I don't watch a whole lot of TV lately, but one thing I'm still addicted to is cooking and food shows. Two of my faves are No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. Why? Mostly because those shows combine travel, adventure and lots of strange but wonderful foodstuffs that you don't usually see at your local supermarket or diner.
So it stands to reason that I love cooking manga, like Oishinbo and Yakitate! Japan. But now there's a new gourmet graphic novel hitting the shelves, Toriko by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro from Shonen Jump Manga.
Toriko follows the over-the-top adventures of a muscle-bound "gourmet hunter" who seeks out the rarest, wildest, most difficult to find and most delicious foodstuffs available on the planet. We're not talkin' digging for truffles or hunting for wild boar -- nope, that'd be too easy. Toriko battles giant four-armed apes, catches 30-foot cod with crayfish claws, and risks life and limb to capture a monster gator, all for the sake of a good meal.
Check out my review of Toriko Volume 1, and find out why I call it a "mix between Oishinbo, Pokemon, WWE wrestling and an episode of Bizarre Foods."
Want more? You can get your own taste of the foodie fun by reading an online preview of the first chapter of Toriko at ShonenJump.com.
© 2008 Mitsukoshi Shimabukuro / SHUEISHA Inc.
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