Food Wars! Volume 2 Advanced manga review

Manga
Food Wars! Volume 2 Advanced manga review
By Leroy Douresseaux
October 2, 2014 - 20:09

Viz Media
Writer(s): Yuto Tsukuda, Adrienne Beck
Penciller(s): Shun Saeki
Letterer(s): NRP Studios
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7255-0
$9.99 US, $12.99 CAN, 192pp, B&W, paperback

Food Wars Volume 2 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

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Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Soma Yukihira is a 15-year-old boy, who wants to be a better chef than his father, Joshiro Yukihira. Dad operates a small family restaurant in a less attractive side of town. Hoping to surpass his father’s culinary prowess, the teen hones his skills day in and day out. However, one day, his father suddenly decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school, Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute. Soma does not believe he needs to go to school, so can he really succeed in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate?

As Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma, Vol. 2 (The Ice Queen and the Spring Storm; Chapters 6 to 14) opens, Soma finds his way to his on-campus home, Polaris Dormitory. To be able to stay there, Soma has to face the acceptance challenge of the “Polaris Crone,” Fumio Daimido, the dorm's caretaker. Soma must prepare a meal that will impress a woman who has tasted countless meals from novice students.

Then, Soma finds himself in one of Totsuki Institute's legendary cooking duels, a “shokugeki.” Who will his first opponent be? Will he be able to provide his own ingredients and implements when he is short on cash?

THE LOWDOWN: The first volume of the Food Wars! manga was a surprise, but it was no fluke. Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma Volume 2 is an excellent read. Maybe, I just love foodie or food and cooking-themed manga, like the current Toriko. Or maybe Food Wars! is just a darn good shonen comedy.

The meals and recipes make me hungry, and the delightful, eccentric, and delightfully eccentric characters make me hungry for more of this series. Food Wars! is a sumptuous feast for the graphic novel reader's appetite. I know that I'll come back for seconds... thirds... and so on.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Fans of foodie manga and of shonen comedies will like Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma.

Rating: A/10