Shokugeki No Souma S2 OVA

After the very lukewarm season 2 and my very disappointment with how a great season can become so boring with that Stagiaire internship thingy, I didn’t think they would come up with another season a year later. But before all that and to hype things up as well as wash away all that disappointment, I guess that is why we have Shokugeki No Souma S2 OVA. This is supposed to be the bridge that connects the second and third season. Don’t expect much but it is still an important piece if you are looking forward to watch the next season. I know I am now.

OVA 1
Hotspring episode! Sort of. Taking place after the Stagiaire, Megumi invites the whole gang to a hotspring inn. We start off with some ping pong match first. Lots of bounciness between Mito and Ryouko’s match and it isn’t the ping pong balls, get what I mean? Megumi and Isshiki have a very serious and passionate battle so much so she is wearing proper attire to play it and this feels more like a sports shonen show than a cooking genre. As the guys soak in the hotspring, Takumi realizes Souma isn’t around. He heard he went to challenge Hayama and Ryo. Unsettled, he starts running about to find him but ultimately gets lost. Now, the challenge Souma is having is a fishing battle. They are to see who can fish out the master of the river. When caught, the trio have to work together to reel it out because it is really giving them a real fight. Meanwhile by sheer bad luck and coincidence, the chefs are all injured and due to a mis-scheduling, important guests are to arrive soon. This is an excuse for our lesser known characters to fill in and show what they’ve got. Little do they know, that VIP is Erina, Alice and Hisako. Erina’s God’s tongue tastes the amateurs’ dishes but also gives them their due praises since it was carefully prepared and lots of effort were put into it. Megumi and co hear the praises from the innkeeper and they are ecstatic because it’s like they passed, right? Later Megumi soaks alone and discovers Erina nearby and realizes she is the VIP. I guess the victory now means a lot, eh? Souma and co return all messed up. Looks like they’ve lost the catch and the river’s master dragged them down the stream and waterfall. Expensive lesson to be learnt. Meanwhile Takumi is still lost… Luckily he manages to find his way back and this time Souma is there. So now he b*tches about the proper order to call for a cooking battle. WTF.

OVA 2
No rest for Souma. Because back at the dorm, he receives tons of challenge letters. We see him continuously winning streaks in Shokugeki matches. There is even one where he took on 2 opponents at the same time and bests them. Heh. All of them must be weaklings. A strange lady, tastes his food before leaving. From the looks of it, want to bet she is from the Elite Ten? Later Isshiki calls Souma and Megumi because there is going to be a Maple Meet soon and this is where the juniors get to meet their seniors. However it is special for the Autumn Elections finalists as they get to meet the Elite Ten face to face. That grin on Souma’s face… He is already thinking of doing Shokugeki with them! So we see the gang taking their seats and as expected, they don’t get along with each other. Rivalry is already so intense. Oddly, despite Erina is part of the Elite Ten, she is joining their side as she considers herself a junior and thus it is proper to get to know her seniors. The Elite Ten show their faces. Another bunch of weirdoes. Some of them don’t get along either. Like Terunori Kuga, Nene Kinokuni, Eizan and Isshiki. You think the Autumn Elections finalists are bad, just take a look at them. Oh, that strange lady is Rindou Kobayashi and is ranked second. When Eishi Tsukasa who is currently the 1st seat of the Elite Ten calls out to Souma, Takumi and Mimasaka, you’d think it would be something very important. Unfortunately he goes into depression that because they called a Shokugeki during the Autumn Elections that he wanted to end early, it cut out a lot of work for him!

Souma then gets straight to the point and shocks everyone that he wants to join the Elite Ten and is willing to do Shokugeki with any of them. Of course nobody is going to do it. Kuga mocks his simple mindedness since in this case he wants to challenge just for the sake of fighting stronger opponents. He tries to drill it into his head the Elite Ten is a completely different world but Souma is just more impressed how cool it is. Basically, the higher your seat, the more privileges you have and hence the more resources to broaden yourself. Momo Akanegakubo has made sweets for all of them. This maple-apple-caramel-cheese dessert thingy looks like an item you can get off from an RPG quest… Seriously… This is cue for the best confectioner in Totsuki to let them taste it and have our dose of exaggerated reactions. I know. It’s that good, right? Kuga then carelessly throws down a challenge to Souma that if he finds that there is one thing he can beat him at, feel free to challenge him. You better hold on to you words. The Elite Ten take their leave and this fires up our young ones. Those deadly auras of challenge… I wonder if meek Megumi will be okay. Don’t worry, later she gets assurance from Souma that despite how different level they are and they may not be able to match it, they should take their time and move slowly towards the Elite Ten. No rush, right? Yeah well, I don’t think they’re even halfway there.

Okawari? Why, We Haven’t Even Got To The Main Dish Yet!
Certainly the couple of OVAs aren’t that bad. The first one is quite light-hearted while the second steps things up a little as we get to see all the faces of the current Elite Ten. So the OVAs did make my day and my hopes for the next season is renewed. There are a lot of things I would love to see in the third season but I’ll try not to get ahead too far of myself. As far as these second season OVAs are concerned, they are satisfying in their own right and it whets the appetite for fans and viewers alike for the next season. It is a step in the right direction and suddenly the disappointment of the second season has all been forgotten. Yeah, must be that dessert thingy they presented. Looks so good to eat…

The surprising thing that I noticed is that some of the Elite Ten making their debut here, all of them are voiced by popular and well-known seiyuus. I instantly recognized them the moment they speak. They are Akira Ishida as Tsukasa, Yuuki Kaji as Kuga, Shizuka Itou as Rindou and Kana Hanazawa as Nene. I thought Momo was the combo breaker as I didn’t recognize her voice but upon discovery she is voiced by Rie Kugimiya! Holy sh*t! Is that really her?! Too soft spoken that I couldn’t recognize. Well, I thought she sounded so different in the recent Konbini Kareshi but at least there were some parts of her voice that was recognizable but this one, not so. Maybe not enough lines. Hearing them again, yup, that’s her alright.

Like I have already said, these OVAs are a nice bridge to connect the second and third season and to whet the appetite for the next season. There will be more interesting Shokugeki (because calling it food fight makes it sound so childish and unglamorous) with a lot of parties trying to vie for the top sea. Even within the Elite Ten, there are still battles among each other to get to higher rankings. Because food is everything, right? It has gotten to a stage where it is no longer as simple as a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Only at Totsuki where food has become majestic works of art and an aphrodisiac drug. Who’d knew that popping something into your mouth can be this convoluted and annoyingly delicious at the same time.