With Food Wars! Season 4 almost over, the Fifth Plate has officially been confirmed to be in production! Planned for release in early 2020, the fifth season of the anime series is shaping up to be the final season of the entire anime series.

The story is based on the Food Wars! manga series that is published in Weekly Shonen Jump and the magazine announced that the entire manga is ending. Which means that Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 4 (The Plate of God) is likely also the ending!

The manga announcement came out on June 3, 2019, with Weekly Shonen Jump stating that the manga’s ending would be released on June 17, 2019. The final chapter was Food Wars! Chapter 315.

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Confirmation about Food Wars! Season 4 was announced days later in the summer of 2019. Besides releasing the final chapter, Weekly Shonen Jump made a “big announcement” in June, which turned out to be Shokugeki no Soma: Shin no Sara (Food Wars! The Fourth Plate) and more news about the manga.

Fans were hoping that a Food Wars! manga sequel would be announced. When a manga series becomes this long it’s not unusual for a major turning point in the story to be the launchpad for a new name that resets the chapter and volume count.

The Food Wars! Season 4 announcement was indeed followed up by a Shokugeki no Soma manga sequel announcement in the same month, but it’s only a small sequel. The continuation of the manga is called Shokugeki no Soma ~ Le Dessert and it will be published on Jump GIGA, not Weekly Shonen Jump, starting June 27, 2019. This “sequel” will consist of three chapters, including an epilogue.

The music band nano.RIPE will be producing the Food Wars! Season 4 ED theme song called “Emblem”. The band has previously produced the ending theme songs for the second and third seasons of the anime series.

Updated December 19, 2019: Food Wars! Season 5 confirmed. Moved relevant info to the newer article.

Updated November 25, 2019: Added Food Wars! S4 Blu-Ray/DVD info and an analysis of how that impacts the anime series.

Updated October 8, 2019: Added Food Wars! Season 4 trailer.

Updated September 3, 2019: Added exact Food Wars Season 4 release date.

Updated August 19, 2019: Added Food Wars Season 4 ending theme song news.

Updated June 25, 2019: Added a plot summary for the Food Wars! Le Dessert epilogue to the spoilers sections.

Updated June 18, 2019: Added key visual, Volume 36 release date, Food Wars! Season 4 trailer video from Warner Bros., and more spoilers.

Updated June 13, 2019: Food Wars! Season 4 release date time frame confirmed.

Updated June 06, 2019: Article extensively rewritten based on the news that the manga is ending. Added extended spoilers.

This article provides everything that is known about Food Wars! Season 4 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.

Why this is not Food Wars Season 5: Split-Cour Food Wars! Season confuses fans

Will the real Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 4 please stand up? The last season of the popular ecchi/cooking anime series, Food Wars! The Third Plate, was a bit confusing to some fans since it was one of those rare split-cour anime seasons.

A “split-cour” is where a single anime season takes a multi-month break before resuming TV broadcasting. In fact, some anime fans are mistakenly looking for news about Food Wars! Season 5 already after the third season aired.

Part 2 of the third season was officially labeled as Food Wars! The Third Plate: Totsuki Train Arc. It finished off with Episode 24 on June 25, 2018, but the real fourth season is called Shokugeki no Soma: Shin no Sara (Food Wars! The Fourth Plate). But the real question is, does the Shokugeki no Soma manga’s ending provide enough chapters for animation studio J.C. Staff to serve up another anime helping with a real Food Wars! Season 5?

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma manga compared to the anime: Let’s hope the final season isn’t rushed

The story of Soma Yukihira, Erina Nakiri, and other characters is based on the Food Wars! manga series by writer Yuto Tsukuda and illustrator Shun Saeki. Started in 2012, the manga series is already up to Volume 35 as of June 3, 2019. Volume 36 contains the manga’s ending in Chapter 316 and the final tankobon format book will ship out on October 4, 2019.

The English translation by VIZ Media is up to Volume 32 and Volume 33 is scheduled to release on December 3, 2019.

J.C. Staff aired the first two-cour season of the anime adaptation during the spring of 2015. The Second Plate was a shorter one-cour that aired a year later in 2016. The first half of the Third Plate finished in December 2017, whereas the second half found an ending in the middle of the Promotion Exams story arc.

The second cour of the third season was one of those rare anime where even fans of the manga believe the anime did a better job of presenting the story. Some chapters were skimmed or skipped, but the Regiment de Cuisine matches were reorganized so that concurrent events flowed better in comparison to the jumping around and flashbacks that occurred in the manga.

Here is a guide for how the anime episodes adapted the manga chapters:

Episode 13: Chapters, 167, 168, 170, and 171

Episode 14: Chapters 172, 173, 174, and 175

Episode 15: Chapters 172, 176, 177, 178, and 179

Episode 16: Chapters 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, and 188

Episode 17: Chapters 184, 185, 186, and 187

Episode 18: Chapters 188, 189, 190, 191, and 192

Episode 19: Chapters 193, 194, 200, and 201

Episode 20: Chapters 201, 202, 203, 204, and 205

Episode 21: Chapters 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, and 205

Episode 22: Chapters 206, 207, 208, and 209

Episode 23: Chapters 210, 211, 215, and 216

Episode 24: Chapters 211, 212, 213, 214, and 217

The second cour of the third season adapted about half of the 92 chapters comprising the Promotion Exams story arc, which ends with Chapter 263. Considering that the Third Plate left off with Chapter 217, the good news is that there are 99 chapters available for producing Food Wars! Season 4.

With that much source material available, Food Wars! Season 4 maintained similar pacing and adapted the ending of the Regiment de Cuisine arc (Chapter 263) with a single-cour season with 12 episodes.

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 5 will be the ending of the entire anime series. Let’s just be glad the ending of the Food Wars! anime did not receive the Tokyo Ghoul: re treatment. If that had happened, the final 99 chapters could have been crammed into a single 12-episode season.

Impossible, you might say? Yes, Tokyo Ghoul:re was produced by Studio Pierrot, not J.C. Staff, but publisher Shueisha is the producer for the anime production committee for both series.

Food Wars! Season 4 release date: The ride starts again quickly

The Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 4 release date is scheduled for October 11, 2019. Crunchyroll will begin streaming the series on that day.

Although the production of Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma: Shin no Sara (Food Wars! The Fourth plate) has been confirmed, the number of episodes has not been announced.

On November 25, 2019, the Fourth Plate’s official website finally listed a Blu-Ray/DVD page, officially confirming the known number of episodes. The box sets only list 12 episodes.

Releasing Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 4 during the fall 2019 anime season meant that the anime production scheduling was hectic. J.C. Staff was working on several big projects in the second half of 2019, including DanMachi Season 2 (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Season 2), the KonoSuba movie, Netflix’s High Score Girl Season 2, A Certain Scientific Accelerator, A Certain Scientific Railgun Season 3, Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?, and several other anime.

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 4 spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)

The Third Plate’s train ride may have ended but the Regiment de Cuisine still has a ways to go. Soma Yukihira surprised everyone by stir-frying soba noodles and winning with his Yukihira Style Barley Flour Soba, but that only finishes off the 1st Bout.

The remaining four bouts will pit the rebels against the Central. Soma will be taking a breather at first, while Terunori Kuga faces off against 1st seat Eishi Tsukasa in a wished-for revenge match. Tsukasa actually forgot Kuga’s name after their first Shookugeki, so Kuga is out to prove he’s not just some random face in the crowd that’s easily forgotten.

As with past episodes, the cooking will be intermixed with flashbacks that explain the backstory and thus motivations for the chefs. For example, one of the “ingredients”, a live alligator, manages to (briefly) escape Rindou Kobayashi’s hands in the middle of a Shokugeki! She butchers the alligator on the spot (PETA will not approve) and entertains audiences with her rare ingredients expertise.

Without getting into detail, here is a list of the remaining culinary themes that end up being picked via the lottery drawing system.

2nd Bout

Green Tea (Not just a drink; they create dishes which use the flavor and aroma of green tea leaves.)

Chili Peppers

Tuna

3rd Bout

Butter (This is where Soma enters the fray once again. Both competitors end up going the seafood route.)

Beef

Apple

4th Bout

Muscovado Sugar (Erina Nakiri’s first match in the Regiment de Cuisine.)

Wild Rabbit

Spear Squid

The bouts whittle down the ranks of the remaining chefs until only two people are left standing on each side. And, of course, there will be some naughty moments.

The always slick headmaster Azami Nakamura also tries to pull a fast one in the middle of the tournament by replacing the three judges…with himself.

He claims he wants to be a judge because he never got to taste his daughter Erina’s cooking during the Moon Banquet Festival. When others rightfully object, he pulls in two other respected WGO (World Gourmet Officers) officers to serve as replacement judges, thus stacking the deck against the Rebels.

Surprisingly, Senzaemon Nakiri sides with Azami, which means Azami has hijacked the judging panel. But Soma is calm during the whole affair, calling it a lucky break since now Azami himself has joined the battle of his own free will.

The 5th Bout is where things will get a bit more interesting. Senzaemon proposes a two-versus-two cooking match, with each team member creating a complimentary appetizer and main dish. Azami agrees to the terms for the final round of the Regiment de Cuisine.

Unlike the previous bouts, there is no clearly-defined culinary theme for creating the dish, which means there are no boundaries. The only stipulation is that the dish must represent true gourmet cooking.

Soma Yukihira and Erina Nakiri must work together since they’re the last two remaining Rebels. They’ll be facing off against Rindo Kobayashi and Eishi Tsukasa for determining the fate of the Totsuki Culinary Academy. Will Soma be able to overcome Azami’s biased tastebuds?

Unfortunately, Shokugeki no Soma anime fans will have to watch Food Wars! Season 4 to find out what happens next. Let’s just glad the fifth and final season is just around the corner in 2020. Stay tuned!