Manga Review: Shokugeki no Soma (Ongoing)

Hell's Kitchen, with just a hint of ecchi.

Part of my goal for writing these reviews is to give some lesser known manga more exposure. (It also helps that I'm in the groups that scan some of these series.) While this manga is neither vastly underrated nor unpopular by any means, it definitely doesn't have as much exposure as popular manga like Shingeki no Kyojin or Freezing. At first, the concept is a bit odd and you're confused at why the series has the tag "ecchi." But then you start reading it, and you realize that this is what you've been missing from your life, and that you're also really hungry all of a sudden. 

Also, mad props to the Redrawers of this series (currently the three man team of Kukukuiin, Dream, and Wilcoxii). Because the art is so intricate sometimes , redrawing for this series really damn hard.

Cast

Ridiculous, hilarious, and extremely lovable. All of the cast do an excellent job contributing to the mood and humor of the series, as well as coughing up their own unique dishes. Everybody in this series is a lot of fun and have a goofy and funny side to them, and each chef has a distinct style or quirk to their personality and cooking. They do an excellent job of complimenting the series' lighthearted tone and silly, over-the-top story.

Shokugeki no Soma gets a 8/10 for an excellent cast. All of the characters are enjoyable and fun while being distinct and memorable. The variety of cooking they all display along with their unique personalities make the series a pleasure to read.

Shokugeki no Soma is a cooking manga.

Plot

The plot of Shokugeki no Soma is exactly as it should be, a rich mix of hotblooded action and energy blended with over-the-top humor, and seasoned with just a pinch of ecchi. The story mainly focuses on the rise of Yukihara Souma through Tootsuki Academy, a school where elite chefs compete to become the best. Yukihara Souma is a kid raised cooking in a small shop. He has talent in the kitchen and a penchant for making unique and unusual dishes, in addition to a stubborn determination to surpass his father in cooking. Along the way he battles and befriends many new friends in the world of the culinary arts. A couple of things really stand out about this manga. One would be the unique dishes. The suspense and curiosity you feel as the characters are given something to cook enhances the experience. It's a lot of fun seeing the unique dishes coming out of this series. The only downside would be how constantly hungry you get reading it. In addition, the culinary battles themselves carry a lot of intensity and tension. For the students of Tootsuki Academy, cooking isn't just a method of making food, it's a way of communicating their feelings and willpower. To that end, each battle feels significant; the moment before the results is extremely emotionally charged, and we see how the characters put their heart and soul into their efforts. I honestly found myself more emotionally committed to some moments in this series than some other series that try to emulate this by making cheap "emotion porn". (Angel Beats, I'm looking at you).

Shokugeki no Soma gets a 9/10 for an exciting and emotional plot. The culinary battles manage to be extremely hotblooded and emotional while maintaining a more light-hearted and humorous tone.

Shokugeki no Soma is a cooking manga.

Art

The other thing that stands out for me about this series are the ridiculous reactions to food. Saeki Shun brings Shokugeki no Soma to life through his art. The level of detail is impeccable, from the gorgeously drawn food:

To the ridiculous portrayals of the characters' reactions to the tastes of the dishes they sample.

Shokugeki no Soma is a cooking manga.

All of the art has the utmost care and detail added to it, and it really shows. There really isn't much more I can say about it, you just need to see for yourself.

Shokugeki no Soma gets a 10/10 for absolutely gorgeous art that beautifully communicates the mood and atmosphere of the manga, in addition to being absolutely hilarious and gut-wrenching.

Overall Rating
Shokugeki no Soma is such a fantastic read. Go power through it if you haven't already; there are about 75 chapters out right now. The plot, cast, and characters all work together perfectly to create an incredibly entertaining story about the culinary arts.

Shokugeki no Soma gets a 9/10 for being an incredibly well done and fun work that excellently blends hotbloodedness, over-the-top humor, and cooking.

Shout out to my homies at Casanova Scans. I work on Shishunki no Iron Maiden for them, and their staff is outstanding. Shokugeki no Soma is among one of our best works, and everything is scanlated excellently. Come check out some of our other series if you end up liking Shokugeki no Soma.

Movie Review: Patema Inverted

It feels endearing and magical, if only just for brief yet distinct moments.

One of my all time favorite works is Eve no Jikan, by director Yasuhiro Yoshiura. When I heard that he would be releasing another work, I was definitely drawn in by his name. In addition, Patema's art director Yuuji Kaneko has done outstanding works on series like Kill La Kill and Madoka. Upon reading the synopsis and seeing the poster, you're struck by a feeling of wonder and grandeur, which is what I think this series absolutely nails. As you can guess from the poster, this series is about a boy and a girl who have oppositely oriented gravity. Patema uses this plot point as its gimmick. Moments centered around the art and score emphasizing the inverted gravity feel magical and wonderful, and the mood of a scene can turn on a dime. However, the rest of the film is weak in comparison, unfortunately, causing the movie as a whole to feel like a lower quality Miyazaki movie. Overall, it's a decent watch, but lacks the meaning and significance that other works like Eve No Jikan have. 

Cast

Utterly bland. While I didn't explicitly hate any of these characters for reasons I wasn't supposed to, they're just all so... Boring. I only remember the names of the two main characters, and barely at that. The two main characters have some characterization, but it feels rather... Shallow, as if they added some of their backstory for the sole reason of making you care for them. Part of it is that this movie as a whole feels a bit rushed... A bit more elaboration on Patema and Age's backstories would make them feel a lot more fleshed out. In addition, the villain is very weak. We get what he's doing, and his reasoning behind it, but we see nothing of his backstory and are left to guess at his motivation. His character is basically "I'm super evil! Watch me be evil as I fold my hands under my chin!". It's a stark contrast to Miyazaki, who makes his antagonists a lot more human, more believable, and most of all, more impactful. Patema's villain simply lacks depth.

Patema Inverted gets a 4.5/10 for a relatively unremarkable cast of characters. Patema's "story gimmick" helps to give the characters a bit more personality, but not much.

Please don't hate me, it's not my fault that I'm poorly written.

Plot

At first, Patema feels wonderful and magical. You're immediately put into a vibrant city underground. They do a good job of capturing the majesty and wonder you feel when seeing a unique setting for the first time, the best example of which I can think of being Miyazaki's Spirited Away. This continues as you meet the main characters, a strong adolescent female lead, and her friend, a curious and adventurous adolescent boy who meets the girl by chance. Then, through some exposition, the setting and its quirks are established, feeding your curiosity and establishing how magical and amazing everything is. This is a pretty solid formula for Miyazaki's works; his movies stick to a recipe we know that works, but the changing concepts and different ideals and themes that his works explore keep it fresh. Patema tries to follow this formula, but the story and characters aren't strong enough to support the uniqueness of the setting. It ends up feeling like a bit of a Miyazaki knockoff; it has all the magic, but none of the substance. The plot felt a bit predictable at times, and lacked significance to me. I got why it was supposed to be, but I had a hard time following that.

However, Patema still manages to make good use of its main point. The scenes involving differing gravity have a lot of emotional weight to them; you can easily put yourselves in the shoes of Patema and Age when they're being terrified of falling. In addition, the mood of a moment can change at the drop of a hat, and the transitions in the viewer's orientation contribute heavily aid this. It's these scenes that make Patema distinct; however, I still feel as if they could have utilized it better, and made the film a lot more memorable than it is. Also, it can be a little confusing at times. Go google a diagram after you've watched it if you're still confused; it's what I had to do to get everything cleared up. 

In addition to the strong emotional attachment it invokes, Patema also has some pretty good humor. It manages to avoid tropes that tend to be overused in most anime and manga; the humor is endearing, enjoyable, and isn't crude. It's also very well placed.

Oh. Also, the romantic subplot feels really rushed and unnecessary. I'll refrain from elaborating too much so that you can see it for yourself.

Patema gets a 6.5/10 for its plot. While it can be predictable and unmemorable at times, the distinct setting and enjoyable humor give it a big boost.

Art and Score

The art is by far the best part of Patema. The painted backgrounds are striking, beautiful, and majestic, and they make the setting come to life. The animation is well done, and has a lot of attention to detail. But I think the most striking part is how the animation team deals with the gravity. The art and score are absolutely what make this movie magical and memorable. They also make great use of color to distinguish between the different worlds and give a lot of attention to the sky, as it's part of the main theme of the story. I could go on and on about how amazing some of the key moments feel when watching this movie because of the score and art, but it's best that you watch it yourself.

Patema gets a 10/10 for art and score. The art has tremendous attention to detail and quality, while the score does a magnificent job at conveying emotion. 

Scenes like this are what make Patema worth watching.

Overall Rating

Despite its poor execution, Patema manages to feel magical and wonderful, even if it's only for brief and sparse moments. Yes, the plot is relatively weak and the characters are bland, but I would recommend this movie because of the art and score alone. Seriously. Go watch it.

Patema gets a 7/10 for gorgeous artwork, a magnificent soundtrack, and managing to strongly invoke emotions despite its unremarkable cast and iffy story.

Other Works

If you end up liking Patema, definitely go watch Eve no Jikan, which is one of my all time favorite works and it's what Yasuhiro Yoshiura is known for. It has a much stronger story, cast, and theme, while maintaining a fantastic art style.