Toriko: Volume 32 manga review

Manga
Toriko: Volume 32 manga review
By Leroy Douresseaux
February 24, 2016 - 23:06

Viz Media
Writer(s): Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, Christine Dashiell
Penciller(s): Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Letterer(s): Erika Terriquez, Elena Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8266-5
$9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK, 192pp, B&W, paperback
Rating: T (Teen)

Toriko Volume 32 cover image

Rated “T” for “Teen”

There is a savage, alternate version of our Earth. There, the pursuit of the most delicious foods rules over everything else. It is eat or be eaten, and practically everything and everyone is on the menu. Ultimate Gourmet Hunter Toriko is on a life-long quest to create the perfect full-course meal. With young IGO chef, Komatsu, at his side, Toriko has an Ultimate Hunter-Chef partnership, as he faces every beast in his way, putting some in his bottomless stomach.

Toriko, Vol. 32 (entitled Vs Heracles!!; Chapters 283 to 291) opens in Gourmet World. Toriko, Komatsu, and the other Four Kings have finally made the first stop on their journey – Hex Food World. They want to reach Slow Rain Hill where they will find Gourmet God Acacia's Salad, Air. Standing in the way, however is a very pregnant Nightmare Heracles.

THE LOWDOWN: Two volumes ago, the Toriko manga entered a new story arc, the “Gourmet World Arc.” It seemed that the shonen battle manga with big imagination also had big ambitions. Creator Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro continued to present the most inventive people, beings, and creatures in the most amazing places, but the story was also going to chronicle the struggles of humanity and the quest to uplift everyone.

Toriko Volume 32 is a relatively quiet volume. In fact, the battles here are not about a struggle to earn achievement. The fights are about something bigger – from a mother fighting for a safe space for her unborn child to arrive to an elaborate plan that will make something already great into perfection. This story is a meal for every reader, and by the last page, you will wish there were seconds.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Readers looking for the best in shonen adventure will want a big taste of the Shonen Jump manga, Toriko.

A

Rating: A/10