Food Wars! Volume 12 manga review

Manga
Food Wars! Volume 12 manga review
By Leroy Douresseaux
June 14, 2016 - 14:56

Viz Media
Writer(s): Yuto Tsukuda, Adrienne Beck
Penciller(s): Shun Saeki
Letterer(s): Stephen Dutro
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8508-6
$9.99 US, $12.99 CAN, 192pp, B&W, paperback
Rating: T+ (Teen Plus)

Food Wars Volume 12 cover image

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Soma Yukihira grows up cooking in Yukihira Family Restaurant, owned by his family and situated in a less attractive side of town. The 15-year-old wants to be a better chef than his father, Joshiro Yukihira. So the teen hones his skills day in and day out. Then, his father suddenly decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school, Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute, a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate. Soma does not really want to attend Totsuki, so can he succeed?

As Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma, Vol. 12 (Chapters 93 to 101; entitled Moonlight Memories) opens, the finals of the 43rd Fall Classic begin. But instead of two young chefs fighting to win, it is a three-way battle featuring Ryo Kurokiba, Akira Hayama, and Soma. The secret ingredient is Pike, a fish. Ryo and Akira are masters at choosing the freshest fish, but that is a weakness for Soma. Now, he must find a way to create great taste without using fresh fish.

THE LOWDOWN: My mouth is usually watering the entire time I am reading a volume of the Food Wars! Manga. This time I couldn't make myself salivate over fish, which is not a favorite dish of mine. Canned tuna and fried shrimp, with a few exceptions, are about it for me.

Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma Volume 12, my tastes aside, is a thoroughly enjoyable read. It is so good that it might make a few readers disrobe the way succulent dishes force some series characters go nude or nearly nude. Was there anything new in Vol. 12? Yes, we learn that a meal is never over until it is over...

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Hungry readers and foodies will want to sample the menu of the Shonen Jump Advanced title, Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma.

A+

Rating: A+/10