Food Wars: Volume 19 manga review

Manga
Food Wars: Volume 19 manga review
By Leroy Douresseaux
August 27, 2017 - 23:07

Viz Media
Writer(s): Yuto Tsukuda Adrienne Beck
Artist(s): Shun Saeki
Letterer(s): Mara Coman
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9335-7
$9.99 US, $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK, 192pp, B&W, paperback
Rating: T+ (Teen Plus)

Food Wars Volume 19 cover image

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Soma Yukihara grows up cooking in Yukihira Family Restaurant, which is owned by his family and is located in a less attractive side of town. The 15-year-old Soma 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?

There is a new administration running Totsuki – the Azami administration, headed by Azami Nakiri, the father of Soma's rival, Erina Nakiri. Azami plans to banish all research societies and seminars from Totsuki, unless a representative from each of those groups can defeat Totsuki's best chefs – Central elite.

As Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma, Vol. 19 (Chapters 155 to 163; entitled Those Who Reach for the Top) opens, it is time for the “Cutting Edge Cooking Society” to save itself in a shokugeki (food battle). Society member Ryo Kurokiba, a master of savory seafood dishes, will take on Central's Rentaro Kusonoki in a battle of salmon dishes. Later, Soma gets a shocking offer from Central's best chef.

THE LOWDOWN: The Food Wars! manga is at its best when it depicts cooking competitions. The current story line offers many cooking battles, as Totsuki moves into a new era and student organizations try to move into that new era.

Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma Volume 19 is, like the previous volume, battle ready. This time around creators Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki make salmon sexy. Also, they offer lots of surprises. The biggest surprise is the opportunity for Soma to take a big step forward, which undoubtedly means another big narrative shift for the delicious Food Wars!, and we would not have it any other way.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Readers hungry for good manga will want the Shonen Jump Advanced title, Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma.

A
9.5 out of 10

Rating: 9.5/10