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REVIEW: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma GN 9




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CheezcakeMe





PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 2:12 pm Reply with quote
I really like Food Wars but I'm constantly paranoid that Megumi's eventually going to get edged out by Erina for the role of "primary female protagonist." Even though critics praise Megumi's excellent character growth Erina constantly crushes her in The Polls, and we all know The Polls are what make Shonen Jump go round. Sure all Erina does is stand in a corner with her arms crossed and huff angrily, but I guess tsunderes just sell a lot better than nice girls these days.
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TheRahi00



Joined: 20 Aug 2013
Posts: 154
PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 4:22 pm Reply with quote
CheezcakeMe wrote:
I really like Food Wars but I'm constantly paranoid that Megumi's eventually going to get edged out by Erina for the role of "primary female protagonist." Even though critics praise Megumi's excellent character growth Erina constantly crushes her in The Polls, and we all know The Polls are what make Shonen Jump go round. Sure all Erina does is stand in a corner with her arms crossed and huff angrily, but I guess tsunderes just sell a lot better than nice girls these days.


Well unlike Megumi she didn't had any arc really foccused on her. The focus on her just recently started and it's only obvious that she is getting more attention now as she never really got any despite being one of the main characters. Erina was never just the girl standing in a corner for no reason but if you paid attention you could tell how she's changing slowly from arc to arc. It was a huge build up which leads to the current arc where she is getting all the character development. The ending of this arc will make her probably to one of the most well developed characters of this manga. The roles of Erina and Megumi really can't get compared in any way and Erina is way better than the "typical tsundere".
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CheezcakeMe





PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 4:58 pm Reply with quote
TheRahi00 wrote:

Well unlike Megumi she didn't had any arc really foccused on her. The focus on her just recently started and it's only obvious that she is getting more attention now as she never really got any despite being one of the main characters. Erina was never just the girl standing in a corner for no reason but if you paid attention you could tell how she's changing slowly from arc to arc. It was a huge build up which leads to the current arc where she is getting all the character development. The ending of this arc will make her probably to one of the most well developed characters of this manga. The roles of Erina and Megumi really can't get compared in any way and Erina is way better than the "typical tsundere".


I got a very different interpretation than you. To me it felt like the writer took every opportunity to write Erina out of the story as much as possible, she was prone to vanishing for nearly volumes at a time. And finally getting focus 140 chapters in? And they're spoiler[ your stereotypical daddy issues? No thanks.] It's too late for me to dredge up any kind of affection for her unfortunately. I do think she makes a good villain and rival to Soma, but a heroine? Nah.
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TheRahi00



Joined: 20 Aug 2013
Posts: 154
PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 5:17 pm Reply with quote
[quote="CheezcakeMe"]
TheRahi00 wrote:

I got a very different interpretation than you. To me it felt like the writer took every opportunity to write Erina out of the story as much as possible, she was prone to vanishing for nearly volumes at a time. And finally getting focus 140 chapters in? And they're spoiler[ your stereotypical daddy issues? No thanks.] It's too late for me to dredge up any kind of affection for her unfortunately. I do think she makes a good villain and rival to Soma, but a heroine? Nah.


Thinking about the arcs we had it simply wouldn't make sense to include her a lot in the arcs. She has a much bigger status and is also much better than the most characters. It only made sense to let the other characters grow instead like Megumi. Erina watching them from the sideline might have give her very little screentime but just like I said it did affect her. With every interaction with Soma you could tell that she is changing and even starting to respect him (even though she doesn't admit it). The current arc wouldn't really make sense if it would have been earlier so I think it's a pretty good timing as we saw Erina slowly changing enough to make the current development more realistic. Be it simple things like Hisako getting friendly with Soma or all the dorm characters having such a deep bond with each other. This all are part of the reason why Erina is changing and this couldn't have been achieved if it would have been earlier. It's because the characters worked together in all the arcs, have experienced victory and fails which made them grow closer to each other and made Erina realize that there is indeed something to gain in failing.
The issues she has might be nothing new but it was enough to make it clear why she is the way she is and that's not even the only reason for her personality as we know as the lack of common sense also plays a big role and have been hinted before. For me personally the development does make sense and isn't too late either as it was a good and smart build up.
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Thatguy3331



Joined: 18 Feb 2012
Posts: 1790
PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 5:25 pm Reply with quote
This set of chapters (the whole tournament arc really) stands out to me as a main reason for why I like the series: the characters here are a lot better than you would think at first glance. Not groundbreaking, but work and are easy to root for and get behind and just flat out enjoy. It would have been super easy to keep Megumi static or to give her some kind of half assed moment in a attempt to do what this volume did but everything feels well earned and believable in context of the series so I'm glad for that.

Looking at that bottom part of the review hurts though since it reminds me what the localization did to Alice...I mean... WHY?? To have her match Erina in some way? I guess but still that's just lame.
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Spotlesseden



Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: earth
PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 10:34 pm Reply with quote
Erina is the main female lead because she appeared in the manga first.
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Utsuro no Hako



Joined: 18 May 2012
Posts: 1034
PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 11:13 pm Reply with quote
Spotlesseden wrote:
Erina is the main female lead because she appeared in the manga first.


Technically that would make Souma's childhood friend the main girl, and she's appeared in fewer chapters than Erina.

The main reason to think Erina will become Souma's love interest is because in the very first chapter, Souma's dad has a little speech about how important it is to find someone you love and want to cook for in order to become a master chef, and the scene immediately cuts to Erina.
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Dian Z





PostPosted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 1:06 am Reply with quote
CheezcakeMe wrote:
but I guess tsunderes just sell a lot better than nice girls these days.


As much as I want to ship Souma and Megumi, the idea of the nice, clumsy girl to be the main love interest just seems odd, or just too unusual, when there is a tsundere girl in the triangle.
Especially here, where Souma (from the anime I've seen so far) haven't shown any signs of interest in his romantic life, nor in one of the two girls.

I actually liked it that Erina's back story, as a main heroine, is being kept secret for a longer time than it normally is in other anime. Since her behavior so far is pretty much irritating, the more the readers judge or give false accusation to her character from her appearance thus far, the more they will sympathize with her, for the 'twist' reason, when her motive is revealed.

Anyway, I personally ship Erina with Hisako Laughing
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CheezcakeMe





PostPosted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 1:40 pm Reply with quote
Dian Z wrote:

Anyway, I personally ship Erina with Hisako Laughing


Now that is something I can get behind Very Happy
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Eisenfisch



Joined: 02 Jan 2016
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 11:35 am Reply with quote
Thatguy3331 wrote:

Looking at that bottom part of the review hurts though since it reminds me what the localization did to Alice...I mean... WHY?? To have her match Erina in some way? I guess but still that's just lame.


So what kind of speech pattern does Alice have in the localized version? This is the first time I've heard about this and its not really elaborated in the review. Just curious.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2607
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 12:18 pm Reply with quote
^ It's somewhere between "trendy teen" and "valley girl" - she says "like" a lot and that sort of thing. So if, like, that annoys you in, like, real life, it's not, y'know, what you want to see in your reading.

(I exaggerated a bit, but you get the idea.)

Also, I have add my vote for Hisako/Erina. Smile
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