TITLE: Toriko vol. 42
YEAR: May 2018
COMPANY: Viz Media
Story and Art by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Acacia is attempting to revive Neo and the Eight Kings come to assist Toriko and his friends in trying to stop them.
Will it be enough to slow Acacia and stop Neo’s full revival?
All this and more in Shimabukuro Mitsutoshi’s “Toriko”!
What is “Toriko”?
In Japan, we have seen Shonen Jump series that have had a long life, not just as manga but as anime series. From the “Dragon Ball” series, “One Piece”, “Naruto”, “Bleach” and another series that has captivated readers and viewers is “Toriko”.
Created by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro in 2008, the manga series has been published on “Weekly Shonen Jump” and is currently on 28th tankobon volume, while the anime series produced by Toei Animation is still being broadcast since 2011 on Fuji TV.
Toriko takes place during a time where gourmet is important. The taste, the texture of food and rare ingredients are what chefs seek for, but in order to get rare ingredients and animals, major organizations hire Bishokuya (which are “gourmet hunters”).
The series begins with a chef named Komatsu who is dispatched by the International Gourmet Organization (IGO) to find Toriko and eventually the two become great friends and a team. As Toriko evolves in power and technique, Komatsu has evolved as a chef.
But as the two embark on their mission, they are challenged by a rival organization known as the Gourmet Corps who are bent on controlling the world’s ingredients and wanting to do all they can to hinder or even kill both Toriko and Komatsu.
But the two have endured and Komatsu has managed to cook exciting dishes thanks to Toriko’s ability to find these hard to get ingredients, sometimes both braving the most difficult missions to get the best ingredients, which typically have a high capture rate.
With the 42nd volume of “Toriko”, the war between the IGO and the evil organization Gourmet Corp. has destroyed most of the ingredients on Earth and the human world is now experiencing a food shortage crisis!
In order to save humanity, Toriko and Komatsu along with the other four kings (Toriko’s brothers Coco, Sunny and Zebra) have went after Acacia’s full-course meal.
Meanwhile, another group known as The Blue Nitro have been spending thousands of years trying to prepare Acacia’s full-course meal and also trying to resurrect Acacia’s gourmet cell demon, Neo, in order to seal him away and preventing the demon from destroying the world.
As for Toriko and the others, they consume their full-course meal to reveal their own personal gourmet cell demons and powerup for their final battle.
Unfortunately, god has consumed Komatsu and Midora and Starlin come to assist Toriko as the other three kings have been defeated. Leading to major battle between Starjun vs. Joie and Midora vs. Acacia. And the truth about Joie is revealed.
As always, the story for “Toriko” is far-out but so much fun and creative! The artwork by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro is well-done as the detail of each panel is amazing and there is no doubt that he is one of the few manga artists that really goes all out in his artwork.
This volume happens to be more action, so things can get a bit confusing of who is fighting who, especially with so many characters and creatures featured.
Overall, “Toriko” vol. 42 is a battle to prevent from Neo from being reborn, but will Torikl, Starjun and Midora be enough to stop it?
Recommended!