‘Food Wars: Shokugeki No Soma’ Season 2 Spoilers — Part 1: The 43rd Annual T?tsuki Autumn Election
Last year, J.C. Staff, with anime director Yoshitomo Yonetani and script writer Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, brought to life the anime adaption of Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma. The manga written by Y?to Tsukuda and illustrated by Shun Saeki, from which the anime was based, was a phenomenal success as it presented its own spin on the cooking genre through incorporating high school and competition elements into it. Its imagery on how food tastes would tinker in other manga genres including fighting during competitive food battles and ecchi or hentai to describe tastes either extremely disgusting or heavenly divine.
By bringing the manga to life through anime, Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma became more successful, garnering a following among those who’ve never read the manga in the first place. However, the anime fans are now clammoring for the second season as the final episode left off just after the preliminary round of the 43rd Annual T?tsuki Autumn Election.
With the second season about to release sometime in July, what could anime fans expect? This article will dive into one part of it, the 43rd Annual T?tsuki Autumn Election. As a fair warning, there will be spoilers for season 1 of Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma, specifically with winners of the event’s preliminaries. There will also be some minor spoilers for the 43rd Annual T?tsuki Autumn Election in general too, but nothing that will give away what happens.
What is the 43rd Annual T?tsuki Autumn Election
In general, the T?tsuki Autumn Election is a very important event for first years at the T?tsuki Culinary Academy. It is hosted by the Elite Ten Council who also discuss which first year students will participate. A total of 60 are chosen as they are divided up into two blocks of 30 to partake in two separate preliminary rounds. Only the top four students with the highest scores from each block will move on to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals consists of four one-on-one food battles. The winners of the quarterfinals will then move on to the semifinals. Finally, the semifinals winners move to the finals. The winner of the T?tsuki Autumn Election is offered a seat at the Elite Ten Council.
The 43rd Annual T?tsuki Autumn Election was the one held for the 92nd T?tsuki generation. Its participants include many prominent students recognized throughout the manga/anime. There are the Polar Star Dormitory members, S?ma Yukihira, Ry?ko Sakaki, Shun Ibusaki, Zenji Marui, Y?ki Yoshino, and Megumi Tadokoro; Erina Nakiri’s cousin Alice Nakiri; Erina’s aide Hisako Arato; Alice’s aide Ry? Kurokiba; and the Aldini brothers (Takumi and Isami). Other featured contestants include Miyoko Hõjõ, the strong-willed heiress of her family restaurant Hõjõrõ who believes women should have pride and prestige like men; Nao Sadatsuka, a masochistic student who admires Erina and wants to be her aide; and Akira Hayama, a student who works as Professor Jun Shiomi’s assistant and has a preference for spices. As for Erina Nakiri, since she is a part of the Elite Ten Council, she cannot participate in the election despite being a first year.
What to expect next in the 43rd Annual T?tsuki Autumn Election after the preliminaries (Minor Season 2 Spoilers)
With the preliminaries for the 43rd Annual T?tsuki Autumn Election concluded, the eight qualifying students will proceed to the quarterfinals. As mentioned earlier, the quarterfinals will consist of four one-on-one food battles. Each battle will have its own theme which will be presented to the contestants 24 hours ahead of the battle. Not only that, they will also know who is competing against whom, too.
Anyway, the eighth qualifying student is Subaru Mimasaka. In the manga, he is thoroughly detailed by Etsuya Eizan as a student who has no specialty whatsoever and lacks the cooking spirit his fellow classmates possess. Ergo, Mimasaka shows off formidably through a cooking style known as Perfect Trace in which he cooks the same dish his opponents cook during a Food War but makes changes so his dish is better. He learns about his opponents through reconnaissance (stalking) in which he attains extensive stat knowledge of said opponents. This includes basics like height and weight but far more thorough details like how long a prospect brushes their teeth. Mimasaka’s Perfect Trace has served him well as he won 99 Food Wars prior to his introduction. As his reward, Subaru Mimasaka has 99 knives to his collection, a memento to his victory and a means to ridicule and humiliate his opponents.
Ultimately, the 43rd Annual T?tsuki Autumn Election arc represents a huge part of Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma. In the manga, it is spread across 53 chapters starting with Chapter 47 and ending with Chapter 104. That is almost a third of the manga series so far as only 158 chapters have been made as of March 2016. Therefore, it is possible the second season may only concentrate on the 43rd Annual T?tsuki Autumn Election depending on how many episodes are ordered.
For a refresher on season 1 of Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma, the first season is available for viewing on both Crunchyroll and Hulu. Please take note that both streaming sites stream the series for free but with ads, unless the viewer has a paid subscription.
[Image via Funimation/Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma Anime Promotions]
