‘Shokugeki no Soma’ Season 3: ‘Food Wars!’ Release Date Confirmed In 2017 – The Third Plate’s Manga Spoilers

The Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 3 release date has officially been confirmed for 2017 as a tasty treat for anime-hungry fans! As expected, the title of the new anime is Shokugeki no Soma: San no Sara, or Food Wars! The Third Plate. In addition to Food Wars! Season 3, there will also be a Food Wars OVA episode that will be released soon on DVD.

Many anime fans were left hankering for more episodes when Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma: The Second Plate only aired with 13 episodes instead of the expected 24 episode season. Considering there is plenty of source material in the Food Wars! manga, it did not seem to make any sense. Some fans theories claimed the second season was limited so the anime would not catch up with the story of the English versions of the Food Wars! manga. Such a plan disappointed fans, but if the anime was to surpass the English release of the manga, who would buy the manga internationally?

Fortunately, the third season of Shokugeki no Soma is way more likely to be 24 episodes. The story so far featured the conclusion of the 43rd Annual Totsuki Autumn Election, with the most notable event being the introduction of Mimasaka Subaru, the “King of Stalkers,” who was well known for figuring out what his competitors were cooking up, only to create a better version of the recipe. We also got to see the entire Stagiaire story arc play out, but that was expected since that particular manga story arc was only 12 chapters.

The real question is whether Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 3 will feature both the Moon Banquet Festival Arc and the Central Arc. The first arc is only 17 chapters in the manga, which could easily be handled with less than 12 anime episodes, but the next major story arc covers Food Wars! Chapters 135 through 171. While anime production company J.C. Staff has yet to officially confirm the number of episodes, it’s probably safe to predict we’re looking at a full two-cour season for Food Wars! Season 3.

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 3 Release Date

At this time, the only official confirmation about the Food Wars! Season 3 release date is a preview of the front cover of next week’s issue of Shonen Jump. Yonkou Productions tweeted out the photo of the “Shokugeki no Soma Season 3 Key Visual,” and it’s caused anime fans to go wild.

Shokugeki no Soma Season 3 Key Visual pic.twitter.com/hXBKDC2JRI

— YonkouProductions (@YonkouProd) June 22, 2017

The image also gives fans another reason to believe that Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 3 will have 24 episodes. The man in the background with the white streak in his black hair is Food Wars! character Azami Nakiri. Technically, Azami is introduced during the final chapters of the Moon Banquet Festival Arc, but he’s one of the most important Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma characters in the Central Arc.

Japan splits up its anime release time frames, which are called cours, into Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Most anime series launch with around 12 episodes and, in some cases additional episodes, will air during a later season. In this case, the official Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 3 release date was confirmed for the 2017 Fall Anime season, so that means the air date is in October of 2017. Assuming the third season is 24 episodes, the finale episode would air in March of 2018.

That’s not all! As previously reported by the Inquisitr, anime fans can get also get their hands on a new Food Wars! episode on July 4, 2017. The Food Wars! OVA called “T?tsuki’s Elite Ten” will be available on DVD with the limited edition of Food Wars!Shokugeki no Soma Volume 25. Fortunately, we don’t have long to wait, and it only whets our appetites for Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 3!

Food Wars! Season 3 Spoilers

The preview image from Shonen Jump showed us multiple Shokugeki no Soma characters, including Soma Yukihira, Erina Nakiri, and her father Azami. We’re finally getting to see more members of the Council of Ten, including first seat Eishi Tsukasa and second seat Rindo Kobayashi.

Now, Eishi, Rindo, and Azami are all introduced in the manga chapters for the Moon Banquet Festival Arc. Eishi’s perfectionist nature has earned him a reputation as a “teacher crusher,” but otherwise he’s not what you’d expect a leader should be. Even though Eishi grabbed the first seat by his second year at Totsuki Academy, his outlook on life is actually quite pessimistic and he’s prone to self-loathing. He’s constantly worrying and fretting over the smallest details, dislikes the responsibilities required by his position in the Council of Ten, and hates being the center of attention, instead desiring that his presence is eliminated from his dishes. In fact, during the Moon Banquet Festival, Eishi hides himself by cooking behind a one way window.

Rindo, on the other hand, is cheerful, playful, irresponsible, and will often take actions merely on a whim. The second seat of the Council of Ten forced Eishi to become her friend after hearing about his reputation for driving teachers mad by forcing them to repeatedly check his dishes. Despite it being customary for the Elite Ten to run a food booth during the Moon Banquet Festival, Rindo opts out and instead spends her time wandering about and sampling food. She ends up spending time with Soma, introducing the main character to Eishi.

A booth sales competition between Terunori Kuga and Soma heats up the kitchen during the story of the Moon Banquet Festival. However, what bring things to a broil is a heated debate between Totsuki Academy Director Senzaemon Nakiri and his son-in-law Azami, who was visiting Erina’s booth. The two men have conflicting visions for the future of the culinary school and eventually Senzaemon tries to kick the unwelcome intruder out of the campus. Erina’s father won’t be undone and instead wields an official document from the Council of Ten that’s signed by Eishi, Rindo, and four of the other Elite Ten Council members. They’ve voted in favor for Azami to replace Senzaemon as the new director of the academy, making Azami king of Totsuki.

Azami believes the culinary industry is rotten and in desperate need of change from within. The new director believes cuisine is similar to appreciate of the fine arts, which requires pedigree, a certain education, and the senses of an artist. Erina’s father intends on bringing this change about by training the next generation of chefs. As such, all dishes cooked by students are selected by a Central group, with the expectation being that everyone must cook dishes worthy of matching the Elite Ten. The Academy is shocked further when Azami disbands certain groups and tries to close the Polar Star Dormitory, where Soma and his friends reside.

Without spoiling everything, the rest of Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 3 should be focused on how the main characters respond to Azami’s regime. Students are forced to take sides, with Azami ordering Elite Ten members like Rindo to purge rebel students by challenging them to Shokugekis battles where the loser is expelled. Anime audiences will learn more about Erina’s history as God’s Tongue and why she is one of four Elite Ten to not support her father’s rule. In the end, it’s a battle for survival since the rebel students need to pass the Promotion Exams in order to stay within the academy.

[Featured Image by J.C. Staff]