Chapter was a 5/5. Great so far! Hating erina's father right now.
I agree with this response
I don't get people sometimes. First they say Erina is underdeveloped, then when she gets developement they are like 'oh now the author is bringing stuff out of his ass to make people like Erina' even though it was hinted to since the very beginning of the manga. People should seriously stop pretending to know what they're talking about as if they actually knew something about writing.
Honestly, it seems that people who hate Erina only hate her because of the first few chapters. I'll admit in the second chapter she came off as a privileged rich girl, but every character is going to start off as flat until they get development. As the manga went on, even before Erina's father, it became more apparent that she was much more than just a spoiled girl. She has high expectations put on her as a member of the elite 10, and the one who possesses the 'god tongue'. She can't afford to show weakness to others. Remember when Alice lost to Soma, and Erina said something along the lines of "It must be nice...Being able to cry selfishly like that." (chapter 67 pg8-9) . I can't believe how many people just passed that off as 'oh look another ***** moment' instead of seeing the character development that truly was. Just from that one can tell Erina actually wants to cry, but knows she can't. She wants to be emotional, and show weakness, but she knows she can't.
a lot of people also like to cite that she is a ***** to everyone- blah blah blah. Seriously? In the beginning, yeah, she looked down on Soma. Why? Oh I don't know, probably because she was brought up to despise things that are 'common'. She was told that only gourmet was the correct way to cook, and the only acceptable food to be served at Tootsuki. Soma is the literal embodiment of everything Erina was brainwashed into believing was bad. Not to mention Soma wasn't exactly polite to someone who actually deserved some respect. Being that she was a highly skilled cook, and his examiner. Other than Soma she isn't really a '*****' to anyone unless they are proven to be terrible cooks. 'but what about when Nakumi lost to Soma' I hear you ask. Well to begin with Nakumi was not Erina's friend, more along the lines of someone trying to work their way up the ranks and prove herself to Erina. When she lost to Soma, the embodiment of failure in Erina's eyes, Erina walked away from Nakumi.
In real life, people can be brought up to hate black people, gays, and any other group of people simply because their parents indoctrinated the beliefs into them. It's the same thing with Erina and her father as well as her surrounding environment. The only difference is that her father made sure to make it so Erina could not get over his indoctrination so easy. Throughout the series Erina was shown to actually be nice to other people. Hisako is her best friend, and it's very apparent that Erina is good to the people she calls her friends. Later on Erina even makes friends with Todokaro after seeing her skill in cooking during the Stagaire period. As the manga goes on she begins to slowly open up, and become less condescending to others. Senzaemon did say in the most recent chapter, that although people like Hisako helped her get over some of her father's brainwashing, it wasn't enough.
Alright, now what about the fact that she was such a '*****' to Soma for most of the series? Well i'd say she stops taunting Soma during the autumn elections which is about 70 chapters in if memory serves. Why do I think this? Well, this is when Erina actually stops liking the thought of Soma failing, and actually gets to helping him. 'but that's because Soma offered manga to her' you say. Yes, that's true, but at the same time Erina could've easily not have held her end of the deal if she truly wanted him to fail. After this, when Soma is facing Kuga, yet another key moment shows itself. In chapter 126, pg 15 Erina states "anyway! you don't have time to be thinking about other areas. You must concentrate only on defeating Kuga in the central area---" at this point it's obvious that Erina is no longer hoping for Soma to fail, rather she's actually gunning for him to win. Beliefs ingrained into your childhood take a while to change. Erina has slowly been changing throughout the manga after having seen Soma's skill as a cook regardless of him being the embodiment of what she was taught was failure.
As the manga stands right now, Erina was actually beginning to accept Soma as a viable chef, and even beginning to return to her old self. However, when her father came back, all of the childhood trauma she suffered came back in a big wave all at once. Erina, the usually confident, and prideful girl, was reduced to a shivering wreck at the sight of her father. That said something already. It was clear that her father was a man of incredible power in order to turn someone like Erina into a frightened mess. It's even more clear now that Erina is going to be punished severely now that her father is back. From her father's viewpoint, his daughter had made friends with Soma. His daughter was falling into a deplorable state just like Tootsuki. In future chapters, her father will most likely try to finish what he started with Erina, and then use his daughter as a pawn for his plan to change the school to his liking.
Wow, that was a lot of words. To anyone interested enough to get this far I challenge you to debate this if you think my arguments are not correct. Obviously, I put some interpretations of my own in here, and some of this is opinion, but I backed my argument up with as many facts as possible, so I challenge you to try and convince me why i'm wrong.
That, or you could agree with me I suppose. That's always cool =u=;
