Shokugeki No Souma Season Four
“The Fourth Plate”
There’s no gainsaying that the previous seasons of Shokugeki no Souma fed our eyes, minds, mouth, and stomach with sight and hallucinations of really dreamy, enticing, and mouth-watering dishes. And to just even back that up, we’ve been blessed with the perfect storyline of the anime, and no doubt, Season Three kind of left us stranded and wondering what Season Four has in store for us.
In the 12 episodes of Season Four, no doubt it’s filled with scenes and stories about Shokugeki of Souma’s team against Nakiri Azami’s Central. But Souma and his team of first years are going against the Elite Top Ten members, and with such great odds against them, do they even stand a chance at winning? Or would they all get expelled?
Of course, after 61 episodes in the first three seasons of Food Wars, we would expect to see some degree of evolution in the characters, with some new twists to the story itself. The initial seasons were exciting, with their dramatic food combat, tempting delicacies that constantly tempted viewers to salivate or even wish they were in the anime itself, and, of course, the infamous foodgasm. However, does the sitcom continue to please viewers four seasons later?
Indeed, you couldn’t help but notice some changes with the character voicing. A bit of reduced joy and enjoyment derived from this season before others, but it is still almost as loveable as the previous seasons from one through three.
I would like to mention the significant changes (or should I call them promotions) in the lives of some of the characters, like Erina, Megumi, Soma, and some others, among those in Polar Star Dormitory. And in this season, all of Soma’s friends in the hostel were evicted from the school. Soma teamed up with his father, Takumi Aldini, Erina, to save them and the other students to battle against Central’s Top Elite members in a Shokugeki. For this, Central staked the seats of its Elite Top members while Soma and his team risked their expulsion from the school.
With such a large ensemble of characters, the show was able to pick and choose which characters to use in each scene to avoid events becoming tedious. The show typically picks out the characters it wishes to see come out of an event (such as a Team Shokugeki, training arc, or competition) and offers them growth throughout the event.
Sadly, some characters are almost entirely unaffected by this. Even though Souma has been the protagonist of the last season, he has garnered little attention. The ensemble is sometimes too dispersed to devote enough time to any one character to make this possible. Yet, the overall effect is satisfying enough that it doesn't necessitate such in-depth character development.
In the end, it's the characters' dynamics that hit the hardest. Rivalries, hesitant alliances, and former adversaries who have teamed together for one reason or another are scattered among the massive array of people. The openness of the cast allows any character to participate in any of these interactions anytime the show needs that specific dynamic.
Aldini's opponent, Souma, fights on Aldini's side against Mimasaka to protect his dignity. Later, he joins the struggle against Central with both of them. Even though Souma initially matches Mimasaka's enthusiasm for cooking, their teamwork is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the final arc. Throughout the entire show, practically all of the characters have these kinds of complicated connections.
At the end of this particular season of Shokugeki no Souma, we get to see a pretty twist after the “Rebel Forces” win the Team Shokugeki against Central, as Erina was appointed as the Institution’s Director. Yukihira Soma became the Elite Top Ten’s First Seat, which he had been gunning for since his first day in school.
As you might’ve expected, for his nature, Soma was instead bombarded with loads of challenges to Shokugekis, all of which he always won, and kept up a record of never turning down a challenge.
And while we’d like to dwell on the story Season, Four gave us, which was centered entirely on the Team Shokugeki, let’s not forget to mention the artistic and musical aspects of this anime. And it’s a relief to see how they didn’t let us down in these two aspects.
The graphics seemed to be a bit off from last season, irrespective of how grown and developed the characters had become. Suffice to say, that’s just about the only aspect which this season has a flaw. I might just even add scoring to the elements that make this particular season appealing to fans, and you can be sure that it is based entirely on public opinion, not just a single person’s assessment.
Last but not least, I think it's necessary to emphasize some of the show's most appealing aspects: This anime has always had a terrific soundtrack that always matches the atmosphere and beautiful animation that makes the food appear better than anything you've ever seen. Actually, the recipes are fantastic if you want to experiment in your own kitchen, as I have done with several of them.
For years, Shokugeki no Souma has been one of my favorite shows, and I look forward to tuning in each year for more. Fan Service is an issue; however, it's not as prevalent in this program as in actual ecchi shows, and it's treated as a joke. Regardless, I've always found this to be one of my favorite programs. I was surprised by how much I like this season, given that it was devoted solely to a single event. I can't suggest Shokugeki no Souma highly enough if you haven't already.
