Soma and Erina made contact last episode and are expected to be closer with each other once episode 12 arrives. Since the new arc is just starting, more events will unfold as Soma and company try to fulfill the requirements out of this new test, else they get expelled.
The last episode of "Food Wars" already introduced the Stagiaire arc where students are required to improve a restaurant by identifying wrong practices. In episode 11, Soma and company already started enhancing the cafeteria they were assigned to. It was rough for Megumi as she was tasked to conduct the dishwashing, and also for others because of the menacing chef they were working with.
It can be recalled that before the Stagiaire arc entered the scene, Autumn elections ended with Soma being defeated. Although the protagonist was able to impress the judges, he still came in second place after Akira has overtaken him with a dish that was difficult to imitate. During the face-off, Soma even begged the judges to give him a chance to re-invent his dish.
After making his Takikomi Gohan into an Oja Style Pacific Saury Takikomi Gohan, he was able to influence the panel but still failed to secure the winning spot. The tournament ended positively as Ryo and Soma took their loss with respect to the winning participant, Akira.
After not making it to the top of Autumn Elections, Soma will focus to rebuild his friendship with Akira and Ryo. Since the Stagiaire arc opened last episode 11, fans have already had their share of predictions for the upcoming events.
In a post at Reddit, fans were somewhat delighted to what happened between Soma and Erina, even suggesting that Soma knew he had to get to Hishoko first so he could land on Erina smoothly. Others are shipping Soma-Erina, while some have expressed their dismay over the anime's short duration.
It has been previously reported that the current season of "Food Wars" will run for a total of 13 episodes. According to Episodate, episode 12 will air on Sept. 17, Saturday which means that its finale will air on the last week of September if there will be no hiatus.
For other details surrounding "Food Wars," watch the video below.