OVA
Description
Etsuya Eizan is a student of the 91st Generation at Tōtsuki Culinary Academy, where he initially holds the Ninth Seat on the prestigious Elite Ten Council before being promoted to the Seventh Seat. He is known by the nickname "Alchemist" due to his distinctive cooking style and his shrewd, calculating nature. Eizan has a distinctive appearance, with long, swept-back dirty blonde hair typical of a Japanese delinquent or yankee, gold eyes, and rectangular glasses that he removes when he becomes fully serious. He accessorizes with flashy jewelry, including rings, a rope chain necklace, and a Rolex-style watch. His casual attire often features a leopard print shirt with an unbuttoned white collared jacket, while his cooking uniform is a white chef jacket with teal buttons and cuffs with the sleeves rolled up.
Eizan’s personality is defined by his ruthless pragmatism, high arrogance, and quick temper. He is described as a dirty weasel who retains a serious demeanor but can be extremely cruel and heartless. While he is a well-known and slick businessman, his methods are often questionable. He has a large force of delinquent students who do his bidding, and he frequently employs underhanded tactics to achieve his goals rather than relying solely on culinary skill. Despite being an official Elite Ten member, he shows little interest in council business, often calling meetings a waste of time and only attending out of obligation. He is easily annoyed by more eccentric members like Satoshi Isshiki and Terunori Kuga but is conversely terrified by Momo Akanegakubo. His pride makes him easy to goad, especially by Sōma Yukihira, and he loses his temper quickly when things do not go his way.
Unlike most students who attend Tōtsuki for prestige, Eizan enrolled because he saw it as an opportunity for profit for both the academy and himself. In his very first year, he managed to generate more income for the school than the entire academy could on its own. He has been a successful food business consultant since his middle school days, charging exorbitant fees for his services. With over 500 companies in the food and beverage industry in his portfolio, he has made a fortune for himself while building a notorious reputation as a yankee due to his ruthless business tactics. His primary motivation is money and maintaining his perfect track record as a consultant who guarantees success for his clients.
In the story, Eizan serves as a minor antagonist during the first-year students' arc and later becomes a major antagonist during the Central storyline. He first appears as the mastermind behind the expansion of a karaage chain that threatened the Sumire Shopping District. When Sōma Yukihira defeats his client, Eizan summons Sōma to offer him a subordinate position, which Sōma refuses. Enraged by this insult to his reputation, Eizan vows to crush him. He initially tries to eliminate Sōma indirectly by rigging the Autumn Election matchups to have his enforcer, Subaru Mimasaka, challenge Sōma. After this fails, Eizan supports Azami Nakiri's coup to oust Senzaemon Nakiri, leading to his promotion within the Elite Ten. He personally takes delight in delivering the order to shut down the Polar Star Dormitory and tries to evict its residents through a rigged Shokugeki where he bribes the judges. However, Sōma forces him to cook seriously and defeats him, causing Eizan to suffer a psychological breakdown.
His key relationships are largely antagonistic and business-oriented. Sōma Yukihira is his primary rival, as Sōma was responsible for humiliating him on multiple occasions. His hatred for Sōma runs so deep that he personally makes it his mission to crush him. Takumi Aldini is another enemy he made, as Eizan was directly responsible for arranging Aldini's humiliating loss against Subaru Mimasaka in the Autumn Election. Subaru Mimasaka was originally one of Eizan's underlings, recruited for his ability to copy opponents' techniques. Within the Elite Ten, he has a tense relationship with Terunori Kuga, with whom he frequently exchanges insults. He also has a client relationship with Kinu Nakamozu, the owner of the Mozuya Karaage chain.
Eizan's notable abilities are divided between his culinary skills and his business acumen. His cooking style, referred to as "Alchemy" by Satoshi Isshiki, involves using intensive knowledge of chemical components and their interactions with taste receptors to either boost his own dish's flavors or, more often, sabotage his opponents' dishes. He is skilled at negating or interfering with the flavors his opponents intend to present, turning their dishes against them. Rindō Kobayashi notes that despite being better known as a businessman, his actual cooking skills match his position on the Elite Ten. One of his signature dishes is Hainan Ji Fan, a Southeast Asian chicken rice dish, and he also created a Roast Beef of Temptation that used artichokes to sabotage the sweetness of an opponent's next dish. As a businessman, he has helped over 500 companies and developed a business model for Tōtsuki that achieved astronomical gains within a single year. He has a notorious reputation as a gang leader and uses his influence to manipulate outcomes behind the scenes.
Throughout the series, Eizan experiences significant development. After his initial psychological breakdown following his loss to Sōma, he continues to seek revenge against him. He participates in the Rebels Vs. Central Régiment de Cuisine, where he faces Takumi Aldini. Though he attempts to use his sabotage tactics again by carefully calculating his dish to ruin Aldini's, his strategy is countered, and he is defeated once more. At the end of the Regimental Shokugeki, he loses his seat on the Elite Ten. In his third year, however, he manages to re-enter the Elite Ten Council, eventually holding the Eighth Seat. His overall arc shows a transformation from a purely profit-driven schemer who avoids direct competition to someone who eventually reconciles with his rivals and gains a reformed perspective, shifting from outright animosity toward Sōma to a position of mutual respect.
Eizan’s personality is defined by his ruthless pragmatism, high arrogance, and quick temper. He is described as a dirty weasel who retains a serious demeanor but can be extremely cruel and heartless. While he is a well-known and slick businessman, his methods are often questionable. He has a large force of delinquent students who do his bidding, and he frequently employs underhanded tactics to achieve his goals rather than relying solely on culinary skill. Despite being an official Elite Ten member, he shows little interest in council business, often calling meetings a waste of time and only attending out of obligation. He is easily annoyed by more eccentric members like Satoshi Isshiki and Terunori Kuga but is conversely terrified by Momo Akanegakubo. His pride makes him easy to goad, especially by Sōma Yukihira, and he loses his temper quickly when things do not go his way.
Unlike most students who attend Tōtsuki for prestige, Eizan enrolled because he saw it as an opportunity for profit for both the academy and himself. In his very first year, he managed to generate more income for the school than the entire academy could on its own. He has been a successful food business consultant since his middle school days, charging exorbitant fees for his services. With over 500 companies in the food and beverage industry in his portfolio, he has made a fortune for himself while building a notorious reputation as a yankee due to his ruthless business tactics. His primary motivation is money and maintaining his perfect track record as a consultant who guarantees success for his clients.
In the story, Eizan serves as a minor antagonist during the first-year students' arc and later becomes a major antagonist during the Central storyline. He first appears as the mastermind behind the expansion of a karaage chain that threatened the Sumire Shopping District. When Sōma Yukihira defeats his client, Eizan summons Sōma to offer him a subordinate position, which Sōma refuses. Enraged by this insult to his reputation, Eizan vows to crush him. He initially tries to eliminate Sōma indirectly by rigging the Autumn Election matchups to have his enforcer, Subaru Mimasaka, challenge Sōma. After this fails, Eizan supports Azami Nakiri's coup to oust Senzaemon Nakiri, leading to his promotion within the Elite Ten. He personally takes delight in delivering the order to shut down the Polar Star Dormitory and tries to evict its residents through a rigged Shokugeki where he bribes the judges. However, Sōma forces him to cook seriously and defeats him, causing Eizan to suffer a psychological breakdown.
His key relationships are largely antagonistic and business-oriented. Sōma Yukihira is his primary rival, as Sōma was responsible for humiliating him on multiple occasions. His hatred for Sōma runs so deep that he personally makes it his mission to crush him. Takumi Aldini is another enemy he made, as Eizan was directly responsible for arranging Aldini's humiliating loss against Subaru Mimasaka in the Autumn Election. Subaru Mimasaka was originally one of Eizan's underlings, recruited for his ability to copy opponents' techniques. Within the Elite Ten, he has a tense relationship with Terunori Kuga, with whom he frequently exchanges insults. He also has a client relationship with Kinu Nakamozu, the owner of the Mozuya Karaage chain.
Eizan's notable abilities are divided between his culinary skills and his business acumen. His cooking style, referred to as "Alchemy" by Satoshi Isshiki, involves using intensive knowledge of chemical components and their interactions with taste receptors to either boost his own dish's flavors or, more often, sabotage his opponents' dishes. He is skilled at negating or interfering with the flavors his opponents intend to present, turning their dishes against them. Rindō Kobayashi notes that despite being better known as a businessman, his actual cooking skills match his position on the Elite Ten. One of his signature dishes is Hainan Ji Fan, a Southeast Asian chicken rice dish, and he also created a Roast Beef of Temptation that used artichokes to sabotage the sweetness of an opponent's next dish. As a businessman, he has helped over 500 companies and developed a business model for Tōtsuki that achieved astronomical gains within a single year. He has a notorious reputation as a gang leader and uses his influence to manipulate outcomes behind the scenes.
Throughout the series, Eizan experiences significant development. After his initial psychological breakdown following his loss to Sōma, he continues to seek revenge against him. He participates in the Rebels Vs. Central Régiment de Cuisine, where he faces Takumi Aldini. Though he attempts to use his sabotage tactics again by carefully calculating his dish to ruin Aldini's, his strategy is countered, and he is defeated once more. At the end of the Regimental Shokugeki, he loses his seat on the Elite Ten. In his third year, however, he manages to re-enter the Elite Ten Council, eventually holding the Eighth Seat. His overall arc shows a transformation from a purely profit-driven schemer who avoids direct competition to someone who eventually reconciles with his rivals and gains a reformed perspective, shifting from outright animosity toward Sōma to a position of mutual respect.