「朝はまた来る」 (Asa wa Mata Kuru)
“Dawn Will Come Again”

When I first saw the assortment of meats, I thought to myself that there’s no way that a mishmash of beef could taste good. And even finishing that episode – although, I love meat in general – that dish didn’t appeal to me the same way bacon does! Come on – BACON?! But it’s odd that you’d pair pork with beef stew so maybe that wouldn’t taste as good as I’m envisioning it to smell. Anyway, what do I know right? What I do know is what I like and even though a pile of different beef parts might not scream “beef stew”, it does sound like any meat-eaters’ dream. All my favorite beef parts – tongue, tripe, tail – all in one bowl sounds delicious. It requires a lot of work to prepare each part well too so it’s not a task to take lightheartedly. Obviously I would expect Souma to blow it out of the water with this one. It’s still not as appetizing to me as some of the other dishes that were presented previously, but Souma’s dish encompasses everything he’s been working towards and truly is the embodiment of his specialty. A well-deserved win for Souma and I certainly couldn’t have predicted that one.

Last week I thought that Mitsuru was working for Subaru and although it’s not quite to that extent, Mitsuru ended up being a bit of an Achilles’ heel for Souma. Mitsuru didn’t directly hand over Souma’s dish to Subaru, but he underestimated Souma’s opponent and the lengths he’d go to to win. Luckily Souma still had the upper hand and in order to pull off this win, he prepared even more than Subaru. Subaru believed that he could win just be twisting Souma’s recipe – presenting just one extra element. But Souma not only anticipated Subaru’s move, he bested it and presented something that was his and elevated it. Isn’t that what being a chef is about? Creating your own recipes and constantly learning and bringing something new/different to the table? That’s what I love about Souma’s creations. As creepy and disgusting as they can be… High risk, high rewards folks.

With Subaru’s defeat, I thought that his story would come to an end but we might just see him again. When the episode flashed to his childhood and his upbringing, I was genuinely sympathetic towards him. Not only was I not expecting his backstory, but his father wasn’t really a father figure for running away. Subaru’s ability to replicate someone else’s dish is indeed amazing, but it also means that he doesn’t have his own preference in cooking style. That might be a good and/or bad thing but the anime paints it as Subaru’s way of trying to prove that he can better anyone with their own recipes and specialties. It’s like winning shokugeki battles was his only way of feeling accomplished and getting the acknowledgment that he needed that he was a successful chef. This made me feel bad for Subaru and it wasn’t until Souma talked him into staying at the school that I was felt like he turned a new leaf. It was even visually shown with Subaru in his birthday suit! So with all that said, I doubt that withall this character development for Subaru, this will be the last we see of him.

Finally we see the return of all the cooking utensils that Subaru has stolen, returned to their owners at the end. It was a heartwarming scene and seeing the girl thank Souma was a nice touch. This moment made me feel worse for Subaru but then he picked himself up again and chose to be a better person thanks to Souma. When Takumi appeared, I wasn’t sure what to expect – maybe a bit of anger or a bit of pity – but in the end, Takumi was the bigger person even after his loss. He shows that he does have some pride left in him and the only way he’s going to get the mezzaluna back is when he defeats Souma. What a proclamation! I’m dying to see when and if they have a shokugeki one day and who is the better chef. Obviously with Souma as the main character, he already has one-up on Takumi but who knows; maybe Takumi will drastically improve.

Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: Souma was the clear winner but it was nice to see Subaru’s history thrown in. And Takumi’s line was on point! Mmmm… who doesn’t love bacon? Although I do love tripe and beef tongue too #shokugeki_anime

Full-length images: 11.

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25 Comments

  1. Creepy stalking aside (seriously, that deserves some kind of punishment, lol), I thought Subaru was a pretty cool opponent. He raised the tension for the show a bit and his backstory helped flesh him out to make his actions more understandable. On a side note, I really do hope Takumi gets another chance at the spotlight, I always feel like he’s being one upped by a lot of the other characters 😛

    ChromeNova
    1. Right? He’s like the ‘A-‘ player. He can beat the rest of the secondary cast, but up against the real big names he’s just a tiiiny bit behind.

      I also like Subaru quite a bit. Honestly, I like him more than the Elite Ten guy who was directing him (Eichiro? Something like that). Maybe that will turn around if we get more backstory on him (the Elite Ten guy), but as-is he’s a little one note as the shadowy villain mid-boss type.

      Guile
  2. One Pinch Man
    1. Dafuq
  3. As a manga reader, this is definitely not the last we’d see of Mimasaka Subaru. Were it not for his creepy streak, he could’ve been one of the most respected chefs at Tootsuki.
    https://randomc.net/image/Shokugeki%20no%20Souma/Shokugeki%20no%20Souma%20Ni%20no%20Sara%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
    And speaking of his boss Eizan,
    Show Spoiler ▼

    https://randomc.net/image/Shokugeki%20no%20Souma/Shokugeki%20no%20Souma%20Ni%20no%20Sara%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
    But moving on, looking forward to one of the wildest fights of the Autumn Election.
    Show Spoiler ▼

    zero5889
  4. How convenient was it that the school staff JUST HAPPENED to have every single weapon Subaru pilfered from his opponents upon starting at the school on hand AT THE MOMENT it was known that Souma won, AND JUST HAPPENED to have every single previous opponent right there present at the auditorium?? This IS a classicly-written shonen! Flaws and all!

    starss
    1. It really aren’t flaws. Shokugeki’s are an official event. Therefore they need a uneven number of judges which they had and both parties agreed to the terms. Therefore it makes sense that the kitchen tools were there as soma would quit then and there if he lost.

      As for everyone being there, the shokugeki was most likely announced like the one between takumi and subaru.

    2. The whole point of a Shokugeki is bidding something to each other, in this case Soma is bidding for Subaru’s stolen tools and Subaru is bidding for Soma to quit the school. So as Santino said, the official have to taken hold of the tools before the shokugeki just before the match begins, and vice versa probably they have prepared for Soma’s paperwork for quitting the school.

      cryarc
    3. The event was publicized…
      How is it convenient?
      Those were the terms of the Shokugeki, he relinquishes all his stolen cookware or Souma drops out. You’re making this more complicated than it is.

      Tori
    4. Honestly I think you’re overly complicating things. First of all the “bets” that they both put in were the return of all the tools or Souma quitting being a chef. Given that it’s an official match, it doesn’t take a leap of the imagination to think that he would have been required to give the tools as a pre-requisite for the match. As for the people being there, well if you lost to him and wanted your tools back (given that it’s heavily implied that the tools he took were of special meaning to the people) it’s not a stretch either that you would show up to at least see if you had a chance of getting the stuff back.

      If you want to talk about a “miss” in regards to the writing it’s the fact that only 1 person actually thanked Souma

      Juan
  5. I think that rather than saying Souma predicted Subaru’s move, he picked a strategy where it didn’t matter, i.e., I’m going to keep inventing/improving my dish until the last second.

    I am curious: as the blog writer seems to be so familiar with food, have they ever tried to replicate any of the dishes from Shokugeki no Souma?

    Blue
    1. I don’t think it came out as clearly as it did in the manga but I think the idea that they were trying to put forward for his loss is that while he only thinks “one step ahead” and essentially stopped there, Souma was continuously thinking about how to improve his dish even during the match and that’s the passion that a chef (or for that matter anyone) should have to be truly great at what they do.

      Juan
    2. I have actually!! =D THANKS FOR ASKING!
      The one that I was most interested in trying was his omelette here: https://randomc.net/image/Shokugeki%20no%20Souma/Shokugeki%20no%20Souma%20-%2014%20-%20Large%2015.jpg
      Possibly one of the easier recipes to replicate since I like to bake more than I cook and I love working with eggs =) Mine didn’t turn out like his HAHA! But it was a nice attempt. Both Souma and Akira’s curry recipes are also worth a try…maybe one day.

  6. Honestly of all of Souma’s dishes both in the Anime and the Manga, I feel like this one was the most uninspired considering all he basically did was stuff in all manner of meat. I like it better when he has a surprising twist to his dishes instead of stuff like this.

    Juan
  7. This is anime is getting old and super repetitive… I think they are spending too much time in this arc, which is essentially the same thing over and over and over again.

    André
    1. Honestly? This is probably my favorite arc of the whole show. So many interesting characters, so many different dishes, so many entertaining reaction shows (Yukiland, with Dojima prancing in the skirt)

      Guile
    2. ….It’s getting old an repetitious?
      It’s a damned anime about a competitive cooking school and the current arc is a tournament.
      What the hell are you expecting? A random raid boss battle?
      I think you’d be better off if you just quit watching since you seem to have a problem with the basic premise of the show.

      Kabble
    3. Not completely repetitive…
      We see new characters competing and the themes are always different so the food dishes are always different =) Plus everyone has their own style of cooking which is cool to see materialize.
      I think what you mean is that it’s predictable? Yes, it’s obvious that Souma’s going to win because he’s not going to stop being a chef/cooking… but don’t you want to see what he makes?
      I’m clearly very passionate about this show because I love to eat =3 and I love foodporn but if you’re not as into food, then maybe this shounen isn’t for you >_>

      1. Well, it’s also a very long arc, you have to admit. Started 3 episodes from the end in season 1 and still going until probably episode 8 or 9 of season 2? Something like that.

        The camp from hell arc was over and done in what, 4-5 episodes? And the Stagiare arc after the Autumn Elections probably only has enough material for 3-4 episodes.

        Guile
  8. I’m still a little baffled by the win actually. With Subaru’s perfect trace, I’d assume he also predicted using different beef parts. Or was a move from Soma really so unexpected that even Subaru didn’t see it coming. I mean in Subaru’s fight with Takumi he predicted the olive oil and upped it with his own twist. That for me would mean he was two steps ahead of Takumi. I guess what I’m just saying is can Subaru can call his skill perfect if he couldn’t predict this move by Soma?

    Zhinvu

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