Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro

Originally published here at Anime Radius.

Nothing tickles me more as an avid reader of shonen manga when a series finds a plotline and sticks to it, and that is what is happening in the fourth volume of Toriko, in which Toriko and his allies begin actively fighting the Gourmet Corp. that are sending its robots out to capture ingredients and destroy innocent animals without mercy. Now that the series isn't just about Toriko and Komatsu wandering around aimlessly looking for food to add to Toriko's dream menu, the series allows itself some actual development in the plot department, especially when it comes to how the gourmet world works and what kind of people make up the Four Kings (hint: not normal ones). Plus, the series is no longer just Toriko and Komatsu doing things; it's slowly becoming an ensemble cast with the addition of Mansom and Rin into the flow of events as well as the introduction of one of the Four Kings, the impossibly strong-haired Sunny. Anyone who can 'taste' someone with the extra fine hairs hanging off his head that are strong enough to lift a baby mammoth over his head with relative ease is certainly strong enough (and strange enough) to be one of Toriko's colleagues.

Considering the volume opens with the rather tragic death of a Battle Wolf shortly after giving birth, the fourth book of Toriko is surprisingly high on hijinks and action, not sparing any extra time on the events surrounding the newborn wolf before plunging back into the meat of the plot that is the Gourmet Corp's scheme to capture high level ingredients illegally. We also see a bit more of Toriko's gentle side as he starts taking care of Terry Cloth as his surrogate father. Another wonderful introduction to the story is the arrival of Sunny, a fellow King, and the start of another story arc, this time following Toriko and crew on their search for the Regal Mammoth which ends up separating the lot of them thanks to being flung around by a giant rock monster. There's plenty of fighting and action to go around, especially on Toriko's end, and even Komatsu gets in on some of the excitement. Not bad for a sous chef!

The story may be strange, the characters bizarre, but Toriko never fails to entertain as a consistently quality shonen series and if Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro keeps it up, he could have a Weekly Shonen Jump all-time favorite on his hands.… (meer)

Originally posted here at Anime Radius.

Ah, Toriko. Still the super-hyper shonen series set in a fictional age of gourmet that puts the Top Chef style of cooking programs to shame. Don't get me wrong, Padma is a gorgeous lady, but she probably can't wrestle a huge muscled crab for dinner. Toriko can, though - and then crack him open and eat him right there and then. So far, this series has always been about the pursuit of delicious ingredients and the quest to create a perfect menu - but as volume three progresses, something approaches from the darkness to move Toriko in a totally unheard of way: plot! Actual plot! And not just a multi-chapter quest bonanza, but a plot with an over arcing story and secondary plot-related characters and other plotty things. The best thing is that this plot doesn't completely suck! In fact, it looks like it will be really awesome and only widen the scope of the world of gourmet seen already in the manga.

Of course, some of the newly introduced plot points don't make sense yet - why are the Gourmet Corp stealing ingredients and why can't people outside the IGO get their own ingredients if they have the means to - but I imagine they'll be explained further down the road. After all, for most of this volume, the focus is on two things: the puffer whales and Biotope 1 arena. Before we step feet first into the plot of the Regal Mammoth, Toriko has decided to take us on a mini-trip through the gourmet coliseum so we can see another part of the gourmet world not previously seen: the science of it. It's certainly not wholly moral science - even Toriko admits that animal rights groups would lose their minds if they saw what went inside the labs - and the fights in the coliseum certainly qualify as blood sports despite what Director Mansom wants to think. It seems that Toriko is certainly aware of how problematic Biotope 1 operates but hasn't gotten close enough to cast judgment on the island's actions.

Still, it's the perfect backdrop for the current mini-arc featuring the rare battle wolf who as Toriko soon finds out is not in any condition to be fighting anyone. Let's just say the wolf is in a delicate situation. This is all made much more complicated by the other monsters currently in the ring as well as a surprise newcomer that threatens to take the whole place down. There's one thing you can say about this current story arc: it's full of action and lots of fighting, mainly humans with big muscles against some rather brutish animals. And it's always fun to read, especially when Toriko and Komatsu get involved. That's the thing about Toriko: no matter what direction it goes in, it never loses its energy and passion for food. Believe me, there is a lot of food, both in quantity and in the sheer size of some of the dishes (Toriko's 'masterpiece' of a burger comes to mind - it's nearly half as tall as he is!). Fans of the series so far, whether they come to the manga for the action or the drama or the strange food, will certainly not be disappointed by its latest volume. But they might walk away a little hungry.
… (meer)

Originally posted here at Anime Radius.


Imagine, if you will, a world in which the pursuit of world-class cuisine has pretty much taken over civilization as a whole and making a quality dish of the highest order is something every chef of all stripes strives to achieve. A world in which the contestants of Top Chef would more likely have to not only cook the more expensive ingredients but catch them in their natural habitats as well instead of just driving to Whole Foods; let's see the more treacherous contestants try to hijack their fellow chefs' dishes when they've got their hands full chasing their protein of choice with a shotgun and a butcher's knife. In this world, the man in the kitchen is king - the man who hunts down and brings in his ingredients even more so. This, in short, is the world of Toriko, and in the second volume of this hyper-shonen series for the foodie in all of us, the focus is on the thrill of the hunt - in this case, hunting the puffer whale, which naturally live in a habitat filled with nasty dangerous creatures who have no qualms about making a roaming gourmet hunter its next meal.

In its sophomore entry, Toriko starts making its overall story much more clearer with the introduction of Coco, one of the four kings of gourmet along with Toriko (which means we have two more character reveals to look forward to!) as well as an introduction into the working world of the gourmet hunter, who act mostly like mercenaries as they hunt for the most wanted ingredients. The difference between them and Toriko is that they do it for the money while Toriko does it for the experience of eating his quarry with respect. Now that the main cast includes two top-notch gourmet hunters, this means twice the amount of awesome fight scenes and twice the amount of amazing superhuman techniques. As usual, the fight scenes are so over-the-top and brimming with energy, it's hard not to enjoy reading them, especially when Coco breaks out his secret technique that makes the scorpions literally fall back in fear. I do wish that my favorite character, Komatsu, had a bigger role in this volume - he really didn't do much except for run away from beasties, almost fall into a pit, and get kidnapped then almost killed. Um, yay? Having said that, I happen to know Komatsu will get a bigger piece of the plotty pie come volume three, so there's that to look forward to.

The world of Toriko is a wonderfully illustrated world full of fantastic creatures and colorful characters. I wouldn't exactly live in it - it seems kinda dangerous but really fun nonetheless. Watching Toriko and his friends traipse around happily chasing their dream ingredients for Toriko's full-course meal (or just for the fun of eating interesting things) is always enjoyable - and luckily for Shimabukuro, adding in semblances of actual plot doesn't kill the overall enjoyment of the story. In the end, this is about the love of food in shonen manga form, which means big battles and big flavors stacked side-by-side on the same page. Any shonen fan who isn't reading this series yet should get to it ASAP cause it's becoming more than obvious that Toriko is going places.
… (meer)