Review of Food Wars! The Fourth Plate

Honestly speaking, does anyone even care about Shokugeki anymore? The manga unceremoniously ended last year without so much as a big splash on the community, and I can only imagine what the popularity for a series that doesn't have its manga run anymore is like over in Japan. Story: In an effort to go against Central and Azami Nakiri's ideals of 'True Gourmet", we arrive at the climactic end to the Central Arc where Soma and Erina head the rebels in a final team bout against the Elite Ten for not only the coveted seats of the Elite Ten, but also for the fate of the cookingworld. And, of course, it will all be done in an Iron Chef-style tournament arc and nothing else.

For a series that prides itself on showcasing extravagant flavors and varied arcs that revolve around different aspects, techniques, and facets of the culinary world, this season is so woefully bland that I'm actually upset that J.C. Staff decided to prune this part of the arc off in order to make it its own, separate season. Because this season showcases the Team Shokugeki and only the Team Shokugeki, there really isn't a lot of variation in the storytelling. The entire season only has one setting (that is, the cooking arena), and just seeing bout after bout after bout makes the show feel static and uninteresting. This is made even worse by the fact that since its previous season aired somewhere in the early-mid 2018, whatever context a returning viewer would've had would be long gone save for maybe a lingering memory of what happened prior.

While food is very much one of the central focuses of the series, I can't help but feel like that in and of itself posed several problems. Even with a culinary consultant as part of the manga's creation team, the dishes these HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS manage to cook seem improbable even for 'master chefs'. Each dish always seems to have a secret hidden layer underneath the first bite and it's boorish having so many characters, the protagonists especially, bring out an extra bowl of something, or have some hidden extra section of the dish the judges didn't get to yet that 'elevates their food to another level' as if that adds tension in any way after the first time it happens. On top of that, so much of the screentime is devoted to the veritable plethora of side characters and rivals turned side characters constantly popping in their two cents and explaining the ins and outs of each dish. While this served as a boon for the series at the beginning, it now feels obtrusive since in the span of one episode, at least 75% of it is devoted to explanations and praises on at best three dishes and the techniques used to create such a culinary marvel.

The slight bits of variation that Shin no Sara provides exists in (at least attempting) to finish up character arcs and/or give backstories to the members of the Elite Ten and other characters that desperately needed it. Each bout contains at least one side having flashbacks to detail what led them to this point, whether or not that be their motivation for cooking or a showing of their determination to give it all they've got. A lot of these points really just end up being flavor text for the characters, which isn't a bad thing. But it doesn't really feel all that impactful. Especially since a lot of the Elite Ten members feel woefully underused, having never been given the time of day prior and had to get their explanation and details as characters here and now instead of letting them show up progressively like the pillars they're SUPPOSED TO BE. The only character I feel like gets any amount of satisfaction is Erina, as her character arc finishes in a poetic way that befits the series in a way that at least feels earned rather than just handed to them. (Among other things...)

But despite that, Shin no Sara's story largely feels hollow without substance. The show sporting battle after battle without any variation in either the format or storytelling just doesn't feel satisfying. Yeah that's what tournament arcs are, but those usually have action on screen to draw your attention; these people are cooking. It doesn't gel all that well, and the end result creates an extremely wordy series where it's constant explanation after explanation of how the food tastes and only a couple mentions as to why they're doing this in the first place. Also, the majority of this cast is still in their first year of high school! Who the fuck decides to put the equivalent of a world ending arc at the end of the first year of high school?! That's like beginning of third/last of third year at worst!

Characters:

Erina Nakiri...definitely gets the award for best character arc in the series. Out of everyone in the entire run of the series, she's the only one that has any amount of tangible loss should her father succeed in enacting Food Communism (Yes, I will still call it that), and has shown the most drastic change in character from her original haughty self into someone who actually enjoys what they're doing. While she doesn't show up that much in the season due to her only having the limelight at the very end, the one time where she does get the spotlight actually feels gratifying and works to the show's favor. Though I don't particularly like the end result she gets given that she's at best sixteen at the end of the season.

Soma however, is largely uninteresting in terms of growth and succeeds only with his goofy self taking the forefront of his character. His bouts have drastically less tension for him since he's the protagonist of a weekly shonen series in the middle of an arc 'determining the fate of the world'. Hell, they even have like 2-3 episodes of the fucker just sitting back and drinking tea. While I do still find him amusing, there really isn't much to say about him aside from his upstanding qualities of becoming more humble, wanting to improve through the teachings of others and challenging bigger fish so he can one day surpass him. Great, but not really all that important since the series barely makes any effort to show it.

And then we have the rest of the cast. I don't even want to talk about Azami because his motivations are farfetched at best, and his plans have too many logistical problems to justify taking him seriously. Compared to the set of nobody antagonists prior, the Elite Ten at least have some foot to stand on, being showcased prior and at least most of them having motivations beyond just smacktalking the protagonists because they're not part of the super cool club of "Gourmet Chefs". They all still vary in character quality, but some like Rindo are still standout characters in their own right. Other members of the recurring cast not involved in the competition like Miko, Hayama, and Alice, are quite literally put in a box and serve as a bunch of talking heads who comment and interject on whatever is happening at the moment. I despise this direction, since it makes the interesting and diverse cast of friends and rivals just a bunch of useless supporters who can't do anything. Dwindling character importance is never fun, and their expulsion never even felt like a factor to consider in terms of the stakes for the series.

Aesthetics:

I don't know why it took me until Season three to realize that this show has almost no animation, but hey, the fourth season is better than never I guess. The art for Shin no Sara is about the same quality that J.C. Staff pulls for this series. The characters themselves look good with consistent models and decent detail on them with the occasional chibification for that comical flair.

The food is as gorgeous as ever, and the many, many, many foodgasms this show has are so commonplace that they really lose their luster. The actual stripping isn't all that exciting, but the metaphorical images that the judges have while eating the food are...amusing to say the least. (And may or not be scarring at times.) My one complaint with the art is the way the girls are drawn. This is commonly seen with Erina, where the clothes she wears fit so tightly around her figure that they cup around her chest to show that she does, in fact, have breasts. A fact made worse by the fact that her resting stance is her crossing her arms underneath her chest. Like she's fully covered guys; do you really have to do that?

However like I said before, on the animation side of things, Shokugeki has almost no animation. Save for lip flaps, some arm motions, body quivering, and slow hair flowing, the entire show pretty much sports one kind of shot and one kind only: closeups where the camera slowly pans from one side to the other. Because there's so much talking in the series, the show spends basically all of its time sitting on one shot to let one or several characters talk, cut to another character so they can add their two cents, rinsing and repeating until the judging is over. Repeat that about a dozen times, and that's what we have for the visuals for the show. Hell, no one just walks. If they can get away with still frames, they will, and it's somehow agonizing watching anime only to just see a slideshow of talking heads.

"Chronos" by STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION and "Emblem" by nano.RIPE are both song that...I really don't care for. They're nice to listen on their own, what with Chronos's techno, energetic beat, and Emblem sporting a hopeful tone that echoes a sense of comradely amongst the rebels. But nothing about them makes them song that I really care to either remember or listen to again. Most Shokugeki songs have had this quality about them, with only the first OP of Season one being the one that I think stands out the most, probably only by virtue of being the first one in a long lineup of songs for the series, but also because I think it's the most unique being not as 'Shonen-y' as the others.

Personal Enjoyment:

If this was it for Shokugeki, I would've been fine. But no, there's gonna be a Season five, and holy fuck I don't think the anime-only audience is ready for nor should be subjected to the horrors of the Blue Arc. Putting that aside, the problems I've had with Shokugeki is largely in part due to the insane amount of escalation and stakes put at play on a series whose story at face value has barely scratched the surface of its 'runtime'. In a typical long-running series set in high school, the story goes through 2-3 years of high school, starting either at the start of either the first or second year depending on the series, and end with graduation at the end of the third year. At the end of the season, the protagonists just ended their first year at Totsuki. Of three. When you factor in the fact this season is basically devoted to trying to topple a regime that threatens the nature of gourmet cooking on a global scale, where do you go from there? (Especially since the plan makes it seem like if anyone wants to eat at a restaurant, they can only eat this 'true gourmet' stuff. Which probably has a price point 98% of the world cannot afford.)

Escalation aside, the thing that I always found that made Shokugeki interesting was how grounded it was while also being spectacular in its own way. The Stagiaire Arc remains my favorite arc in the series because it forced the characters out of the comforts of the school and thrusted them into the real world where the skills they learned would be applied. It wasn't just about the Shokugekis, but about what these kids were learning and the value they got from their education, honing their skills as chefs so that they can be better while also pitting them against each other to see who was better and how much they improved. Shin no Sara has some of that with the bouts serving as the culmination of what the "rebels" have learned. But it feels cheapened since a number of things they've learned are only told through flashback instead of being a previously viewed section of the story. So the quality wavers heavily in that regard.

As such, I don't particularly find this section of the story, or Central as a whole to be good storytelling. It relies too much on the stakes being equivalent to 'the end of the world' to add any amount of tension in the story instead of the personal journeys of the characters, and the repetitive storytelling makes the Shokugekis feel bland and uninteresting with the Elite Ten feeling like a bunch of obstacles in the way instead of a budding pantheon of the best of the culinary world has to offer. I definitely find Erina to be a much better character compared to who she was before, but at the cost of the vastly more interesting arcs we got prior, I don't think the trade was all that fair.

Regardless, my recommendation for Shin no Sara is to watch it only for closure. Erina's conclusion is definitely the most rewarding part of this season, as well as numerous members of the cast bouncing off each other because I do genuinely think this series has some fun characters. However this recommendation comes with the warning that the rest of the series really isn't all that interesting. Sure some of the bouts can be amusing, but a lot of them feel self-congratulatory with the series pulling a "BUT WAIT!" moment to try and add some last minute tension in an attempt to curry favor from the judges, which gets tiresome especially since no normal viewer has an attention span big enough to digest and process all of the information thrown at you by the Bookmen and other characters since every dish has like five layers to it with a hidden sixth layer hidden in the one part they didn't eat with their spoon.

Also, just a suggestion, I would highly recommend anime-only viewers to consider this as the end of the series and just leave it there. The next and final arc of the series is a bastardized husk of what made the series great to begin with, and ruining the results of this 'ending' with that one will almost assuredly leave a bad taste in your mouth. I'm not a big fan of the Central Arc either, but I greatly prefer this conclusion to that one.