaru and surpass himself, the creative side of Souma has just been given an unrestricted license to unleash.

Shokugeki No Soma Chapter 80 – Challenge

Autumn Election second round match-ups: Souma vs Subaru, Akira vs Ryou

I am quite excited about the Autumn Election second round match-ups – Akira vs Ryou and Souma vs Subaru. In particular, I am really looking forward to seeing Souma dismantle Subaru with his dish in his match. The theme is a “main dish for a western-style meal” and Souma has agreed to a have a Shokugeki against Subaru with some seriously dire consequences. The fact that Souma, the main character, has bet his future as a chef on the match, it is practically impossible that he is going to lose his match against Subaru, although I suppose regardless of what was bet, it was fated for Subaru to lose to Souma when he challenged him to a Shokugeki.

Shokugeki No Soma Chapter 78-79 – Within The Demon’s Grasp

In the end there was nothing Takumi could have done once becoming ensnared in Subaru’s web

Subaru is immensely more dangerous than I had initially expected, it is one thing to research a person and foresee the dish they will make based on that research but it totally another thing to predict their actions under pressure based on their individual characteristics and experiences. For Subaru to be able to entrap Takumi so completely, the ability he has in analysing a person and extrapolating defining features in them enabling him to trace their movements even before the person acts, what a dangerous ability it is which Subaru has cultivated.

Shokugeki No Soma Chapter 77 – The King Of Stalkers

Subaru in a nutshell, a demon hugging a doll that is his opponent…

So Subaru really is making the same dish as Takumi, with the addition of some improvements that he believes reduces his chances of losing to almost zero. But wow, what a crazy guy, to investigate someone so thoroughly like that, he has talent but that is just disturbing. Subaru may not have a “specialty” in cooking but what he is talent in is recreating a dish others make/made. He would make a great shadow cook, but all Subaru is doing is just making sure his dish is better than his opponents, he is not really creating anything “special”, noteworthy or memorable. What Takumi do now that he is cornered?

Shokugeki No Soma Chapter 75 – Aiming For The Top

With Hisako only settling for #2 behind Erina, it was obvious why she didn’t have what it takes to take down someone with the desire to take #1

Hayama Akira dominated more than I had expected, he utterly killed that challenged and showcased just how much of a player he is for the top spot of Tootsuki Academy. Hisako’s dish was great, but compared to the depth of flavour, smell and overall expression of Akira’s dish, it wasn’t good enough. Akira displayed right then and there how serious he is in his claims of taking the top. All Hisako could do was crumble under the pressure Akira’s conviction imposed on her. Between a battle of flavours and a battle of wills, Akira came out on top.

Shokugeki No Soma Chapter 73 – Akira VS Hisako

Her eyes when she is cooking display a completely different person than who she normally is

Well looks like I was wrong with my predictions of what the final two match-ups would be for the first round in the Autumn Election, I guess the battle of Souma’s rivals will have to wait for later (Takumi vs Akira). Mimasaka Subaru is an interesting character albeit incredibly weird, but amusing nonetheless. What a hardcore stalker that obsesses over details so disturbingly, I get now why despite his appearance, he was able to pass the Autumn Election preliminaries. Still the most shocking development in the chapter was Hisako seriousness, I had not expected her to be so convicted in her desire to reach the top, but what she displayed this chapter has me re-evaluating her character completely. Akira may just be overpowered in this match =/.

Shokugeki No Soma Chapter 72 – The Determination To Succeed

The contest to the top

Aw, I was hoping Megumi would come out victorious, but I suppose after the last few chapters that doesn’t matter as Megumi has already displayed that she is capable of challenging the rest of the cast within the story. The fact that she managed to “undress” the fundoshi of Senzaemon with her food is proof that she has abilities to take notice of. Still, Kurokiba winning is interesting, I wonder who he will end up facing in the next round =/. Will it be that unnamed guy related to Eizan? And speaking about him, is he really a high school student?