Episode 50: Tsukasa announces that with the end of the second semester, the Advancement Exam will take place for first year students. However, unlike past exams, all students are guaranteed to pass if they stick to the curriculum and follow Central's orders. Soma and his friends realize that Central will be using the Advancement Exam to eliminate all of the rebels who oppose Azami. As the Polar Star residents begin to lose hope at the situation, Erina visits Soma and confides to him that it was Joichiro's cooking that inspired her to be a chef, but with Azami's return, she's become conflicted over whether she truly wants to cook or not. Soma decides to inspire Erina again by cooking a special Yukihira dish: a tempura bowl that utilizes a fried frozen egg. Upon tasting it, Erina is reminded of how happy she felt tasting Joichiro's cooking, and resolves to oppose Azami. Coming up with a plan, she leaves without telling Soma how his dish tasted. The next morning, Erina gathers all of the Polar Star residents and tells them that she will help them all pass the Advancement Exam.
Episode 51: Hisako informs the Polar Star residents that the Advancement Exam will take place in Hokkaido, and that they will be traveling from the south end of the island to the north as they clear the stages of the exam. Erina spends the next week teaching the Polar Star residents, Nikumi, and the Aldini brothers everything she knows about Hokkaido ingredients and cuisine. On the day of the first stage of the Exam, all of the students are separated into teams, with Soma being teamed with Megumi, Alice, Ryo, and Yoshino. The first stage requires that teams prepare a single salmon dish, but Soma's team is deliberately given the lowest quality salmon. Since salmon is out of season in the winter, there is no way to get a fresh one through regular means. However, thanks to Erina's lessons, Soma's team remember that salmon can be frozen in brine when they are caught in the summer, preserving their flavor in the winter. They manage to procure one such salmon from a local vendor and prepare a Yuan-style Grilled Tokishirazu Salmon dish, which is so delicious that the judge has no choice but to allow them to pass. The other rebel teams also manage to overcome Central's interference. The students then proceed to the second stage of the Exam on a special train. Soma visits Erina during the night and they catch a view of the starry night sky. Erina realizes that she no longer feels annoyed while she's in Soma's presence.
Episode 52: Soma and his friends arrive in Sapporo for the second stage of the exam, where they are tasked with making a noodle dish. However, the test is designed so that the rebels must go last, meaning that most of the ingredients have been used up by the other students, and the arrival of a heavy blizzard prevents them from getting more from the outside. Regardless, Soma and his friends remember Erina's lessons and use leftover potatoes to make gosetsu udon. The examiner reluctantly lets them pass, noting how Erina has rallied the rebels under her leadership. The students then are allowed to explore Sapporo, and Erina takes the time to fully appreciate the new friends she's made. When they return to the train, they find out that the rebels have been split up on separate trains. Soma, Erina, Megumi, and Takumi find themselves on a train with Rindou, who informs them that their next challenge is to defeat the Elite 10.
Episode 53: Soma is tasked with facing against the newest Elite 10 member: Hayama; while Takumi and Megumi are to face Rindou. Dojima arrives to judge Soma and Hayama's match, announcing that the theme ingredient will be bear meat. Soma quickly learns that bear meat is more difficult to cook than other meats due to its strong smell and gamey taste it produces. To nullify its smell, spices are required, which gives Akira the advantage. Kuga unexpectedly arrives with his Chinese cooking RS team and assists Soma by providing him with a number of spices to work with. Soma suggests that they head out into the mountains to observe the habitat of a bear. As they research, Soma discovers that he can use schisandra berries to counter the smell of the bear meat. However, Akira arrives and shows that he has already come up with the optimal spice mix to counter the smell, incorporating Cajun spices. He then further boasts that he will defeat Soma again, just like he did in the Autumn Elections.
Episode 54: Soma and Kuga encounter Dojima, who reveals that Akira was coerced into joining Central due to Azami holding all of Shiomi's research hostage, and the only way Akira could save Shiomi's career is to defeat Soma. Appalled, Soma chastises Akira for giving up to Azami so easily, and tells him to not to hold back. Meanwhile, the rest of the rebels are forced to face off against other members of the Elite 10, and Kuga points out that it is unrealistic to expect all of them to pass. Alice's father, Soe Nakiri, and his research staff, Bertha and Sheila, arrive as judges for Soma's match. Soma and Hayama decide to create fried bear dishes. Soma finishes his dish first, a fried bear meat cutlet, which impresses the judges due to the perfect taste and how Soma was willing to take a risk by using the smelliest, yet tastiest parts of the bear. However, Akira then presents his own dish, which everyone stares at in awe.
Episode 55: The judges taste Hayama's fried bear, and conclude that it is superior to Soma's cutlet, but decide that they must also test the accompanying sauces. Hayama's juniper berry gravy is powerful, but Soma creates a superior sauce using caramelized honey and balsamic vinegar. The final vote is close, but is ultimately decided in Soma's favor. After being chastised by Dojima, Shiomi, and Soma, Hayama comes to realize that he had lost, as he had genuinely enjoyed cooking with his classmates and friends. Afterwards, one of Azami's aides arrives and informs Akira that he has been expelled from the school due to his loss. In addition, a number of the rebels have also lost their matches and been expelled.
Episode 56: With the exception of Soma, Erina, Megumi, and Takumi, all of the rebels lose their matches against the Elite 10 and are expelled. The remaining rebels decide that the only way to overturn the expulsions is to challenge the Elite 10 to a shokugeki and win their seats, but they do not have anything to offer to Azami to convince him to agree to the challenge. Joichiro and Senzaemon unexpectedly arrive and propose a team Shokugeki called a Regiment de Cuisine. Joichiro offers to join Central if the rebels lose, and Azami agrees. Joichiro, Sanzaemon, and Dojima proceed to personally train Soma and his friends, starting with a 3v3 cooking match with Joichiro, Soma, and Erina competing against Dojima, Megumi, and Takumi to cook Hachis Parmentier, with an additional rule that nobody may speak to one another. During this match, both Joichiro and Dojima take steps that diverge from the standard hachis parmentier recipe to further test Soma and his friends.
Episode 57: Soma, Erina, Megumi, and Takumi quickly catch on to what Joichiro and Dojima intend to do with their dishes and both teams manage to complete their own unique take on hachis parmentier. Senzaemon has both teams taste each other's dishes and decide on winner among themselves. Upon tasting each other's dishes, both teams insist that the other is the winner. The match is declared a draw, and Senzaemon points out how the exercise was successful in fostering teamwork among them and convincing Erina to leave her comfort zone and improvise in the kitchen. The group then goes to meet Azami to finalize the rules of the Team Shokugeki. Both sides agree that the rebels will take the Elite 10 seats if they win, and if they lose, they will be expelled and Joichiro will join Central. Azami attempts to pressure Erina into siding with the Elite 10, since she is still a member. After some hesitation, Erina resigns from her seat and joins the rebel team. Azami adds one final condition that if the rebels lose, then Erina must join Central as well, and with the rules decided, both sides leave to prepare for the upcoming showdown.
Episode 58: As Erina sleeps, Joichiro and Dojima tell Soma, Megumi, and Takumi about their time at Polar Star and with Azami. As a student, Joichiro proved to be a cooking prodigy, quickly earning a seat in the Elite Ten in his first year. He wins countless cooking competitions and Shokugekis, culminating in him singlehandedly defeating over 100 opponents in a Team Shokugeki, earning him a reputation as the "Demon". However, the continued success began to take its toll on Joichiro, as every win put additional pressure on him to perform even better the next time, resulting in a nervous breakdown after he loses his passion for cooking. Sensing the peril Joichiro was in, Senzaemon advised that Joichiro take a leave of absence to rediscover his passion. After the story, Joichiro challenges Soma to another cooking match. As Dojima watches on, he silently thanks Soma for helping reignite Joichiro's passion for cooking.
Episode 59: Right before the Team Shokugeki, Soma manages to recruit Satoshi, Kuga, Megishima, and Mimasaka to their team to make the match an 8 vs 8. As the Team Shokugeki begins, Soma, Satoshi, and Megashima are matched against Nene and two replacement Elite 10 members, with Soma having to face Nene. Unfortunately, Soma draws soba as the cooking theme, which happens to be Nene's specialty. Soma decides to counter this disadvantage by making an instant yakisoba dish, which he feels will do a better job conveying his cooking than a regular soba dish. Meanwhile, Isshiki battles against the new 8th seat, Shiratsu Jurio over an eel dish. Jurio soon begins insulting Satoshi, wondering why he, a cook from a prominent family, would associate himself with the "lowlifes" of Polar Star. This angers Satoshi and he vows to completely crush Jurio.
Episode 60: As the match goes on, it is revealed that Satoshi and Nene are actually childhood friends, though Nene denies it. Officials from the World Gourmet Organization arrive to be the judges for the match. Jurio finishes first and presents his eel stew dish, which impresses the judges. Satoshi then presents his Hitsumabushi dish, which incorporates ingredients created by the Polar Star students. The dish easily defeats Jurio's, and Jurio is forced to apologize to Polar Star for insulting them. Nene then promises that she will challenge Satoshi in the next round, revealing that she had always felt resentment against him due to his natural ability to excel at anything with little effort. However, Satoshi warns her that she will lose against Soma. Meanwhile, Soma brings out a wok and begins stir frying his soba, shocking everybody.
Episode 61: Nene presents her soba dish, which includes kakiage sakura shrimp tempura, which impresses the judges. They acknowledge her mastery of soba. Soma then presents his instant yakisoba dish, which also impresses the judges. Soma reveals he was inspired by the instant noodles he used to eat as a child, and how he continually experimented with ways to make them taste better. He also decided to use sanbako flour which can withstand being stir fried rather than the more delicate ichibanko flour Nene used. The judges ultimately decide in Soma's favor, pointing out that the relatively cold temperature of the arena affected the taste of Nene's soba while Soma's yakisoba retained all of its taste. Satoshi tells Nene that her dedication to a single method of making soba had made her too narrow-minded to consider variables like the effects of ambient temperature on her dish. Meanwhile, Megishima also defeats his opponent, resulting in the rebels completely sweeping the first bout. Azami announces a short break before the second bout, and both sides prepare for the next battle while Soma declares that he will make a dish that will defeat Tsukasa.
Rating: 8.5/10(Average)
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