All-rounder Artist

The author had uploaded three chapters.

After finishing the first chapter, Lu Wei couldn’t help but read the remaining two. From the protagonist successfully defending his small restaurant to joining Totsuki Academy under his father’s arrangement, the plot continued to captivate Lu Wei. Moreover, the subsequent plot confirmed Lu Wei’s guess that the protagonist’s father was indeed unusual. Although it wasn’t explicitly revealed in the story, this made Lu Wei look forward to the protagonist’s performance in this top-notch culinary school even more!

Lu Wei was not alone.

Like him, there were some casual readers who had stumbled upon ‘Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma¹ and were completely captivated. So, not long after the manga was released, the comment section went into a frenzy:

“Such sensual art style!”

“The author is a master storyteller!”

“A food-induced climax, really?”

“The protagonist puts aphrodisiacs in the food!”

“The plot is so exaggerated and embarrassing, but after finishing the first chapter, I surprisingly couldn’t stop. I thought I would never find food comics interesting again till I read ‘Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma’. The perfect combination of art style and storyline, I’m loving it.”

“Isn’t this ‘Aphrodisiac no Soma’?”

“There’s a fair amount of fanservice, but overall, I feel the manga is very passionate and inspiring. The protagonist keeps challenging his father with such determination and always seeks reasons for his defeat. I’m very curious to see how much of a culinary genius his father is. Judging by the thrill, it’s a masterpiece.”

“Small restaurant, top chef?”

“Moaning at the aroma, climaxing at the taste, the clothes not ripping is considered a food fail, this art style surprisingly doesn’t feel weird. The food is also incredibly true-to-life and as a chef, I approve of the theories in it. Although I can cook the dishes, I certainly can’t create the explosive excitement experienced by the customers in the comic. But this is exactly what makes the manga fun. If it was too connected to reality, it would lose its appeal.”

“Very satisfying to read!”

“From the sizzling sounds of the cooking process and dazzling golden glow when unveiling the dish, it’s a masochistic pleasure. Each dish is exquisitely detailed and enticing, making you crave even when you can’t eat it. ‘Medicine King’, my soul has been swept away by you.”

Compared to the casual readers, the reactions from Shadow’s fans were even more exaggerated: “I initially rejected the news of Shadow creating an original gourmet manga. I won’t blindly follow just because you’re Shadow. But after reading it, I was stunned by Shadow’s imagination. This isn’t something an ordinary artist can dream of, I’m already a fan!”

“Shadow is awesome!”

“Am I the only one finding this comic hilarious? The segment where the protagonist challenged his father with a dark cuisine really hit my funny bone. The copy meat episode is absolutely explosive!”

“Shadow’s embarrassment level is off the charts!”

“Shadow is both cringey and passionate!”

“If you didn’t mention this is a food manga, I’d almost think it’s a mainstream anime. Despite its culinary setting, the plot gives a whole new dramatic meaning to cooking. We shouldn’t take for granted that Shadow is a mere artist. He knows what readers like.”

Readers who choose gourmet manga can inherently accept the exaggerated setting of customers being conquered by food. In reality, people hardly get excited to such an extreme extent when eating delicious food. Most of them just nod their heads affirmatively and say:

“Not bad.”

“Quite delicious.”

If this realistic reaction was depicted in the manga, it would lose its fun factor. This manga uses exaggerated methods to portray the vulnerability of customers in front of food, combined with the humorous elements abound in the manga, amalgamating both logic and worldview to a consistent degree. Similar to absurd movies, the plot and humor are both exaggerated and unrealistic. But everyone chooses to ignore the unrealistic side, simply enjoying the thrill brought by the exaggerated plot and the joy of taste buds blooming.

before this.

Many of Shadow’s readers firmly believed that Shadow was just an illustrator. After all, his rise to fame with ‘King of the Net’ was largely attributed to the well-constructed plot by Chu Kuang. If he had any creative ability, his first work wouldn’t have been a complete reproduction of the original work, would it?

But now.

Without a scriptwriter, Shadow managed to create ‘Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma’ entirely on his own, changing his fans’ perception. Their previous assumptions were completely shattered.

This reaction was incredibly apparent.

Some even began analyzing in the comments: “Many people have said ‘Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma’ is very passionate. If you think about it carefully, it’s essentially a mainstream manga disguised as a gourmet one. It even belongs to the highest commercial category of invincible protagonists. Judging by the current plot, the protagonist’s father is definitely a super-chef hiding his true identity behind a small restaurant. And the protagonist is clueless about his father’s skills. He constantly learns from his father and even challenges his highly skilled father in cooking. If it’s still hard to understand, just think of the gourmet in terms of power levels in mainstream manga. The protagonist is a high-level expert the moment he is introduced.. His only weakness is being compared to his master-level father, but the protagonist may already be excessively strong compared to other chefs!”