Shokugeki No Soma

Erina herself didn't even like to cook before character development; it was just something she did because it was expected of her. So yea, saying she works just as hard as Soma when everything points to the contrary.

? I gave a textual example. During the run up to the fall classic she had a lot of free time and her idea for how to pass it was more cooking. She ended up going to the pool instead but I think that's a pretty good indication of her normal thinking. To be blunt, her life was empty and she filled it with the pursuit of mastering a skill she didn't even enjoy.

I mean, I guess she does have the 'good enough' response that Souma lacks, but since she's a lot more knowledgeable she should be able to reach the same conclusions with less effort.

Also, in a direct comparison of ability she showed him up when they were against Tsukasa and Rindou. Her criticisms fueled his cooking and her cooking was what scored the victory. So I see no reason why Souma would be able to win as he is now unless she has some kind of personality funk that makes her screw up. In the future, that might well change, but as it stands now I do not think he is her equal. He doesn't think so either, as you'll recall.

I think that's more a problem of not showing us improvements on his part between that match and the current arc. But that's also a problem with Asahi, and he's most likely going to show now that he's improved enough to beat him.

If that happens I see no reason to assume Erina is better than him now. I don't have an issue with it at the time of the Central arc (though I do have an issue with how much the E 10 sucked).

That's still once instance out of an entire series though; we really don't see Erina do much aside from tasting for a good portion of the series before she's in the spotlight. I'm not saying she's not talented on her own, but saying she works harder than Soma, when his entire schtick is working hard and finding new and innovative dishes.

It just doesn't make much sense for her to be an even harder worker than him when she didn't even have any passion for it, and it kind of destroys the dynamic if she's both naturally talented and a harder worker than him on top of it.

Her being smarter and more naturally talented are one thing, but being an even harder worker than him is another.

And pretty much everybody called bullshit on their match with Rindou and Tsukasa thougp

Edited by BlackYakuzu94 on Mar 22nd 2019 at 9:27:07 AM

Ill say I only want an ending where Soma never wins against her and she never enters a relationship with him.

There my perfect SNS ending.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Mar 22nd 2019 at 6:30:38 AM

TBH I don't want Soma to beat her just because it would be very refreshing for a shonen hero to have a love interest who's stronger than him and actually proves it. (And isn't a superhuman ridiculously enamored of a boring average guy to the point where he's what her entire personality revolves around).

Also, it would be hilarious if Soma got through the entire series and so much shilling only to never beat any of Saiba, Erina, Tsukasa, Shinomiya, or Rindou.

Edited by IniuriaTalis on Mar 22nd 2019 at 9:32:17 AM

I don't mind Erina being better than Soma, but the story has had to go through such lengths to keep that fact. Like, if they were roughly even with Erina being slightly better, that'd probably be a better fit for them.

Medaka Box actually did that better if we're gonna use a reference.

Never read Medaka Box, could never get past the ugly character designs. But considering that that is the one and only example of a strong girl in the history of shonen that people bring up in these discussions, I'd say one more can't hurt.

At this point Souma winning would be just because he's the main character.

Ya know I've been seeing backlash to JC Staff in recent memory so I'm curious since never seeing the Soma anime how did JC fuck it up at least after the first season?

Cause when the first season came out I've heard a general acclaim or positive reception for it but after it slowly started getting more negative.

Well we now got The Promised Neverland for a female shonen MC so there's at least more than just one now.

Edited by slimcoder on Mar 22nd 2019 at 6:39:02 AM

I was never invested in romance here, so I'm fine with whatever.

Yeah but Norman is smarter and more badass than Emma, whose main strength is being The Heart.

I mean, there's also RWBY if you wanna pedantic; every main character is a female there.

That’s not all she can do, she’s also far more physically abled than him.

Plus after they escape she pretty much takes the leadership/protagonist role & even finishes off a badass hunter demon despite suffering a grievous wound before.

Edited by slimcoder on Mar 22nd 2019 at 6:54:11 AM

RWBY's not shonen, it's Western Animation.

Yeah, she's the protagonist, but so is Soma and he's still weaker than Erina. And Emma has great accomplishments, but hers pale in comparison to the sheer amount of bullshit that Norman is able to get done. Seriously, how the fuck did he escape a major research lab where he was the smartest human anyone had ever seen, make a fucking hidden city full of liberated plantation children who all revere him as a savior, find out all of the secrets and intricacies of the demon worlds, and form an alliance with a major demon faction all within 2-3 years?

Edited by IniuriaTalis on Mar 22nd 2019 at 10:00:06 AM

I didn't say she works harder, I said she works a comparable amount. He cooks because he enjoys self improvement, she cooks because she has no other interests. This makes up most of their free time.

Edited by Arha on Mar 22nd 2019 at 9:01:26 AM

Agreed. Both work hard, but it's more of a Technician vs. Performer dynamic where Erina has a better grasp of technique and taste, but Soma has greater creativity.

For all the talk about how Souma is great at innovation, half the time he just uses an item from the diner menu as is.

He used to innovate more visibly before the Seasonal Rot hit.

This isn’t really a comparison “Who’s more badass” thing. Just because he did that’s stuff doesn’t make what she did any less.

And in what Norman did it was over the period of several years. A lot can happen & he didn’t start the civilization I recall, he just took over.

Edited by slimcoder on Mar 22nd 2019 at 7:07:17 AM

...Um, did you miss the fact that this whole thing started as a comparison about how rare it is for the most badass character in a shonen to be a girl love interest? Emma's the hero, but she's not clearly better at the relevant mind-games than her male love interest like Erina's stronger than Soma, Medaka's stronger than what's-his-face, and Naruto/Ichigo/Goku/Deku/etc. are clearly better than their female love interests.

Edited by IniuriaTalis on Mar 22nd 2019 at 10:10:19 AM

She actually is stronger than him, cause he’s not very physically able.

There’s somewhat of a brains vs brawn with them though that’s not to say she herself isn’t clever.

Edited by slimcoder on Mar 22nd 2019 at 7:11:09 AM

Yeah, and I'm sure Soma could punch out Erina too. But when the series isn't about physical strength, then that's not what matters.

I kind of think you're looking at this as absolute type of thing; like Slim said, just because one character can do one thing better than another doesn't invalidate what the other character can do.

Chi-chi is better at reading than Goku. Hinata regularly beats Naruto at eating contests. Orihime can heal and shield much better than Ichigo. Do you think it's fair to say that they're not weaker than their husbands?