Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 31, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2019

Volumes: 36.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 30. 32.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed, saucy food comedy featuring one boy’s determination to be top chef!

Soma Yukihira’s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father’s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!

After a long, hard-fought battle, Soma and the rest of the resisters claim victory in the Régiment de Cuisine, formally disbanding the Azami administration. A new Council of Ten is born, and the first-years advance to their second year at the Totsuki Institute. But the peace doesn’t last long. A few months into the new school year, the aroma of trouble once again wafts through the air!

Review:

Once the team shokugeki is over, things get to settle down after so long of fighting. They move into the next year and get to take their new places in the school, and on the council of ten for a lot of them.

Immediately as everything is settling down, Soma and Megumi are sent off on a murder mystery-like mission. It was a little odd to be in such a different setting so quickly, and then this odd plot turns into an even bigger surprise for Soma.

I know this series is coming to a close soon, and I thought the shokugeki was going to be the main climax to the story. Apparently not, as we're meeting a whole new character at the end of this volume. I'm intrigued, for the most part.

Also, I'm really happy to see how far Megumi has come. She's still shy, but she's also grown a lot and isn't as afraid to prove herself and make a point anymore, which is nice.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 30, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: June 2019

Volumes: 36.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 29. 31.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed, saucy food comedy featuring one boy’s determination to be top chef!

Soma Yukihira’s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father’s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!

The Régiment de Cuisine has reached its final bout! The Council sends in its two best chefs, Tsukasa and Rindo, while the resisters’ hopes ride on Soma and Erina. In this battle of true gourmet between father and daughter, who will walk away the victor—Azami or Erina?!

Review:

We're on the final bout now, which means Erina and Soma against Eishi and Rindo. Erina's father doesn't have any belief in them, as he believes they can't pull off real gourmet food.

There's a lot of food knowledge, and a lot of clothes exploding. It almost feels like the mangaka realized they'd been slacking in that department, as suddenly everyone is in their underwear. It was a bit on the nose, honestly.

It makes sense that Erina gets to make the final show, the final move in the battle. It was her battle with her father to begin with, really, her struggle with their relationship and his teachings. She needed to prove this to him.

I believe the series is ending soon, and I'm curious how it's going to wrap up. It looks like this battle is at the end, at least.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 29, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 2019

Volumes: 36.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 27. 30.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed, saucy food comedy featuring one boy’s determination to be top chef!

Soma Yukihira’s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father’s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!

The fourth bout of the team shokugeki begins with Erina finally taking the stage. Her opponent? The queen of cute confections, Momo Akanegakubo! But what kind of dish will the former ice queen present to combat such cuteness? Meanwhile, Isshiki and Takumi take on the council’s top two members—Tsukasa and Rindo!

Review:

I missed what happened with Megumi (sadly, though not surprising), but I guess that's okay, because Erina gets to prove what point she was making, using it as inspiration to make her dish the winner.

Next up, Isshiki and Tsukasa are against each other. Both characters I quite enjoy. During their cooking, there's also some light drama regarding Isshiki's childhood rival/friend.

And, of course, as the shokugeki is drawing closer to the end, Azami has to step in to try and put things in his favor again.

This has been a very long battle. It looks like we're finally down to the last two on each side though.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 27, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: December 2018

Volumes: 36.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 26. 28.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed, saucy food comedy featuring one boy’s determination to be top chef!

Soma Yukihira’s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father’s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!

All six chefs in the second bout of the team shokugeki finish their dishes simultaneously, making judgment imminent. In a battle between dishes that defy the imagination, which team’s inventiveness will reign supreme and bring home victory—the resistance or Central? With the third bout looming, Soma and the other first-years make their move!

Review:

We get the results of the second bout in the first half of this volume. It's a surprise to quite a few people, but it evens up the competition, and it has some good consequences that the council hadn't considered.

We get some time as the groups recover and then plan for the next part. We get some main players in this next one—Soma, Megumi, and Takumi. I'm particularly excited to see what Megumi does, because she's against a tough one, and she's always been a little shy but with great outcomes. I like her and want to see what she can do.

The first part of this fight focuses on Takumi, though it also shows just how good of a team they make. These three in particular—but the whole rebel group. They work together more than the other side does. Takumi is against Eizan, and I truly hate this character. He's very in-your-face with how cocky he is and how superior he thinks he is. It's honestly awful, and I really hope that Takumi shows him up in the next volume. It will be well worth it.

These volumes have such an over-information of food science that I have a hard time staying with it, but aside from all of that, these are fun volumes, and I do enjoy the characters, and the art is great.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 26, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 2018

Volumes: 34+

Spoilers: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 24. 27.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed, saucy food comedy featuring one boy’s determination to be top chef!

Soma Yukihira’s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father’s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!

Soma and the resistance have swept the first bout of the team shokugeki! But they can’t rest on their laurels, as the second bout is soon to begin. With the Council of Ten’s pride on the line, who will Central send out to protect it? And will Kuga’s desire for a rematch with Tsukasa affect the lineup?

Review:

Since Soma competed in the first round, he gets to watch as the next group is selected and their competition starts. There are some very minor characters in this round (to me, at least), but then there's Kuga against Tsukasa. I have always been an odd fan of Tsukasa, and Kuga is also a really fun character to me. It's interesting to see them get a rematch, as Kuga sees it.

This volumes contains most of the shokugeki, and next we'll get to see who's dish came out better. I wasn't all that invested in most of this, as most of these characters aren't really on my radar. Half of them were, I suppose, but a lot of the volume featured backstory stuff, too.

Eh. This was an all right volume, fun but a little meh at times. 

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 24, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5-4

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: June 2018

Volumes: 31+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 23. 25.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed, saucy food comedy featuring one boy’s determination to be top chef!

Soma Yukihira’s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father’s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!

In order to overturn their classmates’ expulsions from Totsuki, Soma, Takumi and Megumi challenge Central to a team shokugeki! The big showdown is to take place at the final stage for the advancement exams—Rebun Island. Soma’s team undergoes teamwork training with Gin and Joichiro. But can these Totsuki alums improve the first-years enough as chefs to bring down the best Totsuki has to offer?

Review:

In the first half of the book, we get to see the team practicing together. Splitting them in two teams, they get a challenge, and get to work with one adult to make a dish. Only, they're not allowed to talk to each other. It's a fun challenge, and the turnout is nice. It lets them work together in a new way, and see each others' way of cooking and their strengths.

In the latter half, we're amping up for the competition. We're finding out who's on each team officially, and Erina throws in a surprise for her father. I like the people chosen for the rebels team—I enjoy the added characters. It's just getting started as the volume ends, so there's probably a lot of competition left. We're starting with Soma, and I still quite enjoy the way he freaks out the audience and tasters. He's always using some weird ingredient or style to throw them off.

Also, the announcer has clearly been brainwashed, or possessed. The look on her face is honestly creepy.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 23, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 2018

Volumes: 29+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 22. 24.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed, saucy food comedy featuring one boy's determination to be top chef!

Soma Yukihira's old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father's culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!

Dropping all pretense of being fair, the Azami administration has now declared that to pass the third stage of the advancement exam, Soma and the members of the resistance must each defeat a Council of Ten member. And what will everyone think when it comes to light that Dean Azami's real motivation for overthrowing the institute is Soma's own father, Joichiro?!

Review:

So the fight with Akira ends, with possibly-not surprising results. After that, we learn who actually won their shokugeki, and who didn't. The results are not great, and so they decide to confront the headmaster. And so does Soma's dad.

Afterward, we get to see what happened when they were kids and going to school there, Erina and Soma's dads. What happened when they were in school to make them what they are now. They both took very different paths, and Soma gets to see a new side of his dad, and why Soma is the way he is now because of it.

I really like Soma's dad, and I think it's fun when the adults all show up and get together. The next challenge will definitely be a difficult one, and it should be interesting.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 22, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2018

Volumes: 29+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 21. 23.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed, saucy food comedy featuring one boy's determination to be top chef!

Soma Yukihira's old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father's culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!

It's stage three of the advancement exams, and to pass, Soma must beat the new Council of Ten's ninth seat--Akira Hayama. Although Soma is not happy to see Hayama sporting Central's badge on his chest, he can't hide his excitement over a rematch with the very person who snatched the Fall Classic win from him!

Review:

I had to pick up this volume myself, largely because I've always really liked Hayama and Jun's relationship. I didn't want to miss anything important, and I really wanted to know what brought him to this point.

Hayama and Soma go one-on-one in this volume, both with very high-stakes. Hayama is trying to win for Jun and their research, but he's seemed to have lost some of his motivation for cooking. Soma, on the other hand, needs to win to not be expelled—but mostly he wants to win against Hayama, because their rivalry is important to him.

The cook-off is intense, and it seems to clearly be going in one direction for a while—until a twist is revealed. We're left with a cliffhanger, but I have an idea of who's winning this, and I think that things will work out well for Hayama.

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 21, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: December 2017

Volumes: 28+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 20. 22.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed, saucy food comedy featuring one boy’s determination to be top chef!

Soma Yukihira’s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father’s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!

In the frigid north of Hokkaido, Totsuki’s first-year students face their greatest challenge yet—the advancement exams! Dean Azami sees Soma and the gang as resisters of his administration, so he hits them with everything he’s got, fair or not. Will the kids find a way to triumph over his shady tactics and advance to their second year, or will Azami freeze them in their tracks?!

Review:

The final exam starts, and everyone is against the rebels. The teachers are skewing everything against them, making the requirements of each test near impossible for them to complete. Of course, so far they're far above every other student, and play it rather cool both times in this volume. Erina's tutoring helps quite a lot, as well.

There's a little reprieve in this volume, where the group gets to explore in Hokkaido. It's fun to see who breaks off with who, what each character wants to see. It's nice seeing Erina and Megumi getting along, and then when Soma drags them into tasting something. There's fun camaraderie and competition between everyone. In the latter half of the volume, Soma is preparing for his next exam, as the rebels have to fight against a member of the council now. Kuga was fun to see during this, since I don't remember meeting him before.

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. I'm confused by what Hayama is up to, because I liked his relationship with the teacher. I also like seeing Rindo and Eishi's friendship, because I like both of their characters.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 20, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5-4

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 2017

Volumes: 27+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 19. 21.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed, saucy food comedy featuring one boy’s determination to be top chef!

Soma Yukihira’s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father’s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!

Soma challenges current Council of Ten first seat Eishi Tsukasa for his seat on the council! Up against Tsukasa’s delicately refined technique, Soma highlights his own creativity with a brand-new take on traditional French cuisine. Will he win that coveted seat or lose big and join Central? Even if he does win, Soma won’t be out of the woods—not when the surviving first-years have just received notice of their biggest challenge yet!

Review:

We get to see how Soma and Tsukasa's shokugeki goes, and it has an anticlimactic ending, though it makes sense.

After that, we get to see that school-wide club shokugeki's are still going on, and that Megumi is still holding her all. She's fallen in the background a little, but she's climbing up that ladder still. There's a point made here that all of the first years seem to be different, better, this year. I'm sure this will lead to trouble.

The main point in this volume, though, is when we get to see more of Erina's past, and she realizes that she doesn't really like food anymore, and has to figure out what her interest and inspiration is. She ends up talking with Soma for a bit here. After that, she has to decide how she's going to finally deal with what her father is doing—acknowledge that she doesn't agree with him, and what to do about that and his strict rules. It is very nice to finally see her make a stand, given how weak she's been so far with him.

It'll be interesting to see what happens next, and I'm quite looking forward to it.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 19, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2017

Volumes: 26+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 18. 20.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An action-packed, saucy food comedy featuring one boy s determination to be top chef!
Soma Yukihira s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!
Fighting to save Alice s society from being abolished by the Azami administration, Ryo Kurokiba, battling as her champion, begins his shokugeki with Central elite Kusunoki. The theme is salmon, and both chefs put everything they ve got, including their pride, into their dishes. So what s got Alice so troubled she tells off her own uncle, Dean Nakiri, at the end of the match?!"

Review:

We get to see the end of the Kurokiba and council member shokugeki. It's filled with a lot of salmon-cooking information that I just did not need in my life. But it also ends in a very deserving win. I did like seeing how all of the characters interact with each other, as well.

After that, we get a confrontation between Erina's awful father and Alice. It gives a surprising insight into what happened between Alice and Erina when they were little, and I completely understand Alice's stance on everything—I also quite appreciate how she handles it.

After that, Soma comes face-to-face with the first seat, Eishi. And I seriously love him. He's super hesitant about talking and instructing people, and always wanting to make sure everything is okay. We saw a little bit of it a few volumes ago, but now we get an interaction between him and Soma. And they work really well together in the kitchen. Eishi is also super full of himself. It should be interesting to see how their secret shokugeki turns out. But I'm a fan of this guy, honestly.

I'm going to have to read the next one, I think. I'm really interested, even though I've missed most of this series by this point, and I don't care too much for the over explaining of food. It's just good anyway.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 18, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5-4

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: June 2017

Volumes: 25+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 16. 19.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The shokugeki to decide the fate of the Polaris dormitory nears its conclusion! Even with the judges firmly in his opponent’s pocket, Soma puts everything he’s learned from his time at the dorm on a plate, cementing Polaris’s future—or lack thereof—at the institute. Meanwhile, Central makes its move, beginning a full-scale purge of anyone daring to resist! Will Soma survive to take on this next challenge?

Review:

I missed the previous volume, and while I do wish I'd read it, it doesn't look like I missed too much.

We're in the middle of a shokugeki for Polaris house to stay. Of course Soma has decided to challenge one of the seats over it. Though, it doesn't feel like that much of an equal fight, since only Soma is cooking. During all of this, Erina is staying with the Polaris group, and they're all fighting to keep some punks from invading it.

After that shokugeki, the house gets to celebrate. Including their infamous naked apron head of house. We get an interruption by Erina's awful father, and a reveal about who Soma's father is, since apparently Erina and her father didn't realize.

And even amongst all of the seriousness happening—like people losing their seats in the council and rules changing and being challenged and Erina's father being awful—of course this is still a food manga. And so the latter half of the volume starts up even more shokugeki's, with students fighting to keep their houses or clubs. Soma needs to see all of it, but of course he can't help butting in a little.

We met an elite council near the end, and they all seem like serious jerks. I'm looking forward to seeing some justice being made.

Now that there's a serious plot line happening, I'm quite interested in reading more. I really like seeing Erina's relationship with her father, and seeing her mature as she learns who she is and what she can do on her own here.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 16, by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump Advanced (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2017

Volumes: 25+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 13. 17.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Food fights and fan service—what more could a fan want?

Soma Yukihira’s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father’s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!

Day three of the Autumn Moon Festival has begun, and Soma is still trying to recover from ending deep in the red on its first day. Looking to finally overtake Restaurant Kuga in overall profit, Soma unveils his ace in the hole—a new mapo tofu recipe! Will it be enough to push this first-year to victory over a Council of Ten member?

Review:

I've missed several volumes, and this one starts in the middle of a food business competition. Soma has decided to compete against Kuga, in Chinese cooking. Kuga has a popular restaurant, with extremely spicy food. Soma has a small food cart with Megumi, and they apparently did very bad on the first day. They finally start trying new things and calling in extra people on the next two days, though. In the midst of this, we also get glimpses of what the others are up to, and what amazing food they're making.

During this, Erina gets a surprise guest, and he throws everything into a bit of chaos. We finally get to see what made Erina the way she is today, though—why she's so cruel and snobby about food. It's interesting to see the overthrow of power, as well, and who is on what side.

I'm looking forward to seeing where this plot goes next. 

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!