Tetsu KariyaCritiques

Listen, the characters are one-note and so are the stories - so what? It's fun and silly and entertaining, plus it goes into surprising depth about Japanese food and food culture. The drawings are an interesting mix, with the main characters looking very anime and the others drawn in a more realistic style. The scenery and especially the food are likewise very realistically drawn.

I think that manga isn't really my thing because drawing doesn't mean much to me. As it stands, I enjoyed this book just fine, and found several parcels of information very useful during my travels in Japan. However, the art really does play a large part in the story and that's just not interesting to me. If you are into drawing/manga, this will probably register at least one extra star for you.

A highly educational, if dated dive into Japanese cuisine. The protagonist is an unsympathetic, abrasive, mansplaining, misogynist so that is off-putting. Besides that, the content is well researched and fascinating. Unless you are a chef or a serious Japanophile, the information will likely be too obscure to be useful. This volume has some highly nationalistic views, especially a bizarre editorial about Chinese and Korean ways of eating rice.

graphic fiction/japanese cuisine. Like a cooking show in a book, sit down for an hour and be entertained as well as educated. Each volume stands alone/doesn't have to be read in order.

graphic novel/japanese food culture. Things you should know about rice.

That was painful.

I love manga, I love books about food and cooking, I love books about Japan. What could go wrong?

Well, a cast of characters that I don't like, for one thing. Kaibara Sensei is such a jerk and his son is not much better and the rivalry between them gets old really quick. There are some interesting tidbits about Japanese cooking - how to prepare a great sea bream, for instance. Unfortunately, the part I would be interested in turned out to be extremely boring.

The art work was so-so. I couldn't really tell anyone apart except for a couple of the characters.

At the end, I was hoping they would all just get food poisoning so there wouldn't be a volume 2, but no such luck. I, however, will be returning it to the library unread.

(I did see that this is a popular serialized manga and has been around for many years. This book seems to be highlights from the series. Perhaps one of the problems is that this is too much Oishinbo to take in at one time. Like good food, perhaps one should not be greedy and try to eat too much and ruin their appetite and think the entire meal a disgrace. And now I sound just like the manga. . . .)

This is a series that I plan on following. The premise is pretty interesting and simple. This newspaper has embarked on a quest to create the "Ultimate Menu." To do so, they put the protagonist in charge who, though not exactly the most enterprising guy, actually does have some serious culinary chops of his own. Problem is a rival newspaper wants to do a "Supreme Menu" of their own as well, and they are being advised by none other than our protagonist's father. Father and son are rivals, so this adds some tension.

The story set-up is used basically to give us an excellent overview of Japanese cuisine and culture. The book even includes some recipes. This is a fun and neat way to learn about Japanese cuisine and culture. The artist has done an excellent job in the drawings, and it is clear the author has put a lot of effort in the research. We get a lot of attention to detail, and overall, it is a very enjoyable series.

People who like things like Iron Chef (the original Japanese show, not the tripe from the U.S.), Anthony Bourdain, or similar food documentary shows will probably enjoy this. Even though the series is labeled for teens, I think a lot of adults might enjoy it as well.

The information about Japanese cooking is the star of this manga, the plot and characters are strident and unsympathetic except when food is involved, and the artwork is pretty repetitive - b&w doesn't really have much appetite appeal.

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk1ltYAn_PQ

Enjoy!

I liked it and will continue the series. I enjoyed the reverence for Japanese cuisine - very reminiscent of Drops of God. Art is classic and clear. Some of the relationships are murky, but with enough teasing of future pay-off. Some "of its time" shitty gender stuff.

Solid info with an interesting framing reference. Look forward to the next!

A celebration of Japanese cooking, in comic-book form. Very good at 1. giving me recipe ideas, 2. making me hungry.

A hard-to-find volume, and you maybe shouldn't look that hard; it's easily the most skippable Oishinbo book. Thick on polemic lectures, thin on plot and food inspiration.

At well over one hundred volumes, Oishinbo is one of the most successful and long-running food manga in Japan, winning the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1987. Written by Tetsu Kariya and illustrated by Akira Hanasaki, Oishinbo first began serialization in 1983 and is still ongoing although currently the manga is on indefinite hiatus following a controversy of its depiction of the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster. Between 2009 and 2010, Viz Media released seven volumes of Oishinbo, A la Carte under its Signature imprint, becoming the first food manga that I ever read. Oishinbo, A la Carte is a series of thematic anthologies collecting chapters from throughout the main Oishinbo manga. Oishinbo, a la Carte: The Joy of Rice was the sixth collection to be released in English in 2009. However, The Joy of Rice was actually the thirteenth volume of Oishinbo, A la Carte to be published in Japan in 2005.

The Joy of Rice collects eight stories and one essay in which rice, an important staple of Japanese diet and cuisine, is featured. In "A Remarkable Mediocrity," the wrath of a wealthy businessman and gourmand who made his fortune dealing in rice is able to be appeased by the simplest of dishes. "Brown Rice Versus White Rice" examines how people can be mislead even when they make an effort to eat healthily. The structure of rice and how proper storage can make a difference when it comes to cooking it are the focus of "Live Rice." Yamaoka, Oishinbo's protagonist, makes a case against the importation of foreign rice into Japan in "Companions of Rice." In "The Matsutake Rice of the Sea," a wager between friends over a rice dish becomes more important than they realize. Kariya opines about the eating manners of Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans in his essay "The Most Delicious Way to Eat Rice." A debate on the proper way to eat rice is central to "No Mixing" as well. Rice takes a supporting role in "The Season for Oysters," but once again takes the spotlight in the three-part "Rice Ball Match."

Because Oishinbo, A la Carte compiles various stories together by theme rather than by chronology, the series can feel somewhat disjointed. Having read nearly all of the Oishinbo, A la Carte collections available in English, for the most part I've gotten used to and even expect this, but it seemed to be particularly glaring in The Joy of Rice. From story to story it's often difficult to anticipate the status of the characters' relationships with one another and those relationships are often very important to understand. For example, "A Remarkable Mediocrity" is one of the earliest episodes to be found in Oishinbo proper—it's a little awkward to have the chapter that originally introduced several of the established recurring characters appear so late in A la Carte. Admittedly, the point of Oishinbo, Al la Carte is to highlight specific foods or themes; only a basic understanding of the underlying premise of Oishinbo and of its characters is absolutely necessary. The translation notes help greatly, but it can still make for an odd reading experience.

The Joy of Rice examines the place of rice within Japanese culture and cuisine, addressing both social and scientific aspects of the grain. Like the other volumes in Oishinbo, A la Carte, The Joy of Rice places a huge emphasis on organically and locally produced food, railing against pesticides, herbicides, and the use of antibiotics in agriculture. The series is not at all subtle about the stance it takes, and Yamaoka can frankly be a jerk about it at times. Initially I was hoping that The Joy of Rice would explore the different varieties of rice found and used in Japan, but the volume instead focuses on the significance of rice in the lives of the country's people—the nostalgia and memories associated with it and the pure enjoyment and complete satisfaction that it can bring—which was ultimately very gratifying. However, my favorite story in The Joy of Rice, "Rice Ball Match," uses rice to delve into Japanese culinary culture and history as a whole, which was an excellent way to round out the volume, bringing all of the manga's themes together in one place.

Experiments in Manga½

This one finally seemed to be more about the people then the food. I loved it just as much as I loved the others, even though fish kind of yucks me out.

So I found this volume a little more confusing then others I have read because the timeline seems to jump around alot more then in other volumes. In the beginning of this book it seems as though Yamaoka barely tolerates Kurita; then Kurita is going out with President Dan which other employees hope will wake up Yamaoka or help Kurita to move on; then at the end Kurita and Yamaoka are planning their wedding. I love the characters so much that I wish we could have seen more of their courtship, especially seeing how little interest they appeared to have in each other in the beginning. In this volume I feel like the food is less of a star then usual, although that might have been because of my focus on the aforementioned relationship. There is still lots of interesting food facts and history and having a whole volume based on rice makes sense when you consider what an important part of Japanese food culture rice is. There was definitely alot of humor in this volume regarding people's opinions of rice and how to serve it. All in all I really enjoyed the book.

When I read these graphic novels I always feel like the newspaper story plot and the father/son drama take a back seat to the food itself. While those are both plot points that are vital to the story, the descriptions of the food and what makes each item special (or suck) are just captivating, and I am not even that into eating. There is always a strong message of the importance of the purity and quality of the ingredients and how preservatives such as msg and even how the food is raised can affect flavor and health.

This one finally seemed to be more about the people then the food. I loved it just as much as I loved the others, even though fish kind of yucks me out.

So I found this volume a little more confusing then others I have read because the timeline seems to jump around alot more then in other volumes. In the beginning of this book it seems as though Yamaoka barely tolerates Kurita; then Kurita is going out with President Dan which other employees hope will wake up Yamaoka or help Kurita to move on; then at the end Kurita and Yamaoka are planning their wedding. I love the characters so much that I wish we could have seen more of their courtship, especially seeing how little interest they appeared to have in each other in the beginning. In this volume I feel like the food is less of a star then usual, although that might have been because of my focus on the aforementioned relationship. There is still lots of interesting food facts and history and having a whole volume based on rice makes sense when you consider what an important part of Japanese food culture rice is. There was definitely alot of humor in this volume regarding people's opinions of rice and how to serve it. All in all I really enjoyed the book.

When I read these graphic novels I always feel like the newspaper story plot and the father/son drama take a back seat to the food itself. While those are both plot points that are vital to the story, the descriptions of the food and what makes each item special (or suck) are just captivating, and I am not even that into eating. There is always a strong message of the importance of the purity and quality of the ingredients and how preservatives such as msg and even how the food is raised can affect flavor and health.

This one finally seemed to be more about the people then the food. I loved it just as much as I loved the others, even though fish kind of yucks me out.

So I found this volume a little more confusing then others I have read because the timeline seems to jump around alot more then in other volumes. In the beginning of this book it seems as though Yamaoka barely tolerates Kurita; then Kurita is going out with President Dan which other employees hope will wake up Yamaoka or help Kurita to move on; then at the end Kurita and Yamaoka are planning their wedding. I love the characters so much that I wish we could have seen more of their courtship, especially seeing how little interest they appeared to have in each other in the beginning. In this volume I feel like the food is less of a star then usual, although that might have been because of my focus on the aforementioned relationship. There is still lots of interesting food facts and history and having a whole volume based on rice makes sense when you consider what an important part of Japanese food culture rice is. There was definitely alot of humor in this volume regarding people's opinions of rice and how to serve it. All in all I really enjoyed the book.

When I read these graphic novels I always feel like the newspaper story plot and the father/son drama take a back seat to the food itself. While those are both plot points that are vital to the story, the descriptions of the food and what makes each item special (or suck) are just captivating, and I am not even that into eating. There is always a strong message of the importance of the purity and quality of the ingredients and how preservatives such as msg and even how the food is raised can affect flavor and health.

This one finally seemed to be more about the people then the food. I loved it just as much as I loved the others, even though fish kind of yucks me out.

So I found this volume a little more confusing then others I have read because the timeline seems to jump around alot more then in other volumes. In the beginning of this book it seems as though Yamaoka barely tolerates Kurita; then Kurita is going out with President Dan which other employees hope will wake up Yamaoka or help Kurita to move on; then at the end Kurita and Yamaoka are planning their wedding. I love the characters so much that I wish we could have seen more of their courtship, especially seeing how little interest they appeared to have in each other in the beginning. In this volume I feel like the food is less of a star then usual, although that might have been because of my focus on the aforementioned relationship. There is still lots of interesting food facts and history and having a whole volume based on rice makes sense when you consider what an important part of Japanese food culture rice is. There was definitely alot of humor in this volume regarding people's opinions of rice and how to serve it. All in all I really enjoyed the book.