Before I begin, I’m not going to take credit for being the first content creator to do this sort of thing. In fact, this analysis is heavily inspired by Mother’s Basement, a very popular anime YouTube channel that features the series, “What’s in a OP/ED,” in which he analyzes opening and ending sequences of anime and explains why they’re relevant to the show it’s advertising. His videos are excellent, and I highly recommend checking them out when you have the chance. This is just a forewarning that I’m not trying to rip off his style, but that this is something that I genuinely wanted to do, so I hope you overlook the fact that this is pretty similar content to another YouTuber’s.
Despite being a parody video, this is genuinely one of my favorites of Mother's Basement
When I hear people talk about why they like Shokugeki no Souma, I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of focus on the over-the-top food battles, comedy, fun characters, and ability to create an atmosphere of tension and ridiculousness. While all of this is fine and good, I can’t help but wonder if people don’t really see what this show is about, which is exploring how a love for a certain activity can either lead people astray or guide them to success.
There’s always a sort of humbleness and innocence that’s present in the show, a genuine feeling of accomplishment and humanity that most anime seem to gloss over, especially considering its genre. This underlying humanity is, for the most part, somewhat latent in both the anime and manga, but it peaks through the cracks every so often, and the anime’s third ending sequence is a perfect example of this. Beware of major spoilers. Though, before reading the rest of this, please watch the actual ending sequence, as this explanation will only make any real sense after watching it in full.
The ending opens with four streams of light, two red, two white, going in opposite directions. The white ones are moving from left to right, while the others are moving from right to left. The red streams are clearly representative of Souma, as you later see him running from right to left, the streams are practically the same color as his hair, and he always faces right to left throughout the sequence. However, I am not quite sure of what the white streams symbolize, as there are numerous interpretations that I can come up with that make sense.
It could represent Akira, who, spoiler warning, beats Souma in the Autumn elections. He could be heading onto the path to victory while Souma runs away in the opposite direction, frustrated, onto the path of losing. This makes sense because Akira’s hair is white, just like the streams. Another possible interpretation, though, is that it represents the purity of traditional cooking that Souma continuously fights against with his fiery rebellion. After all, the main point of the show is that Souma’s an irregular chef, one who improvises, buys cheap ingredients, and continuously spits in the face of chefs that are only concerned about perfection instead of just having fun while cooking. This could play into the fact that, despite Souma’s rebellious attitude, he still messes up and loses the Autumn election, prompting him to change his style, which is further explored in the rest of the ending sequence.
We then cut to different shots of Souma running, from seeing his arm move, to his feet hitting the ground, to his gasp for air. Then we see shots of green, orange, and purple-lighted buildings before going back to Souma, with an upward shot of his body in a running position to his pumping fist to his closed eye. Next we get a tracking shot from the side, allowing us to watch Souma’s run in full motion. We see that he’s on a bridge, away from the cluster of the city, and is alone, probably out running to clear his head. He stumbles a bit, indicating that he’s not truly concentrating on what he’s doing, probably because something major is on his mind.
The direction Souma is running in clearly relates him to the red stream mentioned earlier, and it is heavily implied that something disheartening is on his mind. I believe that this is taking place after Souma lost the elections, so his loss is probably what is on his mind, and he’s trying to get away from his friends so they don’t see his despair. This wouldn’t be the first time he’s done something like this; as I discussed earlier in a previous video, he and Megumi previously lost together, and he only expressed his frustration over that once she had left. Souma is one that keeps his more negative emotions to himself, so it makes sense that he tries to clear his head alone, running through the city.
This is further emphasized by the next few shots, where we get some close-ups of his face. His eyes are shaded out, which, in anime, indicates distress when used correctly. His teeth are clenched, like he’s angry at something, likely himself, for losing. He then jumps into the air, and it seems as though he’s crying out, with his mouth wide open and the top of his face completely shaded out. It’s also worth noting that Souma’s not wearing his normal chef’s uniform. Instead, he’s wearing a completely black track outfit. Souma’s usually at his most confident when wearing his outfit, as that’s when he can do what he does best: cook. When he’s not in uniform, he’s usually more relaxed and casual, but it also means that his confidence isn’t at its highest at the moment, further indicating that this takes place after Souma lost.
Next, we cut to a black screen, which splits to reveal Souma gazing out at the city. The pieces remain in frame, however, creating a narrower point of view than the rest of the ending sequence. We then switch, while the frames remain there to keep the widescreen effect, to Souma’s face. It is clearly shown that his eyes are open, which is actually quite rare throughout the entire ending sequence. Considering the direction the manga goes after this, in that, Souma realizes he needs to change and improve after previously thinking he doesn’t need to, I believe these restricting black bars represent Souma’s narrow worldview, and his realization that he has this view.
I mean, we’re talking about a guy who, on the first day of school, went up in front of everyone and announced that he’d rise to the top without ever meeting the top students of the school, or realizing their abilities. This is a fairly arrogant statement, especially considering his limited experience in the world of cooking. All he’d ever done is cook in his father’s restaurant, and while he lost to his father too many times to count, I think his isolation from other styles of cooking is a huge detriment. He’s only used to his father’s style of cooking, and never branched out for himself. The critics were always people who say his food is delicious, and he never outright lost before because he always had the chance to improve against his father, since it’s not much of a competition.
The Autumn Election is a much more serious competition, one where the winner is named the best of the first-year class, the title that Souma clearly wants badly. However, despite all his best efforts, he still loses, doesn’t gain a title, and I think the idea that he can actually lose finally dawns upon him. Now, he realizes that he’s not the best of the best, and that there’s something holding him back. This ending sequence isn’t necessarily about Souma’s inability to accept a loss, since that’s a bit too out-of-character for him. Instead, it’s about Souma’s frustration with figuring out what exactly he needs to do to improve, which is much more in character. He’s not one who wallows in his own guilt over a screw-up, but one who takes action to try and figure out a problem. That's not to say that he isn't upset that he lost, but it's more that he's frustrated over how to solve this problem, so he doesn't lose again.
Next, the black lines close off the view of Souma’s face, until they join together to create another black screen. This appears to now be a look into Souma’s mind, as most of what happens after this instance is much more metaphorical and surreal than usual. We see Souma sinking down into the black frame, which also further emphasizes this section’s dreamlike quality. It’s also worth noting that he initially sinks into the dark screen, with no light source. So, the only reason we can see Souma is probably because it’s from his own perspective, which adds further support to this being a dream, vision, or a scene taking place in his mind.
Next, Souma lands, and then looks away into the black void. Then, a light source appears, and the camera pans away to reveal a field of white, glowing flowers. The shot then shows Souma gazing at the flowers, his eyes shaded out, almost as if looking at the flowers in disdain and with reluctance. The camera then cuts to Souma lying in the flowers, while glowing golden. This could have many potential meanings, but considering the context of the story, I believe this represents Souma’s change, by considering fresh ideas and maybe even embracing the purity of high-class cooking that he rebels against.
In future episodes, the glowing golden Souma is replaced by other characters, those who he influenced, changed, or needs to help throughout that particular episode. This could symbolize Souma's connection with all the other characters, how every single one of them has to grow and change to beat their rivals, but I also think that the connection runs deeper than that. The main point of the Autumn Elections is for Souma to realize what his shortcomings as a chef are: the fact that he grew up in a limited environment. And, continuing with the idea that these events all take place within Souma's head, I think it means both: Souma helps them realize their flaws, while they help him realize his own by testing his own strengths and weaknesses.
The question then becomes, why is he reflecting on all this, and how will he try to improve? Well, after the Autumn Elections, he participates in a program that allows students to get personalized instruction from a master. Souma ends up with Shinomiya, otherwise known as the chef that sticks directly to recipes and nearly got Souma and Megumi expelled. In other words, Shinomiya is practically the representation of the “pure cooking” that Souma rebels against throughout the show. However, it is through Souma’s learning experience with Shinomiya that Souma realizes his main problem: that he’s been trying to replicate his father’s food, instead of creating his own style.
In the next scene, emphasis is put on the flowers, probably to show how pretty they are and the vast collection of ideas that Souma could potentially embrace. Souma is next shown standing up, and then as the camera moves closer to him, he bursts into a collection of black petals, a direct contrast to the white petals. The petals then act as a direct contrast to the white, glowing background that remains in Souma’s shadow, the sign of purity, of a fresh start. This shows how Souma is expelling the old version of himself in his mind, the copycat, the one who was closed-minded and didn’t realize just how big the world is and the endless talent that’s greater than his own.
Souma then bursts through the blackness of that vision into one of pure white, with his chef outfit on and his eyes still closed. This tells us that he has regained his confidence as a chef, and is accepting the instruction of the “pure chefs” that he used to completely disregard. However, a shot closer to his face shows the black water moving upwards, which completely contradicts their downward movement earlier, and shows that his old ideology has not completely faded away. This indicates that, while Souma accepts his change, the rebellious side of himself is still very present, because that’s part of his general personality. If he changes too much, then he’s no longer the Yukihira Souma we all know and love.
The next shot is a simple one, which just shows Souma and Shinomiya standing in tandem with each other. This simply proves my earlier point that Shinomiya had a part in Souma’s transformation, though the fact that his eyes are shaded out and Souma is wide awake somewhat baffles me. It’s the only part of this ED that I can’t quite nail down, but if I were to guess, it may just be Souma’s confidence shining through Shinomiya’s initially harsh instruction, but I’m not positive about that. The sequence then ends with a shot of the white flowers on a plate, as if to symbolize that there’s still much more to be learned about the world of cooking, and those lessons can be found even in the most mundane of places.
So, overall, this ending sequence is absolutely fantastic, and reveals so much of the story’s underlying humanity that I’m honestly kind of shocked. Much like Souma himself, the story, both the anime and manga included, don’t go into depth with Souma as much as I would like, at least, not like it does with other characters like Takumi, Megumi, Alice, Kurobika, Akira, and Erina. Despite being one of my favorite characters of all time, I wish that the story would explore his confidence-driven, talented, silly, likable, devoted, passionate, rebellious, snarky, smart, reckless, and slightly arrogant character beyond the characterization he’s already received.
His regular characterization is fantastic, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve always felt that there’s something deeper that’s yet to be explored with Souma. It feels like the story is constantly avoiding addressing the fact that Souma breaks down every so often, and has to accept that he’s wrong sometimes. I think that’s what draws me to this ending sequence so much: the idea that it’s not afraid to show a deeper side to one of the most likable main characters to come out of entertainment, even though this sequence isn’t technically canon. In the end, it’s simply a wonderful, emotionally-driven sequence, and shows off the hidden humanity of Shokugeki no Souma even better than the regular story sometimes.
No comments:
Post a Comment