The search for the Regal Mammoth continues! What a strange land Biotope 1 turns out to be.
Creative Staff
Story: Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Art: Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Translation/Adaptation: Christine Dashiell/Hope Donovan
What They Say
The Regal Plateau!! Toriko and friends continue their search for the Regal Mammoth and the delicious “jewel meat” found deep in the creature’s body. Toriko can handle the wildest beast that nature has to offer, but the team may be in some serious trouble when more robots from the evil Gourmet Corp. join the party.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
After our heroes are scattered throughout Biotope 1 we start the volume catching up with their whereabouts as they all aim for the Regal Plateau. Toriko and Rin find themselves in the White Forest where they are attacked by numerous beasts of all creeds. This was a really fun section that is littered throughout the volume not just for all the fisticuff action, which is fun as always, but more so for the creature designs. Shimabukuro appears to have held a creature design contest in Japan around the time of this volume’s initial release. I say ‘appears’ because I am not certain. There are lots of liner notes detailing what the creature is and by whom it was submitted by. I think it is really cool that the author not only held a creature design contest (a lot of series have various fan art contests) but that select designs are actually introduced into canon and featured in the manga. This whole chapter is basically an excuse to feature these designs and to have Toriko get sprayed with Battle Fragrance. Basically, Toriko is a bad mamma jamma and not to be messed with as he can reach complete berserker levels with the aid of Battle Fragrance.
Toriko and Rin then make it to the Devil’s Playground, a tournament-ish platform abyss where they must battle different, increasingly difficult beasts on each ‘level’. Meanwhile Terry senses supreme evil, the super scary GT Robot that Toriko & Co. encountered in the cave, and races off to find Toriko to warn/protect him. Sunny and Komatsu are taking a little break in the Mushroom Forest for some lunch, another excuse to introduce very weird creatures. Once Sunny and Komatsu start off toward the Regal Plateau we start to get a better feel of why the Gourmet Corps are considered ‘bad guys’ and also Sunny’s angry side. For a series that is all about finding and killing animals for food it is surprising very environmentally aware. Sunny feels real rage when he sees a beast who has been brutally murdered and mutilated just because, not for food or resources or anything, just because.
These are very good points to make here because it helps bring levity to the world Toriko lives in. It isn’t just a free for all, there is actual care and respect for the wildlife despite the basic premise. It’s a very naturalistic feel reminiscent of Native American cultures and can help some of Toriko’s detractors gain some sympathy and understanding.
Our team eventually reaches the Regal Plateau and sure enough, a gigantic GT Robot shows up! Thankfully, Coco appears on the scene to take care of the bad guy. Sunny, Toriko, Rin, and Komatsu then enter the Regal Mammoth to fight another GT Robot already inside and retrieve the Jewel meat inside. This volume continues with everything that I am enjoying about this series to date and keeps right along with the winning formula. Fantastic fight sequences, strange powers, bizarre creatures, and a strong sense of fun that we expect from any top-tier Shonen Jump series. This story arc is the first one, so far, that encompasses multiple volumes and while I am enjoying it so far there really doesn’t seem to be too much at stake. The villains of the series are so hollow and shallow that there isn’t anything for me to grab on yet to make me feel real peril and urgency. But the fun never stops, and that’s why I keep reading….the fun of it all.
In Summary
Another very strong volume that keeps the inventiveness and fun of the series at a pulse pounding high. I do have this to say though, I have been keeping up with the currently running anime and….yeah….read the manga and skip the anime unless you enjoy the anime after the first four episodes. The plotting is the same but the anime has too much annoying built-in filler. Tina?? I hate that character! She is not in the manga, she is simply a viewer placement character added to the anime that does nothing but annoy and irritate. Most of the footage shown of the villains is not featured in the manga (up to this point at least) and the anime makes the villains seem really stupid and not a viable threat. Their minimal existence outside of being a threat and fighting our heroes in the manga keep some sort of mystery to them in which the villains could actually BE a real threat. The pacing is on par with the manga but there is just something really special that is not being translated into anime form. If you enjoy One Piece and other ridiculous, fun-oriented shonen series read Toriko and this volume only continues to be a pleasurable experience.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: June 7th, 2011
MSRP: $9.99
