So, this Shokugeki flashback arc is just weird now, cause it feels less like trying to explain why Azami is an edge lord shity parent and more that it's a cautionary tale for ... Hayama? I mean, there was that one moment when Jou said stuff Hayama said and looked like him a bit, but now we have Senzaemon showing up and giving the same line Gin told Hayama all the way back, and I'm left confused as to why Soma, Megumi and Takumi needed to hear any of this?
The actual flashback does a great job on expanding a lot on Jou and helps give a new perspective into his character, and the struggle and eventual burn out is very relatable, but what place does it have at *this* point in the story?
When I look to the character Tsukuda is drawing the most parallels with (Hayama/Jouchiro), it makes me scratch my head because Hayama didn't end up becoming like Jou. He never got the chance to have such high expectations placed on him, because Azami showed up and told him "either help me expel all your friends from school, or I will make sure your mom ends up on the street" and Hayama went along because he didn't want his Jun to end up losing her job and home. He was blackmailed into being evil. Then Soma beat him and he got expelled.
Jouchiro on the other hand ended up having a nervous breakdown because the expectations from the society he was in was unrealistic of a 17 year old to ever match up to. He tried to find different outlets to keep calm and relax, but eventually it all caught up with him and he just broke down hard.
Not much similar other than they were both talented, but Jouchiro had people be more in awe with him while Hayama had more people to compete with?
When I look into what this explains about Azami ... I guess I understand why when he was first introduced he just insulted every judge and guest in Erina's restaurant/booth during the Moonlight Festival. They were the very same people (like, the exact same) who had pressured him into going further and further with his cooking till he became lost and unable to go on. But that's really just it?
I mean, I suppose there is more to it, but I now worry that the end goal is that it will turn out that Azami wants "revenge" over what happened to Jou, and he's willing to use whatever method to assure his plan to burn everything down to "avenge" the person he admires. Which would make Azami pathetic rather than threatening as a major antagonist.