r/ShokugekiNoSoma • u/Stunning-Item4786 • 1d ago
Discussion I thought of something two years later after finishing the series...
So you all know about Saiba Asahi (or Nakiri Asahi), and how he's known for his bs "super power" gimmick where he immediately inherits the skill, experience, and palate of the chef he steals or takes their most prized possession, their cooking utensil (or whatever utensils the other Noir members had, like that Centrifugal Force Balls or whatever lol). I was thinking, if I were given a chance to make a change in Food Wars' Fifth Plate, it would be to actually make Asahi be the worst guy to get hit with the culinary curse.
Get this, Asahi was raised by his American mother in a poor neighborhood as an alcoholic and single parent. Not only that (this is where I make the change). Asahi's palate, or his genetic condition, makes it to where he genuinely can't taste food to the extent that any regular person could. What this means is that, unless that the food was constructed in a way that was heightened and perfected, every other food was tantamount to eating either dust, or just bland mush altogether.
In this way, his growth, in relation to being Saiba Jouichiro's disciple, he manages to be "saved" by Jouichiro's cooking, which is where he truly tasted good food, after years of "starvation" (of flavor). This also would make sense, knowing that he has an obsession to surpass Jouichiro, maybe because he finally wants to seek food in greater heights.
We can't also forget that he develops jealousy towards Soma, thus why he did defeat Jouichiro in the first place, as well as going after Soma by threatening to marry Erina (by taking advantage of her God Tongue) to stand on the top of the culinary world. We can keep that, but what if, part of that was because he also wanted to make sure he alone could never suffer eating bland trash. His obsession with defeating Joichiro, Soma, and Erina isn't about pride, it is a desperate, frantic search for a dish so undeniably perfect that it can break through his condition. He cooks out of starvation, not malice.
This makes it so that while Mana suffered about having too high of a palate that she literally had to get an IV into her just to feed herself because she genuinely couldn't eat other dishes, with Azami also suffering (not justifying his execution, though his overview of the culinary world made sense) because not only could he save Mana, but he also resorted to brainwashing Erina so that he could "make" a safe haven/eden where chefs wouldn't worry or suffer about having to get lost in pursuing even higher palate, as well as ann attempt to save Erina from what Mana experienced. In a sense, because Mana and Erina possesses the God Tongue, they suffer from having too high of a palate, Asahi also suffers from not being able to taste dishes, making him desperate out of "starvation".
Instead of introducing him as the "final boss" of the culinary world, this effectively introduces him as the ultimate victim that makes the family curse feel like a terrifying and legitimate disease, EVEN THOUGH he doesn't possess the God Tongue or such. And you know why it makes it seem like his situation with Erina and Mana are the same? It's because of the fact that you go hungry to starving after you lose the appetite to eat anything, because anything doesn't even satisfy your palate.
This throws away the silly asspull that makes Asahi the "Mimasaka-with-extra-steps" shenanigans and actually give a sense to his appearance. And I, thank you (I guess BAHAHAHAHA).
