In the story of Food Wars!, creativity and passion in the kitchen are key to making the best dishes around. Protagonist Soma Yukihira grew up in the kitchen of his family's diner, and he learned all kinds of vital lessons there. Then he got enrolled at the Totsuki culinary school, where he faced all-new challenges.
At that competitive school, Soma Yukihira won many formal cooking duels, or shokugeki, by using his incredibly resourceful kind and cooking with the power of love. He always won when it mattered most, but even Soma sometimes fell short, and there were times his recipes failed him in the kitchen.
Update on May 18th, 2023 by Louis Kemner: it's time to revisit the fan-favorite shonen cooking anime Food Wars! and see how well Soma Yukihira really did against his many opponents and rivals in that anime. At times, it seemed Soma had some serious plot armor and could conveniently cook his way out of any problem, but in hindsight, he was a flawed, overconfident chef who had plenty to learn. And he experienced some bitter defeats to prove it.
2 MATCHES SOMA YUKIHIRA WON
Soma Vs Subaru Mimasaka
The burly student Subaru Mimasaka isn't a brute-force kind of chef. Rather, he uses mimicry to learn his opponent's personal life and cooking style ahead of time, then mimics it in a shokugeki and adds a little twist on his opponent's best dish. Soma faced him for the first and only timeduring the Autumn Elections.
Subaru had already defeated the tsundere chef Takumi Aldini using the mimicry method, but Soma was a little too crafty and forward-thinking for Subaru to figure out. Soma's beef stew edged out Subaru's, and Soma won back all the knives Subaru had ever claimed from his many previous victims.
Soma Served 200 Breakfasts In Time
During the training camp from hell, Soma and the other students were up practically all night on exams, and then they had to stay up even longer to prepare breakfast for a huge crowd. The goal for each student was to serve 200 breakfasts within two hours.
Soma miscalculated at first and fell dangerously far behind. But at the last moment, he mass-produced some serious breakfasts, and he collected many hungry guests who didn't get a chance to visit Erina's own breakfast stand. Soma served his 200th breakfast just in time.
Soma Vs Alice Nakiri
Before Soma had to face Subaru Mimasaka, he had to deal with Alice Nakiri, Erina Nakiri's cousin. Alice is the master of gastronomy, using formulas and lab equipment to engineer the most perfect dishes with science.
Alice's dishes are all precise in execution and innovative by design, and her version of a bento box set a very high bar for Soma to clear in their match. But, Soma's own bento box was even more creative and impactful, and the headmaster himself declared Soma the winner.
Soma Vs Nene Kinokuni
Nene Kinokuni is a member of the Council of Ten organization, specializing in traditional Japanese food such as soba noodles. She sided with Central when Azami Nakiri took over, and she faced Soma in the first round of the Regiment de Cuisine.
The theme was soba, and all signs pointed toward an easy win for Nene. She proved her worth as a member of the Council, but the problem was that he had grown somewhat stale and complacent by now, while Soma's creative dish had a little more merit. Soma was officially the winner.
Soma Vs Akira Hayama
At some point during Azami Nakiri's reign, he convinced Akira Hayama to take his side and become a part of Central. During the end-of-year exams, Akira was assigned to test Soma; that is, crush him in a shokugeki.
The theme would be bear meat, and Soma allied with Terunori Kuga to figure out a way to make some rather gamy bear meat taste and smell much better. This was a steep challenge, but Soma did it, and he very narrowly beat Akira at his own game. Akira soon gave up on Azami and took Soma's side in spirit.
1 MATCHES SOMA YUKIHIRA LOST
Trying To Impress Erina Nakiri
Early in the Food Wars! anime, Soma had to cook a dish to impress Fumino, who was in charge of the Polar Star dormitory. He used limited ingredients to make a fine dish, and then Soma tried to impress Erina Nakiri with his chicken and rice concoction.
Soma was so sure that his creative dish would win over the lofty himedere Erina, but she cried out that it was "disgusting," and Soma was left trying to figure out what went wrong. Still, Soma was sure that one day, he'd impress Erina for real, and he eventually did.
Defeat: Vs Tsukasa Eishi
Late in the series, Soma went up against the formidable first seat of the Council of Ten, Tsukasa Eishi. This third-year is known as the White Knight of the Table, and Soma took him on in a casual shokugeki with Megumi as the referee and judge.
Even without Rindo around to spur him on, Tsukasa was an overwhelming challenge for Soma, and his dish solidly outstripped what Soma had to offer. Megumi personally wanted Soma to win, but, out of her duty as a judge, she declared Tsukasa the winner.
Soma Vs Ryo Kurokiba & Akira Hayama
The Autumn Elections tournament took an unusual turn later on. Akira and Ryo were so closely matched in their duel, they were both allowed to proceed to the final match and have a three-way battle with Soma to determine the overall winner.
Each chef did his best, with Jun Shiomi cheering on Akira and Alice cheering on Ryo. The dish's theme was Pacific saury, and Akira took first place with his cooking's incredible fragrance while Ryo claimed second place. In third was a disappointed Soma, who soon recovered from this loss and happily moved on.
Soma Vs Terunori Kuga
Terunori Kuga, the master of Sichuan Chinese cooking and a Council member, had a massive stall for the Moon Festival, complete with dozens of chefs who could prepare his dishes like an assembly line. He was going to earn serious money, and Soma wanted to challenge him to see what Council members can really do.
Soma aimed to win more than Kuga overall during the Moon Festival, and while Soma did outearn Kuga during the last day, he fell short overall and admitted defeat. Still, Kuga was deeply impressed at Soma's performance on the final day.
Soma Vs Asahi Saiba (First Match)
By the time Soma's second year at Totsuki began, he faced a new challenger, the well-dressed but sinister Asahi Saiba. The mysterious Asahi was a "noir" chef who intended to make Erina his bride and create a brave new future of cuisine that no one else could dream of.
Soma didn't like the idea of some stranger claiming Erina as his, so he challenged Asahi Saba to a shokugeki, with Megumi as the judge. Soma gave it his all, but Asahi Saiba was clearly his superior and won the match. Later on, Soma would face Asahi again and narrowly defeat him in the BLUE tournament.