After following some of the battles between the Ultimate and Supreme Menu's dishes in this story (including in chapters that aren't translated yet), I actually see an interesting pattern that stays in the manga for many years:
If the particular battle takes up only 1-2 chapters, expect Yamaoka to lose against Yuzan. But if it's 3 or more than that, chances are Yamaoka will actually win, or at the very least, draw in the match.
I think the pattern is as such because I think the mangaka "only gives" Yamaoka victories or draws if he actually has 3 or more chapters to learn as much as possible about cuisine to beat his dad. And if he only has 1 or 2 chapters for a particular match, "certainly" he won't have enough time to learn, thus he's not "eligible" for a victory for that match.
Not sure about the actual reason, but this is what I glean from after reading the manga for years.
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Also, there is another interesting part in this chapter that stays in the story going forward (probably related to my opinions above):
Are Yuzan's losses caused because of him actually letting Yamaoka off the hook at times (thus he's not actually making better dishes), or because although he still goes all the way in every match, but in the end, he's still a human being with limitations, and Yamaoka (knowingly or not) actually manages to beat Yuzan because of such limitations?
I think the former answer does stand with the fact that Yuzan still actually has some kindness within him (he's just too tsundere to admit it, let's be real). But then, the latter also aligns with how much of an asshole he can be at times (something that Yamaoka knows better than anyone).
After following some of the battles between the Ultimate and Supreme Menu's dishes in this story (including in chapters that aren't translated yet), I actually see an interesting pattern that stays in the manga for many years:
If the particular battle takes up only 1-2 chapters, expect Yamaoka to lose against Yuzan. But if it's 3 or more than that, chances are Yamaoka will actually win, or at the very least, draw in the match.
I think the pattern is as such because I think the mangaka "only gives" Yamaoka victories or draws if he actually has 3 or more chapters to learn as much as possible about cuisine to beat his dad? And if he only has 1 or 2 chapters for a particular match, "certainly" he won't have enough time to learn, thus he's not "eligible" for a victory for that match.
Not sure about the actual reason, but this is what I glean from after reading the manga for years.
-------------------------
Also, there is another interesting part in this chapter that stays in the story going forward (probably related to my opinions above):
Are Yuzan's losses caused because of him actually letting Yamaoka off the hook at times (thus he's not actually making better dishes), or because although he still goes all the way in every match, but in the end, he's still a human being with limitations, and Yamaoka (knowingly or not) actually manages to beat Yuzan because of such limitations?
I think the former answer does stand with the fact that Yuzan still actually has some kindness within him (he's just too tsundere to admit it let's be real). But then, the latter also aligns with how much of an asshole he can be at times (something that Yamaoka knows better than anyone).
I'll split my reply to two parts. The non-spoiler part, covering chapters up to this oyster showdown, and a spoilered part, covering chapters that come later. If anyone is reading along and doesn't want to be spoiled, DON'T CLICK the spoiler.
Non-Spoiler Part:
I think this is a great opportunity for us to look back at the previous showdowns (official and non-official) to see if the pattern fits. It'll also act as a nice overview.
The first multi-chapter showdown was in Vol8, Broth and Noodles. Kaibara won that one by using Chinese seasonings for the Chinese-ish hiyashi chuka. Before that, the showdowns were all single chapters, with Kaibara winning most of them by showing either better knowledge, or better thoughtfulness.
If we don't count the hiyashi chuka showdown, and if we only want to focus on the official Weekly Times published showdowns, then we'll have to jump to Vol15, with the egg showdown being the first one. Since it's an establishing showdown, we can sort of discount it from the pattern. Following that though, most of the official showdowns average around 3 chapters (Vegetables, Gyoza, Rays). The Vegetable Showdown is a bit of a special case, since the showdown actually happened in its first chapter, but was postponed because Yamaoka was an idiot, so that one doesn't quite fit the pattern either. For those other two, the result was a draw.
Next, we have the Raw Meat Showdown, the Village Revitalization Showdown, and the Covered Baking Showdown. Kaibara basically won all 3 of these (the Village Revitalization was formally a draw, but that's just cause the judges are cowards). The pattern works.
And now with the Oyster Showdown, a 3 chapter showdown, Yamaoka managed to snag a win. Everything checks out! You've made a great observation.
Spoiler Part:
The pattern works for a few more volumes, but starts to lose consistency after a while. The showdowns start getting longer, spending more time on setup and explanation, which means just about every showdown takes a minimum of 3 chapters.
Of special note are the showdowns that span entire volumes, like the Curry Showdown and the Food for Longevity Showdown. These showdowns also involve the Taste Tour of The World, which means Yamaoka and crew get to learn a whole lot about the subject food. The readers learn along with him, so it would feel a bit unsatisfying to have him lose outright in the end.
This 'learning' is I think, a big factor in whether Yamaoka wins his showdowns, so I believe you've caught onto the right idea. If the Taste Tour of The World is involved, 'learning' is automatically involved, so his chances of winning are higher. When they're not involved however, Yamaoka can sometimes take the wrong lesson, like in the Hotpot Showdown.
Because of this pattern, there's a stretch of volumes where the conclusion of the showdowns feels largely unsatisfactory, since the Taste Tour of The World is constantly involved so the result is almost always a tie. It's the Australia chapters. When we get there, I'm really gonna have to focus on the drama of the journey, since the showdowns aren't gonna be that interesting.
With regards to Kaibara's losses, at this point, they feel like Kaibara going easy on Yamaoka, due to various circumstances and specific contexts for each showdown. It always feels like Kaibara has the better knowledge, technique, and thoughtfulness, even when he loses. The first time Yamaoka gets an overt win over Kaibara, where even Kaibara has to admit it, is in Vol32. From there, the showdowns start to feel a bit more equal.
Man, that was fun. We gotta do these in-depth analyses more often.
