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[franckie-108]

Following up with my previous post, the following recommendations are what I would have suggested to make the story flow smoother. Bear in mind that I will be attempting to stay consistent with Kishimoto’s intent and with the editorial mandates (e.g., Taka) he had to work with. (A common misconception is that mangakas have full control over their story. They don’t, editorial staff do.)

1). Naruto remains the protagonist, not Sasuke hijacking the main plot. We also fix his handling, where Naruto always gets hyped up to the sky and above, but somehow always fails to deliver. -Trains with Jiraiya > does virtually nothing during the Rescue Gaara arc -4-Tailed Kyuubi form > can't use it cause it damages him, and he wasn't even in control anyway -Learns FRS > Same as Kyuubi mode: it promises a lot, before getting nerfed somehow -Learns Sage Mode and perfect FRS > Crucifixion no jutsu. 'Nuff said. -Defeats Pein (thanks to multiple usages of deus ex machina) > Spends the entirety of the following arc acting as utterly pathetic as humanly conceivable, spilling away what little cred he'd built up. -Learns KCM > sprains his ankle. -Becomes a perfect jinchuuriki > gets curbstomped by the exact same guy he "defeated" a couple of arcs ago, while looking like a complete moron in the process. I understand the author's need not to spill the beans too soon regarding Naruto's power, but it gets frustrating when the main character is never, EVER allowed anything that resembles a spotless, unmitigated victory. How are we supposed to believe this guy will save the world when he fails constantly and routinely behaves like a complete idiot? Even until the very end of the manga, Naruto’s character was always handled as if he were a nOOb. Compare with Harry Potter: average intelligence, average magic skills, hotheaded to a fault (that even gets Sirius killed) and too "heroic" for his own good. But courageous, a beast at Defense against the Dark Arts, and does get his moments here and there reminding you why he is the main character. Clearly Harry would never have gotten halfway as far as he did without the help of the supporting cast, but unlike Part 2 Naruto he does have an unequivocally good track record of accomplishments to his name. When people read Harry Potter, I know why I should believe he is the Chosen One. When I read Naruto, all people get is increasingly perplexed at how he gets to be the title character at all, when everyone and their mom is treated to better showings, feats and characterization.

2). Sakura. Sakura has always been the weakest link in Team 7, and the most hated character. Each member of Team 7 would have shown prestigious growth under Kakashi. Ninjutsu for Naruto, nin-tai for Sasuke, and genjutsu for Sakura. She proves herself useful in Part 1 by curbstomping opponents with genjutsu.

3). The Chuunin Exams. Arguably the greatest weakness of Part 1 was the incessant focus on Konoha. Originally Kishimoto wanted to explore his world one arc at a time, but was forced by editorial mandates to come up with the Chuunin Exams. I would have kept the various teams intact, but have them hail from various ninja villages to help with the worldbuilding. This will later help with Akatsuki.

4). Orochimaru. Orochimaru is another editorial mandate. Oro was the main villain for Part 1, but not an antagonist because he had no interest in harming Naruto. One needs to antagonistic to pass as an antagonist. Oro was not. Furthermore, his reason for targeting Sasuke is pretty weak. Hence the massive amount of retcons that Kishimoto invested in the character in the War Arc, like the Rinnegan being an evolved Sharingan.

To make Oro a viable antagonist, I’d change his stated target to Naruto, who has more chakra than arguably anyone else in the manga. Possessing Naruto would allow Oro insane levels of chakra that’d never dreamed was possible, helping him perfect his immortality to acquiring control over natural phenomena to who else knows what. I’d also get rid of his “dark goal”, which is to see the reincarnation of his parents. He’s fine being the Joseph Mengele of the ninja world.

His corruption of Sasuke would be to use Sasuke as a backup container. Plus, Oro is interested in mutating the Sharingan to achieve MS.

5). Sharingan = “Copy Wheel Eye”, not “Deus ex Machina” Eye. The Sharingan’s “true power” was originally presented as copying techniques. While this power was awesome, it was well-balanced and there were plenty of methods to counteract the Sharingan. Then when Itachi showed up around chapter 140, the Sharingan started demonstrating abilities that had nothing to do with its original powers, such as reflecting genjutsu back on the user and spawning fire. The Sharingan became the “ultimate” as far as everything ninja was concerned and broke the balance of power between Konoha and the neighboring villages.

I don’t have a problem with the MS per se, provided that its powers are simply enhancements to the Sharingan’s original powers. Something else I would have considered doing separately is making the MS an artificial enhancement of the Sharingan making use of the Kyuubi’s foul chakra. Sure, the Uchiha got a massive power boost, but the MS made them mentally unstable and sadistic, a side-effect of infusing their brains with evil chakra. This revelation would tie in to the Kyuubi attack and explain why the Uchiha Clan plotted a coup. 

No EMS. Getting a massive power boost by simply swapping eyes is f***ing stupid and goes against the themes Kishimoto instilled in Part 1.

6). Kyuubi and the bijuu are evil, plain and simple. Not pokemon who are simply misunderstood. The Kyuubi in particular was repeatedly demonstrated well into Part 2 to be evil and uncontrollable. It stays that way.

7). Root is established back in Part 1 instead of Part 2. Danzo's role in the story is basically to show the "dark side" and the ninja system as a whole. He mainly operates with utilitarian mindset and views ninja as what they were introduced as in the beginning the series: As tools meant to serve a greater purpose beyond themselves. For the most part he fills this role perfectly, but this doesn't lend himself to being a likable character. Danzo is a villain in the purest sense, unlike the likes of Obito, Pain or Madara there's no real silver lining when it comes to his ideals. Sure he cares about the village but the way he goes about protecting is twisted and is more in defense of the village as an ideal or a monolith rather than its denizens. In fact, he practically orchestrated the Uchiha massacre for his own personal gain and worked with the likes of Orochimaru. While I personally think Kishimoto's villains work better as villains in terms of writing, these aren't motivations people can really get behind or understand. He lacks a human element that makes him identifiable and makes his atrocities stand out more. That being said, a villain can be popular even without that human element but it's Danzo fatal flaw that makes him hard to stomach to the average fan.  

Incidentally, Danzo is the third MS user, not Tobito.

8). Tobito. Tobito is one of the worst things Kishimoto did to his own story, and why he is such a garbage writer. Kishimoto so thoroughly trampled Obito’s character it isn’t even funny. Nagato remains the leader and not being retconned into being a Uchiha errand boy.

9). Akatsuki are the main villains, with neither Madara nor Nagato being the leader. Rather, it would seemingly be amalgamation, with Deva Realm’s awesome design. 

This development in particular is highly important. A frequent complaint from both the Japanese and Western audiences was the fact that Kishimoto failed to do proper worldbuilding. Part 2, originally, was set up to be about the Akatsuki - ninjas hailing all over the world - hunting the bijuu scattered throughout the land, with Naruto just being one piece. That was a very interesting story. But Kishimoto sacrificed his main cast, his  setting, and his reputation for Sasuke and his clan.

10). The SasuNaru bond isn’t base on “brothers”, but on an ideological rivalry, similar to the feud that exists between Saito and Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin. Their bond came to an end the moment Sasuke rammed a Chidori through Naruto’s chest in an attempt to acquire a major power-up. We’d keep the Rescue Sasuke arcs down to one, maybe two at most. Rather, the focus would be on their growing ideologies which are explored and developed through various conflicts, with Naruto vs Sasuke being the final fight of the series. (Personally, I’d make the final fight a team battle instead of a solo battle, but I’m sticking with Kishimoto’s intent to make their fight the final one.)

There are other changes I’d do, but these are the main ones. Lastly, on to the matter of understanding Kishimoto’s rationale for his writing decisions.

I believe Kishimoto switched protagonists from Naruto to Sasuke in an attempt simplify the story. At the start of Part 2, there were multiple plotlines (e.g., Akatsuki, Root), but they were axed in favor of the Uchiha plot. There was also his dwindling interest in Naruto, which to this day I’ve never fully figured out.

I remember reading an interview where he flat-out stated he didn’t consider Naruto’s backstory (and by proxy, the Uzumakis and Minato) to be important to the plot’s narrative, a stark contrast to Sasuke’s. It was only by pressure his fans and the editorial staff where Kishimoto relented and gave us a couple of chapters, which unsurprisingly, had no impact on the overall plot. In addition, Kishimoto really does understand his audience - long-term readers - and is repeatedly surprised with their visceral reactions to writing choices that were dubious to begin with.

Take the case with Sai. Sai, originally, was intended to be a popular character and Sasuke’s replacement, but both Japanese and Western fans despised the character to the point Kishimoto effectively wrote him out of the story. There’s also the issue with Sakura, who has always been a hated character since the start of Part 1 because of the subpar handling of her character. In interview after interview Kishimoto demonstrates a noticeable denseness of why readers despise the character and rebuff his multiple attempts at making her popular. Hence they were effectively written out of the story following their respective arcs at the start of Part 2. 

Finally, one piece of advice regarding Kishimoto: Don’t expect anything from him. He’s alright for the short-run, but treats his audience like idiots because he has no regard for coherency or consistency in his storytelling. There’s a reason why his last manga, Samurai 8, flopped so badly to the point it was cancelled in less than a year.

[franckie-108]

I really don't see what's wrong with Naruto's plot as far as shounen goes. There have been a few major retcons but most things make sense.

Take the case with Naruto (the character). In Part 1? He's your typical hotblooded shounen hero with a dream. In Part 2? He's a needy obsessed dumped girlfriend.

Like I said in another post - You have a very serious problem with your plot when your supposed protagonist's role basically consists of playing second fiddle to a secondary character.

Naruto's only worth to the story between chapter 180 and 700 was to "save" Sasuke... But save him from what exactly? Kishimoto is such a hack writer that we're not even sure this revenge nonsense is all that bad afterall.

You really don't see what's wrong here?

[franckie-108]

Every one knows how horrible Naruto became. Naruto started out great, quickly soured, and then it became crap. So my question is this: Where did Kishi go wrong? And what would you have done to fix it? And also, why do certain authors mess up the direction of their story? Money?

No offense, but you didn't ask one question, but four. I rarely comment on Naruto these days because of the still lingering toxic fanbase, but I'll make an exception and possibly even a few followup posts.

Kishimoto downright baffles me. He's a talented artist and can come up with intriguing abilities like Kage Bushin, but as a writer, he's a total hack.

About 80% of the issues with Part II stem not from Kishimoto's decision to elevate Sasuke to protagonist, but the complete downgrade of the main cast. At the start of Part II, you had 5 main characters: Sai, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto. Kishimoto somehow, someway accomplished what I thought was impossible: He managed to turn 4 of his 5 main characters into filler characters. This is a very serious problem because you simply cannot hope to have a decent story if the characters who are supposed to be the center of said story simply lose all relevance and appeal.

Take the case with Naruto. To this day, I still can't figure out how the story of a young boy overcoming adversity to become the best in the world somehow became a yaoi fanfic. The genre change only appeals to yaoi fangirls, but it repulses your long-term readers, which became all too noticeable with how badly Kishimoto managed the Naruto - Nagato conflict.

You had other issues too, like Kishimoto's incessant focus on "Rescue Sasuke" arcs. Altogether, we had FIVE arcs dedicated toward the main cast "saving" Sasuke. What didn't help too was Kishimoto's incoherent storytelling. Every volume Kishimoto is changing his tune on whether revenge is bad (I'm looking at you, Shikamaru). Toss in the massive number of plotholes, main antagonists being reduced to the status of utter jokes, and incoherence of the theme developed in Part I (e.g., hard work surpassing talent) are additional reasons why Naruto jumped the shark.

For your additional questions, I'll answer them in another post, probably tomorrow or sometime this weekend.

[franckie-108]

Have you read the final volume of Food Wars! If so, what's your opinion on it?

I deeply apologize for the late response. I didn't receive a notice that someone had sent me a message.

I've read the final volume of Food Wars! and I wasn't impressed with what I saw. Some of it is the result of bias: I wasn't happy at all that SouMegu was dropped with a 3-ton hammer. I was also dismayed at the incest subtext between Erina and Asahi. It was a boring plot device so the mangaka could have Asahi lose interest in Erina. Honestly, I was hopelessly bored with the story and waiting for it to finally end.

On some level though I wish things had been different. Shokugeki no Soma has always been great at worldbuilding; you truly feel there's a wide world with all the different cultures the mangaka presents. For a shounen series, the author wasn't bad at writing character-centric writing too. And face it: a lot of people read the story simply to watch the various foodgasms, including yours truly.

That isn't what we got though. The final volume was the culmination of problematic storytelling that erupted ever since Azami's debut. On one hand, it was necessary: Erina was essentially a minor character and needed an excuse to become a main character + protagonist. On the other hand, Azami was written as a Scooby Doo villain, with little depth until his relationship with Mana was elaborated upon. Had these traits been elaborated upon and the villains written with 3-D instead of 2-D characterizations, BLUE would have been fantastic instead of being the trainwreck that it became. The storytelling would have remained solid and Food Wars! wouldn't have lost so much of its fanbase because of idiotic decisions... like introducing evil chefs.

Ultimately the story's conclusion was alright. It had potential, but like many other comics, the execution is where it flopped.

[franckie-108]

Hiten Encyclopedia: Character Analysis: Yukishiro Tomoe

DISCLAIMER/TRIGGERWARNING: This post will be talking about difficult topics such as depression, grief, death of a spouse, and suicide. These are difficult topics and I do not wish to upset anyone discussing these topics in relation to a fictional character. If you feel like you can handle it, please you are welcomed here. 

Welcome back, everyone! Last week, I posted a character analysis of Kamiya Kaoru and received overwhelming positive feed back from you guys (seriously, RIP inbox). I made these posts as a way to perhaps help quell the fan base since a lot of needless arguing over shipping occurs a lot on RK’s respective tags. Today we will be discussing arguably the most divisive  and misunderstood character in the fan base: Yukishiro Tomoe. Let’s take a look, shall we? (SPOILERS FOR JINCHUU)

                                    Enter Tomoe

Tomoe remains one of the most misunderstood characters in all of Rurouni Kenshin and as a result, she has the most divisive reception.  There are people who hate this character and consider her, and Jinchuu, one of the weakest arcs because of the implications this character has relating to the protagonist. Conversely, she is also the female lead of Tsuioku Hen (sometimes called Trust & Betrayal) which is wildly regarded as one of, if not the best, OVAs of all time, with critics and fans praising the writing, the moral ambiguity, the poignant story, and of course, her role in the protagonist’s life.

The nuance in her characters is actually a result of translation between mediums. By now, if you’re a fan of RK, you’ve seen the OVA Tsuioku Hen and heard the atrocious dubbing. The English dub of those OVAs do alter her character as the actress gives Tomoe a monotonous and boring delivery as well as dialogue changes from the original script. (This is evidenced by Okita calling Saito “Master” even though they are generally regarded as equal in both rank and skill). 

For those of you who don’t know or remember Tomoe’s character, Tomoe is an 18 year old girl who grew up in the height of the Bakumatsu. She comes from a lower class Samurai family, is well educated, introverted, but very strong willed and perhaps most of all, complicated.

She took care of her little brother, Enishi, after the death of their mother and once fell in love and almost married the second son of another low rank samurai: Kiyosato Akira which was tragically ripped apart when he was butchered in the streets while on bodyguard duty for a Shogunate retainer, Shigekura Jubei. Since then, she has carefully plotted revenge and conspired with the Yaminobu clan to stalk and eventually trap Kenshin. This plan goes awry when she finds herself spending time with Kenshin and beginning to love him despite knowing that he is the murderer of her late fiancé.

Her character and role has since opened up a wide range of interpretations due to her blank and seemingly monotonous nature and her ambiguous motivations, begging the questions: Who is the real Tomoe? Who is the beautiful girl that never smiles and smells of white plums?

                        An Introvert’s worst nightmare

                  Oddly enough, Tomoe presents a character that is very accurate to the real world in terms of her characterization. She is extremely introverted through and through; this term has been mischaracterized by people who just suffering from fear of crowds or extremely shy individuals, but this isn’t necessarily the case. Tomoe has no problems being around people or talking to others, even though she prefers not too. She is however, extremely private, reserved, and mysterious.

Tomoe is a tragic character from before the story even started. She admits on at least one occasion that she has difficulty expressing her emotions outwardly. She has trouble crying, expressing grief, and even expressing emotions like joy and happiness. She prefers spending her time alone as opposed to going to social gatherings but unlike shy people, she can be outgoing and pleasant, such as her serving the various Ishin Patriots in their Inn after Kenshin brought her. 

Her sentences are stark, succinct, and direct, even to the point of asking a question that ripped straight into Kenshin’s heart: “Could you kill me if I were armed?” She wastes no time on smalltalk, dispenses with formalities without necessarily being rude, but she also doesn’t talk about herself, save for her name. She does seem to go out of her way to socialize with people, evidenced by the fact that she not only landed a job and tries to talk to Kenshin and even Katsura.

That being said, she often completes other’s sentences for them and tries to reply in as few words as possible, as if to reach the point of a conversation as quickly as she can.

The big misunderstanding of her character however, is how she deals with grief, guilt, love, and depression, and how she expresses them within her introverted persona. 

Tomoe seems to suffer from what seems like depression. It doesn’t mean she’s sad all the time (although that’s the case when we meet her, for obvious reasons), but she exhibits an inability to express joy but deep down inside, she rides the thin line of intense self-hatred and a displeasure with life, disinterest in daily activities (although less so in the OVA, as she is seen farming and taking an interest in it), and immense guilt. It seems that her depressive state is a volatile cocktail of living a rather harsh life and the grief of losing her fiancé but this isn’t the point of her character. Watsuki didn’t give her all of these things to make her a token character for depression. Tomoe now represents just how little we understand people who are truly suffering, and also carries with her the central theme to the Jinchuu arc.

                        “Maybe I’m unworthy of being happy.”

                   Tomoe is misunderstood by almost everyone, both in real life as well as the fictional setting her character lives in. These misunderstandings and misperceptions can often carry with them horrible and disastrous consequences and we see those play out in the final year of her life, as well as in online forums and tumblr berating her character or falsely worshipping her as the anti-thesis of Kaoru. 

In the series, Tomoe is misunderstood twice by the men she loved, the first time with Kiyosato. Picture this for a second to help you relate to him. Most of us with a significant other want to feel appreciated and loved. Their happiness is important to us and, if it’s a healthy relationship, vice versa. Needless to say, it is incredibly difficult being in a relationship with an introverted person. Can you imagine what it’s like to date someone who is always unsure of how they’re feeling or worse, unable or unwilling to tell you or show it in any kind of physical gesticulation? Well some of you might already be, but then you know how hard it is to actively be with someone who struggles with their feelings.

It’s even harder to actually BE an introvert in a relationship. She has a hard time smiling or talking about how happy he made her. Imagine never being able to make your loved one feel appreciated even though, on the inside, you are smiling and couldn’t be happier. 

His feelings of inadequacy lead to him joining the Mimawarigumi and eventually dying because they both knew he was a pretty shit swordsman. This tragic outcome could’ve been entirely avoided if she had simply been what most people would call “normal”, and she smiled and told him how she felt. Nonetheless, she is not “normal” but she couldn’t help it. That guilt is freaking earth shattering, knowing that because of the way you are, the way you’ve always been, you caused the murder of the person who made you happiest.

The real tragedy is if you count the Live Action films as canon, she broke down crying before her fiancé’s body, holding him and hoping that whatever god or gods looked over the world were playing a sick joke. She held him even after his body was hauled off on a straw stretcher; she continued clutching his hand fruitlessly, knowing that once that corner is turned, you’ll never see him again. She did all this without ever telling him how she felt. Even in death, her probably never knew how much she loved him. She did what he needed only after he was dead: expressed herself.

This unease and severe sadness would eventually become instrumental in the following (and final) year of her life.

               Redemption: Parallels between Tomoe and Kenshin

In RuroKen, revenge is definitely a predominate theme, especially in the final arc (called Jinchu, meaning “Earthly Justice”) in which Tomoe appeared in. Characters from Kenshin’s past come to haunt him and thrust in into living hell, raining vengeance upon him and his friends and even in some cases, just people he casually interacted with.

We’ve all heard revenge stories before. They’re not new by any stretch of the imagination, but Rurouni Kenshin adopted the theme and then used it in a unique way: as a deconstruction of the motif, it’s motivation, and it’s consequences. When we get to the motivation part, we begin to see something not only relatable, but truly tragic: the subtext underpinning the final arc are Apology (or Sorrow) and Atonement. 

 In this way, Tomoe, her little brother Enishi, and Kenshin all have startling parallels despite having completely opposite motivations: they all seek atonement for past crimes. Their motivation was guilt. We’ll get to Kenshin and Enishi’s motivations in their respective posts. 

Tomoe’s story begins much like the Rurouni’s. Both:

1) Lost the one they love due to “mistakes” and face responsibility for their deaths.

2) Losing the ones they love became the primary motivation for changes in their characters (Tomoe desiring revenge; Kenshin vowing to never kill).

3) Both become so consumed with guilt that they reform their lives into an apology.

Tomoe’s entire life after Kiyosato’s death has been an enormous apology to the man who was brutally cut down in Kyoto due to her simply being who she was. The guilt threatened to turned into a form of self loathing which probably instigated more guilt because she was now hating the very person he died for. The only clear answer to Tomoe as she mourned her late fiancé was to commit murder, to exact vengeance on the man who stole her happiness. Sound familiar? This is because this is exactly Enishi’s motivation for selling the Rengoku to Shishio and the primary reason he begins to systematically hunt and isolate Kenshin. It was all to absolve themselves from guilt: Tomoe’s guilt for Kiyosato’s death. and Enishi and Kenshin’s for Tomoe’s.

The answer became murky once she began to know Kenshin as a person and realized that he was only doing what he thought was right. He did not enjoy it, nor did he do it for some misguided chance for glory or love for battle. He did it because he honestly believes that the people he kills are necessary sacrifices for the new world where everyone can live happily.

Does that absolve her blame for him? Not at first, but her blame subsides when she seems him playing with children, selling medicine to villagers, and living life as a gentle farmer. It was then she realized she began feeling them same happiness she did with Kiyosato, at the same time, guilt began to resurface for any number of reasons. The two primary ones being: 

1) She was falling in love with the man who murdered her past lover.

2) She is torn between her love for him and her redemption which was to infiltrate his psyche and relay the profile she constructs to the Yaminobu to kill him efficiently with minimal risk.

She probably figured having him killed by Shogunate spies and assassins would be honorable as Kenshin would be killed by an affiliate of her late fiancé. Along the way, though, she changed. This is also where I’m going to upset a lot of people who doubt Tomoe loved Kenshin.

Contrary to her introverted nature, she decided to open up to Kenshin about her guilt and for the first time, this monster (as she saw him), this vicious murderer, did something she probably thought no one would do: he listened. He listened and didn’t dismiss her feelings as childish or stupid. She probably never opened up to anyone and relegated all of her thoughts, inner turmoil, and feelings into that diary. But this man listened and vowed that he would put down his sword, find a way to continue without having to kill, and most importantly, protect her happiness as Kiyosato attempted to do, all as she cried long held back tears in his arms. In the animation, this lead into a very visually appealing pseudo-sex scene so if your head canon was that that happened (since we never see after she opened up), be my guest. 

At that moment, she realized that she *could* spend the rest of her life with this man. Her desire for revenge was a primarily selfish one. She wanted to kill him so she could absolve herself of her guilt and project all of the hatred that she would have internalized onto Kenshin, whom she could demonize while cleansing herself of feelings of responsibility for Kiyosato’s death. This is what lead to her true attempt at redemption, this is the moment where Tomoe stopped being an instrument of murder and decided to save his life.

                             Sacrifices and Atonement

Let’s talk about the goodbye scene that I feel a lot of people simply gloss over, making them wonder if Tomoe loved Kenshin (some speculated she didn’t). She internally monologues about Kenshin giving her a new happiness and then vows to protect “the second man she has ever loved”. 

Let’s also go over an all too under examined theme of sleep! In the earlier chapters of Tsuioku and in the animation, Kenshin wakes up in a violent frenzy, unsheathing his sword read to slash at Tomoe’s throat for even getting near him, signifying his mistrust of human beings in general. To fight this war, he was losing his humanity and had to be constantly on alert, ready to kill in a moments notice. Even a peaceful sleep was a luxury an assassin could not afford.

The final time they see each other, Kenshin is asleep presumably having slept right next to her. She had gotten up, gotten dressed, did her hair, moved about, opened the door, and then walked out. Kenshin didn’t notice any of this, despite the fact that earlier, she merely got close to him and he woke up. He became as comfortable around her as she was of him. She was his first love, the woman who showed him the happiness he was trying to protect in the first place. If he couldn’t protect anyone’s happiness but managed to protect hers, he would’ve lived a successful life. 

Tomoe, unbeknownst to her, became the same exact thing to Kenshin that Kiyosato was to her. It was time for Tomoe to leave and try to save his life and prevent a seed planted a year ago turning into a bloody flower. She lied to the Yaminobu but then they revealed their ultimate betrayal, reintroducing new guilt and shattering the small measure of inner peace she had: she was never meant to find the weakness, she was meant to CREATE it, and she had. She realized now that she played and practically gift wrapped Kenshin to these bastards and that she is now indirectly responsible for the death of another man she loves. She knew Kenshin would have little chance of survival; his skills have weakened and the Hitokiri in him was on his last legs. 

As a battered and bloody Kenshin limped toward the snowy temple and faced his adversary, the leader of the Yaminobu, he almost lost his life. He felt the need to throw away his life to protect Tomoe because he knew the awful truth. Once they were done with her, they would probably kill her. What evidence do I have to support this? Simple: They are hitokiri. I'izuka was an informant against Choshu and Tomoe knew of the existence of a hitokiri clan that NEEDED to operate in the shadows and nip Choshu before it gained any more traction and the main obstacle to that was Kenshin. 

Knowing that Tomoe had fallen for Kenshin, they would most likely kill her to prevent her from leaking any information. That’s right, Tomoe was dead from the beginning. The moment she tried to exact revenge, much like Enishi, was also the moment her fate was sealed. This is why Kenshin was looking for her and ready to give his life if it meant he could save hers. (The animation changed this dynamic by having Kenshin read her diary before saving her, therefore making his final move a suicide attempt in a misguided form of apology). If Kenshin could kill their leader, even if he died in the process, Tomoe would have a shot at living since they are presumably the only ones who knew of Tomoe’s operation against Battousai as a form of compartmentalization and if Tomoe leaked to Choshu what happened, they might capture I'izuka before he escapes.

Tomoe, however, realized that she couldn’t let Kenshin die here. He was the champion of happiness but she saw the blazing fury of a Hitokiri inside him. She realized maybe he would change after the war was done and bet her life on it. She got in the way and… 

Tomoe gave her life for Kenshin so he could live, but in the process also taught him the value of life. She gave him a reason NOT to kill by showing him the immense grief and pain of losing a loved one. She died tragically in his arms and for once, genuinely smiled up at him as she tried to sooth him in her final moments, telling him that it’s okay. It was okay to her because she did it. She atoned for her crime of letting Kiyosato die. She got to do something that showed Kenshin how she felt and prevented the death of a man she loved with her ultimate sacrifice. Bonus points: she also achieved her justice for Kiyosato by devastating Kenshin but also “killing” the hitokiri in him. Kenshin stopped being an assassin as a result of her death and came forward with his skills as the main line of defense against the Shinsengumi. The final year of her life became an apology and she lived with heavy scars on her heart. 

             She passed on this way of living to Kenshin. The scars she bore on her heart he now wears on his face for the world to see. The scars became a living memory of the love between Kiyosato and Tomoe, as well as the symbol of the sacrifice she made for Kenshin. It’s the symbol of his change from a murderer into someone who saves people, someone who protects happiness with a sword worthy of Tomoe, a sword that doesn’t rip apart families, a sword that can protect others without killing. The Sakabatou became the answer, it became his salvation and perhaps most romantically, it became the ultimate apology to Tomoe and all of the people he killed. This is why Tomoe smiles at him when he closes his eyes. She loved him just as deeply as Kaoru does and just like Kaoru would if she ever had too, Tomoe gave her life for him. Tomoe, just as much as Kaoru, is one of the central themes of Rurouni Kenshin and both go hand in hand to create the Romantic Tales of the Meiji Era and both have been the greatest teachers Kenshin has ever had. 

SPECIAL THANKS TO WHITE-PLUM FOR THE GIFS! YOU’RE AWESOME!

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Pein > Itachi

Something I’ve wanted to say for a long time now:

Pein > Chuunin 

Itachi = Chuunin

Pein > Itachi

QED b**ches.

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Season 3′s Inability to Meet Reader Expectations

Having read all of The Breaker’s Season 3 thus far, I understand readers’ legitimate gripes with the pacing, artwork, and decision to switch protagonists midway through the story. What bothers me especially is that Jeon, the author, was seemingly oblivious to the obvious backlash that would ensue. Backlash is nothing new. I remember all the complaints that occurred with New Waves, but the writing team’s lack of understanding of their target audience is highly concerning.

Regardless of people’s nationality, all readers have the same expectations for comics: (1) proper storytelling, (2) acceptable art, and (3) a compelling main cast. You can read more in-depth about people’s expectations here.

I have a background in literature and teach literature for a living. Plus, I'm a published author. Because of my background, I'm more understanding, patient, and forgiving than the typical reader. I'm acutely understanding of editorial mandates, for example. What Jeon did though is highly unusual and ill-advised for writers, regardless of whether they happen to be newbies or veterans. Switching main characters - your point-of-view character - is fine. Switching protagonists - the character whom the plot revolves around - however, especially halfway through the story, is something else entirely. It's a major no-no. There are serious repercussions when you do so, and every medium I've seen that pulled a stunt like this ended up flopping. This is equivalent to finding porn with the hottest girl in it but all you see and hear is the guy.

I don't have a problem with introducing a new character as Season 3's deuteragonist. Furthermore, I think there's room involve 3 generations. The problem lies in the execution, and this is where Ha Jae falls flat. He simply doesn't hold any major plot importance on his own. He's Shioon 2.0. Same background. Same built. Same fighting stance. Same characterization. Same hype. Ad infinitum. The forced parallelism wreaks of ad hoc writing. Compare and contrast the following. Here's an example of proper writing: 

Ha Jae, on the other hand, is an example of improper writing. He severely damages the storyline about Shioon being a special person for whom the growth speed was phenomenal (a few months). To get this far he had to suffer a lot and had to have a remarkable mindset (win or die). Now a new, filler character arrives and starts doing some incredible s**t in just a few days.

As fans it forces us to wonder if all the story built years was not a lie at all, that what Shioon has is actually nothing special, he just took some drugs and voila he's op as hell.

It's not just aggravating, it's painful to read because it changes the universe and the uniqueness of characters, especially the main one that we learned to love.

Jeon could have done things very differently, such as introducing your typical hotblooded hero with a dream. Having a kid who is always in trouble and loves to fight would contrast quite differently from Shioon. (It'd work really well with Jinie too.) In addition, this development would allow Jeon to explore the other side of bullying, with this hypothetical deuteragonist serving as a mirror of a young GMR rather than being Shioon 2.0 with a fugly design. We already know what Shioon's training was like, but we never saw how GMR learned martial arts.

There are plenty of ways too on making the kid join the Murim:

They're an exchange student

They're a spy from the Illuminati (they're stated to exist around ch. 88 in NW)

They're being bullied by Murim-Ins

They're an untrained student whose master was killed by GMR/SUC

Had Jeon gone a route without regurgitating material like he did with Blue Boy, the new kid would be much more interesting because I truly believe that having another protagonist is not the problem, the problem is the sheer laziness of making him a copy of Shioon.

Part 3 was supposed to be about Illuminati shenaningans and the Shinmujengpe. That's what readers, specifically long-term readers, were anticipating with excitement, not the current story we're getting. Moving away from your core audience’s expectations is also why Eternal Force has flopped so bad thus far. The writing team (i.e., the editor, the author, the illustrator, etc.) quit caring about readers' hierarchical expectations: a good story, a compelling main cast, and acceptable artwork. Hopefully they listen to reader feedback, otherwise Eternal Force is going to flop internationally like how it flopped in Korea.

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Analysis: Romance in One Piece

Note: I’ll be posting condensed versions of this analysis in other sites

A) Relevance of plot and characterization AKA Unbiased Readers Vs. Delusional Shippers “Who lives on ilusions dies from disappointment” – An old Puerto Rican saying Most of us know One Piece is a very popular manga. Its high quality and popularity depends on several factors, among them we could name memorable and likeable characters along a deep, compelling, fun and action-packed story. The One Piece many know and love wouldn’t exist without the balance between these factors When talking to at least 3 different One Piece fans, each of them non-shippers who analyzed the manga they all enjoy, I found interesting and pretty sound perspectives of the One Piece story and its nature. All of them value characters, story, development, consistency and logic; something I can totally relate to But I also found a pattern; these 3 guys shared one single outlook on the very same subject: shipping. Regardless of their expectations, all of them expressed distate for shippers’ general mindset and “odd” viewpoint: One of them called shippers out for ignoring characterization and very clear and direct statements made in the manga. His attention was centered on a Luffy pairing and how it contradicts his own character. Oda once explained that he writes Luffy as someone pretty straightfoward when it comes to expressing his thoughts and feelings, and this non-shipper said with brutal honesty that for the discussed ship to happen we would need to disregard and/or discard the very core of Luffy’s character. Meaning Oda would need to stop being consistent and faithful to his own story and characters The next one explained how shippers tend to turn a characters’ relationship into a sappy teen love fantasy that doesn’t match One Piece at all. His analysis also exposed how integrating this kind of underdeveloped “love” into the story would severely damage One Piece originality, ruin the series and needless to say destroy the likable dynamics between several characters as well as their own development. This fantasy, this so-called “love”, is what the vast majority of shippers support and defend. The same kind of “love” most non-shippers, fans and critics dread The third non-shipper gave me a more detailed explanation: this is even more rough than the other two as he describes that the common shipper mentality of “he/she likes her/him so they should be together” can “only be likened to that of elementary schoolers”. And how shippers take every little meaningless detail and blow it out of proportion with no regard for context, legitimate bonding or the canon story! But we can’t put all the blame on shippers. Many manga authors seem to have no idea how to write a character-driven series or complex character relationships. In fact, mainstream shonen writers have their fair share of guilt into promoting this common shipping mindset by being notoriously bad at writing romance. Which results in underveloped premises that leave your average fan skeptical, and your average critic disappointed at a poor portrayal of emotional bonding and a severe lack of cohesive narrative in the “romantic love” department This is the reason why many fans, critics and non-shippers hold the shippers’ perspective in a very low regard. Just like the third non-shipper states: “The blushing, longing stares, corny ass lines etc. That kind of poorly portrayed romance is the kind of thing dreaded by the average fan because it reduces the quality of One Piece to the level of such poorly written series” So an author needs to build a relationship the same way one person would construct a building: stablishing a strong foundation on companionship, respect, trust, signifcant moments, and emotional bonding. All of this must come before reaching the status of “romantic interest". In relation to this subject, there’s a trope called “First Girl Wins”, a portion of its description truly fits this criteria: “From a [extradiegetic] point of view, the Law of Conservation of Detail suggests introducing the Love Interest early. An early introduction allows you to get the audience interested in her and rooting for her, gives you space for Character Development, and gives her relationship with her (eventual) partner the most time to develop organically. And with all that said, it’s such a common device that in all likelihood, it sometimes gets played for its own sake.” – tvtropes.org, 2017 Notice this isn’t a cliché, this is a literary device to enhance the story. Pairing up two characters without meaningful moments, emotional build-up and development, is the equivalent to lazy writing. Having such elements firmly stablished for two characters and then deciding to go for a different “route”, pretty much wasting a well-developed relationship for the sake of a “weaker” premise, would be the equivalent to bad writing Is Oda, the man who’s willing to die for One Piece, a lazy writer? Of course not! Is he, a man who planned the ending years ago and is still sticking to said ending, a bad writer? Being number 1 in Japan and having such a loyal fanbase all around the world prove he’s not! Do shippers want Oda to be a lazy/bad writer? Facts already answered this question as many (although not all) fans value their own fantasies and delusions over the manga canon and/or the author’s take on the characters and their relationships Many (but not all) shippers now have a war. Not only against rival ships but mainly against One Piece story and consistent development. Yet as the old saying goes, those who live on delusions will have to eventually face reality and disappointment, because Oda is not a lazy/bad writer like some people here would want him to be

B) Romance Dawn AKA The not so secret origins of One Piece “If we don’t know where we are going, it can be helpful to know where we come from” – Jostein Gaarder When debating posible outcomes, fans rarely look back at the time when One Piecewas a still a work in progress. Taking a look at Romance Dawn V.1 and Romance Dawn V.2 helps us to see there are constants present in all versions of these Works that made it into what would later become the most popular manga in Japan But before discussing those constants I would like to clarify the meaning of the word: “Romance”. There are people who doesn’t really grasp the concept of “Romance” both One Piece and Oda work with. Luckily the first two non-shippers I meantioned shed some light on this subject: Romance: “A mysterious or fascinating quality or appeal, as of something adventurous, heroic, or strangely beautiful” “A long fictitious tale of heroes and extraordinary or mysterious events, usually set in a distant time or place” “A narrative in verse or prose, written in a vernacular language in the Middle Ages, dealing with strange and exciting adventures of chivalrous heroes” – thefreedictionary.com, 2016 “A prose narrative treating imaginary characters involved in events remote in time or place and usually heroic, adventurous, or mysterious” –  Merriam Webster, 2016 Romantic: “Marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealized” “Having an inclination for romance: responsive to the appeal of what is idealized, heroic, or adventurous” –  Merriam Webster, 2016 These definitions match pretty well One Piece and Oda outlook on this concept. Even Oda lampshaped this by giving his own translation to the title: 冒険の夜明け (“Bōken no Yoake”, “Dawn of the Adventure”) So Oda’s “romance” covers a wide variety of themes: Adventure, heroism, mystery, virtue, idealism… we can find comedy and tragedy, happiness and sadness. And among the virtues and the idealism we find companionship and love. As the second non-shipper I mentioned explained One Piece is pretty much like an “Adventure novel”, which is why we’ll find in One Piece many of the tropes commonly used in those books Among those tropes, we find a couple of constants in all versions of “Romance Dawn”

The golden-hearted protagonist and the “First Girl” who doubles as a female lead. Think about this “what if” scenario: If things would’ve played different back then and One Piece never went beyond “Romance Dawn V.1”. If that story were to be elaborated futher, which two characters would had shared the most moments to become endgame? The answer is pretty simple: The golden-hearted protagonist and the female lead! But when debating, the weight of the argument depends on edvidence so we need to rely on what we can confirm. And we confirm this, what’s the constant in Luffy’s story in all versions of Romance Dawn? a Nami-like character

This becomes even more interesting when we discover that at an interview at “Manga no Chikara” and others, Nami was supposed to be the first one to join Luffy but her debut was postponed by Oda’s editor at that time. Edvidence of this being a last minute decision remains on the first color cover:

Yet as the second non-shipper noted: “her role as secondary protagonist was not altered” for “Nami shares with Luffy the largest character development in the entire series”. And as explained here we already know how the trope goes when someone seeks to write a natural growth for an emotional connection between two characters 

In fact, the relevance of Nami to Luffy’s story is implied in what Oda himself said about Strong World: “I really wanted to make a ‘hero saves the heroine’ story (ヒロインを助けるヒーローを描きたい the japanese sentence). [….]. You might think otherwise, but I had no intention of bringing in someone new to fill that [heroine] role. So when I had to think about whom to use for it amongst the straw hats of course that meant Nami”

In Oda’s mind, Luffy is the hero and Nami is the heorine! We can tell that the hero and the heroine are meant to be the driving forces of the series, and therefore putting them together makes the most sense from a storytelling perspective

C) LuffyxNami AKA LuNa/LuNami “Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men” – Thomas Huxley

Many shippers tend to ignore and disregard the importance of staying faithful to the canon story, and the author’s take on the characters and their relationships

To makes matters worst some of them even deem as illogical any argument solidly based on these factors. While considering stuff like lines, frogs, sweat, fire, nonexistent sexual tension, assumption of sexuality, and even assumptions of pregnancy, as legitimate proofs of a plausible outcome! In fact they even value comparisons to other series with a different tone, themes, and characters over anything that the One Piece author conveys through his work There’s even people who goes as far as editing the wiki as if that would change the story to match their preferred pairing! But in order to reach a conclusion that remains true to One Piece and its nature we have to rely on the very same foundation that was already described several times: mutual trust/respect, faith on one another, significant moments, stress in their relationship and emotional development. If the story doesn’t let you build your premises on these elements, the conclusion you’ll reach will obviously be flawed and stray away from what One Piece really is So here I’m not only defending the premise I strongly support; I’m defending the very same story and build-up that contributes to this bond’s natural growth: As explained before there’s nothing explicitly romantic about major interactions. But given we’re dealing with a good and dilligent writer, what we’ll get to see is how big to small moments stablish an emotional connection between two characters, and how that becomes the base for a even greater growth First we have the themes of trust and faith: At first Nami doesn’t trust Luffy very much, out of her clear distate for pirates, until witnessing how far was Luffy willing to go to selflessly help others. Even then Nami treated their relationship as a mere business and later betrayed the crew Still Luffy always trusted Nami to the point of putting blind faith in her. Even when given reasons not to do so. One remarkable example is when Luffy was informed by someone trustworthy (Johnny) that Nami apparently “killed” to Usopp, and Luffy not only kept holding onto his blind faith in Nami but he also threatened Johnny for saying such things about her

This becomes something remarkable when we take into consideration that Zoro quickly gave up on Nami and later tried to attack her without even a second thought! While Usopp just wanted  the Merry back…

And it would later become even more impressive in the Whiskey Peak Arc when Luffy came to doubt Zoro because of the words of wounded man he didn’t even know, and even doubted Robin during Water 7 until Nami told him and the crew the truth behind Robin’s desertion:

But what else makes this situation with Nami any different from others we see in the manga? Some might point to the saga where rescuing Robin was the primary objective; but in Robin’s case Luffy knew her life was in danger for Robin was planning to die for the crew, and he got the resolve to save her only after learning the truth. Others might point to the current arc, but he saw right through Sanji’s act and got desperate to rescue him only after hearing his life is in danger. Here, Nami’s life wasn’t in danger as far as Luffy knew. And he constantly try to reach out to her despite her harsh attitude and the fact he knew next to nothing about her past and her current circumstances. It was only when he saw her cry he got enough motivation to beat Arlong, and it was only when he got a small glimpse of what she went through that he lost it! How does Nami respond to this? Initially she wanted to get Luffy out of her villaje and her life. While Nami indeed grew fond of Luffy and the others she wasn’t willing to bond with any of them; she held on her distrust of others. But that changed when she finally hitted her lowest point, when she finally lost all hope. Then it comes Nami’s first major development as character: she realized she needed to rely on someone else, she realized Luffy was her only hope Nami decided to rely on him. The following scene marks the first time of many when Nami relied on Luffy to a emotional level. And the first of two times when Luffy entrusted his treasure to her in a touching gesture to provide comfort and hope:

From the very beginning the emotional build-up between Luffy and Nami was a key factor for one of the most meaningful and memorable moments in One Piece. The moment when Luffy becomes Nami’s “emotional anchor” The effect Luffy had on her character was also quite powerful as we could see during the 2nd pass of the hat: back then at Skypiea arc Nami could still panic at dreadful situations: 

But as soon as Luffy gave her his treasure, the panic stopped and when he was later removed from the battle field, Nami was capable of drawing enough courage from Luffy to face the big bad from that arc:

Not to mention Luffy’s final move against Enel was combined effort of the two as well as an impressive display of mutual trust/faith We can continue to appreciate their development even futher as the story goes on. As someone already pointed out, Nami during Water 7 displayed an impressive resolve and determination, but as soon as she got the chance to explain Luffy their situation she opened her heart to express how she felt, her anguish and her distress. When Luffy reassures her that he will save Robin, she doesn’t cry anymore until she reunites with Robin Their bonding is even futher explored in the only One Piece movie fully written by Oda: Strong World. As this is the author’s take on their relationship is still a valid argument to support Luffy/Nami development: We already considered how impressive Luffy’s blind faith in Nami can be. So after listening to most of Nami’s recorded message, Luffy gets enraged! Why?

Well, after all that time Luffy relied on his navigator without ever doubting her. He was likely expecting all his trust and faith in Nami to be reciprocated Turns out Nami does return that feeling! And why can we say that? Remember the movie’s ending: Nami finds out everyone in the crew got her hidden “save me” at the end of her message… everyone but Luffy. Then when Luffy is about to play the recorded proof of Nami’s unwavering faith in him, what does she do? She tries to get rid of the “edvidence” out of embarrassment 

It’s easy to see then why Nami seeked out Luffy for hope and comfort during Zou. And how she did something similar to what happened in Water 7: she opened up to Luffy

I said it before, since Luffy is Nami’s “emotional anchor”, it makes sense for her to keep strengthening her bond with Luffy. And given Luffy needs a guide to new adventures and someone “mature” enough to sometimes keep him in line, it makes sense for Luffy to grow closer to Nami She once summed it up pretty well: “He always talks big, but when it comes down to it, he knows nothing about the sea! He’s severely lacking in the ‘sense of danger’ area! And he always overdoes it…if I left him alone, he’d die. And he’s stupid, so I have to take care of him. That’s why I’m gonna help him!” - Nami, chapter 596 Still, none of this is explicitly romantic in the traditional sense of the word. But just like someone who’s contructing a building, we start dealing with the foundations to then proceed to make a solid structure: a well-written relationship that enhances the story As someone once reviewed, Luffy and Nami dynamic doesn’t need to chance for them to become endgame for they already have anything they need to finish that “building”. And that’s what’s being a potent pairing means: having everything to your favor for futher development and growth. Luffy and Nami definitively have the major moments and the emotional bonding while remaining consistent to the One Piece canon to be considered a Potent Pairing

Bonus:

It’s interesting we find other interaction that proves how comfortable is Nami around Luffy: 

She doesn’t mind having Luffy around her, what she really minds is Luffy wanting to go to dangerous places But why is this relevant? In Thriller Bark we had a clear showing of how she reacts to pervs trying to accomplish what Luffy did here. She electrocutes them. We can confirm she haven’t changed in this regard because at the end of Fishman Island arc Nami electrocutes a perv for trying to peek at her while she was taking a bath Another interesting detail about Nami’s attitude toward Luffy is a change we see in WCI. Of course we have the remarkable faith and trust Nami puts on Luffy by even boasting how him being the future Pirate King ensures their victory over Cracker’s ability.

But the real change is when Sanji brutalizes Luffy. Nami already stated she felt guilty for what happened when Sanji got taken. But when Sanji did his “little” number on Luffy her attitude changed, she not only begged him to stop but was also promising they’ll leave if he did (Luffy clearly disagreed on that)

After seeing the way Sanji treated her captain, Nami did something the could seem pretty justified because of what happened: she slapped Sanji and then sarcastically played along Sanji’s “royal” act. When she goes to Luffy and finds out her captain is not relenting on his effort to get Sanji back, she gives us this little gem:

The Japanese text for Nami’s dialogue reads: “Luffy!! Why?! No matter what his reasons are, after he did all that to you…” The term she used here for the line in bold conveys the idea of severe mistreatment. She was obviously mad at the way Sanji attacked and badmouthed Luffy and his dream. Ironically Luffy is the one who shows far more emotion to the prospect of getting Sanji back than Nami, she kept displaying far more concern for Luffy as the chapters went on Nami is now showing, little by little, more of a emotional attachment to Luffy. Which makes a lot sense given what we saw in their story

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Awesome art!

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Do Yin Users Develop Superpowers?

Looking back through Part 1 and Part 2, all Yin users seem to have the following abilities:

Superhuman Physical Characteristics

Superhuman Senses

Statistics Amplification

Acrobatics

Adaptation

Technique Mimicry

Accelerated Development

Ki Manipulation

Ki Sensing

Both Sosul and Shioon have exhibited highly unusual abilities that haven’t been featured elsewhere. In Sosul’s case, she has exhibited the ability to induce spontaneous human combustion via touch, which suggests a type of biological manipulation. In Shioon’s case, his ability is some type of uber healing, as refinement of his blood has healed Sosul and revived Shiho.

If true, it’s only a matter of time before Ha Jae develops his own unique ability.

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Why the New Kid Sucks

The past few chapters have improved in both artwork and storytelling. The story does much better when the plot revolves around Shioon and not Ha Jae. The info we got on Yin bodies was pretty good. I'm looking forward to learning more about Sosul's condition, and hopefully she makes an appearance soon. She's supposed to be the overarching female protagonist. Unfortunately, I doubt the pendulum swinging back to Shioon will last long. That plot tumor (Ha Jae), unfortunately, is still set to devour the entire plot since he's already wiggled his way into both the breaker and Sunwoo plotlines. Every time a secondary character (filler in Ha Jae's case) appears to hijack the main plot, trouble ensues. There's a reason why Shokugeki no Soma and Naruto fell apart with both Erina and Sasuke hijacking the series. It's the same case with The Breaker, where the main issue is the complete downgrade of the main character (Shioon) into a supporting protagonist. You simply cannot hope to have a decent story if the one who is supposed to be the center of said story loses their relevance and appeal. I'm still not convinced yet this series will avoid jumping the shark. The constant focus on one of the worst fictional characters ever created in Ha Jae, the massive number of potential plotholes, main antagonists being reduced to the status of utter jokes, and the complete lack of coherence in the themes developed in both Parts 1 and 2 are all major concerns for me right now. These are all the reasons both Naruto and Shokugeki no Soma turned into utter jokes by their final respective sagas. On a side note, there's also the issue of this series turning into a strange yaoi fanfic with Ha Jae's constant "Hyung dattebyo" rhetoric. I refuse to believe that the majority of long-term readers - your core audience - are yaoi fangirls.

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Deku Falls Like Batman

Horikoshi is definitely taking a cue from Batman: Knightfall. In Knightfall, Batman gets his back broken after Bane wore him both mentally and physically catching criminals Bane let loose upon the city. Sound familiar? AFO is wearing Deku down both psychologically and physically. with the criminals he let loose on Deku Heroes even commented this chapter why AFO hasn't released the news yet regarding Deku and OFA. Because it'd be counterproductive. Thanks to Deku isolating himself and not taking care of himself, he's letting himself get wore down gradually. This act will probably make it easier for AFO to steal OFA as Deku will be too spent to protect himself in a battle of wills when a fresh AFO ambushes him.

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Chapter 309 revealed that Erina and Soma have a lot in common with Mana and Azami in their younger days. Mana and Azami met each other by chance as did Erina and Soma. Also, Mana complained about Azami's food being terrible, which caused Azami to swear he would make a dish that would force Mana to say "Delicious!" What are your thoughts on the parallels between these characters?

Azami x Mana has some similarities to Souma x Erina. Both are similar in the sense that Mana called Azami’s dish terrible and that Azami spent a lot of time trying to get Mana to say the word, “Delicious!” 

But that’s where the similarities end. If anything, their interactions are almost the polar opposite. For example, you state that Erina met Souma by chance, which we know isn’t true. Senzaemon has spent a considerable amount of time playing matchmaker in the background between Erina and Souma. Furthermore, Erina liked Souma’s dish whereas Azami’s initial dish was actually terrible. 

The biggest difference between the two is that Mana helped Azami through his depression, where he lost his joy for cooking after Jouchirou left, and it’s strongly implied Souma’s mother did the same for Jouchirou. Souma hasn’t met a mental roadblock he couldn’t overcome yet (i.e., his rematch with Akira). Souma’s biggest mental roadblock was the death of his mother, and while we don’t know how he reacted to it and overcame it, Erina certainly played no role whatsoever in him overcoming his grief.

If you want to compare Souma’s interactions with possible love interests, it’d be best to compare Souma to Kojirou’s interactions with Hinako and Fuyumi. We get potential shipteasing (especially with Hinako), but at the end of the day, Kojirou never hit it off with anybody.

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You have said in the past that you prefer Megumi over Erina as a romantic partner for Soma. Do you still feel that way?

Hmm… that depends on how I should interpret your question. In terms of personal taste, I prefer Megumi over Erina by a landslide. Always have, always will.

In terms of storytelling (i.e., a pairing becomes canon), my preferences don’t swing strongly either way. I don’t have any issues with the mangaka pairing Souma off with Erina and/or Megumi. (No one said we couldn’t do a threesome!) There’s more than enough material to justify either pairing. Still, I wouldn’t be thrilled with the outcome because of the current quality of the writing. There’s no strong in-universe reason (i.e., Jouchirou’s advice) to pair Souma off with anyone because of how his character has been handled. I really, really don’t like the current direction of the story. BLUE is a complete and utter joke. From the challenges, to the “enemies”, to the entire structure of the story at this point.

For example, during the Azami Saga, one of the central plot points was that chefs could reach new dimensions of flavor via collaboration rather than just on their own. That was the primary reason the Rebels came out on top compared to their E10 opponents. The one who should have “saved” Nakiri Mana isn’t Souma, but Erina. Mana’s God Tongue has been hyped as becoming so refined that even E10 dishes prepared by chefs like the First Seat (i.e., Eishi, Souma) cannot satisfy her. That is, if these dishes are prepared on their own. It’s a different story altogether if Erina had assistance from chefs like Souma, Takumi, and Megumi. Working together, they’d have no issues whatsoever crafting dishes that that would satisfy Mana’s God Tongue. Furthermore, Erina would be taking initiative to avoid ending up in the same situation as her mother. But no, Erina is reduced to being a neutral female and it’s up to Souma (alone) to save the day. Again. None of the other side characters are allowed to do anything and show their progression outside of brief cameo pieces. And don’t get me started on that fag lamer we call Saiba Asahi.

The main reason I continue reading the series is because I’m curious to see how it ends, like whether Souma will actually be paired off with anyone or not. That, and me wanting more SouMegu scenes.

[franckie-108]

I read your post on sorina and then your post on soumegu. Do you think soma will be paired off with anyone?

Honestly, I have my doubts. The author has no obligation whatsoever to pair Souma off with anyone. Part of this involves the author’s writing style. For example, Jouchirou’s advice suggests Souma needs to find a woman (in a romantic sense) to dedicate his cooking to. This isn’t the case with Akira, however. It’s made explicitly clear he won the Autumn Elections because found Jun to be the woman to whom he will dedicate his cooking. In addition, his fallout with Jun is explained to be the reason he lost to Souma in their respective rematches.

The counterargument to the above paragraph is that Tsukuda-sensei is under pressure to resolve the pairings situation. Over the last couple of years, Shokugeki no Soma has been steadily losing popularity, with the current arc being godawful. No one likes it. The Japanese fandom isn’t happy. Chapters are routinely ranked dead last and volume sales are terrible. The Western fandom isn’t happy either. How often do you see people bitching about the current state of the chapters? All the time. Even pairing fanatics have trouble stomaching the current quality of the chapters. Yet the shipping fandom is a key reason for the series to continue.

The mangaka and Shounen Jump editors are aware of the debate on who is “better” for Souma: Megumi or Erina. Hence all the shipteasing going on between the two characters. Tsukuda-sensei is being blatant with Erina, and from a storytelling perspective, she does make the most sense. After all, her storyline and connection to the main plot are more strongly emphasized compared to Megumi’s.

Still, something feels off about the situation. Erina’s contributions to the current arc aren’t notable; they aren’t far off compared to Megumi’s contributions to the plot (i.e., getting Monarch to spill the beans; hinting there is a weakness to Asahi’s Cross Knives ability in their respective match). More importantly, Erina is being kept deliberately ignorant of Jouchirou’s backstory whereas Megumi is not. And then there’s this panel:

Neither has realized their feelings for Souma have grown stronger to the point that their admiration for him is turning into something else. The pacing of their realizations is now being tied to one another, a deliberate move by the author. How their feelings for Souma will be resolved, if at all, depends on what occurs for the last arc of the series. Judging from the current storyline, we probably have 1-2 (mini-) arcs left before the series ends. We’re building up to the point we’ll get introduced to Mama Yukihira and how her death impacted her son, Souma. For the end-game Erina appears to be the obvious winner but keep in mind there’s still lingering material regarding Megumi, like this panel:

Souma really likes Megumi’s food. In a manga where cooking is everything, I’d say this is a pretty important scene, if the author chooses to make use of it. 

Still, I have my doubts their situations will be successfully resolved. Like I said - The author has no obligation whatsoever to pair Souma off with anyone. And this is something shipping fans need to accept.

[franckie-108]

SouEri Coming to Town

Souma x Erina is a hot topic now with plot developments that have occurred over the past 50+ chapters. With the story as it is right now, it is very possible that SouEri/SouRina/whatever could end up becoming canon.

FYI: This post is image heavy.

Character-Driven vs. Plot-Driven Storytelling

There are two basic ways to write a story: character-driven vs. plot-driven. Plot-driven writing emphasizes plot twists, action, and external conflict. The goals of the story tend to be more external because they emphasize the development of a situation. Characters usually make quick decisions, and as a consequence, character development takes a backseat to the rapidly evolving story. One Piece is an example of a plot-driven manga. Luffy’s quest to become the Pirate King kickstarts the series. His desire is then interwoven into a larger storyline, one which revolves around the conflicts between the main powers of the world, how the main characters’ actions affect said balance, and the secret history of the world. Yes, the series has a very, very large cast with various personal problems and conflicts, but they take a backseat to the narrative until they become relevant to the main plot.

Character-driven writing, on the other hand, is focused on the characters, specifically their inner conflicts, more so than the situations and events that occur. This writing style is designed to make us, the readers, think about the characters. We think about their attitudes, personal evolution, the decisions they undertake, and how those, in turn, holistically affect the shape and direction of the story. In other words, the characters themselves cause the plot. An example is Date A Live. Shido’s evolving relationships with the girls are always front and center in every arc, and is increasingly character-driven as the series goes on. Yes, the series has plots involving the world at large, but the plotlines are of secondary importance to the characters’ attitudes, developments, and decisions that advance the story.

Obviously literature can and does borrow traits from both elements, otherwise the story risks boring the audience. Moving on, where does Shokugeki no Soma fall on the spectrum? Clearly, the manga is character-driven. Yes, there is an overall plot, like the various characters uniting to achieve a common goal (e.g., become excellent cooks) to overthrowing a shared enemy (e.g., Azami). But these developments take a backseat to the inner conflicts characters possess. Shokugeki no Soma is heavily character-driven. The plot mainly consists of cooking competitions, but all the characters have their various reasons for competing shown in depth. The mangaka emphasizes how the characters drive the events than the events themselves.

The character-driven plotlines for the three leading characters--Souma, Erina, and Megumi--revolve around their coming-of-age story. Souma’s story revolves around him becoming the best and taking his diner to new, unprecedented heights. Erina’s coming-of-age story revolves around her overcoming her fears as she becomes the next head of the Nakiri Clan, which has ruled Japan’s culinary world for generations. Megumi’s coming-of-age story revolves around her overcoming her insecurities so she blossoms from being an underdog to being a world-class chef. All three plotlines are interdependent with one another.

As pics are worth a thousand words, Erina started out like this:

And ended up like this:

The change in demeanor is quite apparent. So, how did we end up here then? Erina’s character-driven plot began in the first volume, with Souma being the catalyst for bringing her insecurities to light. Erina’s initial character is probably best summarized with the following image:

Erina was elitist, narrow-minded, and prideful. Out of spite for Souma’s dish (and attitude toward her), she purposely failed him. Nonetheless, we see a hint of Souma literally knocking her socks off, as hinted by the following page:

To Erina, who possesses the world renowned God Tongue, that experience was something that literally shocked her to her core. Keep in mind that save food prepared by cooking elites, everything Erina puts in her mouth tastes like shit because all her palate can do is detect the flaws. Here Souma’s simple dish was so good that she foodgasmed over it, causing her realize she was a frog trapped in its well. We also see hints to Erina’s character that often goes overlooked in this scene. We see that she is very knowledgeable, talented, prideful, and insecure. Hence her subsequent retaliation toward Souma. Finally, there is the fact that Erina’s and Souma’s first encounter with one another is simply the author regurgitating what had happened in the manga’s pilot chapter.

Here we see Souma in the pilot not giving a shit about who Erina is and the impact his attitude had on her:

The mangaka also hints the end result of their relationship with the following image:

Their meeting was destined to shake the foundations of the entire culinary world. Erina’s importance in this revolution is her role as successor to the Nakiri Clan and future Headmaster of Tootsuki Academy. Souma’s relation to her character development is to act as a catalyst that would allow her to grow into the Queen of the Culinary World by challenging her assumptions and rooting out her insecurities.

What is Erina’s contribution to Souma’s character development, however? Her importance is hinted by Senzaemon’s involvement. As it turns out, Senzaemon is the one who asked Jouchirou to train Souma in cooking and enroll him in Tootsuki:

Even Azami, Erina’s father, was quick to pick up on this:

Looking back on events, it is very, very clear that Senzaemon arranged for Souma’s transfer to Tootsuki Academy with the express purpose of him encountering Erina. Consider the following events:

He asked Jouchirou to visit his estate ~10 years prior to the start of the series. The meeting was so secretive that everyone was absent save Erina. Jouchirou wasn’t aware that Erina was present, however. We don’t everything they discussed that day but we know at bare minimum Senzaemon inquired on whether Jouchirou had any intention of training his son to be a cook. Lastly, it’s totally a coincidence Erina encountering Jouchirou.

Senzaemon was hiding behind the scenes during Erina’s first encounter with Souma. As we all known, it’s simply coincidence that Erina happened to be the one assigned to do the judging for Souma’s entrance exam.

Senzaemon overrided Erina’s assessment and allowed Souma to enroll in Tootsuki. It just so happens to be a coincidence that he happened to be nearby to examine their interactions with one another like he did during the entrance exam.

Erina notes early on in the manga she keeps running into Souma one too many times, like Souma’s stall being right next to hers during the Training Camp Arc. As we all know, it’s nothing more than a coincidence that both were given an opportunity to witness how the other cooks and that they’d get competitive with one another.

Senzaemon keeps peeking in on their interactions, like the one that occurred during the Autumn Elections in ch. 83. Totally coincidental.

Erina griped about sitting next to Souma in class when he was thinking about how to enhance his beef stew. Totally coincidental the two sitting next to one another.

Senzaemon grouped Erina with father and son during mock battles. Nothing to see here folks. Totally coincidental.

Senzaemon’s neverending grin as he watched Erina’s and Souma’s interactions with one another as they competed against Eishi and Rindou. Again, entirely coincidental.

Oh, and here’s this scene:

He friggin asked Souma to save his granddaughter. But like everything else, it’s entirely coincidental.

While some of their interactions are coincidental (i.e., Souma and Erina being the same age), the rest is not (i.e., Erina being assigned to Souma’s entrance exam). Remember, Senzaemon has spent years attempting to get Souma enrolled in Tootsuki. Any guess as to why? It’s to serve as a pretext of meeting Erina. While Senzaemon’s reasons haven’t been clarified, it’s clear from how much effort Senzaemon has spent creating opportunities for the two to meet and study their interactions that he has an ulterior motive in mind. At bare minimum, Senzaemon is eyeing ways of bringing the fiercely independent Yukihira family into his clan’s sphere of influence. It’s also clear to him that Erina’s feelings for Souma over the past year have changed from hostility to admiration to something stronger now.

As pics are worth a thousand words, it’s gone from this:

To this:

Not bad, eh? No matter how you slice it, their relationship has improved tremendously since their initial encounter.

Erina’s importance to Souma’s character development is that she is the reason Souma was enrolled in Tootsuki Academy, which in turn brought about Souma’s character development (i.e., learning that there were plenty of people his age who were superior to him, like Erina) and sharpening his culinary skills (i.e., he’s become competent enough to give his Elite Ten peers a run for their money).

One last thing to consider is that Erina will serve as a catalyst in bringing about Souma’s insecurities regarding his mother. We don’t know much about Mrs. Yukihira, but we do know that her death had a huge impact on her son’s personality. We all know the current arc is shit, but it’s important in the sense that Erina’s feud with her mother is causing Souma’s suppressed emotions regarding his mother to surface. The story hasn’t dwelt much on Souma’s insecurities, but it’s possible after BLUE his insecurities relating to his mother’s death will be the final focus for the series.

The Main Plot

From reading this section, you may be thinking, “But Franckie! Didn’t you say the series was character-driven?!” Yes, I did. But just because a series is primarily character-driven doesn’t mean there aren’t plot-driven elements either. In Shokgeki no Soma’s case, the main plot revolves around the current state of the culinary world and Tootsuki Academy’s impact on said world. The main characters’ respective storylines all revolve around this major plotline to various degrees.

Readers often forget that Tootsuki Academy isn’t just a culinary school, but an international juggernaut in the food business. It’s better to think of the Tootsuki Group as a multinational conglomerate, similar to other famous companies like Walmart and Google. The organization’s reach is international and is the de facto power broker in the Japanese culinary world. From the very beginning, we, the readers, could tell there was something wrong with the academy, and the culinary world by proxy, from the second chapter. We see this with how Souma is treated by a prospective student:

Here in this one scene we learn students are elitist bigots who look down on plebeian chefs like Souma and the Yukihira diner. We also discover that the Tootsuki Group, which is symbolized by Nakiri Erina, reinforces this discriminatory attitude via abusing her authority:

Sometimes harsh words are necessary but in Erina’s case we learn she has ended the careers of countless chefs and establishments with her judgments. In the subsequent scene, she calls the prospective students who ran away hopeless garbage and is preparing to test new recipes when Souma appears out of nowhere to challenge her. Just as Erina embodies the elitism of the culinary world, Souma embodies the challenge to the status quo. Their reactions to this tasting scene showcases this:

For the record, there is a reason why Erina asked Souma to make an egg dish, of all things. According to the International Egg Commission, the average Japanese person eats around 320 eggs (tamago) per year, placing Japan in the Top 3 worldwide. As the highlighted article indicates:

“Eggs are enjoyed in many sweet and savory dishes, such as the famous (or infamous) breakfast egg dish called tamagokake-gohan, a raw egg mixed with hot steamed rice and seasoned with a drizzle of soy sauce (i.e., what Souma made). Other popular egg dishes include om-rice, a rice-filled omelet; pudding (or purin), the Japanese version of caramel flan; and chawanmushi, a savory steamed egg custard.

However, these quintessentially Japanese dishes were not widely eaten until fairly recent times.

Domestic chickens were introduced to Japan from China via Korea around 2,500 years ago, but eggs were used for medicinal purposes and as sacred offerings rather than as food. Egg consumption was banned periodically from the 14th century, since they were usually included in several Buddhism-based anti-animal consumption edicts (although curiously, eating chickens was OK). It only became acceptable to eat eggs in the Edo Period (1603-1867), albeit as a luxury item. Even in the early 20th century, the average Japanese only ate about 40 eggs per year.

It wasn’t until after World War II that egg consumption really took off. Foods that were high in protein and calcium were deemed to be critical to improving the damaged health of the Japanese population, and the government and the media pushed hard to increase the consumption of eggs, dairy products and meat. By the 1960s, eggs were a household staple. One of the catchphrases that defined the 1960s and ’70s was “Kyojin, Taiho, tamagoyaki,” the three things most loved by children — the Yomiuri Giants (Kyojin) baseball team, a popular sumo grand champion, and the sweet-savory omelet that is now a firm staple of bentō boxed lunches.”

Long story short: Egg dishes are incredibly important to Japanese cuisine. Hence Erina, a culinary critic, asking Souma, a chef, to make a dish that involves a staple in Japanese cuisine (eggs) since World War II. Eggs are one means the author embodies the culinary world in this series.

Getting back on topic, Erina fails Souma out of spite, but this decision is overturned by her grandfather, Senzaemon. Over the course of the series, we see Souma slowly challenging the status quo. We see this in his Shokugeki with Nikumi, for example. In fact, Nikumi fails because her ingredients were too high-class for the theme they were supposed to serve the judges. Erina’s distaste of the event also highlights her continued irritation with Souma’s presence. More importantly, we see Souma beginning to gather allies and just as Souma learns from his peers, his peers learn from him. Megumi, for example, is shown to have begun experimenting with honey after watching Souma use it for a last-minute improvisation to the dish they served to an instructor.

Bit-by-bit, through his sheer force of skill and personality, Souma gains the attention of the powers-that-be (i.e., the Elite Ten Council) and is allowed to participate in events like the Autumn Elections. Here he continues to irritate Erina to no end, but what is often missed is the fact that Erina literally cannot stop thinking about Souma. Heck, we even have an anime filler scene showcasing this:

Despite her inability to admit it, Souma has Erina’s undivided attention. Also, over time, Erina slowly comes to acknowledge Souma’s unorthodox cooking style and influence on the academy, as showcased during the Moon Banquet Festival:

Bit-by-bit, we see their respective storylines merging with the overall plotline of the series. This merger is cemented by Azami’s arrival, which in turn caused Erina to switch from a background character to the focal character.

For people who are unfamiliar with storytelling, the focal character is the character on whom the audience is meant to be place the majority of their interest and attention because at this point Erina is the person whom the spotlight focuses; the center of attention; the character whose reactions dominate the screen. Afterwards, it took about a good 30 chapters, but Erina’s transition to protagonist became complete around chapter 170.

For people who are unfamiliar with storytelling, if we go way back to the ancient Greeks, protagonist simply means “player of the first part, chief actor.” This is the person who drives the plot. He makes things happen. He is the vortex at the center of the cyclone. Without him, you may have an interesting situation, great settings, and a charming supporting cast--but they’re just gonna sit there and look pretty. (This is the reason Souma is the protagonist of the series overall.) These chapters are important because they transform Erina into a more active, assertive character who becomes a catalytic force within the story.

Besides Azami, this merger of plotlines is cemented by Jouchirou’s presence. Jouchirou embodies Erina’s and Souma’s storylines. He is the role model for both chefs and both seek his approval. Furthermore, his background indicates he was insecure (like Erina) and unorthodox (like Souma). Unlike them, however, Jouchirou never left his mark on Tootsuki Academy as he caved under pressure and spent many years wandering the world, perfecting his highly unorthodox culinary style. It is Souma and Erina who will succeed where he failed, notably in setting up a learning environment that encourages innovation. Like Souma, he is a character who challenges the status quo, but unlike his son, only set the stage.

Chapters 167 - 171 are a continuation of what occurred too of when Souma and Erina met each other for the first time. Originally Souma cooked Erina an egg recipe crafted by his father; however, this time he cooked Erina an egg recipe he himself had created. Erina’s response:

Erina has an intense foodgasm. Furthermore, we have other scenes that indicate the merging of plotlines with one another:

Developments over the past 100+ chapters have reinforced this tipping point in the story. For example, there’s this scene:

Erina and Souma spent an entire month training under Jouchirou. This act pushed Souma’s skills to the point he was about mid-tier regarding the Elite 10 and pushed Erina’s skills to the point she could give Eishi a run for his money. The climax of the Azami Saga arrives during the tag-team between Erina and Souma vs. Rindou and Eishi.

What did Souma accomplish with Erina’s help?

He created a Specialty dish in the same tier as Eishi. Thanks to Erina’s assistance, he crafted a dish that combined his unorthodox cooking style with orthodox gourmet techniques.

What did Erina get out of it? She too finally succeeded in developing her own Specialty based on Souma’s own nonsensical cooking:

Erina’s growing similarity to Souma was strongly emphasized during the finale. Furthermore, like chapters 167 - 170, the final match between Souma x Erina vs. Eishi x Rindou was a continuation of what had initially transpired between Souma and Erina. For example, we have both characters’ matching angel motifs:

We also have Erina ripping off Souma’s catchphrase:

Immediately following the conclusion to the Régiment de Cuisine, in chapter 264, we see Erina assuming leadership of the Nakiri Clan, and by proxy, the Tootsuki Conglomerate, as well as the effect Souma had on the student populace:

Here at Tootsuki Academy it became a dishonor to back down from a shokugeki challenge. Souma, with Erina’s backing, had set the unwritten rule that chefs are free to challenge one another in attempts to polish their skills. It’s not clear how long this “revolution” will last but generations that were exposed to the 92nd Generation (Souma’s and Erina’s generation) will have been exposed to this culture and will pass it down to subsequent generations, similar to the long-term effects of Jouchirou’s generation (i.e., the Shiomi Seminar that Akira belongs to).

Regarding the current arc, we all know it’s shit. Nonetheless, it still continues current plot points. It turns out Nakiri Mana runs the World Gourmet Organization and it is unorthodox chefs who have reached BLUE’s finale. (Asahi is a fag lamer, but he is a chef with an unorthodox cooking style.) Souma’s importance to BLUE is him reaching the finales with his unorthodox culinary cooking style, the Yukihira-style. He’s already presented a very, very unorthodox dish as noted by one judge:

We also learn a few more things about the Nakiri Clan, specifically why they rule the Japanese culinary world:

It’s revealed the God Tongue is a trait that runs in the Nakiri Clan. This trait isn’t without its downsides, however. Every single holder of the God Tongue, over the ages, has despaired of cooking and died in agony. The dispute between Asahi and Souma will determine the fate of the Nakiri Clan, and it hints what Senzaemon’s ultimate goal is in his attempt to reel in the fiercely independent Yukihira family. His end-goal is to find a chef he believes has the potential to satisfy Erina’s God Tongue and ensure she doesn’t end up in the same situation as her predecessors (i.e., Mama Nakiri). Keep in mind the author made it clear this chapter that every single holder of the God Tongue died in despair. As a possessor of the God Tongue, Erina will suffer the same fate as her mother unless something drastic occurs. We’ll have to stay tuned in to find out what’s really going on here with Senzaemon’s behind-the-scenes machinations.

Additional Material

It’s repeatedly mentioned in the manga that Erina’s and Souma’s fates are interwoven with one another. Besides the pilot hapter, here are two images that reinforce this notion:

This isn’t surprising. From the get-go, Erina was originally intended to be a love interest to Souma. Here we have Jouchirou imparting advice to Souma on what he needs to do to become an excellent chef:

And what happens on the next page?

Erina appears. This is an “Answer Cut”. An Answer Cut is a literary device where a character asks a question, and the movie/comic/show/whatever cuts, pans, or otherwise shifts to an image of the implied answer. In this case, towards the end of Chapter 1, Jouichirou tries to tell Souma the secret to becoming a good chef: to find a woman that will make him want to give all the food he makes to her. The next page cuts to Erina's first appearance in the manga. This scene hints of Erina’s importance in fulfilling Souma’s potential (i.e., the specialty dish he created during his tag-team match against Eishi x Rindou).

Additional material supports a budding romance between Souma x Erina. During the 2015 Jump Fiesta Stage Event, Tsukuda-sensei  mentioned Erina is not actually Souma's true route but just the first candidate for it. Erina has gained ground since then, however. In a recent interview, the mangaka admits he originally favored Megumi but over time has warmed up to Erina considerably:

Q: There's a lot of debate online as to who is better for Soma (or just better in general) – Megumi or Erina. Do you like one of the characters better than the other? Did you deliberately set them up as opposites for romantic reasons or to show how Soma treats everyone equally?

A: So there was a secondary theme of “yes, let's see who Soma's girlfriend or future wife would be”, but as the story's been going along we realize Soma's personality – he doesn't understand romance. He only focuses on cooking. That was the original intent, but we've been derailed from that since.

Personally, I was originally more on the Megumi side, but as I've been writing more for Erina, I've been drawn to her more. So I couldn't really say. I hadn't really thought about the way that illustrates Soma treating everyone equally – but now that you mention it, it is part of his personality!

Erina is the leading contender to snag Souma’s heart, as indicated with the ¡Saiyome! Heroine Ranking:

The translation is:

The partner to whom Souma would like to dedicate his everything... as expected, the strongest are Erina and Tadokoro!!

1st Nakiri Erina The girl who Souma wants to hear "it's good" from. She began to open her heart after Souma freed her from Azami's (seal?) with his dish.

2nd Tadokoro Megumi After being saved many times by Souma, she begins to (can't read) of Souma. Lately her screentime seems to be taken by Erina...

3rd Mito Ikumi Shows affection toward Souma but (--) can't be honest with herself.

4th Kurase Mayumi

Then you have this scene from the video game highlighting how their fates are intertwined with one another:

The translation is:

Isshiki: “But you know, there’s a common trope in shoujo manga where a boy and heroine that have bad first impressions of each other end up becoming a couple after lots of bickering.”

Erina: “…W-W-What!?”

Souma: “You read shoujo manga, Isshiki-senpai?”

Isshiki: “I’ve borrowed some from the girls in our dorm.”

Isshiki: ‘Being repelled could mean that they have feeling for you, too. Who knows, someday you two might also…”

Erina; “Won’t! Please refrain from telling jokes in such poor taste, Isshiki-senpai… N-Now if you’ll excuse me.”

With the current arc, the mangaka is becoming more blatant when it comes to shipteasing. For example, we have this scene in chapter 278 when Souma actually showed a reaction toward the opposite sex for once. For a long time he’s come off as asexual:

You can read a more in-depth analysis here.

I’ll let you in on another fun fact: Did you know raw and over easy eggs symbolize the moon? What’s an important staple food exclusive between Erina and Souma? Eggs!

Prior to the above scene, Souma had made an offhand comment about Nikumi being “cute”. He’s never been explicit about his interest in the opposite sex till now. There are hints too from Erina that she desires Souma. In Erina’s case, she only FOODGASMS to Souma’s food:

And she did blush at Souma stating, “Nakiri’s mine.”

It doesn’t take a genius to quickly realize the author likes trolling his fans on this type of stuff. Consider this interesting scene in the series’ Extras section. For example, consider Volume 24:

One of volume 24's extra drawings has Erina and Souma splashing Takumi with paint. They make a Squid Girl reference by asking him "nurekaena-ika?" (Squid Girl’s verbal tic is adding -ika and their outfits and painting gear don't look out of place on a Splatoon character.)

Shoutouts are very common in this series. For example, did you know the barbarian outfit Rindou wears in Chapter 220 is nigh-identical to the Barbarian Armor from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? There’s a unique shoutout that both Erina and Souma share, and that is from Fate/Stay Night. 

On the left, you have a blatant reference to Archer’s Unlimited Blade Works.  This is further emphasized by the fact that these swords break during the battle, forcing Souma to grab more against Saitou, just as Archer did against Lancer and Shirou did against Archer. On the right, you have a blatant reference to Saber. Prior to that scene, you have a character commenting on Erina being Joan D’Arc. This is a stealth reference to Fate/Stay Night where Artoria Pendragon and Joan D’Arc are routinely confused for one another. 

Finally, the two are frequently paired off in similar situations, like the following:

In conclusion, Souma and Erina have a special relationship with one another since the pilot chapter. Their fates are intertwined with one another because their respective story arcs are dependent upon each other for resolution. Furthermore, their relationship is destined to revolutionize the culinary world. It’s possible Tsukuda-sensei won’t pair anybody but from a storytelling perspective, it makes the most sense to pair Souma x Erina with one another.

Alright, that’s enough for now. I finally got around to keeping my promise on this long overdue post. 

[franckie-108]

hope you're feeling better... looking forward to that sorina analysis esp in light of the latest manga arc :O (i'm not the same as previous asker)

This response is long overdue, but thanks for the support. I haven’t done anything with my blog because my motivation went down the drain thanks to unexpected complications I had from my previous surgeries. I’ve physically recovered enough to the point though I’m able to walk now, albeit with difficulty. With that development my motivation to blog has been (somewhat) rekinded. I’m in the process of rereading Shokugeki no Soma so I can give a holistic assessment of Sorina. I think my analysis will be done by the end of the month. Keeping my word took a lot longer than I anticipated, but hey, better late than never, right?