If PETA ever came across this show, I’m sure it would wind up right on top of one of their shit lists...
My gripe with BLACK BUTLER was that I felt it unnecessarily “weaponized” a non-action-oriented concept and, for that same reason, I was a little skeptical of this show for seeming to do the same thing with cooking. I’ll let you lunatics work out your own analogy about how different ingredients and preparation techniques can yield different quality dishes… but, without that, I’ll state simply that TORIKO worked for me.
Maybe the difference is that it appends the unconventional weaponization stuff (for lack of a better term) onto a general fantasy adventure scenario. It’s less a case of “preposterone” being the featured ingredient on IRON CHEF and more a case of Goku trying out some tricks he learned from EPIC MEAL TIME in between bouts with Frieza. There’s something morbidly brilliant about a twist on the usual giant killer premise that has the hero aiming is to cook and eat the giants he’s slaying. That the intro and outros sound vaguely like Andrew WK ditties walls up the fourth corner of this show’s outrageous masculinity.
My only real criticism of the show is that the precise ratings of the various monsters got a little too RPG-like for my taste. It’s a delicate balance to build a fantasy world with a clear set of rules for its fantasy, sure, but once stats start getting thrown out, I really hate feeling like I need a 12-sided-die to get the fullest enjoyment out of a show. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten over how RECORD OF LODOSS WAR felt when it was putting such serious concern into how many points of a damage fireball spell would inflict.
Watch this episode, “The Undiscovered Giant Beast Toriko Capture A Gararagator!” below and decide for yourself.
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazon here & here. Follow him on Twitter: @tompinchuk
i try not to watch this show because this show makes me hungry so bad
Fighting Foodons anyone?
I still need to catch this one but I'm waiting for around 50 to be up before I start. It looks like it will remind me of Yakitate! Japan, another cooking anime that recalls Iron Chef. When I saw that one last year, I thought it reminded me of One Piece in comedic tone even though there were no fights. Toriko began with a One Piece crossover, so the potential for even more insanity is high.
Somehow, the idea of food being a central theme of an anime, that too in a shonen setting doesn't sound too appealing. Even though I actually enjoyed Yakitate Japan...
Another show that kind of takes a long time to get really good, but once it does, it stays good.
The biggest problem with this show is that all the heroes are super powerful from the get go; there's no "dragonball" period. It gets pretty tough to relate to a lot of the characters. But it is a fun show and a great weekly read and it never takes itself too seriously, so it's always pretty enjoyable, which is important since there are a lot of dry plot elements.
I really like the beginning of each episode where it shows some weird place in the world and the food items that are there. Like the flower that is made up of cheeseburger parts, or the tree that grows hotcakes, and its own supply of syrup, or the mac&cheese volcano.
@LifeByDegrees said:
You read my mind.
Toriko doesn't sound or look like it's for me, but heck I'll keep it on the backburner.
@LifeByDegrees: NO. Screw that show.
Some of the criticisms of this show were that it's DBZ with food in it, r other dismissals, but this sow is such its own thing, and it's really odd.
After a certain episode, if I could compare this show to anything,it' Fist f the North Star, but instead of an apocalypse, the world entered the Gourmet Age.
It's not a show that you go and tell all your friends about, but it's an enjoyable, ridiculous show. It's the kind of show that you check in on as the episodes pile up, rather than an immediate watch.
Couldn't get into this shonen show either. I watched the first ep and soon as I saw how the kid wanted to be the greatest whatever and the main hero was overpowerful I figured it would be a generic fest. I also took note of the monster ratings and thought it would result in generic plot lines of increasing monster rank
@LifeByDegrees: If this show has anywhere near the level of food puns that Fighting Foodons had I will be amazed.
@CodeMcK: No abundance of food puns, but hey talk about how food tastes A LOT. They also have all these wacky hybrid foods and hybrid animals.