Thread:AlexanderImAlsoGr8/@comment-44913534-20200926062248/@comment-38474342-20200926073052

SEG2195 wrote: I don't mean to come off stubborn I'm just stating what I've found information wise. As for the romantic interest it is shown that only Erina is the one showing romantic feelings in both manga and anime Soma isn't showing any, he is just thinking who it could be and that it might be Erina, he is still thinking who he wants to cook for made more obvious in the anime where he is still figuring it out ( S5 final episode and when his father said someone to cook for he was drawing a blank even with Erina showing up in later panels). The idea is it's one possibility but again the ending is open and there has been much interest in Soma while he is still oblivious. I can agree it's a semi-canon/ fanon ship since there is a solid confirmation of feelings from Erina but no such thing as of yet from Soma in manga, fanbook, or anime. The author only came to like the ship recently but he had also liked Somegu too and wanted mainly cooking duos for the whole thing. He only said he recently started liking soueri in an interview before publishing le dessert and fanbook where he decided on a Macross like ending keeping it open including who Soma decides to pursue if any in the future. It is fine. You don't need to worry about it.

Honestly, if you want to think that then that is fine, but Erina showing feelings for Soma is more than enough to make it "semi-canon". The ending might be open, but given that the author pushed in Erina's direction, then as far as being "canon" is concerned, I am inclined towards his direction, not how others might interpret it.

It can only be semi-canon, by the way, calling it "semi-canon/fanon" does not work. "Fanon" is where the concept of romance only exists amongst the fans for a pair. As soon as a smidgen of romance becomes canon for one of the characters it is then "semi-canon".

Truthfully, the reasoning by Tsukuda's decision does not entirely matter. The end result is still the same, he saw Soma and Erina getting married, he confirmed Erina's romantic interest in Soma and heavily implied that Soma feels the same way. Wherever he gains inspiration from, it doesn't matter.