10 Second Anime - Shokugeki no Soma S2 - Episode 12

Souma joins Shinomiya's new Tokyo restaurant and shows his abilities and willingness to learn.

Episode 12 - "The Magician Once More"

Heh.

The whole point of this episode was to set up a refrain to the scene during the survival camp where Souma asked Shinomiya about the shokugeki rules so he could challenge him to wager Megumi's expulsion for his own. The stakes weren't as high this time and the hostility on both sides had already turned to an edgy mutual respect, but it was still nice to see that Shinomiya learned a lot from his duel with Souma. He had technically won, but Souma won the admiration of Shinomiya's peers.

This dynamic between the two was great to see in action with Shinomiya giving Souma the sink-or-swim treatment and Souma handling it with aplomb and hard work. Souma really dug this kitchen work too because it was a small crew handling lots of courses, which is the environment he grew up in at the Yukihira Diner.

Shinomiya didn't want to complicate his pre-open week with taking on a stagiaire, but Doujima convinced him. Of course, in Shinomiya's mind, all of Doujima's best arguments happen when he's totally naked.

Shinomiya is still the Magician of Legumes and regularly gives foodgasms to his staff. His quiche made with a Japanese tree bark is going to be the inspiration for Souma's entry into restaurant's pre-open competition.

I wish we saw "more" of Lucie and Wei, but we're pressed for time as the close of the season approaches.

The head chef Abel provided some comedy with his needy personality and his slight jealousy for the easy atmosphere between Souma and Shinomiya. Abel should challenge Shinomiya to a cooking duel and see where it takes him...

The invited customers during the pre-open gave us more magic themed foodgasms. Shinomiya's recurring theme, based on his title as the Magician, really is magical girls. I guess witches in short skirts count as magical girls too.

I think Souma gained a different perspective on Shinomiya when he saw that even he was moving appliances and putting in lightbulbs for his new restaurant. Shinomiya may be arrogant, but that arrogance is based on tenacity and experience. Just like Souma.

We got a short montage on the other students' stagiaire experiences. The manga had much more fleshed out stories than this and we could have easily had a whole other cour following their stories, but for the anime, the adaptation is Shokugeki no Souma, not Shokugeki no Everybody Else. It still feels cheap and compressed, though.

Next time, season finale. Shinomiya wanted to help Souma figure out his specialty, so the pre-open competition is the time to debut what his own cooking will be. I'm sure it will be very Japanese and very common people oriented. Let's find out next week!