Manga Review: Toriko, Volume 40, by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2017

Volumes: 43.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 38. 41.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Toriko is a Gourmet Hunter out to eat the world!

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.

In the final moments before the Gourmet Eclipse, Toriko and the gang finally reunite and partake in the parts of Acacia’s Full-Course Meal that have been captured so far. What sort of power will the Full-Course Meal impart to Toriko and his friends? Meanwhile, things are getting a little too slimy for Don Slime as he goes head-to-head against Neo, who gets more and more powerful with every bite! With the end of the world looming and the coming of God imminent, will anyone be ready for the disasters to come?

Review:

I didn't mind reading this series at one point, but I think it's gotten too serious for me. Given that I wasn't following the story much, and it's getting to the end, I suppose that makes sense.

The characters are reunited as this volume starts, and they're in the middle of a crazy storm, when they decide to take a break and eat the four foods they've saved. (I don't get why that would work? How can they just take a break?)

We move away from them for a bit, as we see these two crazy creatures having a show down. As the volume nears its end, we finally get to see the final ingredient they're after: God. They've mentioned it for a long time, and they're finally upon it.

I'm unsure what's going to happen after they win this one. The plot and world of this series is so hard to follow, sometimes.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Toriko, Volume 38, by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: May 2017

Volumes: 43.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 37. 39.

Goodreads Synopsis:

 Toriko is a Gourmet Hunter out to eat the world!

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.

Jiro prepares for the most sobering fight of his life after he learns the Nitro’s true plan—reviving Acacia and permanently killing Neo! But for that plan to happen, they need Acacia to eat God. There’s just one problem...Acacia's incomplete Gourmet Cell Demon splits into seven pieces and scatters all over the Gourmet World, threatening to destroy all life on the planet even before the Gourmet Eclipse begins!

Review:

I found this series more enjoyable when I first started it. It was just weird and entertaining then. Now it's serious and that only makes it weird. The whole recipe thing, all the weird creatures that are food and have weird names... It just doesn't make any sense to me anymore, and now it's just making me confused, and a little bored. I'm finding it harder to care, I suppose.

Komatsu meets the boys' mother and helps them in this volume. He also gets eaten by this creature and has to overcome? Several of the group volunteer to go fight certain sea creatures in order to get the materials to make these invincible cooking tools, only to later find out that time goes by faster there—so even though it's a few days where Komatsu is, the guys go through years.

I just... I have a hard time taking this series serious, and it's harder to find it funny when the characters are so serious. And this whole sea creature thing just seems unnecessary.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Toriko, Volume 37, by Mitsutoshi Shimbukuro

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2017

Volumes: 43.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 36. 38.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Toriko is a Gourmet Hunter out to eat the world!

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.

Komatsu and the gang dive under the sea and reach Blue Grill, and it’s more intense than any of them could have ever imagined! The underwater civilization is full of master chefs with amazing talents and everyone is eager to put their skills to the test! But this Giant Clam is rotten at its core, with a lot of shady business going on behind the scenes. To enter the Back Channel and reach Another, Komatsu and the gang must defeat the masked rulers of Blue Grill, the Five Ten Shell Masters, to prove their worth—or literally die trying.

Review:

The main group gets to start in the cooking competition, Yuda being the first to fight this planet's chef. It's a life-or-death kind of competition, apparently. In the midst of all this, we also get to see what everyone else is doing. Each small group moving around and finding the other key ingredient creatures. There's a fight with a spider creature, and we see Midora fighting off with a known enemy (I guess).

The most interesting part of the volume, to me, was seeing Komatsu and the boy that found him. He's separated from everyone else, and he meets a boy who lets him stay the night. Only, this shows Komatsu what is really happening to people on this planet. It's rather creepy, and we get left in the dark for the rest of the volume.

This volume was actually a little boring to me, but maybe I just wanted to see more of Komatsu's current plot.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Toriko, Volume 36, by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 1, 2016

Volumes: 43.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Volume: 1. 35. 37.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Toriko is a Gourmet Hunter out to eat the world!

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.

The double-sided drop has plopped and Toriko and the gang drink deep from the fruit of their efforts—they finally get to taste Pair! The party is cut short when the real Kaka appears before them and reveals the turmoil boiling under the surface. The gang must continue on and capture the rest of Acacia's Full Course before the Gourmet Eclipse...which is only one month away!

Review:

This series is seriously weird.

We see the group changed genders still for a bit in this volume. We meet a bunch of new, really odd food-related monsters. There's a history lesson about what happened to the beginning of their world, and what it really is.

The group splits up to go get the final parts of the full course faster. They fight a bunch of different creatures on the way.

I really don't understand what's happening in this series, at any time. If I really think about it, I don't get it at all. It's just so weird. But the volumes aren't hard to read, and usually they're actually kind of fun. I don't get it, but I don't mind it, and I can see the appeal for sure.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Toriko, Volume 35, by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2, 2016

Volumes: 38+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 34. 36.

Goodreads Synopsis:

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 worldwith 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?

Review:

I believe I missed a volume, but we’re in the second half of the monkey battle as we start this one. The group is trying to get a pair from the monkey, as it will be the magic food to cure Komatsu. It is a little disturbing to me that we see them trying to reach for the monkeys scrotum mid-battle. But I guess it’s lightened by their fight turning into a dance?

There’s some interesting techniques here, and then it slows down and there’s another feast. Which ends with their genders transforming, and the guys growing boobs.

This is such an odd series, so weird, and yet quite easy to read and rather enjoyable. It’s a surprisingly easy volume to read each time I receive one.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Toriko, Volume 33, by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: April 5, 2016

Volumes: 38+

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 32. 34.

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

Toriko and the gang did it! They captured Acacia’s Salad—Air! However, the victory celebration is cut short when a familiar friend-now-foe, Teppei, steals Komatsu’s heart right out of his chest and disappears into the Back Channel! Now Toriko and the other Four Kings must travel to Area 7 to capture Acacia’s Soup, Pair, to save Komatsu! Ferocious Area 7 won’t be much of a party, but they’ll still have a ball…or two!

Review: 

I’m honestly surprised with how much I actually enjoy reading odd volumes of this series. It’s not something I would normally pick up, and it’s an odd series that I don’t always understand, but actually quite fun to read.

As the group is celebrating with their acquired food air, and trying it in all kinds of different ways, they’re attacked. And Komatsu is horribly wounded. Everyone does what they can to preserve him safely in a coma until they can find a cure, which means that they’re off on another trip to another island, where they will be able to heal him. This means they take a shark-train as transport, and fight a lot of odd animals, on their way to defeat the monkey king to get what they need.

At this point, I kind of just accept the odd world they’re in. There’s a lot of fighting, but I actually like seeing what weird creatures he (and the fans) comes up with. I do think this series is a little god-mode-y, with how the characters seem to defy death every time, but I can mostly overlook that. I don’t normally enjoy series that include constant unnecessary battles, but I don’t mind it here.

This is surprisingly fun, and I don’t mind seeing another volume show up in my mailbox.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Toriko, Volume 32, by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2, 2016

Volumes: 38+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 29. 33.

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

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?!

Review:

This series is surprisingly easy to read, given that I have not been following it at all, and am only reading random volumes I receive.

Toriko has to fight this huge horse beast, as the group is struggling to read an air tree, nourishment that all of the humans needs for their big feast. Toriko ends up discovering a second, hidden part of himself while in this battle. He also gets eaten in half at one point. But in the end, the horse demon is able to have it’s baby, they find the air tree, and no one has to sacrifice themselves.

I still don’t quite understand this series. The odd monsters are interesting to me, and usually humorous. I like the odd facts about them that the author has created, and ones that fans have suggested. But then we see this huge air tree, and everyone’s talking about how they need to eat it, but it releases the air fruit once every thousand years or whatever, and how the horses usually hog it all. I don’t understand that? I just don’t get it.

But otherwise, this is actually a pretty interesting series. Odd, but interesting.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!