Ranked #844

Toriko (Manga)

Ah, Toriko. One of the manga series that have actually made me want to eat more....and increase my stomach capacity.

Intro, intro!
Toriko is a manga that is all about food. I don't mean just cooking. I mean hunting and then eating the food! The art indeed makes the food in the manga that it has very juicy and very good looking that sometimes you'll be salivating to the picture!

Ugh, I'm hungry now, but lets move on to the story!

-STORY-
I have little to say about the story. It has a good concept with the whole "Gourmet Era" or should I say, the era where food is highly praised and you can practically eat anything you hunt. This juicy story brings us around a bishoku-ya or some kind of extreme monster hunter that hunts for food and is on a quest to make their own personal courses.

I like this story. Not just because it has food around every corner but because it has a nice concept that revolves around food and hunting. Nothing much here, except the more you go along the manga, the more you learn about the world of food.

-ART-
The art of Toriko indeed makes me hungry to the point of drooling and hungry for some fresh meat. The food looks very appetizing and I enjoy every look of it. Like one chapter for instance, there was a burger that looked absolutely delicious.

Time for characters. It's revolves around your old centric art, rather, the main character is very muscular and tall to the point of that he has to use a bucket as a regular wine cup. Several monsters look very, very nice designed, but there is a downside to this all.
That is the monsters to say. Despite how many ways they can cook them after they kill them, they look rather unappetizing when alive. Like a certain monster that is later introduced.

Overall, it's very nice art. Not overly shaded or over-toned. Feels very naturally drawn

-CHARACTER-
To let you all know, I'm just being lazy right now so don't expect an indepth character review.

As far as I have read, I have thoroughly enjoyed the antics of Toriko and his near unstoppable hunger and power.
Now the other character introduced in the beginning was a man named Komatsu. Is it Komatsu? I think it is...Well anyways, he's a chef of a top grade restaurant. He's your guy that follows the other main character. Annoying at first, but you get used to him later.

Later, we get introduced with several other characters and the concept of Four legendary kings of Gourmet.

-ENJOYMENT-
To keep it short. I have enjoyed this manga as much as Busou renkin. It's a really good read for those aiming for the shonen types

-OVERALL-
Again to keep it short, It is one good manga that is pretty much a must read if you enjoy shonen adventure stories like One Piece, Dragon Ball or Monster Hunter Orage. It's a type of manga that will get you hungry. A definite must read.
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Definitely one of the best Shonen battle series you can find. There are plenty of Shonen manga to read out there, so why Toriko? Here is why.

We are introduced to our title character Toriko, Bishokuya AKA Gourmet Hunter. Toriko is required to hunt down his target for his assignment. This is the how the story goes about at a basic level, Toriko finds an ingredient he wants to go after, and than goes to eat it to fulfill his full course menu. From this, you get the impression that the manga is just some dull story about eating.

We are introduced to "Capture Level" which is the ingredient that is determined by strength, environment, how hard it is to prep and cook, and even how hard it is to eat. This makes Toriko such a facinating great adventure manga, as you can see Toriko and his gang travel through series of insane environments, from massive freezing glaciers, to deadly canyons, raging jungles and rivers, to the oxygen depleted stratospheres and even higher. Shimabukuro is a so brilliant at going in depth with food and can make even cooking seem insanely dramatic, this along with the great special effects fortunately carry into the food, which makes the reward of them finally getting it all the more rewarding.

As for the art, this comes down to personal preference. Though Shimabukuro does a lot of stuff to polish his work, the beasts can look extremely intimidating, and some of the characters even more-so. The environment design is absolutely stunning and you can immerse yourself into the world and there aren't many series that can do this. As for the character and designs, it's different from a lot of current Shonen because the main characters aren't bunch of bishie teenagers. From the start of the series, Toriko is introduced as a massive manly guy in his mid-twenties with bulging muscles. I find it refreshing and soothing to my tastes, and it adds a touch of maturity and stylization. The supporting cast offers a wide range of personalities and their interactions with each other is cool to see.

Lastly, since it's a shonen battle manga, the fights are vital to the series. The battles are well orchestrated. Something that sets this aside from some standard Shonens are is that you will visibly see Toriko develop and grow stronger before your very eyes, adapting to his environment, and growing tougher during battles. The battles themselves can end up very intense; seeing two massive characters pound on each other while soaked in blood is nothing short of epicness. I suppose the general concept of a series that is built around food could be a turn off, but it is an adventure genre and the way Shimabukuro created such a vast world surely deserves a lot of recognition. read more