Comics / Manga

Toriko: Volume 21 manga review

By Leroy Douresseaux
April 24, 2014 - 16:34

Toriko Volume 21 cover image

Rated “T” for “Teen”

There is a savage, alternate version of Earth.  The pursuit of the most delicious foods rules, and it is eat or be eaten, as 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.

As Toriko, Vol. 21 (entitled Showdown at Chowlin Temple!! Chapters 181 to 189) opens, Toriko and Komatsu must begin their training.  This training is the only way they will learn how to capture the elusive Bubble Fruit.  Toriko struggles to quiet his rumbling stomach and to temper the self-confidence that has made him a Gourmet Hunter legend.  While he is training, a darker menace approaches.

THE LOWDOWN:  The Toriko manga, as always, is both highly-imaginative and hugely entertaining.  Toriko Volume 21 is no exception, but it does not have as much of the bizarre foods, weird people, outlandish locales, as the craziest volumes of Toriko.  However, creator Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro offers some off-the-wall, but highly intriguing food philosophy in Vol. 21.  I found myself actually taking it seriously; well, Toriko is nothing if not an interesting read.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for something on the weird foodie side will want the Shonen Jump manga, Toriko, on the menu.

 

Rating: B+ /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12