Šokugeki no Sóma - San no sara

For me personally, this was the best season of Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma so far, and I am looking forward to the follow-up. To cut a long story short, I finally got the whole Elite Ten Council! As a luxurious addition, a real bad guy turned up (with the voice of Aizen from Bleach to boot) who is charismatic, has a proper game-plan, and everything was starting to give the impression something was really starting to happen. While those previous seasons could be described as classic sports anime, where the central focus was food preparation, where we have individual competitions, a tournament, training, etc., in this season we finally get conflict, politics, and a clash of different approaches to cooking. It is just even more interesting than it was and still just as delicious and amusing. Once again, after each episode, I was left incredibly hungry. However, there is the suspense I was missing in the past. Personally speaking, I am completely satisfied, and so far, I do not have much to complain about. 9.5/10. EDIT 07.06.2019 - COMBINED WITH THE REVIEW FROM 25.06.2018 of Food Wars! The Third Plate: Totsuki Train Arc. The second part of the third series of Food Wars is once again very interesting and exciting. The conclusion is thrilling and has a taste of the big decider, and the competition with its few rounds is very good. However, it is clear that the future (the regular fourth) season will contain a lot of flashbacks, a lot of shokugeki and long monologues, and sizing up egos (even though people who like that really do exist, like me) and that this competition will be really long and probably drawn out (which in turn could turn some people off watching the next season). But back to the "Totsuki Train Arc." It was interesting to see how the main protagonists would cope with the tests that were set up so that they had no chance of passing them. Sometimes it is incredibly unrealistic and almost ridiculous how much the examiners tried to make it difficult for them. It was just too obvious how much the screenwriters tried their best to shock audiences with what the main protagonists have to overcome and, of course, shock with how original they ended up being. On the other hand, I did watch the interesting Yukihira x Hayama showdown. There was also a glimpse into the backstory of Yukihira's father and his generation, revealing the motivations of the main bad guy Nakamura. Anyway, apart from that, it is once again a classic, very tasty experience, and I had the urge to eat something myself while they were preparing food. There were some amusing moments when the judges consumed the food, and it was all wrapped up in decent animation and had a great soundtrack. I am not complaining, and for me, this anime series, especially as a lunchtime accompaniment (or just to whet my appetite before a meal), is a great and tasty experience. 9/10. (19/12/2017)