10 Second Anime - Shokugeki no Soma S3 - Episode 3

Souma begins his contest with Kuga over profits in a big hole, but he may have figured out a popular dish for the final day.

Episode 3 - "Moon Festival"

Hmm.

I have to admit, the parts of the story I appreciate the most in Shokugeki are when there is actually no shokugeki happening. Battle tournaments with food is great, but the pacing doesn't lend itself toward characterization. I like these slower kinds of chapters, like the cooking survival camp, where there is some kind of tension from rivalry or the need for high performance, but since it's not a fight for an hour or two, we actually get time to spend with the characters. A good show is going to have characters we like, so a school festival story is going to give us the breathing room to let those characters be themselves.

There were two interactions I liked the most in this episode. The first was the combined rivalry-affection of Takumi and Ikumi. Having them both be worried about Souma at the same time in the same place was just a fun bit where we can see both of them not being very honest about their attachment to their friend and potential boyfriend and channeling it into some kind of aggression. I prefer the massive crush Ikumi has on Souma, mainly because I just like looking at her more, but the Takumi bromance has its own fun flavor with his younger brother playing the straight man.

The second interaction I've been waiting for since her character was introduced was Nao trading disgusting flavors with Souma. Squee! It finally happened! She didn't have a tentacle grape reaction to squid with peanut butter (she's probably so accustomed to terrible tastes from her own cooking style), but just seeing the two of them huddled over charred rotting fish and guts was a little scene I've been hoping to see for years. You just don't get this kind of stuff during an Iron Chef episode.

Heh.

Isshiki is having too much fun with his booth. He put his face on the sign and he turned it into a host club. He totally gets the Polar Dorm Dudes' charm points.

The Aldini crew is all female. Of course.

Well, we made sure we got a nod toward possible expulsion with money losses on the first day from Souma and Megumi, but also from Alice and Hayama? Ryou and Hayama both know how to cook for restaurants, so maybe let them take the lead now?

There are some mysteries piling up around Souma for how he's going to beat Kuga on the last day. He gave a key to somebody, which probably was for the Yukihira diner opening at night at the end of the episode. And then there was the missing leftovers, which turned out to be Souma giving out free samples as people were leaving the Moon Festival. This is Souma's form of poll testing, which let him come up with the Something Like Danzi Taiwanese noodles.

Rindo didn't open up a booth, so we see her running around sampling the festival. Eizen also didn't run one, but we haven't seen him at all.

Ha! Souma is defensive about his dad's cooking. I got the feeling the protectiveness also comes from his need to be the only one to beat him as opposed to anyone else.

Alice and the Spice Research Society may have finally got their teamwork together, well just Alice swallowing her pride, to get their own redemption on the last day.

So, we got two cliffhangers. What is Souma going to make for the last day with Megumi's help? And who opened up the Yukihira Diner? We'll just have to wait.