The hard truth is that if Shokugeki no Souma: San no Sara were a two-cour series, I’d probably drop it at this point – or at least suspend coverage until this arc was over. That’s what I was about to type, followed by stating that since the series only had a few episodes left I’d stick with it. But then I stumbled upon the news (several weeks old now, though I missed it at the time) that this was going to be a two-cour season. That leaves me in rather a conundrum, but at this point I am leaning towards dropping it for the moment – once we’re at the point I’m at right now, things don’t usually go well when I keep covering a show.
I’m kind of past the stage of being pissed off and annoyed at Shokugeki, but where that leaves me is just kind of bored – and in some ways, that’s even worse. In the end the problem is I have no investiture in the current arc – it just seems silly to me. Adding a new group of cartoon villains doesn’t help matters. I’m not sure what would help matters at this point apart from this whole Azami arc being down with and the series regaining some of the charm it’s almost entirely lost for me.
So – Kurokiba vs. the new moustache-twirler, that’s fine. Maybe shokugeki that aren’t fixed might prove enough of a diversion to keep the series watchable until all this nonsense blows over. I’ll still be watching, and if Shokugeki no Souma surprises me I’ll keep going with coverage, but surprise is the right term in this context because I’m not expecting that. I’m guessing that the Azami arc will end when the first cour ends – that would make the second a logical spot to jump back in, depending on how Winter looks schedule-wise. But there’s a lot of theoreticals there, so the best thing to do is just to play it be ear.
kanda92
November 30, 2017 at 6:38 amKind of understandable,this arc is pretty silly shounen, still watching for the food though, did you have time to check out Houseki no Kuni yet? The worldbuilding is fascinating and I think it’s worth your time.
Guardian Enzo
November 30, 2017 at 8:24 amI watched a couple of eps and it didn’t click for me at all. Maybe at some point I’ll loop back to it but it’s hard to imagine ever having time…
Collectr
November 30, 2017 at 9:02 amAs a manga reader, I have really bad news for you about the length of this arc…
Simone
November 30, 2017 at 3:51 pmI understand that the Azami arc is *still ongoing in the manga*. So, you might just want to drop this and get it done and over with.
skygtr
December 1, 2017 at 2:45 amYa the Azami Arc is winding down in the manga. There’s still some good things upcoming in the anime once the whole hunt thing dies down though
foodie
December 1, 2017 at 12:56 pmSour grapes I suppose.
Maybe you’ve changed or maybe your require constant novelty because this season isn’t all that different from previous seasons.
Your blog, but you tend to be somewhat bipolar — every season preview starts with worst season evar anime is dead, followed by meh meh some stuff is good, oh yeah this one show is a master piece, repeat recycle.
Just some perspective — I await the immediate deletion of my comment.
Guardian Enzo
December 1, 2017 at 1:07 pmYou greatly exaggerate your own importance.
Zeroyuki92
December 1, 2017 at 2:49 pmI have expected this, Enzo. This whole huge ass Azami Arc was also a big nuisance to me in the manga, and also became the cause for a big polarization in the community (I believe it’s still net negative in the end though).
So yeah, I get the original intention of this arc (it will tie a lot of points of the story), but it was executed in the worst way possible. It’s not all bad stuffs, but the only good/tolerable parts of this arc is the parts when Azami and his cronies have little or nothing to do with the story. He destroyed whatever he touched elsewhere.
Thus, I think dropping this at this point is a good move for you (or just read/watch it without blogging it). You might want to pick up the series when there’s no screenshot of Azami to be seen, but otherwise you can’t escape completely from him yet even in the second cour.
ftghb
December 28, 2017 at 3:06 pmIncidentally, where Azami was introduced was also where I stopped reading the manga. I’ve always had a problem with the amount of characters Shokugeki introduced, but was tolerable as long as there was some redemptive quality to them. However, I never understood the point of introduce a new group of ‘baddies’ when there was still the entire elite 10 to sift through.
Also a point of disappointment for me was how they developed erina’s character. I always was curious how they would shoehorn her into the second lead given her crummy personality and distance from the main cast driven by her elitism from birth. Her about face from Azami’s arrival just didn’t click with me, and only served to reinforce that very little of her interaction with the characters is intrinsically driven. In the end, I would’ve been much more satisfied if she thawed and made that decision for herself rather being forced into the waiting arms of Soma by big bad Azami.
I was much more enamored when they were still playing the roles of students (when was the last time we saw a proper cooking instructor?) instead of devolving in a shokugeki battle royale. But I suppose it was good while it lasted.