The fifth season of the anime adaptation of the Shokugeki no Souma manga recently premiered. Judging from the first episode, it appears that the anime's final season will cut various parts of the manga aggressively.
No more side stories
First, let's go back to the fourth season, which ended with the Culinary Battle of the rebels against Central, where Souma, Erina, and other students fought to decide the future of the Totsuki Academy. In summary, the rebels led by Souma and Erina, despite being made up of quite particular individuals, achieved victory. In the third year, the Council graduated and their positions were taken by the five newcomers, with Souma taking the position of First Counselor, Megumi taking the Tenth, and so on.
However, in the manga before this there was a funny story that involved Souma and Megumi traveling to a tourist town with culinary issues. A mystery tourist was defeating everyone there in Culinary Battles, so Souma and Megumi confront him. With the odds against him, Megumi finally wins.
However, the anime adaptation cut this story further, presenting a version more than summarized in the final episode of the fourth season and practically not mentioning it at the beginning of the fifth. Megumi's victory was reduced to short frames although after the excitement left by the rebels' victory against Central, it seemed to be the best decision.
The new "villain"
Not only was Megumi's victory against the mysterious tourist cut short, but the presentation of the new "villain", Asahi Saiba, was quite different. In the manga, he appears just after Megumi's victory, pretending to be a good guy at first. However, he is a ruthless cook with malevolent plans who confronts Souma in a Culinary Battle ... and wins. That's right, he is more powerful than any of the Ten Counselors, and in equal measure, he is just as mysterious.
Souma decides that he must face Asahi again and beat him. The stakes increase further when Asahi insists on taking Erina as his partner as soon as possible. Putting pressure on her, and Erina fighting for a way to deal with this, will this be shown in the fifth season?
Until now, it has not happened. Asahi had a brief cameo at the end of the fourth season, and at the start of the fifth he was properly featured. Forget the Culinary Battle against Souma or her threat to take Erina; He seems like an ordinary guy on the beach, and he's the newest and most popular teacher at the Academy. This allows the fifth season to get off to a faster and presumably fun start to a beach, rather than slowing down by adapting the manga's side stories.
A correct decision for Shokugeki no Souma?
After the Culinary Battle between the rebels and Central, viewers might not be in the mood for quick and unsatisfying scenes like the first Culinary Battle between Souma and Asahi, and would rather prefer to continue with another major event. It seems that they have obtained it with the beach exam and the invitation to participate in the BLUE.
In short, the fifth season has removed the side stories from the manga and offers the main entree instead of appetizers.
Source: CBR
© 附 田R 祐 斗 ・ 佐伯 俊 ／ 集 英 社 ・ 遠 月 学園 動画 研究 会
