We get a brief reminder that in order for the stagiaire to be passed, you have to make a visible mark. We then see that it is the final day of pre-opening of the new Shino Tokyo restaurant we've been following Soma with for awhile. Soma is learning from Abel about French and Japanese dishes, and he has definitely been accepted as a part of the team. They treat him like part of the group for the most part. Luci asks Soma if he came up with a dish for the contest and Soma says he has an idea, but it isn't quite done yet. I was curious as to what kind of dish he was going to make at this point. Trying to think of a food that makes me think, well "SOMA" if you will.
Shinomiya has everyone get to work for the evening and Soma tells himself he will make the dish tonight. Shinomiya handles the interviews are outside and the rest of the staff handles all the cooking and restaurant stuff. The evening goes by without a hitch. As the last guests of the evening, however, Shinomiya has invited a group of people and reserved the whole place for them. This group is revealed to be a few judges from the autumn elections and other higher up chef's we've seen in earlier episodes. Most surprisingly though a guest arrives I would have never expected. Shinomiya's Mom of all people!
Shinomiya seems to act like a gentleman towards her and she seems a bit grumpy but I loved this part! Absolutely adored it even! I love seeing parent/child relationships in shows like this! Too often the parents die! I know it's necessary for the plot sometimes but it should happen less! It's gotten to the points where dead parents are the norm!
Everyone seems to have a good time and loves the food, of course. Soma asks Shinomiya why he chose to cook French cuisine. The reason is actually very simplistic and VERY sweet. It was the other most adorable scene. Shinomiya went with his parents to a fancy French restaurant when he was young, and because it made his mother so happy, became a chef that specialized in French cuisine. All so he could see his Mom smile and be happy. Shinomiya doesn't say this out loud to Soma, of course, we see it all in flashback. He gets tsundere about it basically but we then move on to them preparing dessert.
While they do this Shinomiya explains he's opening up a restaurant here in France to reaffirm his roots and we get to know a bit more about the quiche he made and the ingredients in it. The history behind the ingredients to a degree as well! It's interesting trivia but this banter seems to have plot connected with it. This whole reaffirming roots thing means Soma will make a French and Japanese style dish at the same time, but I'm not sure yet.
Shinomiya sends his Mom off (another tender cute scene) and the contest is about to start. Shinomiya seems to want them to all go home but everyone else wants to stay and see this. Not only will it be impressive food but it will be the first official face-off between Soma and Shinomiya. A few also seem to think Soma will have a lot of difficulties. Especially since Shinomiya will be judging the dishes!
Back in the kitchen though everything seems fine and Soma asks Wei if she will be cooking. We get a bit of her backstory here and it's revealed that she was a chef in a Shino restaurant before. She switched to customer service because her entry was only ever served once in two years. She decided she wanted to learn by interacting with customers but has never slacked at cooking. Everyone seems very serious about the competition for sure. Soma is just serious though and ready to go. Shinomiya tells them it's time to cook and they all get to work.
Everyone starts cooking, Soma has flashbacks to other experiences he's had including one with his Dad. He realizes how his Dad became so skilled in a few aspects and seems to come to an epiphany as we see him become his "new self" in a metaphorical fantasy sequence thing. That scene is really cool, very artistic and something I think a lot of us can identify with!
Soma finishes last but everyone, including the woman who watches all the students to see how well it's going, is intrigued. He cooks something he calls a chicken and egg rice bowl. Even though it doesn't look like one. Shinomiya tastes it and GET THIS.
He actually has a food gasamish reaction. No suggestive sounds like the girls when they taste it, though. Regardless I liked finally seeing some manservice for once haha. The quail is full of egg and risotto which honestly sounds heavenly to even me, the author of this article. Everyone's impressed and Shinomiya gives Soma his approval. Honestly. he deserved it for sure. That dish was one that actually made me hungry, and this show doesn't typically have that effect like you would think it would, oddly enough.
Soma takes his win pretty maturely and simply states this is basically only the beginning. Shinomiya still doesn't think it's good enough to be at the restaurant in its current state (cause as I said before he's just THAT ONE teacher) but gives him more cooking tips while everyone else watches seeming happy and content. Soma also passes the stagiaire. Soma leaves actually calling Shinomiya master and Shinomiya tells him to make it to the elite ten, Soma promises he will.
Back at the school, the headmaster seems to wonder to himself how many students are passing. We see a montage of Soma's friends and they all seem to be doing well, passing with flying colors. Even Megumi gets a little brave and takes on challenges! We see Shino Tokyo on its first day and we get a surprise! It's revealed that Soma's dish made it on the menu after all!
Soma comes back to his dorm and is the first one back. As it turns out while he was gone he got a lot of shokugeki requests. We see his friends return to in a cute and funny montage while a song plays. I actually recognize the singer from an anime opening I've heard before! One called Sankarea (another pretty good show). We even get to see Hisako come back to Erina. In the last scene, Soma says he will take on any challenge at any time. Inviting literally everyone to a Shokugeki (TITLE DROOOOOPPPPP I LOVE IT WHEN THEY DO THAT)
Overall I loved this episode the most. Not because it was the last but because this one for whatever reason left more of an emotional impact on me. Things that leave an impact like that for me whether it be a show or game always make me like the show a lot. Overall Food Wars is very good and a high-quality show. The animation and art are fantastic, the characters have a lot of depth and are well written and the music and story are also well done! I give this show 8 out of 10 and loved this episode a lot especially. I recommend people watch it, though if it's ecchi or your looking that has fanservice for everybody, it isn't that type of show. It's clear who the intended audience is I guess! Still a very good show, though!
That's it for season 2 of Food Wars guys! I won't be writing anymore detailed ep by ep things about it, but I'm sure we will see it again for a third season! It's very popular and left the ending open for more, so it's very likely. I will definitely probably touch on the show again, just not so...extensivly.
I bid you adieu until Wednesday for the final episode of D Gray Man Hallow!
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