Sunday November 22, 2009
Fish-tastic feast
By ZAKI ZAKARIA
OISHINBO: FISH, SUSHI & SASHIMI
Story: Tetsu Kariya
Art: Akira Hanasaki
Publisher: VIZ Media; 276 pages
(ISBN: 978-1421521428)
For ages 13+
WHAT makes a perfect meal?
It’s a question many foodies ask when they look for great grub. If you fancy Japanese food, you may find the answer to that question in Oishinbo.
Every volume of this long-running cooking manga has sold in the millions since 1983. Except for a year-long hiatus in 2008, it is still being published today. An anime adaptation was aired in 1988 and it ran for four years. There are many cooking and food manga out there, but they have yet to live up to Oishinbo’s success.
For the uninitiated, the manga begins with Tozai News celebrating its 100th anniversary. To commemorate that, its publishers have commissioned the creation of the Ultimate Menu, a model meal embodying the heights of Japanese cuisine. This momentous task has been entrusted to the reluctant journalist Yamaoka Shiro, a cynic with refined taste buds and an acutely honed knowledge on food. With assistant Kurita Yuko along for the ride, the pair travels throughout Japan in search of dishes that will be part of the Ultimate Menu.
Compared to the over-the-top heroes of other food manga like Yakitate!! Japan or Iron Wok Jan, Yamaoka Shiro comes across as being more down-to-earth. Shiro is the kind of guy of you’d want to have a sake with. He will dish out food trivia like how soil conditions can affect the flavour of your ramen or how live fish taken from an aquarium doesn’t taste as good as the ones caught from the sea. You would believe it when Shiro saves an orphanage from being condemned just by telling an arrogant CEO what makes great fried frog legs.
Kurita Yuko may seem like a mere damsel at first, but as the manga progresses, Yuko displays maturity, pluck and a bit of wit.
Every manga has a main villain, and Oishinbo has it in Kaibara Yuzan, prominent artist, founder and director of the Gourmet Club. He is Shiro’s rival, and worse – father. Father and son clash each time they meet for a battle of wits and cuisine, with junior often losing. Yuzan, while imperious, remains an honourable, traditional and charismatic man. His knowledge of food is equal to that of his son’s. You can say that Kaibara Yuzan is the Darth Vader of foodies!
The art style is reminiscent of the Belgian comic, Tintin. Akira Hanasaki draws the sweet, cartoonish characters against the deliciously detailed Japanese food while Tetsu Kariya pens the delightfully witty story with its tempting twists and turns.
VIZ Media made an interesting move by compiling the manga in volumes according to cuisine types. (Each volume focuses on a type of dish such as sushi and fish.) Therefore, don’t be surprised by the sudden jumps in continuity or the subtle changes in art style.
Oishinbo is as addictive as sushi! If you plan to have a perfect Japanese meal, be sure to bring along a copy of Oishinbo as your guide.
(Rating: 5)
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