After this ridiculous chapter I was thinking about what I would have done for the story instead of going the current route. This writing is almost insulting. At first I kind of liked oh they want to push the boundaries and use outside the box techniques, then I reread the execution and was like yeah that concept is great, but this is dumb. Like there's so many obscure, unconventional, and innovative techniques for cooking grounded in reality and science that could be stretched and made surreal for manga, and Tsukada goes with a chainsaw with spices in the ridges flavoring meat that's cooked in the most basic way? WTF?
This whole light chef vs dark chef concept it ridiculous. What really makes these guys dark? They cook for criminals and that means their life is on the line, and because of that they're fearless and use wild techniques? I'd understand if they used illegal ingredients or something, but nothing about the dark chefs is crazy, except they work for criminal organizations.
And of all the light chefs at BLUE, which are all supposed to be top tier young chefs, most of them are jobbers. Also how are Takumi and Megumi there over Alice, Hayama, Ryu, Perfect Trace guy, Rindou, Isshiki, or the 3rd years who got kicked out excluding Eishi? We haven't seen Takumi or Megumi cook a single dish at BLUE, so why even include them? Say the invite was reserved for the 1st seat then if that's how this is gonna go.
This could have gone so many ways. Let's say they stick with that stupid ending where Erina becomes headmaster, why not go into an arc that shows the changes to the school with her in charge, new leader, new perspective and ways of doing things? You have a 16 year old running the "top cooking school in the world" and a multinational company. How people perceive Tootsuki has to change with a teenager in charge, right? All the instability and rapid leadership changes has to damage the reputation of the school, the former elite 10 just got kicked out and didn't graduate, that has to have an effect, especially when those are the character that impact the cooking world and bolster the school's reputation, it would also leave some type of power vacuum in a school that seems to lack depth of talent to a degree. Other cooking schools from around the world could be trying to poach students, take potential incoming talent, or even start battling Tootsuki for supremacy. The side characters could step up then and you could showcase the depth of talent outside the top 10-15 students.
The current elite 10 could even be away during this time, exploring the world, meeting other chefs from unconventional backgrounds or that are students or professionals, learning new techniques, running into Tootsuki alum, building their reputations and competing to earn a spot at BLUE. Then at BLUE you could see the bookmaster saying he changed the criteria and some of these unconventional chefs the character met show up to compete, ones who historically wouldn't have been invited cause they make street food or live in a small village or aren't educated. You can then see what kind of talent really is at BLUE and what the standard is to get invited. You can also bring in other stars from other schools.
As Aishi, idk what to do with him. He sucks as a character. Maybe if he stays he meets up with Jou talks about Soma, and we know that Jou dropped out of school right before BLUE, that could be Asashi's involvement, rather than I'm going to beat Soma and kidnap and marry Erina.
I'm still hoping for some type of rebound for the series, but it's looking less and less likely, sadly.