An intense battle and Midora’s tragic past!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Translation: Christine Dashiell
What They Say
Ichiryu, head of the IGO, and Midora, head of the nefarious Gourmet Corp., were once like brothers under the tutelage of Gourmet God Acacia, but now they are bitter rivals locked in a mortal combat of chopsticks vs. tongue. We take a trip hundreds of years into the past to see just what went wrong when Gourmet God Acacia’s three disciples Ichiryu, Jiro, and Midora trained alongside their mentor, Acacia, and God Chef Froese to turn Midora into the monster he is today.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With disguise shed, Froese shocks the remaining chefs by standing against them. Setsuna and Jiro go all out, but she’s able to deflect their attacks. However, they’re not too certain that this is really Froese. Starjun then appears with Komatsu, and Froese demands that the villain hand him over, though he of course refuses. All that is tossed aside, though, when a Meteor Spice rains down, set to devastate the human world!
After the setting up of some other fights, we finally join the origin of that tragedy, the fight between Midora and Ichiryu! Thanks to his ability to control minority particles, and his Minority World ability, Ichiryu at first appears an unbeatable opponent. As his own body betrays him, Midora’s attacks begin to wildly miss, and even the basic functions that support life start to fall apart! However, with his bold and unyielding hunger, Midora manages to turn the tide of the fight again. Just who will come out on top in this clash of the titans?
Finally, we get a look into Midora’s past. Born a starving orphan with some serious potential, he was picked up by Froese and eventually became one of Acacia’s disciples, alongside Ichiryu and Jiro. Just how did the joy and tragedy of this time shape the man that would become the boss of the Gourmet Corp? And does he still have any hope left for redemption in the present?
In Summary
With this volume, Midora takes central stage, finally coming into his own as a character. For starters, we get an insane battle between him and Ichiryu that absolutely pushes the limits of what has been shown in the series thus far. Perhaps more importantly, though, we get a look at his past, which of course in turn also involves several other key characters. It’s this flashback that really makes the volume, as it injects a ton of humanity into the more mythical figures of the series, and is simply a touching and tragic story. Add in some further mystery and serious disaster for the characters in the present, and you get a volume that’s every bit as strong as the last stunning entry!
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: June 2nd, 2015
MSRP: $9.99
This is a Shonen I have to get into. Cannot wait to check it out. Anyone else here a fan of this? What would you liken it to?