Shokugeki no Soma

[shinta|hikari]

It's not that I don't want to acknowledge what Souma did. What I'm not acknowledging is the author's decision to use such a lame excuse for Souma to win. If you notice from the start, I approached this episode from an entertainment standpoint. I have also said that the outcome is perfectly possible. The big problem is the hoops you mentioned aren't creative or impressive, and therefore not satisfying considering the build up.

Mimasaka was supposedly able to copy everyone and go one step beyond. That's his thing. Souma didn't break that skill. You say he sorta did by doing all those preparations. But the whole point of Mimasaka's ability is that those preparations, skill, experience, everything is negated because he profiles you and copies your dish perfectly, and then goes a step beyond. Souma didn't do anything to directly address that aspect of the battle. At the very least nothing impressive or worth all that build up. That's the main issue.

You're saying that Mimasaka failed to profile him. What part of him? His years of experience? That was the only aspect Mimasaka didn't know in detail. He knew about everything else. But wait, Mimasaka also knew about his time in Yukihira and managed to predict the oxtail stew based on that. So where exactly did Mimasaka fail?

Souma taking steps to prevent being profiled does not equate to those steps succeeding, and the episode clearly stated that Souma's attempt to hide info failed, and his attempt to improvise was foreseen, and his recipe plan was predicted.

Yet he still won. See my problem with this?

EDIT:
Also, relying on ambushes doesn't necessarily mean you suck, but it is highly suggestive of it. If you are truly a great chef, then there's no need to lower the abilities of your opponents during the battle. The fact that you need to do this means you are covering up for a weakness or gap in ability.

Why is this relevant? Because I think Mimasaka's base skill is not that high. Sure, he's better than the nameless mobs, but we're talking about the named characters here. When I said he and Aldini suck, it's in comparison to the relevant names in the show, like Souma, the other finalists, Alice, and the like. I only used the elite 10 for comparison to exaggerate the conclusion, which is him being obliterated.

Why does Mimasaka's base skill being low matter? Because that would explain how Souma won without breaking the copy skill, and how Mimasaka failed to profile Souma's final dish despite knowing everything he usually does about his opponents.