Oishinbo: A La Carte Edition – Volume One (Manga Review)

© Tetsu KARIYA, Akira HANASAKI/Shogakukan Inc.

One of the things I love about Japan is the versatility of manga, here in the West we think it’s all giant robots, semi-clad magical girls and the odd heartfelt love story. Oh no! In Japan, manga is so much more: it’s used as a sex guide, to inform about disabilities, how to enjoy wine and even how to cook – which is where Oishinbo (The Gourmet) comes in. Given that manga is universally popular, this is really no surprise and it makes a lot of sense to convey information in a way which is both enlightening and entertaining.

Oshinbo is a hugely popular manga in Japan where it has raked up a hundred volumes since debuting in the early eighties. It’s not exactly a cook book in the traditional sense but rather focuses on the history and the methods used to prepare Japanese dishes but all of this is threaded into an engaging story of a feud between father and son as they strive to find a perfect menu for their competing publications.

Yamaoka Shiro and his sempai Kurita Yuko have been tasked with creating the Ultimate Menu for the Tozai News, unfortunately this means he constantly crosses paths with his arrogant, self-centred father Kaibara Yuzen. Their relationship is at the heart of the series: Kibara taught Yamaoka all he knows and yet his father’s desire for perfection has led to a resounding dislike, even hatred, in his son.

Now, rather than publish the whole series )which while a shame is just not financially viable a hundred volumes in) VIZ have chosen to to take the best chapters and publish them in ‘a la carte’ editions which will give English-speaking audiences a sampling of the best bits of the manga. As well as setting the story, the first volume starts with the basics: dashi stock, green tea, rice, how chopsticks are made, the tea ceremony, knife skills and how sashimi is created.

The book itself is formated in the original style of right to left, with a thick cardboard cover. While all the manga is in black and white (even the first four pages which have obviously been printed from colour originals), the book is high quality and slightly larger than most manga volumes. It contains four colour-coded pages that match the front cover. This includes the title page, a page introducing the recipes and an ingredients list, two recipes and the contents page. As well as the main story, there’s also a fascinating commentary by the author, Kariya Tetsu, which goes into more detail about the research for the manga, as well as looking into what exactly Japanese cuisine is.

The story itself is engaging and when you first think of a cooking manga, it’s easy to think of it as the manga version of a bad porn firm – all cooking and no story. Yet the reverse is much closer to the truth; cooking is integral to the story, that’s an undeniable fact, but doesn’t overwhelm it. Indeed the feud between Yamaoka and Kaibara is engaging and sends shock waves through the pages … neither characters are particularly likable but they are well constructed, it’s easy to see the point of view of each man, even if you don’t agree with them. They are surrounded by a cast of characters who all have an interest in food and seem to end up learning even a small nugget from Yamaoka during the course of each chapter – or ‘course’.

Japanese cuisine is often miscontrewed as just rice and fish but there’s so much more to it; it fascinates and confuses while also being delicious. While originally aimed at teaching Japanese people how to cook, the skills imparted by Oishinbo are just as relevant to American and English manga fans, indeed it may well even lead them to a much deeper appreciation of this strange, sometimes alien culture.

The only problem is that we’re only getting seven volumes, this is a good length for a series and yet the knowledge that the original Japanese release has a hundred volumes feels like we will never get the chance to experience the whole story. Thankfully the presentation of the manga and the bi-monthly release is some compensation and I’m eager to see the second volume, which is due for release in March.