All about Air!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Translation: Christine Dashiell
What They Say
Toriko, his chef partner Komatsu, and the other Four Kings finally reach the first stop on their journey to the Gourmet World. Upon arrival they learn that the Daruma, Mayor of Hex Food World, is sick and the only thing that can save him is Acacia’s Salad – Air! They must travel through Hex Food World to find and prepare Air. But when Toriko comes face to face with a pregnant and cranky Nightmare Heracles, what is he to do? What will happen when Toriko faces off against this monstrous mother-to-be?! Find out in volume 32 of Toriko!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the volume kicks off, our heroes stare down the monstrous Nightmare, one of the Eight Kings. And in a weird twist, it turns out Mappy is planning to sacrifice himself as fertilizer for an air tree as an offering to the Nightmare, in the hopes that the beast will let the others capture Air. Which would honestly be a pretty silly way to die, but of course our heroes step in and stop him. And this all ties into the theme of air in general, as the Nightmare’s abilities focus on the insane way it breaths and the amount of air it needs to safely give birth. Of course Air itself also contains a ton of air, and in theory the fruit is required for the beast to have a proper child, but the Nitro have been stealing it all this time.
Anyway, Toriko sends Mappy and Komatsu on ahead and begins the big fight of the volume as he takes on one of the Eight Kings! After an aside with the other characters, it looks like the fight is ready to begin, with Toriko amped up and primed. And yet, the massive creature manages to literally destroy half of our heroes body with a single breath! It’s a great moment that makes it immensely clear just how insane the Eight Kings are, and it’s nice to see them really live up to the hype surrounding them. Obviously, though, our hero doesn’t die here, largely in thanks to the ridiculous restorative property of the curing water. And on top of that, it turns out Toriko has a second demon within him, a Blue Demon with insane power and what seems to be a rather twisted personality. It’s a bit silly and abrupt to pull this out all of the sudden, but it works well enough and definitely makes for some cool moments.
While that over-the-top fight carries on, Komatsu faces his own challenge in preparing the tricky Air. He manages to find a better way to prepare it, but will he manage to pull it off, even with help? And will Toriko manage to make it through his deadly battle? And perhaps most importantly of all, will Air live up to its hype as Acacia’s Salad?
In Summary
This volume is a great, dense entry focused entirely on Acacia’s Salad, Air, and it’s guardian in the form of one of the Eight Kings. What this means is a fantastic battle and a good bout of preparation on the other end, both of which really push things to the limit. On both ends they really do feel far more difficult and imposing than anything that’s been shown before, which is good to see as they’ve certainly been hyped up before now. The one real “flaw” of this volume is that the big “twist” power-up here kind of comes out of nowhere. But it fortunately works well enough and leads to some real great moments, so it’s plenty forgivable. All in all this is a packed book that manages to really fit a whole little arc centered on Air in a single volume, and it makes for a great read all around that manages to play on all of the strengths of the series.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: February 2nd, 2016
MSRP: $9.99
