Soma is one of the most character-driven manga I've ever read. It's absurd to say otherwise.
Food Wars - It's In the Trash
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How do you define a character driven story though? I'm just curious.
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How do you define a character driven story though? I'm just curious.
For plot driven you look if external factors drive the story forward in Lord of the Rings it's Sauron's chase for the ring. This is the main motivation that moves everything.
Or another example the Hunger games where it's the society and the hunger games themselves that drive the plot the characters there have to deal with it no matter what.! Like how Katniss reluctantly accepts being the lead of the revolution despite her own feelings on the matter.For character driven you look at internal factors, the first Rambo is a character driven film. The plot moves in a very specific direction because of his motivation which is shaped by his background as a war veteran. Taxi driver(movie) is another good example of that.
You always want to look at how events relate to each other. Don't make the mistake that because a character finds himself in a situation where he has to react to something that it instantly means the story changed to being plot driven. Always look at the causality of it all.
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You can read about it here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=a2gb0virzj6ngb8n2jcnm1pv. But of course there's not a sharp line between each group. There are stories that has both sides. Like SnS: it's character driven because the plot is about how Soma manage to get the top and manage to beat his father and… etc. But it's also plot driven, if you read it looking at the battle between styles of cooking; in this respect the author also tries to say something about Academy style cooking vs cooking for masses, or about caring about what you cook (the put your soul topic in what you cook) as in the lessons taken by Soma and Megumi in this tourney. But it's prominent the character driven side.
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How do you define a character driven story though? I'm just curious.
Character-driven: the events of the story surround the development of its characters. The plot is defined relative to the characters.
Plot-driven: the story surrounds an event. The characters are defined relative to the plot.LOTR was brought up before as a classic plot-driven story, because the story was about the return of Sauron and the characters were responding to his threat. If Frodo died before the ring got to Mount doom, you still wouldn't have closure until you learned the ultimate fate of the ring or the conflict as a whole. Soma, though, is about Soma and his friends growing up as chefs and the crazy things they do. If Soma died next chapter, there wouldn't really be anything left to go off on. Give him a funeral and mention what happened to his friends, but that's it. It wouldn't be a good ending, but that's because you'd be left wondering what Soma would have done if he didn't die.
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Thanks Darthasthma, Ukimix and Wagomu for the reply.
I will still need to read more to understand the whole thing a bit better.
Using some examples:
Harry Potter, One Piece, One-punch man, How to train your dragon, Big Hero 6 would be considered character driven story?
While Assassination classroom and Star Wars would be considered plot-driven story? -
Thanks Darthasthma, Ukimix and Wagomu for the reply.
I will still need to read more to understand the whole thing a bit better.
Using some examples:
Harry Potter, One Piece, One-punch man, How to train your dragon, Big Hero 6 would be considered character driven story?
While Assassination classroom and Star Wars would be considered plot-driven story?Haven't seen Big Hero 6 so no idea. The first how to train your dragon is definitely character driven, One Piece too.
I haven't read all of One Punch man yet(read up to King's first appearance) but from what I've read I personally wouldn't put in on either side because when you look at OPM it's structure resembles way more how jokes are constructed. With buildup into the literal punchline in this case. And dunno are all people walk into a bar jokes plot driven? Are blonde jokes character driven? :D Let's not go there.
Harry Potter is actually weird because I want to say it's kind of both(if I had to put it somewhere though I'd say plot driven) because it balances it out so well but it's been a while(like years) since I've read the whole series. So I won't argue against someone on this that did an in depth analysis over all 7 books.
You also got AssClass and StarWars right.
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Blargh caught up.
This 3 way final stinks of the author realizing that neither of the other 2 finalists is anywhere near enough interesting to theme a final around. It kinda sucks that Soma's previous 2 matches were way more interesting than this.
- ofc this is a character driven story, there ain't some grand cooking mystery going on in the background
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Thanks Darthasthma, Ukimix and Wagomu for the reply.
I will still need to read more to understand the whole thing a bit better.
Using some examples:
Harry Potter, One Piece, One-punch man, How to train your dragon, Big Hero 6 would be considered character driven story?
While Assassination classroom and Star Wars would be considered plot-driven story?Going by the definitions given in this thread I'm not sure about Harry Potter or One Piece.
For Harry Potter very little of the story comes about because of Harry's own decisions: he is thrown into a wizard school and has to react to Voldemort and Dumbledore's plans, he has little choice in the matter.
And a lot of the impetus for One Piece is based on the mission of finding the treasure and the World Government's secrets being revealed. But I'm not sure about it since they are Luffy and Robin's dreams respectively. -
Going by their definitions I'm not sure about Harry Potter or One Piece.
For Harry Potter very little of the story comes about because of Harry's own decisions: he is thrown into a wizard school and has to react to Voldemort and Dumbledore's plans, he has little choice in the matter.
And a lot of the impetus for One Piece is based on the mission of finding the treasure and the World Government's secrets being revealed. But I'm not sure about it since they are Luffy and Robin's dreams respectively.One Piece as a whole is a story about dreams of these specific people and the story moves forward based on that. Everything that happens is in servitude to that. So character driven it is. It's a bit wonky to pinpoint though because the characters are somewhat static. But think about things like Rayleigh being able to tell them about One Piece but Luffy totally undercutting him to the point of even stopping his journey if he told them.
That's why I say always look at how things relate to each other just because they're caught on Dressrosa right now and have to deal with all that doesn't mean it's suddenly plot driven.
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Character-driven and plot-driven isn't a binary thing, it's a spectrum. For long and/or continuing stories, those things can shift a lot over time. If you look at AssClass, it definitely has a driving plot that all characters are reacting to, but the series has a big focus on the individual characters and has a bunch of character-driven arcs within it. Likewise, though One Piece overall might be considered character-driven since the story follows Luffy's motivations and desires, a lot of the arcs contain big plot elements which push him more than he pushes them, like Alabasta.
Soma is one of those neat cases, though, where it's pretty much entirely character-driven. If Soma lost to Subaru, we wouldn't give a shit about the rest of the tournament and would then focus on Soma's adventures as a lawyer or something.
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Objection!
the witness strips off her lies along with some other garments
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Character-driven and plot-driven isn't a binary thing**, it's a spectrum**. For long and/or continuing stories, those things can shift a lot over time. If you look at AssClass, it definitely has a driving plot that all characters are reacting to, but the series has a big focus on the individual characters and has a bunch of character-driven arcs within it. Likewise, though One Piece overall might be considered character-driven since the story follows Luffy's motivations and desires, a lot of the arcs contain big plot elements which push him more than he pushes them, like Alabasta.
Soma is one of those neat cases, though, where it's pretty much entirely character-driven. If Soma lost to Subaru, we wouldn't give a shit about the rest of the tournament and would then focus on Soma's adventures as a lawyer or something.
Very true. Plot driven , character driven they're minimalist descriptors at the end of the day so by nature they simplify stuff and the more complex a story is the more moot of an exercise it becomes so one should always be aware of that.
It's like trying to point out main plot and sub plot in a Song of Ice and Fire sometimes it's better not to do it. -
Well the difference is we don't know what is a subplot/main storyline in ASOIAF until the series is over or at least until we have a clear and definite end game in sight. GRRM alone knows where his tangled plotlines go. While character focus/story focus is usually pretty obvious from the beginning in how the story structures itself. In this case we have a vague goal for a character (to be the bestest chef ever) and then we follow his wacky adventures as he gets there. Even if he doesn't end up being the bestest chef ever at the end, we as the audience don't feel cheated because the story was about the journey, not the goal.
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I do agree with what Wagomu said about character/plot driven thing. I find it difficult to pinpoint which category a story belong to because they can be both at the same time. It become a case of more likely/less likely to belong in which category. It's also pretty subjective.
Regarding AssClass, while there is a lot of character driven arc, the overarching plot is the most important aspect of the story. Even if half of the main cast weren't able to continue the assassination mission, the story still goes on because Koro-sensei still has to be killed no matter what. So, I actually find it more likely to be plot driven story. Again, this is subjective and can't be pinpoint exactly.
One piece also does have its plot-driven moment, the whole Void century plot. But it's still Luffy's goal that takes center stage.
On the side note, I want to see a spinoff featuring Soma as a lawyer. I would have love it if the author has done a sequence where Soma was a lawyer and we have to be reminded it is a cooking manga.XD
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Question, have we seen Soma himself foodgasm yet?
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Well, Souma did have a reaction when he ate Isshiki's food in the early chapters. I think there was one for Hayama's too.
Not the full blown kind though. -
Question, have we seen Soma himself foodgasm yet?
Yes, when he tasted for the first time a dish made by Hayama. Don't remember the chapter.
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Soma is a premature foodgasm eyaculator, he just climax right there, before any fancy costumes.
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Before I'm off to drawing classes super short
! Senzaemon is in favor of Soma.
Doujima is in favor of Kurokiba.
Alice's mom is in favor of Hayama.
! They can't agree.
Seems like they're busting out a special judge that will decide.
! –----------------------------------
massive eye roll
! worst precedent set ever confirmed no wonder gods tongue is such a big deal with so much incompetence -
This is exactly why a draw never should be an option.
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Spoiler changed seems was fake gonna do new one when im home
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As promised
! Ok the new spoiler begins with a flashback?
Jouichirou is talking with Isshiki about Soma.
About how he saw something special in Soma although he only learned cooking techniques that were used in a special of the day shop.
Long explanations about what the soup is Senzaemons clothes are bursting into pieces after tasting it(I think just an image).
Jouichirou talks about how Soma no matter what genius he might face even if he might lose that he has the strength to challenge his own shortcomings.
! Judging next week -
! Jouichirou talks about how Soma no matter what genius he might face even if he might lose that he has the strength to challenge his own shortcomings.
! The father talking about how he behaves when he loses?…. Like a premonition that he will lose...
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! The father talking about how he behaves when he loses?…. Like a premonition that he will lose...
! Nah, having looked the chineslation, it's obvious that Soma's won.
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! does soma know who his mother is? her foodgasm looked like she got in touch with something she hadnt seen in a long while. something familiar, soma`s dads cooking for exsample
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! This chapter is becoming really really interesting.
! I wonder if this page is a forshadow of what Erina will discover about how terrific Soma's cooking can be:
! >!
! I mean, we have Yukihira, Soma and Erina. Erina admires Yuhikira and, by now, despises and rejects Soma's cooking.
But… in the first pages of this chapter Yukihira says something about how terrific Soma's cooking can be. The circle is closing: how will it be when she sees that something special that her admired Yukihira admires about his son's cooking? Because the admired one also admires his son... Will it be squared admiration? -
! The father talking about how he behaves when he loses?…. Like a premonition that he will lose...
No he isn't talking about when he loses he is describing his attitude towards problem solving.
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ok with the full raw out I can clarify some stuff that was just really awkward to guess from the spoilers.
I actually like this chapter it does something pretty interesting with a little throwback.
! So first of all the chapter starts with Isshiki and Jouichirou talking and Isshiki brings up how unexpected it is that Soma was the son of a former seat. Jouichirou agrees jokingly that the connection is hard to make and brings up how the only thing Soma ever learned were skills needed for a special of the day shop. He jokes about how that's quite the fit for a place where all the elites gather.
Isshiki comments that from the time when he got challenged by Soma he had an inkling about how he would stir things up at the school.
! We proceed to Eizan and Isshiki talking about Soma's unfavorable showing in the newspaper and Eizan deflects that's because he's the hated transfer student(because of that stunt he pulled at the introduction).
! Lots of cooking stuff, explanation of the white soup, I'll leave that to the actual chapter for you to enjoy.
! Now the interesting thing. Isshiki hints at a different reason for why Soma hasn't been super popular among most of his fellow chefs.
! We see a flashback of Soma telling his dad that he'll become a chef to beat him. Jouichirou gives him some light encouragement.
! In the same panel we see Jouichirou's thoughts explaining that he didn't see any special talent for cooking in Soma when he grew up.
So he didn't really harbor a strong desire for him to become a chef he would have been fine with whatever Soma chose for himself.
! He writes Soma's challenge of as a childish dream and that he'll get bored of it at some point after losing a few times more.
But as we all know it didn't go that way. Jouichirou talks about how Soma has the ability to preserve and that he is able to take one step at a time to close in on his goals.
! At that time he understood that Soma lacks the common attitude of giving yourself up to fate. He talks about how everyone has thought at some point "It couldn't have been helped that I lost to someone with talent". Whereas Soma has the strength to face whatever he lacks.
A strenght Jouichirou comments on he himself didn't possess.
! We go back to the present and Isshiki concludes that the reason why people(we see all the no name faces) didn't acknowledge Soma is that acknowledging him means accepting that they themselves haven't put forth enough effort.
(The thing that made me like this chapter) We have a kind of uprising moment where people all agree how incredible Soma is. (Soma inspiring all the no name cooks :P).
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I think what makes this moment interesting for me is the fact that it kind of ties back to that panel where it was hinted that Soma will make the flowers of shokugeki bloom(or something like that). Let's see if this is a one off or if the author is going somewhere with this. -
Soma is out in English Jump (WHich is actually going to be free for a few weeks in the countries where you can get it). It's a good chapter, and I like the message of not giving up in the face of failure
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I loved that chapter. I feared that I wouldn't like the finals but I changed my mind after this chapter. I now understand the writer's decision not making it a 1 vs 1.
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New chapter at mangabird.
Don't know who is leonora's beloved. But its not impossible that she was once in jouichiro's harem. Like father like son eh..
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It feels kinda jarring to see "happy to serve!" instead of "it wasn't much!".
Just a result of being used to seeing the latter for so long, I guess.
It's not wrong, it's just a potato/tomato thing. You get used to one way of saying it, then it feels weird to hear the other. -
New chapter at mangabird.
Don't know who is leonora's beloved. But its not impossible that she was once in jouichiro's harem. Like father like son eh..
could she be the woman in the picture
http://www.mangabird.com/shokugeki-no-soma-1?page=44that would mean soma and alice are brother and sister?
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I hope we will soon learn more about the director sons (Erina's father and Alice's father that we see in this chapter).
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The chapter gives an interesting reason to potentially have new first year chefs pop up and start excelling. That was the thing when looking at the tournament. If we're already seeing the best this class has to offer, where does the story go from here, especially if we're following Soma and his class throughout the three years?
But if Soma's performance is meant to start a bloom at the school, having new chefs start trying harder after feeling motivated by Soma's performance is a pretty good reason.
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The chapter gives an interesting reason to potentially have new first year chefs pop up and start excelling. That was the thing when looking at the tournament. If we're already seeing the best this class has to offer, where does the story go from here, especially if we're following Soma and his class throughout the three years?
But if Soma's performance is meant to start a bloom at the school, having new chefs start trying harder after feeling motivated by Soma's performance is a pretty good reason.
catching up to the main character is hardly ever done (accept the i accept the devil and have a chance now). i dont think the manga will take us in to the third year. he is now at the top 4 of his year. by next year he needs to be better as the people who are now 2th year. because he wont get a chance to beat them if the graduate. i only see the story progressing after the 2th year if he leaves for the best coocking school in the world or there is something like a worldcup(could also be done at the end of 2th year though)
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What chapter was Soma versus Alice?
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Around 20 chapters ago, this has been a long arc.
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I really don't think all the first years are done after Soma wins this (and that's excluding Erina for obvious reasons). Takumi will probably continue to be an ongoing rival for the rest of the series, and others like Tadakoro and ALice are definitely going to continue doing stuff. Also, keep in mind that the second and third years will probably be tougher seeing as they've managed to stay in the school, and that once Soma becomes a second year there is always the potential of a new threat coming in from a younger class. And then there's the possibility of transfer students coming in as well
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Ever since the director called them the "jewels generation", I've been convinced that most of the first years will remain relevant until the end of the story even if Souma won the election.
It won't just be Souma vs the Elite Ten but all that generation vs them and a competition inside that generation to get the highest seats.
I doubt the author will skip showing how characters besides Souma will enter the Elite Ten.
Also, I'm quite sure that Souma won't remain undefeated for long by all those first years he "defeated" directly or indirectly in that election. -
Ever since the director called them the "jewels generation", I've been convinced that most of the first years will remain relevant until the end of the story even if Souma won the election.
It won't just be Souma vs the Elite Ten but all that generation vs them and a competition inside that generation to get the highest seats.
I doubt the author will skip showing how characters besides Souma will enter the Elite Ten.
Also, I'm quite sure that Souma won't remain undefeated for long by all those first years he "defeated" directly or indirectly in that election.Yeah, We're definitely going to get stories focused more on the other important characters and not just Soma. And Takumi is almost certainly going to beat Soma at some point in order to get the mezzaluna back
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I wonder if there is going to be some kind of conflict or uncertainty during the decision. I would find it weird if the culmination of all these matches just turned into a straight forward decisive victory.
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the chapter reminded me that we use to put some snaks in creams:
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The snaks are this ones:
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I enjoyed this chapter a lot. I love how the author gave a very satisfying explanation for the “underdog” treatment of Soma. I was starting to think the students are idiots for looking down on Soma.
Souma inspire his fellow student to work harder is pretty cool. It will be great to see more of the previously unknown students becoming more successful. Though I only expect it from those who qualify for the tournament for reasons. Also, as other pointed out, Soma's friends would definitely be relevant in the future.
It is also interesting that Soma's dad didn't even think he could be a chef.I was a bit bored and decided to do a bit of math…
! Tootsuki started out with 980 first year student.
! After training camp, only 628 remains, 352 expelled.
! Out of the 628 students, only 60 students were selected to participate in the preliminary for the Autumn Election. 567 students didn’t qualify. (Excluding Erina)
! If assumed that only those chosen 60 students and Erina can successfully continue their second year, the expulsion rate is 93.78%.
! Tootsuki is really tough.lol
! *If they can’t even qualify to showcase their skills in front of VIP, I don’t think the school would want to keep them. Considering how badly some of the students did in the election (scoring only around 30~ marks), they are most certainly on the chopping block.
! **As of chapter 102, the Autumn Election arc totalled 55 chapters. In other words, the arc takes up 53.92% of the story. If I included the pre-autumn election preparation, it would be even longer. Since the Election has been such a BIG DEAL, I guess it’s a huge factor to making into the second year. Unless the author pulls out a final exam arc… -
I enjoyed this chapter a lot. I love how the author gave a very satisfying explanation for the “underdog” treatment of Soma. I was starting to think the students are idiots for looking down on Soma.
Souma inspire his fellow student to work harder is pretty cool. It will be great to see more of the previously unknown students becoming more successful. Though I only expect it from those who qualify for the tournament for reasons. Also, as other pointed out, Soma's friends would definitely be relevant in the future.
It is also interesting that Soma's dad didn't even think he could be a chef.I was a bit bored and decided to do a bit of math…
! Tootsuki started out with 980 first year student.
! After training camp, only 628 remains, 352 expelled.
! Out of the 628 students, only 60 students were selected to participate in the preliminary for the Autumn Election. 567 students didn’t qualify. (Excluding Erina)
! If assumed that only those chosen 60 students and Erina can successfully continue their second year, the expulsion rate is 93.78%.
! Tootsuki is really tough.lol
! *If they can’t even qualify to showcase their skills in front of VIP, I don’t think the school would want to keep them. Considering how badly some of the students did in the election (scoring only around 30~ marks), they are most certainly on the chopping block.
! **As of chapter 102, the Autumn Election arc totalled 55 chapters. In other words, the arc takes up 53.92% of the story. If I included the pre-autumn election preparation, it would be even longer. Since the Election has been such a BIG DEAL, I guess it’s a huge factor to making into the second year. Unless the author pulls out a final exam arc…It's probably not the only determining factor, given that in chapter 4 they say out of the previous years 812 students, 76 went to the second year. THat said, it could be that they had a bigger election for some reason, though it wouldn't make sense if the first year class is bigger this year
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It's probably not the only determining factor, given that in chapter 4 they say out of the previous years 812 students, 76 went to the second year. THat said, it could be that they had a bigger election for some reason, though it wouldn't make sense if the first year class is bigger this year
I completely forgotten about that.
I highly doubt that they had a bigger election.
While there will definitely be other factors to considered, I think participating in the elections is almost an autopass to the second year. Considering how well some of them did in the election, it would be a shame to expel them just because they did badly in their final exam or something along the line.
As for the remaining 567 students, maybe only around 16~30 would go to their second year based on their final exam results and their potentials. The Elite tens may be the one who actually decides this. -
Shokugeki no Soma in a nutshell :ninja:
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