Shokugeki no Souma – 19

The Autumn Election selections have been made, and Groups A and B will duke it out, with the survivors moving on to the tournament proper, where they’ll be observed by some of the finest restauranteurs in the business (no surprise there), and where failure will almost certainly ensure they have to futures in the industry.

The show shifts into overdrive juggling both all the side characters we know (like the Aldinis and Nakiris) while introducing a bunch more (Hojo and Nao) while elevating mostly background characters into contention with the better known chefs (Ryo, Hisako).

Souma is straight-up fired up, and can’t wait to get into the fray. But when participants receive a vague hint about the nature of the elections—indicating a “curry dish” will be the thing by which they’ll be judged, Souma decides to track down a Totsuki professor who is not only an Alumna but his dad’s former kohai and dormmate at Polar Star.

This turns out to be Shiomi Jun, a P.E. outfit-wearing scientific master of spice who instantly reminded me of Working!!’s Popura due to her size, which misleads many to believe she’s a junior high student or younger (in reality, Jun is 34).

At first, Jun isn’t pleased to see the son of a senpai who regularly used her as a test subject for his nastier dishes, and expresses that displeasure by giving him a sequence of Olympic-caliber punches. But since Megumi tagged along with Souma, and both she and Jun are experts in circular apologetics, it isn’t long before Jun forgets about her outrage over Souma’s presence and just starts geeking out over her speciality, spices, giving them a full-on lecture during which Megumi takes careful notes.

Megumi and Souma are “saved” by another newcomer, the tan, silver-haired Hayama Akira, Jun’s aide who transforms her scientific theories into real cooking. He’s as dependent on her (and his excellent nose) as she is on him; it’s a symbiotic relationship. And Akira takes the opportunity to show Megumi and Souma what he can do with curry, which he and Jun just happen to be researching, which is also the theme of the elections.

The show gets into the nitty-gritty of what makes a simply good curry to what makes a transcendentally awesome curry, and it really comes down to little tweaks in the cooking process, combined with impeccable skills and timing. And while Souma didn’t know Akira existed, Akira knows him, and warns him that using inspiration to overcome restrictions won’t be enough to get to the top of Totsuki (which, duh). 

As usual, Souma tries to get the last word in, diplomatically thanking Akira for the food and promising to return the favor by making an even better curry for him, but Jun, upset they ran out on her lecture, interrupts Souma’s monologue by bursting in the door he’s about to exit through, slamming the doorknob into his gut. It’s hilarious, but also appropriate to the task at hand. As usual, Souma will have to speak, and convince all the naysayers, with his cooking in the next four episodes, not with words.

GATE – 07

Itami’s run-in with the Rose Knight Order turned out to be one big misunderstanding, and Pina is furious enough to throw a metal cup at her subordinate’s head, which isn’t that extreme a reaction considering she now fears the treaty is over and the SDF is going to destroy the empire. She doesn’t know yet that that’s not how Itami or the SDF really rolls.

With some heretofore unseen sleeping spell powers of Tuka Luna, Recon Team 3 re-infiltrates Italica, as their CO is gently nursed by no less than five maids, including a catgirl, a bunnygirl, and a medusa. The cut from these characters, who wouldn’t look out of place in a maid cafe, to the SDF soldiers who barge in fearing the worst, is admittedly a pretty funny sight.

The fact that Itami’s beating at the hands of the Rose Knights isn’t that big of a deal—but various parties still consider it as such—is drilled home to an extreme degree when Pina essentially orders blondie to “use her body” to make Itami forget anything bad ever happened to him. Replace the pain with pleasure, and all that.

The blonde, being of high breeding, admits she’s been trained to perform such duties, and is steeling herself up to meet Itami in his bedroom (wearing a sheer nightie), only to find Itami’s maids and the SDF posing for digital photos.

The blonde is insulted when Itami doesn’t notice her entering and seems to be ignoring her, so she slaps him, but again, she’s lucky Itami’s such an easygoing laid-back guy despite, to Kurebayashi’s shock, the fact he’s a certified ranger, i.e. a badass warrior.

Yet perhaps it’s because Itami has undergone/endured such vigorous training to become a ranger that the beatings aren’t that big a deal to him. Pina gets to accompany Recon 3 to their base, along with Blondie, where the two formally apologize to the general, with Lelei interpreting all day and getting so tuckered out Itami has to put her to bed, which is a cute but dubiously necessary scene.

The next morning, Itami, Kurebayashi & Co. are kitted out in their dress uniforms in preparation to meet with the Diet in Japan. Not only are Lelei, Tuka Luna, and Rory coming along, but Pina and Blondie too (she didn’t make enough of an impact for me to remember her name, sorry :P).

And while seeing the special region people we’ve come to know setting foot in Japan is sure to be a momentous occasion (and a lot of fun to boot), we have to wait until next week to actually see it. This week, rather than fight, the JSDF kinda shifted around from place to place as Pina failed to control her violent subordinate.

Ushio to Tora – 07

When Umizatou mentioned that Ushio’s mother is still alive, Ushio obviously wanted to get the lowdown from his dad ASAP. After all, he’s been told all his life she wasn’t alive, and now that he’s grown up a lot more, wields the beast spear, is able to bend Tora to his will, and has slayed multiple high-level youkai, he believes he deserves the truth.

However, his dad slinks away before he can get any, and from there we’re offered a look at what Aotsuki Shigure is typically up to when not chilling in the house: sealing youkai, saving lives, and conferring with a counsel of five elders who sit in a room made of light (seriously, doesn’t that light get annoying after, like, five minutes?).

There, Sigure reports that the beast spear is out, in his son’s possession, and that the youkai Tora is haunting said son. The elders are taken aback by this news, certain that no mere child can wield the spear. Nevertheless, Shigure gets their leader, a female, to reluctantly allow him to personally test the competence of Ushio and Tora. If they fail the test, he’ll eliminate them both.

That night, Shigure tells Ushio in a roundabout way (by pushing cash his way) that in order to learn about his mom, he’ll have to go on a journey to Hokkaido. Then he turns his staff on Tora and initiates the test. Ushio believes his dad is trying to kill Tora, but Tora realizes something else is going on. Things get more complicated when three monks from Shigure’s sect roll in to try to confiscate the Beast Spear.

After Ushio came between his dad and Tora when they fought, it’s his dad and Tora who work together to fight off the monks. But Tora doesn’t kill them, explaining to Shigure that Ushio forbade him from killing or eating humans, and as long as Ushio has that spear, Tora will obey. So Ushio and Tora pass Shigure’s test, but Shigure may have made enemies of his sect by preventing them from doing their duty.

But Shigure will deal with all that. For now, he wants Ushio to start that journey to learn more about his mom, with Tora in tow. I kinda wish Asako was going with them too (indeed, neither girl appears at all this week), but even without her I’m sure Ushio and Tora will provide ample entertainment and action in their traveling adventures to come.