Shokugeki no Soma

[Buffalobiian]

The high school section on the other hand, is specifically set up to find leaders. They're not looking for line cooks or sous chefs, they are looking for executive chefs (or Chef de cuisine). They only want students who can prove that they'll innovate, command, and revolutionize restaurants.

And to do that you need time to train, practice and fail. Innovation doesn't happen within the 2 hours that you're pressed to produce something of good quality.

Remember Souma trialling different ways to make his Don for the shokugeki? That's what I'm talking about.

All the other "do it right or fail" scenarios are about exercising what you already know in an unconventional way. It lets you break out of a tight spot, but you're not going to make a breakthrough. It's destructive, not constructive.

[Kraco]

Aren't you just saying that they are supposed to use their free time for innovation and bettering themselves, either in clubs or on their own? Simply taking the official lessons and practice isn't a sure way to survive the school. They should all know that, so it's perfectly valid.

Those "do it right or fail" experiences make them develop a mindset that allows them to break out of quite likely tight spots they might face later in their professional life. Of course it's vastly exaggerated here, but this is a shounen series. In any case, like Soma puts it, you have to serve something to the customers and you can't keep them waiting infinitely. If a sudden tight spot paralyses you, it's all over. That wasn't Megumi's problem during the exam earlier, but it almost was during this shokugeki.

[Buffalobiian]

Aren't you just saying that they are supposed to use their free time for innovation and bettering themselves, either in clubs or on their own? Simply taking the official lessons and practice isn't a sure way to survive the school. They should all know that, so it's perfectly valid.

I'm saying they should have free time, but also official R&D time, with input from senior colleagues in classes.

We see no classes, only tests. Souma is only tested on how well he can use his current skills in that instant - not how to develop them. Like the alumni said this episode, Souma is a level above other students thanks to his family restaurant training. What has the school done for the others?

This isn't a school that produces good chefs via mentoring. It's an institute that finds the already good ones and give them a badge.

[Ryllharu]

And Erina is culinary royalty, highly regarded since she was little, in the Top 10, and spends a great deal of her time composing dishes that Hisako ends up tasting. She got rid of another club so her testing kitchen could be conveniently located and she could spend more time there.

The Polar Star dorm members, including the 7th seat on the Top 10, spend most if not all of their free time doing research in their specialty, testing dishes on each other, or torturing Marui while he's trying to research.

Using your free time to research and plan for the inevitable challenges that the staff throws at you is expected. As far as we've seen, all the clubs are Research Societies.

As I said, the mentoring was for the Middle School section. The difficultly clearly ramps up in the high school section and they start throwing out the people who can't handle the simulated environment of a real restaurant. They're testing their ability as sous chef and line cooks when forcing them to make 50 servings at night.

There was one transfer student. Souma. The overwhelming majority start at the school in Middle School.

[Kraco]

Nah. We just aren't seeing that stuff because it's not interesting or exciting. I'm sure they spend many hours every day sitting in an ordinary classroom taking lessons. It's a high school, even if cooking oriented, so I reckon they have ordinary lessons as well. You want to see it all? We already know they have clubs like any Japanese school (although I imagine they are all cooking related). That's for gaining insight from older students. Many students have special interests they develop on their own. If one is not interested in any of this but instead expects the school has to offer everything on a silver platter, they deserve to get kicked out. Nobody else is going to make them Michelin chefs after they graduate. They need to do it on their own. Even Erina was expanding her own kitchen to stay on top of things.

[shinta|hikari]

I agree with Kraco that they should have those during the off times, but I also think that Buff is right in that they should show at least a couple of those scenes. The current story is more like a reality TV cooking show than a school. If you watch Hell's Kitchen, Chopped, MasterChef, etc, you will notice how this is patterned after those.

[KrayZ33]

I get these vibes too, I always have the "This meal is so unfinished, EA tried to publish it" picture in mind when I watch this show.

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 13


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I prime myself for dinner every Saturday by watching this now.

Souma's problem must be not making appealing dishes - people won't know how good something tastes if they don't feel like trying it.

I'm not quite sure about his dad saying "people won't order things if it's way out there". I tend to order things that are more unconventional, especially if it's something I can't make at home due to technical difficulties or sheer time/labour intensiveness.

[David75]

When traveling, it sometimes happen that novelty/discovering everything everyday takes a toll on you and going back to something very simple is a nice change. It's easier on your mind, you do not have to think too much about it and it evens recreates enough room for further discoveries.

Also, they very much stressed out the broad range of customers, from under 7 to over 77. Novelty might really put you in a very small caterogy of people. Moreover, this is not a diner, but a breakfast where diversity is much smaller and people wait for specific dishes. And that challenge would be even harder in France where breakfast is mostly based on sugar, milk and coffee... When other countries even in Europe have heavy salty/meat dishes.
I personaly do not care and can adapt to almost anything in the morning, even seafood. But my wife will never eat anything else than bread with butter or morning pastries, with coffee or hot cocoa.

[Buffalobiian]

I eat anything in the morning. My main constraint is usually time or ingredients.

[Ryllharu]

The problem he's about to have is pretty obvious. He's used to cooking for customers on the spot at the diner, not having a lot of servings available that then sit out. All the previous tests have been cook-and-serve immediately. It doesn't help that he's right next to Erina, the food industry darling.

As an American, I find it hilarious that Erina's miracle dish here is something that you can get pretty much everywhere in the US (budget hotels), and is always gross. There's no saving eggs benedict, especially in a setting like this. Doesn't matter how good of a chef they claim she is. The Hollandaise sauce always develops an unappetizing skin on it within minutes.

At least Tadokoro's is something legitimately novel, fun to eat and appeals to all ages.
Aldini's is kinda weird, but salad for breakfast isn't that unusual on that side of the world.

[David75]

It had an apetizing dessert look at least, that egg benedict. But I think I never tried it. I can only state it feels a bit heavy and Inhave yet to find a dish I like with bacon in it... But that's because I have troubles with fatty or oily dishes.

[Kraco]

This show is starting to highlight Soma's biggest weakness, which is the fact he knows nothing outside of their diner and his old man's dishes and derivations. Now he even admitted he doesn't know what hotels serve as breakfast. His dad is a real cheap bastard if he never took his family anywhere. Or maybe the dad is a sadist troll who is now laughing at his "frog in a well" son's troubles behind his back. An arrogant and self-confident mind combined with limited knowledge is a deadly combination. Good for Soma he's a main character.

[Ryllharu]

I'm pretty sure that is exactly why his father challenged him to go to the school. What better place to broaden his culinary horizons than an internationally famous cooking school that's always do or die?

They had a business to run, and now Souma gets to continue his daily challenge lifestyle while his father is making insane buckets of money overseas.

That's good parenting, given their relationship and home life.

[Kraco]

I'm pretty sure that is exactly why his father challenged him to go to the school. What better place to broaden his culinary horizons than an internationally famous cooking school that's always do or die?

They had a business to run, and now Souma gets to continue his daily challenge lifestyle while his father is making insane buckets of money overseas.

That's good parenting, given their relationship and home life.

Sure, sending him to the school was good parenting, but he could have done just a little bit before it, you know. Like it was revealed, the dude hasn't even eaten a hotel breakfast before. Such an elementary thing makes you wonder just how much normal experience he's lacking otherwise. That can't be it all. Has he even been visiting other, varied restaurants?

[David75]

Sure, sending him to the school was good parenting, but he could have done just a little bit before it, you know. Like it was revealed, the dude hasn't even eaten a hotel breakfast before. Such an elementary thing makes you wonder just how much normal experience he's lacking otherwise. That can't be it all. Has he even been visiting other, varied restaurants?

You can always always script a background story:Souma's mother died after a long illness that needed very costly treatment. Souma's father had to pay the debts, but with no budget had to open a small restaurant where he got enough people/income to support his child, instill high-end cooking skills, pay the debts, but no room for extras.

[neflight86]

No comments on new girl? It was pretty cute how she tried to give everyone the shakedown (including Erina), and her 'muscle' was clueless as to his purpose in it all.

[Ryllharu]

Alice?

All of us love Alice. There's no needs for words about it.

[Kraco]

Alice was actually shown a couple of times before in random eps among crowds of people, just for the sake of eager manga readers. There's not much to talk about yet, to be honest, after these brief scenes and the current exam still unfinished.

She's my favourite of the girls, nevertheless. Although she's also arrogant, she's much funnier than Erina. As you might have noticed, she's not in the picture at the end of the OP. I hope she will now be added to it. There's some space left on the right.

[NeoCybercoin]

Shokugeki no Soma Ep 14






Well that's one way to do it. Pretty nice too. And all of this made me remember why I liked Alice so much.