Crazy Food Truck

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Crazy Food Truck... Is probably one of the most American experiences in the medium (the most stereotypical way possible, resembling a 90s eastern European sitcom that got cancelled half-way through season 2, but that's not exactly a bad thing if you're into borderline campy stuff). It is a comedy, but I did not feel like laughing, instead I felt like smirking all along. As such, I'm trying to convince you, the potential reader, to give it a shot. You have guns, you have good looking food in industrial quantities, some over-the-top occurrences, tits and a manly man mc. Disgusting. If you're not sold, keep reading.


The ... character design is fine overall. I like Gordon's tbh, because despite being the most cliché middle-aged badass daddy character, the mangaka managed to create a very solid, recognizable and likeable one. He's basically the manga version of a Harley-owning dad.

The set-up could be summed up as Mad Max meets Gordon Ramsay's food truck (if this were a thing). It is a post-apocalyptic scenario, and the backgrounds depict that quite well. They are not very detailed, but the art, despite being a bit rough, is nice. Even though it's only 6 chapters long at the time of the preview, we've already got some nice panels and spreads. I still remember the 'Blue Lake City' one as it somehow managed to build upon the idea of desolation, despite its simplicity. Oh and there are also some good action panels and the coloured pages we get are a treat. Plus the food is looking fine too (especially that BLT.. It stuck with me).

Paneling is pretty good, it's a well-done series and I didn't manage to find any instance that'd disrupt my reading experience, but at the same time, it's nothing to write home about tbh.


What stood out for me first in this series: the worldbuilding as the way it's done is rather interesting, using all means available. We see some settlements and the life of those people, what professions are in demand, the fact that fish are meant to fly or swim through the sand and that there are carnivorous trees that use water as bait. It starts as an rather eccentric food-action manga and it keeps that up, more questions being asked each chapter. Who is 'I'm hungry'? Where did she come from? Why is she healing so fast? And then it slams in an Onsen episode. I'd say it's a really hectic series (in a good way). At times, it has some realist moments, but in the next few pages it 180s and we have people bringing spoons to a katana fight. Maybe I've exaggerated a bit, it's not that eccentric, but it is definitely a really fun experience.

Moreover, I really liked the pace this was going at. It's really easy to follow, it doesn't get boring and it's not too fast either. If it were to be faster-paced, there is a chance the world would fall apart and the plot would have to suffer. However, we haven't seen that much of the plot, besides collecting more and more questions with each chapter. I need to see more chapters of this to get a better grasp of the story, but so far I'd say it's been a solid start and it was at least an intriguing world and story that managed to pull me in.


When it comes to characters, we have Gordon, a runaway from the army in his 40s who's quite a man-of-action I'd say. Behaviour-wise... Everyone's making the Gordon Ramsay jokes for a reason. I mean even to 'I'm hungry' he behaves in a similar manner Gordon does with kids. Oh.. You precious little thing, are you hungry? I mean both being badass daddies that cook and named Gordon is already enough to make those jokes, right? Putting that aside, I really like his character. He's cool, collected, mysterious and I can't help, but wonder what his background is.

And then we have 'I'm hungry!' which Gordon picks up after almost running her over while she was sleeping in the middle of the road. She's a 19 year old gourmet, human or not as her origin is quite foggy at the moment. She's the main addresser of the ecchi, but I'd argue it's rather mild, well-done and tasteful. In case you're worried about the age gap, as he could be her father, at the moment Gordon doesn't even care that much about it and he's not flustered, but uncomfortable if she's naked, and I really liked this aspect.

Moreover, I loved the fact that the characters portrayed as antagonists actually try solving the problem peacefully, instead of taking a kill-on-sight approach. For an over-the-top premise and story as this, they actually are shockingly humane. We don't even know if they are the 'bad guys' in the first place and they don't feel like a mean to further the plot. It's just so early into the series, but we've even got some development for the characters. I didn't expect there to be any, as I feel like eccentric manga works without it quite well, but it was definitely a welcome surprise.


All in all, in case it wasn't obvious, I really like this manga and I think others would do too. It's not a convoluted story or anything among those lines, but it is pure entertainment at the moment. I'd say the first chapter's the only one with a bit more ecchi in it, so even if you dislike that, but like fiction that doesn't take itself too seriously and ends up being plain boring or a history book, go for it. I mean... I'd argue there are series that don't have the tag that have more fan service, but this doesn't shy away from displaying boobs so it's understandable why the tag's there. I'm starting to get the gist of manga and I'd call it unique. I haven't come across a similar one so far. Probably not being what I tend to read plays a part in that, but if someone who's not that big into this type of manga recommends it, I'd say it's worth a shot.

There are two ways I find myself describing Crazy Food Truck. The first is that it reads like the manga equivalent to an airport novel. The second (and my preferred one) is that it reads like a segment from Heavy Metal or an episode of Love, Death and Robots that was made into its own series. Neither description makes this a bad read by any means. If anything, it can help sell this series to those wanting some light reading or are looking for some decent fun. Crazy Food Truck hardly feels that extraordinary contrary to what the title suggests, but it's also much better ... than you'd expect it to be. At a surprisingly short length of sixteen chapters and three volumes, Crazy Food Truck never overstays its welcome, which works very well in its favor.

Character-wise, the cast of CFT aren't really that memorable, but mangaka Rokugou Ogaki does give some of them enough distinct aspects that make them somewhat interesting. Our leading duo, Gordon and Arisa, play off each other in a way that's familiar yet endearing; Gordon being the straight man while Arisa acts as the comic relief (and source of fan service). Their dynamic could've been potentially toxic, since the potential for the dreaded "born sexy yesterday" trope could've reared its ugly head. But thankfully, Ogaki dodges that trope and makes Gordon and Arisa's dynamic more wholesome. And while Arisa is the subject of fan service, Ogaki doesn't ever overdo it; most of these moments occur in the first few chapters and it’s virtually absent in subsequent chapters once the plot really gets going. The antagonists are also not what you'd expect, either. Major Kyle, for example, could've easily been a typical ruthless villain scorching earth in order to capture our heroes, but instead, he's calmer and more tactful in his actions; only resorting to violence when more reasonable options fail him. And plot-wise, CFT seems to wear its Mad Max influence on its sleeve, but it sprinkles in some Heavy Metal-esque weirdness with its world-building to spice it up. It's also pretty decently paced; keeping its primary storyline going with a few more episodic chapters included to give some time to wind down and explore the world a bit more, but never to excess or at the expense of the pacing. It's honestly kind of impressive how Ogaki compiled a solid story that never feels like it's leaving anything out in such a small package, even if it's nothing groundbreaking.

Ogaki's artwork is solid, too, but hardly much to write home about. Where it does shine, however, is in his rending of the food throughout. I’m sure may be tempted to jokingly say that food in manga and anime looks amazing already, but Ogaki makes the food in this series look like heaven (even the food I don’t personally care for).

Had this series been a much longer one, I’d’ve been tempted to have a more lukewarm opinion of it. But as it is, I don’t. Ogaki seems to understand that the premise of this series could only go on for so long, so rather than dragging out the series, he keeps things short, sweet and to the point. While the lasting impact of this series may be muted in the long run, that doesn’t make Crazy Food Truck worthless. As stated before, it’s perfect light-reading and it makes for a fun read for those wanting a fun, weird story that’s entirely unpretentious.

There is no review here, I suppose I will indicate some initial thoughts I have on this manga that may or may not be helpful.

You got yourselves a Mad Max setting, some government services, some unearthly beings, an old ex-soldier dude and a real Crazy Food Truck. They're all in for a crazy time.

The narrative feels like a promising start, with a duo that seems unfitting for one another, yet does well together in this world of mayhem. Most of the story now is a cat and mouse chase that seems to be going nowhere as of now. I can only say that this is ... a slow start towards anything major, but this has some interesting plot to play with that I hope can be utilised to make this story a little more intriguing. There are dumps of bits of info that add to the world, narrative and character that I thought would do well here, nothing like some waterfall, but not implicit like some drops from a barely open tap.

Art is, well, good. It follows general conventions, doesn't really have a style to call its own, you may have come across similar styles before, it is a shame that it didn't go to lengths in producing anything of great extent. So character design, world design, is just good. Why I gave this a 7.5 instead of a 7 or 8 is obvious for one reason, though the craze holds up here, you do get your cool action scenes that are quite fun to sit through. Nothing bad here.

I enjoyed this. It's fun to read if nothing else. Good action, slightly funny scenarios, a bit of fanservice, and a dude who just want to sell some burgers. Good mix of everything.

Obviously, with not much being set in stone now. I can't say this is the best thing ever so far. I hope it does become something near on a personal favourite of mine, this has big potential. Only time will tell with what is to be given next.

I will update this if anything more to speak of exists.

TLDR; 90's action movies + road trips + good food = Great manga imo.

This was an extremely nice short manga you can read within a day and enjoy every minute of it. I love the simplicity of the writing where you can enjoy anything and everything with the beautiful backgrounds, the cool and cute characters and with what little information you are told, you can piece together things yourself.

There's a good amount of absurdity to keep you second-guessing, and asking "How will they get through this?!" throughout the chapters, and you know two things are constant;

-"I'm hungry".
-Great food.

So buckle up ... and fire up the grills. Crazy Food Truck is definitely worth your time.