Then I'll just post my thoughts here
(Sorry in advance for any grammar mistakes, english is my third language)
(I understand if this is too long to read, so for the summary, see the
last paragraph)
Before I get into the review, it's important to know that I started reading Toriko with huge expectations, simply because of the huge amount of hype around the manga.
Now having said that, let's start with the positives:
- The manga does live up to it's hype when it comes to the
"epicness" of it. The set-ups for the fights, the backstories and the fights themselves are indeed amazing. Especially fights like Toriko vs Tommyrod, or Sani vs Tommyrod for that matter, are really crazy.
- Some of the
characters in this manga are just ridiculously awesome. Starting with Knocking Master Jirou, who is probably my favourite at the moment, there are characters, who this manga could not live without. Setsuno, Ichiryuu, Starjun, Frohze, Midora, Tommyrod and Grinpatch are a few other examples.
- The amount of
creativity the author brings to the table is amazing, most noticible in the creatury design, which is art-wise the best partof the manga in my opinion.
- Making a
manga about food interesting is another thing that I have to praise the author for. And he really made an effort think about the different influences of food, calories and other substances on the characters in the story. The gourmet-cells are quite a concept.
- I also like the
moral lesson of Toriko's approach towards food: I only kill it, if I'm going to eat it and I will eat it, if I kill it.
- Lastly I'd like to mention the
world of the Toriko-verse. The separation in Gourmet-world and Human-world, the different weather conditions, the history of the planet and of course the mystery around the Nitro are all fascinating.
Those were just the main positive points that stood out to me, while reading Toriko, but there are some things that I don't like aswell and it wouldn't be a fair review if I let those out.
- Despite the amazing creature design, I don't like the
overall design and artstyle of the
characters. The extremely over-muscular bodies and the designs of the faces of the characters are things that don't work well for me. Dragon Ball was already pushing it, but Toriko goes overboard, in my opinion that is.
- The endless
descritpions for the tastes of the meals are kind of tedious. Again, that's just my personal opinion, but a few pannels of Toriko enjoying the meal and saying it is tasy would've been enough for me. I know it's a story about food, but still.
- The attempt to explain some of the things that happen in the manga with
"real-world-science" is a little bit sad, when you look at the world as a whole. It just doesn't work for me.
-
Komatsu... oh Poseidon have mercy. I really tried to like him, I tried so hard, but I just can't. The amount of hype this character gets in the manga itself is buggs me to no end and his constant crying and complaining is nothing to be fond of either. But the biggest problem I have with him is...
-
Toriko's relationship with Komatsu reminds me of Ichigo's relationship with Orihime in the Hueco Mundo arc of Bleach. Now I really liked Toriko as a main character, before we found ou this, in his fight with Starjun: Toriko is fighting so hard, because he needs to protect Komaru. Toriko's initial motivation is great. To make the best full course with the (probably) rarest ingredient as a main dish and therefore become the greatest Bishokuya. I really liked that, it reminded me of One Piece, where Luffy want's to find the rarest treasure of them all and so become the Pirate King. But once I heard that Toriko's fighting spirit depends on Komatsu, it really left a bad aftertase in my mouth.
However, despite all those complaints I have, this manga is amazing. Toriko definately did not disappoint and even with the overhype it got, it met my expectations.
Overall I give Toriko an
8/10 and it has the potential to go even higher.
