General Info:
Series Summary:
Critical Review:
My suggestion: Definitely read or watch Toriko, but don't expect it to be an immersive in depth experience like Bleach or One Piece.
Series Name: Toriko トリコ
Year of Serialization: May 19th of 2008
Author(s): Toriko is written by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, published by Shueisha Inc and appears in the Weekly Shōnen Jump
Artist(s): Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Comedy / Fantasy
Current Status: On going
Moment of Reviewing: June 14th, after reading the current newest chapter, chapter 237, and so I will be reviewing these 237 chapters.
Other Formats: Toriko has also been made into an Anime television series, as well as having several successful Animated films.
Year of Serialization: May 19th of 2008
Author(s): Toriko is written by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, published by Shueisha Inc and appears in the Weekly Shōnen Jump
Artist(s): Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Comedy / Fantasy
Current Status: On going
Moment of Reviewing: June 14th, after reading the current newest chapter, chapter 237, and so I will be reviewing these 237 chapters.
Other Formats: Toriko has also been made into an Anime television series, as well as having several successful Animated films.
Series Summary:
Toriko is a manga / anime that takes place in an alternate world that is orientated around food. This may sound strange at first, and it is, but the really odd thing is that this weird and somewhat off-putting (at least to me it was) first description is in fact one of the things that makes Toriko so great. The world is as I said orientated around food, and what I mean by this is that the biggest world market, the biggest income and the biggest sports / hobbies and everything else you can think of are all related to food in one way or another; be it hired men to catch certain animals a Chef may want to cook, or a hired man to preserve the life of an endangered animal the world wishes to survive.
People who are heavily involved with food in anyway can usually be split into 3 main parties, Chefs, Bishokuya and Saiseiya. A chefs job is to cook the food, a Bishokuya's to provide the food, and a Saiseiya's to preserve / protect the rare food. These 3 main divisions are of course subdivided into large organizations, most notably the IGO, Four Heavenly Kings, Bishokukai and NEO.
The story follows a Bishokuya, Toriko, and his partner Komatsu who is a Chef. The main idea of the show is for a Bishokuya and Chef to create a "Full Course Meal", being a meal prepared with the very greatest of foods they can possibly get their hands on. Since the world is near full of indigenous species, there is an extremely large variety of foods to choose from. Some animals are obviously more difficult to find, hunt or kill than others, and so respectively this food is worth more as you would imagine. At this point in time, Toriko has decided on 2 or 3 parts of his full course meal, and is currently hunting down the other ingredients to fill up the space. Full Course Meals have made Chefs and Bishokuya's legendary, and so many people find themselves in a hunt for the ancient foods used by the heroic Chefs of history to complete their own full course.
People who are heavily involved with food in anyway can usually be split into 3 main parties, Chefs, Bishokuya and Saiseiya. A chefs job is to cook the food, a Bishokuya's to provide the food, and a Saiseiya's to preserve / protect the rare food. These 3 main divisions are of course subdivided into large organizations, most notably the IGO, Four Heavenly Kings, Bishokukai and NEO.
The story follows a Bishokuya, Toriko, and his partner Komatsu who is a Chef. The main idea of the show is for a Bishokuya and Chef to create a "Full Course Meal", being a meal prepared with the very greatest of foods they can possibly get their hands on. Since the world is near full of indigenous species, there is an extremely large variety of foods to choose from. Some animals are obviously more difficult to find, hunt or kill than others, and so respectively this food is worth more as you would imagine. At this point in time, Toriko has decided on 2 or 3 parts of his full course meal, and is currently hunting down the other ingredients to fill up the space. Full Course Meals have made Chefs and Bishokuya's legendary, and so many people find themselves in a hunt for the ancient foods used by the heroic Chefs of history to complete their own full course.
Critical Review:
Toriko has many good qualities and is a really enjoyable show to find yourself reading. The fights in Toriko are especially interesting, with genuine power levels being labelled and upheld (unlike other major manga's like Fairy Tail) but overlapping skill sets and abilities also being able to play a huge factor in every fight. The fights are spectacularly done, with the moves used by the fighters generally representing something to do with the kitchen, common examples being knives, frying pans, forks, cookers and more. This may sound a little cheesy but it is actually done with a certain finesse which gives the fights a nice overlay of importance and without a doubt giving it the link to the major theme of the manga it needs.
Toriko is not just about fights however, it also concentrates on personal relations between characters. Not in the way certain mangas do (not mentioning names Fairy Tail) but in a way that gives a good feel of emotion when characters are in peril. Making the viewer have these sorts of connections to characters gives everything they do a heck of a lot more significance. Not to mention making the entire thing more thrilling since everyone has their favourites they'd like to succeed, and in this way Toriko really does give the viewers something to support.
Versatility is another strong point of the manga. By this I mean that Toriko can focus on many different plots and ideas at the same time and not seem overwhelming. This makes the entire thing a lot easier to read or watch since you never have to think about what's happening, you can simply watch and enjoy (this may also be negative, discussed later).
Being linear is not a strong point of Toriko, which is also a great thing. There is not one character that the viewer likes, but in fact a lot of characters. I don't think I need to explain the importance of many likeable characters, but Toriko has likeable characters in opposing affiliations and fields and so again reinforces the thrill that viewers can get from a lot of situations they're put into.
However, don't get Toriko mixed up for something like Bleach. Toriko differs vastly in the sense it is more light hearted and less fixed on a certain ending, which gives it a more open ended scope. This means Toriko is usually very casual with it's pacing and can often end up in arcs that are lackluster. Toriko is by extent, a less serious read. It plays on emotions and excitement, as opposed to making the viewer think about what's happening and why it's happening. It is something that you simply sit down and absorb, rather than being immersed in it like other in depth mangas. This also gives the feel that Toriko is an under developed, and rushed manga. Commonly giving, at least me, the feeling that it is lacking something and is a thin, stretched out story.
Surprisingly, fights in Toriko are unusually gory. Most fights end up in severed limbs, impalings or death. This darkness in fights in an oddly pleasant thing to have in such a light hearted manga, as if the entire manga was as light hearted as some scenes, it definitely wouldn't be worth watching.
Toriko is not just about fights however, it also concentrates on personal relations between characters. Not in the way certain mangas do (not mentioning names Fairy Tail) but in a way that gives a good feel of emotion when characters are in peril. Making the viewer have these sorts of connections to characters gives everything they do a heck of a lot more significance. Not to mention making the entire thing more thrilling since everyone has their favourites they'd like to succeed, and in this way Toriko really does give the viewers something to support.
Versatility is another strong point of the manga. By this I mean that Toriko can focus on many different plots and ideas at the same time and not seem overwhelming. This makes the entire thing a lot easier to read or watch since you never have to think about what's happening, you can simply watch and enjoy (this may also be negative, discussed later).
Being linear is not a strong point of Toriko, which is also a great thing. There is not one character that the viewer likes, but in fact a lot of characters. I don't think I need to explain the importance of many likeable characters, but Toriko has likeable characters in opposing affiliations and fields and so again reinforces the thrill that viewers can get from a lot of situations they're put into.
However, don't get Toriko mixed up for something like Bleach. Toriko differs vastly in the sense it is more light hearted and less fixed on a certain ending, which gives it a more open ended scope. This means Toriko is usually very casual with it's pacing and can often end up in arcs that are lackluster. Toriko is by extent, a less serious read. It plays on emotions and excitement, as opposed to making the viewer think about what's happening and why it's happening. It is something that you simply sit down and absorb, rather than being immersed in it like other in depth mangas. This also gives the feel that Toriko is an under developed, and rushed manga. Commonly giving, at least me, the feeling that it is lacking something and is a thin, stretched out story.
Surprisingly, fights in Toriko are unusually gory. Most fights end up in severed limbs, impalings or death. This darkness in fights in an oddly pleasant thing to have in such a light hearted manga, as if the entire manga was as light hearted as some scenes, it definitely wouldn't be worth watching.
My suggestion: Definitely read or watch Toriko, but don't expect it to be an immersive in depth experience like Bleach or One Piece.
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