I’m not going to say Shokugeki no Souma has jumped the shark for me, but I am kind of disillusioned with where it’s going.  Frankly I think this whole arc is pretty silly, and that’s in the context of a series that’s quite silly even when it’s at its best.  As I noted last week I’m not looking for photo-realism here – that’s not what Food Wars is all about, and while the cooking segments themselves are quite fastidiously researched in plot terms this show has always been a low fantasy.  No, my problem isn’t with a lack of realism but a lack of subtlety and plain old common sense.

I’m certainly not going to deny that the old Totsuki system was riddled with illogic, or a bit of a nightmare for the students, as some have used as a defense of the current plot twist.  One might even argue that there’s a certain fascistic appeal to Azami’s new order, especially to those bottom-feeders who struggled to make the cut before.  This is actually a classic approach bad managers take – they try to be a sort of Medical Mechanica, flattening out the difference between the good and mediocre (of which there are typically more of than good) in order to consolidate their own power and gain the support of those who can’t (or be bothered to try to) be excellent.  If it wanted to, this twist could even have been an interesting exploration of the philosophical differences between the flawed approaches of two generations of Nakiri dictators.

Based on the last two episodes, though, Shokugeki no Souma has no interest in being that.  Rather, it’s a kind of lowest common denominator melodrama.  The appeal here is completely manipulative, right down to little girls weeping at injustice to the strains of a sad BGM composition.  If Azami wasn’t a ludicrous enough moustache-twirler Eizan dispenses with even the pretense of instituting something he believes is just and right – he’s a complete caricature in every respect.  This whole business with Eizan buying off judges and not even trying to hide it is an insult to the audience in my opinion – are we really supposed to get caught up in something so forced and artificial?

At this point I suspect this unfortunate turn of events is going to carry us to the end of the season, which would be a real shame because the only way Food Wars can save itself for me is probably to put this arc in the rear-view and move on to other things sooner.  I can’t see any scenario where I’m going to get caught up in rooting for Souma-kun when the premise behind this fight is so contrived – and that’s coming from someone who’s been happy to cheer Souma on as he fought the good fight through arc after arc.  Sometimes plot twists just don’t work with us, even with series we like, and that’s just a hazard of the game.  But this is a pretty big stumble given the particulars, and for me personally it’s going to be tough for Shokugeki no Souma to recover from it.