10 Second Anime - Shokugeki no Soma S3 - Episode 21

Jouichirou and Gin tell Souma, Megumi, and Takumi what led up to Jouichirou leaving Toutsuki and how Azami is connected.

Episode 21 - "The Pioneer of the Wastelands"

Hmm.

The story of Jouichirou and Azami and their relationship to gourmet cuisine is about obsession. Jouichirou saw the vast world of cooking as a wasteland that needed to be explored and safe paths to be forged. Azami saw the wasteland defeating his most admired mentor and sought to tame it violently. One saw endless possibility and got lost in it. The other seeks to pave it over with the status quo.

Jouichirou's obsession with exploration made him forget that pioneers still need to build outposts, rest up, replenish supplies, and then get moving again. Perhaps his 50 to 1 Team Shokugeki made him think he didn't need to rest, but he became broken after that. Others noticed he wasn't having fun cooking anymore and the biggest symptom was no longer combining disgusting tastes with good tastes. He obviously revived that hobby with Souma.

Azami takes the almost childish view of preventing Jouichirou's breakdown by freezing gourmet as it is right now and forbidding any new kind of dish or combination of tastes. This extinguishes any spark of creativity, reducing chefs to robots following recipes which never change for the occasion or the dining guest. It's an oppressive regime where only an elite few have permission to create new recipes. Any regime with claims of equality, yet some have more "equality" than other will tend toward revolution, and we saw that happen quickly in this story. Azami's intentions were for "the common good," but individuals make up the commons. They need to be free to express themselves, and even to fail like Jouichirou did.

I like how Senzaemon saw what happened to Jouichirou and told him to take a break. Like overtraining for athletes, sometimes you just need to stop everything. Senzaemon had probably seen it many times before. The break allowed Jouichirou time to find out what he really needed for his pioneering exploits - a partner. He used to have Gin and Azami follow him, but then he went too far ahead after that Team Shokugeki. It's almost like Jouichirou had a son just to be his cooking comrade, but Souma was gifted with more patience and endurance to survive the pressures of failed experiments and coming up with new dishes.

Azami and Jouichirou were very much alike with how they treated their children too. They raised them in their likeness and to fit their philosophies of gourmet cuisine. Azami had Erina's God Tongue and trained her to throw out dishes that didn't follow the recipe. Jouichirou trained Souma to love competition in a fun way and to test the boundaries of the disgusting with the sublime. If Souma and Erina ever teamed up as a pioneering pair, it would be Erina establishing the outposts in the wilderness, following the trails that Souma blazed, but only after she had deemed them viable and safe. They're the next generation's solution to the madness that felled Jouichirou in the Wastes.

Heh.

Extended flashback time. I hope there aren't any discrepancies between Gin and Jouichirou's versions. Probably not.

They're still hiding the face of this ball cap wearing girl.

Erina's tired from giving us all the fan service over the last few episodes.

Ha. Gin is still annoyed at Jouichirou's slacker ways. He was only good at cooking, not any of the administration stuff or going to classes.

Azami was always creepy. Erina also inherited his tsun-tsun pout.

Saiba's customers were always looking for his next dish. He had a complex about that, adding pressure to his own need to create something new.

They all called him a genius, but they didn't realize how long and meticulous his testing process was.

He started making weird combos and made poor Jun love and hate the experience.

Here's where he became a true legend. 50 to 1 Team Shokugeki.

I hate this belittling of geniuses that everything is easy for them. For Jouichirou, he was a genius of hard work and time consuming recipe testing.

This official translation of "shura" (修羅, しゅら) as "demon" is wrong. It means "fighting; scene of carnage." They're calling Jouichirou devastation itself, like a force of war. There is a similar word 阿修羅 (あしゅら, ashura), but that's just the Hindu Asura, or fighting demon. This is not the kanji that was flashed on the screen.

They seem to be mentioning this 4th Seat Riko Ebisawa more often than I remember from the manga. Maybe she's related to the ball cap girl?

Because nobody but Gin, Azami, and this Riko girl would do shokugeki with him, Saiba did all the external contests, but got bored with winning them all. He wasn't having fun, and even Shiomi asked him about why he wasn't forcing those disgusting experiments on her anymore.

And then, he gave up on that big newcomer contest for under-35 year olds. He must be over 35 now after having Souma enter high school, so maybe Souma will win BLUE for him later in the story?

Jouichirou left Toutsuki at Senzaemon's suggestion. He was totally burned out on cooking, and Azami became obsessed with "saving" genius getting lost in the wastelands of creativity.

Ha. Jouichirou had a kid just so he could have shokugekis again.

Har. Souma is relieved that his dad didn't do anything bad to Azami to make him hold a grudge. Azami just cares sooo much that he has to destroy the whole gourmet world. Thanks, I guess?

Next time, this generation's Team Shokugeki starts.