Dance with the king of the monkeys!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Translation: Christine Dashiell
What They Say
In a savage world ruled by the pursuit of the most delicious foods, it’s either eat or be eaten! While searching for the tastiest foods imaginable, Gourmet Hunter Toriko travels the world with his bottomless stomach, facing every beast in his way. There is no monkey business this time as Toriko and the gang rematch against the Monkey King—they have mastered the infamous Monkey Dance and are ready to beat the playful ape at his own game! Their prize is literally dangling right in front of them as the dance-off begins! Can Toriko and the gang swing their hips to victory in time to save Komatsu?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Following off from last time, we join our heroes in their match with the Monkey King. And for the most part, this starts with them launching a ton of monkey martial arts powered attacks at him, with Toriko then diving in to grab that sack. And yet, grabbing those balls proves to be quite a dangerous mistake, as the Monkey King then shows his true form! Which… honestly looks a bit less impressive than his previous form, but it’s not enough to ruin things, fortunately. Also, it turns out that Kaka may not be as harmless as once thought, as she goes after Komatsu in the midst of the fight. And once again, it turns out our heroes figured this out in advance and took countermeasures without the reader seeing. It’s once more a bit of a cheap plot twist, and it definitely runs the risk of feeling seriously old if the author keeps doing it, but for now it’s played to at least somewhat decent effect.
Anyway, back to the actual “fight”, it’s here that things get… weird. Thanks to a flashback to information that was once more hidden from the readers until now, we learn that Coco discovered images that hint at monkey martial arts really being an impossibly elaborate dance, which seems to be the true way to gain Pair. It looks every bit as silly as it sounds, but that’s also pretty clearly intentional. And as a result you get some genuine laughs out of this over the top situation, which works surprisingly well as it most certainly isn’t something you’d be expecting at that point. Plus, the book actually manages to keep the tension high despite all the silliness, which really is a feat. It’s a great little bit that absolutely holds your attention right up until Pair is finally retrieved.
Will our heroes be able to enjoy the prize that they’ve won after great difficulty? And what strange occurrences await them if they do finally partake of Pair?
In Summary
This volume marks the climax of yet another arc, and once more it manages to satisfy quite well. And the surprising bit here is that it does so despite taking quite an unexpected turn. As a result, we get a finale to the arc with quite a different taste than those that came before, but one that still manages to prove fully satisfying. This is a book that’s loaded with action, laughs, and of course some great emotional moments between the members of the cast. And though it may not be the best arc endcap the series has had, it definitely deserves respect for trying something different. Hopefully the next arc manages to have the flavor and personality of this one, as it had that if nothing else, gushing forth right up through the ending that we’re given in this volume.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: August 2nd, 2016
MSRP: $9.99
