WARNING: the following contains spoilers for Season 5, Episode 6 of Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
The BLUE tournament has tested Soma, Megumi and Takumi in all sorts of unexpected ways, and the challenges will only grow more fierce from this point on. The Noir have arrived.
These rogue chefs represent the underworld of cooking, and recently, Asahi Saiba has gathered them all under his command to fuel his mission: to unite the light and dark sides of the culinary world under his thumb, and to make Erina Nakiri his bride no matter what. Now his army is on full display, and the Noir live up their reputation.
The BLUE tournament has three gates that the entrants must pass through upon completing their challenges, and Soma's gang cleared the first two in spectacular fashion. They are joined by the esteemed Tsukasa Eishi, formerly of the Council of Ten, and now they stand before the third gate... and the waiting Noir.
A panel of three elite judges is in place, and the uncloaked Noir chefs are ready to cook specialty dishes on command to impress them. One by one, the Noir demonstrate what they can do, and it is an obvious show of force to intimidate Soma's group (and scare off the other entrants, too). First up is the woman named Sarge, who wields a chainsaw with spices and seasonings worked into its teeth. Ikumi Mito has provided some top-grade beef for the Noir chefs to work with, and Sarge shows everyone how she can use such a blunt instrument to create finely honed recipes. At first, it looks like Sarge is destroying the high-quality beef placed before her, but there is a method to the madness: the final product is finely and deeply seasoned and cut with incredible precision despite the instrument used to do it. The judges are astounded once they take a bite, and the other chefs realize that they are vastly outclassed.
Sarge isn't the only threat that Asahi Saiba has rolled out. Another Noir chef with an eerie clown theme takes his turn, and he uses a series oversized juggling balls to evenly stir and heat the meat inside, and the final product is another hit with the judges. No matter the theme or ingredient, this clown can cook it with great skill, and thus he earned the name Kitchen Clown: Marcanta. By contrast, the third Noir chef is deadly serious and looks positively terrifying, and he can match Marcanta's skills with meat. His style is to use blood as broth and seasoning, using a machine on his back to draw out meat's blood and prepare it to perfection. Last is Bunny Hare, a young woman who uses a miniature guillotine to slice meat very finely, creating almost transparent slices. She is known for creating sadistic dishes that seem to torment but delight the diner at the same time, and it takes great muscle strength and precision to slice meat the way she does.
Soma's group is quick to answer this challenge. The judges are waiting for more, and Soma, Megumi, Takumi and Tsukasa use their conventional methods to stand up to the Noir. Takumi has his famed mezzaluna on display, while Tsukasa uses his sword-like grater to prepare his own dish. Tsukasa is the White Knight of the Table, a loyal servant of his ingredients and customers alike, and he matches the Noir step for step with his final creation. In short, all four hero chefs clear the third gate's challenge, and the castle tournament will soon begin.