Shokugeki no Soma OVA 4: Tōtsuki Elite Ten
Original Air Date: July 4, 2017
Tōtsuki Elite Ten is an OVA episode for the anime series Shokugeki no Soma. It mainly focuses on the introduction of the Tōtsuki Elite Ten. The episode was released alongside the limited edition version of Volume 25.
This episode provides examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: In addition to meeting the Elite Ten.
- Rindou is given lines (she didn't speak in the manga until several chapters later) and goes to Soma's Shokugekis to taste from his station.
- Soma is cooking grilled mackerel for everybody in the dorm. The girls are the lucky ones who get the good samples, while the boys got his failed experiments.
- While Takumi is scolding Soma for having his hair untrimmed, Subaru butts in the conversation too by flaunting his silky hair (Takumi gets weirded off while Soma is impressed and compliments him). Subaru doesn't take part of that conversation during the chapters in the manga version.
- Momo, in addition to having her background information revealed, also showed their power as Elites by making the desserts.
- Challenge Seeker:
- Soma is excited at the possibility to get to know the Elite Ten... so he can challenge any of them (to Megumi's horror). By the end of the episode, Soma resolves to get any of them accept his challenge in any possible way.
- Takumi gets even more motivated to challenge Soma again after learning that he was under the wing of Kojiro Shinomiya.
- Akira and Ryou keep provoking each other.
- Continuity Nod:
- Hisako reminds Erina to thank Soma properly for getting her the manga volumes and proceeds to politely greet him as well, to Erina's confusion to her sudden change of heart towards Soma after Stagiaire.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even in a subtle level, Erina reacts slightly to her seniors dismissing the first years as threats.
- Female Gaze: Not only the girls get foodgasms, the boys get naked as well.
- Impossibly Delicious Food: To show to the First Years the staying power of the Elite Ten, Momo was the one who made the desserts, blowing everyone away from the first taste.
- Male Gaze: The girls at the dorm are the lucky ones to get their good mackerels to get naked foodgasms (the guys get the fails, of course). The first ones to react to Momo's confectionery are the girls, who get immediately stripped naked in their foodgasms.
- Mood Whiplash: At first, Tsukasa looks intimidating and everyone is on their toes about what he's about to tell Soma, Takumi and Subaru. It turns out that he only wanted to whine about their Shokugekis on the Autumn Election and how the paperwork stressed him out.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: While not antagonists during this episode, if the Elite Ten didn't try to put the freshman down by giving a boast of why they're in another whole level, they wouldn't get even more motivated to take on their challenges.
- Oh, Crap!: Megumi gets a lot of these reactions at the meeting.
- Megumi realizing that the second years all are more savage at insulting each other.
- Soma challenging the Elite Ten to duels.
- The Proud Elite: It's evident that the upperclassmen think Soma and his batchmates are beneath them, with Kuga the only one saying straight and Tsukasa thinking the same without saying anything.
- Serious Business: Despite showing off his Shrinking Violet persona, Tsukasa's personality completely changes as soon as he starts talking about the culinary world.
- The Voiceless: The only ones in the Elite Ten who never talk during the event are Soumei Saito and Tosuke Megishima. They only start having lines in the manga during the next arc.
