Akira's dish, which on top of its powerful fragrance also uses the power of holy basil and yogurt, earns a score of 94 from the judges, two of which gave him a perfect 20. Finally, Soma presents his own fragrance bomb, combining his past two failures into a curry risotto omurice containing a mango chutney that deepens the flavor. The dish earns Soma 93 points, landing him second place behind Akira, though it is noted that three of the five judges ranked the dish higher than Akira's. As the contestants hold an afterparty celebrating and lamenting their victories and losses in the preliminaries, Soma becomes determined to improve his cooking finesse.
The battle continues in the Autumn Elections preliminaries. From Group B, Alice, Hisako, Takumi and Megumi all make it through. Meanwhile, in Group A, Sendawara Natsume keeps giving contestants 0's and no one has scored a high overall score. Next, Alice's aide, Kurokiba Ryo is up. The mysterious chef finally reveals his true colors!
The preliminaries for the Autumn Elections have entered the judging phase for each group! Excitement's in the air in Group B's arena as Hisako, Takumi, Alice, and others score big with the judges. The final dish to be judged belongs to Megumi, whom no one has high hopes for. What will her dish be like?
The Autumn Elections preliminaries have finally begun! Only four students from each group can advance to the main tournament. In Soma's Group A, the favored candidates get all the attention while Soma toils on. Meanwhile in Group B, Megumi is passed over by everyone as being uninteresting, but then she suddenly pulls out a unique ingredient...
Soma goes back home for the first time in a long while over an extended break. Stormed by people who were waiting for Yukihira to reopen, Soma decides to serve his customers. But among them are the leaders of the shopping district, who tell Soma that the shopping district is on its last breath as a new shopping complex at the train station steals all of their customers...
The students have been tasked with creating an egg-based breakfast menu item for a buffet, and they must persuade guests to consume 200 servings before two hours' time. Soma's souffle omelets keep deflating before the guests have a chance to take the dish. With only 30 minutes remaining, Soma has served less than 10 guests--with defeat imminent, Soma recalls Joichiro's advice and decides to make a last-ditch effort to make a comeback!
Soma recklessly challenges Shinomiya to a Shokugeki in order to have him retract his decision to expel Megumi. Shinomiya refuses, but Dojima half forces him to accept. However, Dojima also imposes a condition on Soma and Megumi--Megumi must be the main chef! If they lose, Soma will also be expelled. The unofficial Shokougeki is about to begin!
Inui Hinako, a Totsuki alumna, has tasked Soma's group with making a Japanese dish using available ingredients in the area. Anything other than condiments and spices must be procured from their immediate environs. Soma, provoked by Takumi Aldini's challenge, has a flash of inspiration and dashes out with Megumi to find ingredients for their dish!
The training camp is considered the first trial by fire for students in Totsuki's high school division. Dozens of students are said to be expelled and sent away every day, and the number of students is said to be reduced below half by the camp's end. Intent on survival, Soma and his friends embark on their journey to the hellish camp in one of Totsuki Resorts' hotels.
Just barely squeaking past the academy's transfer exam, Soma causes and uproar at the opening ceremony by making a brash speech in front of the entire class. In his very first class, he's paired with Tadokoro Megumi, a girl who is at risk of expulsion and is intent on keeping a low profile in order to survive.
Yukihira is a popular neighborhood restaurant where Yukihira Soma helps out in the hopes of surpassing his father as a chef one day. But land sharks are after their restaurant, and one day Soma tells them that the restaurant will close if they couldn't serve satisfactory food to their customers. The land sharks are only too happy to sabotage the restaurant's fridge and gleefully orders Soma to serve them a meat dish...