If you are seeing my review now and haven't read the previous books stop what your doing and check it out. If you love culinary books, snarky and ridiculous characters, your typical nothing can get him down main character and a bit of steam then you'll like this series. I loved it, it defiantly felt final and I can accept this ending. My only problem is the fact that this is the end and I'm pretty sad about that. I loved how everything tied together, seeing the progress of the characters over time how much they changed and loved that this book does give a bit of what goes on later on when the final showdown goes on. This was just such a great book and now I'm in the mood for a reread of the series as a whole because it really is that good.

All good things come to an end, and in manga that end is usually after hundreds of chapters. Food Wars! Shokugeki No Soma Volume 36 marks the end of the 315 chapter Shonen Jump manga that has captivated anime lovers, manga readers, and turned us all into foodies. Published in English by VIZ Media, Food Wars! Shokugeki No Soma was created by Yuto Tsukuda and volume 36 features art from Shun Saeki with contributions from Yuki Morisaki. In the previous volume, we saw the beginning of the Blue semi-finals and immense growth for Erina Nakiri. Now, in Food Wars Volume 36, the Blue reaches its climax as Soma clashes with noir chef Asahi in a battle to create the one thing Book Master Mana wants most—a dish the world has never seen.

The crux of the series since Asahi’s appearance has been family. From found family, like Erina has with the Polaris dorm or the way Soma’s old man took in Asahi, to strained family bound by blood. The latter of these focused on when Erina’s family attempted to take over the school. This undercurrent of family dynamics and how they push individual character growth is what has propelled this story beyond its ecchi-nature and made it a dynamic story.

As a final volume, Food Wars Volume 36 has a lot to do. We have to see the finale to Asahi and Soma’s shokugeki and we have to see Erina face off against the winner all while unpacking Erina and her mother’s relationship. This volume does all of these things. The conclusion to Asahi and Soma’s battle is a satisfying one. While Asahi combined the world’s dishes in a complicated aroma bomb, Soma opted to create a humble dish that housed every flavor he has come to learn, nurture, and respect. As this part of the volume explains, Soma wins because of his passion and, to a point, his respect to the chefs he’s beaten over the last 35 volumes. While Asahi’s dish was delicious and complex, his knife crossing style did nothing but emulate flavors and lacked an identity. This breakdown of Mana’s reason for choosing Soma is my favorite part of the volume and unfortunately was wasted by having it be the climax of the semi-finals and not the finale of the series itself.

Instead, though, we see the focus of Food Wars Volume 36 follow the course of the overall series, which is Erina and the Nakiri family. The last half of this volume is focused on unpacking her father’s motives, something we thought we knew in the coup arc, which was to seek justice for Joichiro. That said, the writing widens Erina’s father, Azami’s motivations and in his moment of explanation he connects the dots for the note the series ends on: It’s not about cooking but who you cook for.

We see Soma focus on his family, in Ahasi’s pursuit of Erina, and we learn that he’s seeking motivation. In Azami, we learn that his hatred of inventive cuisine comes from watching the woman he loved lose herself and her passion. This is all good emotional storytelling but it feels slightly detached from the larger series. In fact, in the finals of the Blue, what should have been an epic showdown of Soma finally facing off against Erina, we get an anticlimactic finish that mirrors the first time they met so well that it almost feels empty.

Although Food Wars is 315 chapters plus bonus chapters, for some reason, this conclusion leaves much more to be desired. Even the extra chapter which serves as an epilogue leaves me wanting to know more and feeling like the series didn’t really end. That said, if I’m honest, my disappointment in Food Wars Volume 36 as an ending may come from my high expectations as a fan. There is a lot of work done to round out the emotional core of the series, but the elements of the shokugeki I fell in love with seems lacking.

That said, the first half of this volume is outstanding and deepens the reader’s understanding of not only Soma but his family as well. We get to see memories of his mother, we get to understand more about his home life, and in that, we get to see him as more than just an amazing chef but as a fully rounded character. That alone, makes Food Wars Volume 36 well worth the wait. As a protagonist, Soma has felt empty at times, acting as more of a winning force for the emotions and stories of the characters around him, but here, he shines.

Overall, Food Wars! Shokugeki No Soma Volume 36 marks the end of a ridiculous series with an emotional punch. It’s a good volume, with good storytelling, but it falls short of being truly great. But, then again, that’s the problem with endings, they can’t satisfy every reader.

'Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 36' by Yuto Tsudkuda with art by Shun Saeki is about a young chef named Soma Yukihira and his quest to become an award winning chef.

The finals of the BLUE competition are here, and Yukihira is battling against Erina Nakiri. The winner of this competition wins it all. The dishes that Yukihira serves up consist of a fairly common dish and a challenge dish that has never been seen before. In both cases, he is belittled and underrated (even here after countless successes). After the final outcome, the book ends with a kind of epilogue.

I only just read the first book, which I really liked. My review of this is biased by the fact that I've not read the bulk of this series, but I did still really enjoy it. I like the running gag for what happens to people with tasting good and very bad food. The art is fun.

I received a review copy of this manga from Viz Media and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.

The most memorable part of any meal is the first and last bite. Taking in the final volume satiated a yearning for more stories; giving me a fitting conclusion where all bow out gracefully with the charm that only Yuto Tsukada, Shun Saeki, and Yuki Morisaki can deliver.
This is the final tournament of the series where chefs Yukihira Soma, Nakiri Erina, and Asahi duke it out to win. While these bouts are the bread and butter of the series most of the weight comes from the histories of each of these characters – all explained in flashbacks and internal turmoil complemented best with liberal use of blank space, close-ups, and obligatory orgasmic nakedness. It is fascinating to know more about the family dynamics each person shares in the grander narrative, notably how Erina’s grandfather comes into play as well as Soma’s mother revitalizing Joichiro’s passion for cooking. This volume much like the food cooked unveils the aforementioned grander narrative – how unlikely souls and personalities all culminate into a culinary feast for the artistic spirit; the drive for infinity and variation amongst the “storm” of possibilities.
Soma and Erina prove to be a compelling duo here. Outside of each other’s respective differences in belief, background, and talent, the compatibility of the two goes a step further from the typical “one true pair;” opting instead in the form of a pro-tip: “the trick to being a better chef [is] finding someone who means so much [to you that] you want to give them the best food you’ve ever made.” This is best encapsulated when a teary-eyed Erina, overwhelmed with the doom her God’s Tongue may bring unto her life like her mother and previous generations, is met with a wake-up call from Soma commenting on how “dull” her slop is. And in true fashion, Soma states “seeing you cook with that ugly face of yours means beating you isn’t gonna feel good at all.” The creative team kept the integrity of what this series has been built upon – competition, swagger, and the pursuit of a finer cuisine – in a three paged brief, pivotal exchange.
And like many a dish featured in this story, there is more, or should I say more afterward – an epilogue. The series ends off appropriately and goes the extra mile, depicting them post-grad in their mid-twenties. These stories are a welcomed and fitting addition to the canon. In fact, I would say it furthers the motif of “change” – many characters still retain their original charm, yet much like a longtime friend, you see how much they have grown. In a meta-sense, it serves as a reminder for those who followed its serialization that they too have changed – whether in circumstance or more fittingly - taste. This is an ending that acknowledges the fan’s devotion by paying substantial respect for the characters that they grew to love. And if I had to be honest, the epilogue makes it worth the read.
This is a volume that recognizes its strengths, utilizes its ingredients to its fullest, and concocts a finality fitting for the journey to the light. Recipes, much like their respective chefs, require a tweak and a helping hand to become not only a dish worth serving but a dish worth coming back to; always looking forward to the next variation.

Thank you to Viz and Netgalley for this digital ARC.

And so we have gotten to the final volume of Food Wars! This was a very nice volume. The story wraps up fairly well and we even get to see a bit of where people are in the future. It is certainly a calm ending for what is a rather strong competition genre series.