Mar 08 2011
Oishinbo A la Carte
Since Jerzy Drozd‘s talk at Ignite 5 I’ve been looking on and off for some kind of comic to get into that doesn’t involve tights. Fortunately there’s a lot to choose from, and this past Sunday at AADL I stumbled across Oishinbo – Japanese Cuisine. I’m in love.
If you fondly remember Morimoto angrily yelling “HE IS NOT A CHEF!!!” at Bobby Flay at the original Iron Chef USA special event after he stood on his cutting board, then this is the comic for you. It has it all. The over-wrought characters, the mild sexism, and the fanatical attention to culinary detail. We’re talking about making the perfect rice by picking out the malformed grains with tweezers.
The main characters Yamoaka and Kurita (later his wife – hilarious!) are in charge of the Ultimate Menu project at Tozai News. They have to explore the true nature of Japanese cuisine for the paper. However, at every turn they are confronted by Kaibara Yuzan, Yamoaka’s father and rival (!). “IT’S A SICK JOKE THAT SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND THAT BASIC CONCEPT HAS BEEN PUT IN CHARGE OF THE ULTIMATE MENU. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE TALKING ABOUT FOOD!”
It’s great, and there’s a whole series exploring different aspects of food.
Jerzy’s talk:
I’m still looking for some hard sci-fi comics.
No responses yet
