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Food Wars! The Second Plate
Episode 7

by Rebecca Silverman,

How would you rate episode 7 of
Food Wars! The Second Plate ?
Community score: 4.1

Rather than go on another rant about this show's strange ideas about the female body, I'm just going to leave the screencap up there in the upper right hand corner. I think it says enough.

This episode really didn't waste any time getting to the conclusion of the Autumn Election semi-finals, which is a shame, because that means it only touched on the cook-off between Akira and Ryo. While neither of them are necessarily “main” characters in the same way as Soma, Megumi, and Erina, they're still two of Soma's most important rivals, and this match is intended to show which one he'll have to go up against in the finals. Instead of the detailed depiction Soma's chief competitors deserve, however, we get a reminder that Akira's good with spices and that Ryo's a seafood monster before rushing to the finish. While the outcome is both interesting and important, the journey doesn't feel like it's done either of them justice, while also missing out on opportunities for Soma/Erina interactions when Soma plants himself in the VIP room. Erina's reaction to his presence is drastically understated; yes, she's invested in the match, but her personality shouldn't have just taken him plopping down on the couch next to her so quietly, especially since he's the furthest thing from a VIP in her mind.

Another departure from the first season, and really the series in general, is how quickly the different facets of the boys' cooking are glossed over. For example, there was very little discussion of duck as a fatty meat and what techniques Akira used to compensate for that, and you can clearly hear the word “crépine” being used in the dialogue while the literal translation, “fatty caul,” is used in the subtitles. I would have expected a show like Food Wars! to go into more detail about what a caul is (Soma just briefly defines it), the process for using it, and perhaps even how you go about getting an intact caul to use in cooking. (Did it come from the eel? It looked too large, so what caul goes best with eel?) Basically, it feels like we're being given the bare minimum of information so the episode can rush to the finish, as the finals round of the Autumn Elections begins next week. With six episodes left, I have to worry that this finale will also be rushed, only to leave us hanging with a “read the manga, kids!” ending midway through the next story arc. (Just because we can read the manga legally doesn't assuage that worry much.)

Of course, this episode does have its highlights as well. Taki has rapidly become my favorite alum judge, not just for her entertainingly prickly personality, but also because she's not afraid to take back her criticism of a chef or hold his personality against him once she's tasted his food. The foodgasms are more on the fanservice side, and I have to admit that I kind of hope there's a burlesque show out there using those duck costumes; I'm both sad and relieved that this week's manservice was Ryo doing one-armed push-ups instead of Dojima in a duck suit. The beasts of prey metaphor for the match didn't work as well as it could have, but the giant raptor talons that kept showing up were a nice touch, as was the short bit at the end when Alice whips off Ryo's scarf, turning him from SuperKuro back into mild-mannered Ryo Kurokiba.

The theme for the final round in the Autumn Elections is Pacific saury, a type of fish whose evolution as cuisine seems to mimic lobster's: once a “junk” fish, now a classy item. While I fear that this next part will be either too rushed or far too drawn out for the remaining storyline of the arc, I also can't deny that it's exciting to see what each contestant will do with the fish. The beginning of the end has arrived – here's hoping they do it justice.

Rating: C+

Food Wars! The Second Plate is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.


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