Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Coming to Toonami

Eagle eyed Toonami faithful were sure to notice that the final episode of The Promised Neverland was fast approaching, and with new additions Lupin the Third Part V and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin filling in for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Hunter x Hunter already, there was a big question as to which series would be joining the line-up to take the new open spot. Thankfully, that mystery has been solved at last!

Joining Adult Swim’s Toonami programming block on July 6th is Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma. With some schedule shake-ups, the official Toonami Facebook page announced it’ll air at 1:00 AM EST. That’s probably the best time slot for the series.

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma was originally created by Yuto Tsukuda with illustrations by Shun Saeki for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 2012. The story follows Soma Yukihira, a young chef who one days wants to get good enough at cooking to take over his family diner from his father. But when he graduates from middle school, his father shuts down his diner and tells Soma to enroll into Totsuki Academy, an elite cooking school where only one percent of students who enroll actually graduate.

It was adapted into an anime series by J.C. staff and ran for three seasons. So that gives this series ample time to run as part of the Toonami block should it prove popular with fans. It’s been popular for during its initial releases for sure, and that popularity was even rewarded with a fourth season of the anime premiering this October. But it can be a pretty divisive series.

Serving as an action series without very much physical action between characters, this series makes up the difference in ways that help it stand out from other food series. When characters have a particularly strong reaction to food, these moments are littered with absurd fan service. Resulting in nudity, implied nudity, ridiculous imagery, or a combination of all three, these reactions are part of the reason why the series has been as popular as it has.

With the manga run of the series officially ended as well, this will be a great way for old and new fans alike to experience Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma before the fourth season of the series premieres later this year. It’ll certainly be much different than every other show on the block.