From: bliss@sfo.com
On 05/09/2010 12:33 PM, Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers wrote:
> B Sellers wrote:
>> On 05/09/2010 07:38 AM, Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers wrote:
>>> B Sellers wrote:
>>>> Ostensibly the story of a contest between two newspapers to
>>>> chose either ones "Supreme Menu" or the others "Ultimate Menu" this
>>>> is the story of a father-son conflict acted out in the restaurants
>>>> and banquet halls of Japan.
>>>
>>> Actually it's a story about Japanese food before anything else.
>>>
>>>> I was lucky enough to find two volumes one concerned with
>>>> Japanese Cuisine in general and the other with Fish, Sushi and
>>>> Sashimi at the SF Public Library today about 1030. I spent most of
>>>> the afternoon reading them. They really hold your attention and all
>>>> the recipes are real. I think that Viz has about 7 volume of these
>>>> and had I the cash to spare I would hie me out to the Kinokuniya
>>>> manga shop in San Francisco and buy them all.
>>>
>>> Yes, it's 7 volumes up to now:
>>>
>>> - Japanese Cuisine
>>> - Sake
>>> - Ramen& Gyoza
>>> - Fish, Sushi& Sashimi
>>> - Vegetables
>>> - The Joy of Rice
>>> - Izakaya - Pub Food
>>>
>>> The presentation of food and cooking is really enjoyable, the
>>> characters are interesting, and the storytelling is quite
>>> entertaining. I didn't like the character designs too much, though.
>>> And at some points the story gets a little confusing, because instead
>>> of publishing the original series VIZ thematically grouped selected
>>> chapters into volumes. Due to this decision several chapters in later
>>> volumes take place before chapters in earlier volumes. The
>>> translation notes help establishing the proper context, but it's
>>> still somewhat confusing.
>>
>> Well Japanese Cuisine is the background because the father is a
>> demon gourmet and the son is in total rebellion because of the
>> father's mistreatment of the mother who I have yet to see.
>> The food is an important part of the series certainly and each
>> dish offers the opportunity for conflict between father and son over
>> the the best recipe.
>
> I don't think I've seen the mother in any of the seven volumes. And I
> don't agree that Japanese Cuisine were the background with the main
> focus being on the father-son conflict. It's acutally quite the
> opposite: the main focus is on Japanese Cuisine with the father-son
> conflict spicing the story up a bit. At least that's my perception after
> having read all seven volumes.
>
>>> A point worth noting is that the contest between "Ultimate Menu" and
>>> "Supreme Menu" is not depicted as some martial arts tournament (which
>>> is something that really annoyed me about "Yakitate!! Japan"). It's
>>> more like a battle of knowledge/wits who is able to bring out the
>>> best taste in food.
>>
>> Thanks for your comments and I believe that despite its faults
>> that Oishinbo is worth the reading.
>
> I wouldn't consider it a "must read", but it's a both entertaining and
> educational peek into Japanese culinary culture. So, yes, I'd say it's
> worth reading.
>
>> As for the mess Viz makes of the story that accounts for the lines
>> about the son's marriage to a fellow worker which has taken place in
>> another volume.
>
> There's a lot more than just that marriage. You'll see when you get to
> the later volumes.
>
> cu
> 59cobalt
Well I reserved another 4 volumes of the Viz series today and in the
SFPL search process found it seems to be available in the original Japanese
format in Japanese. This seems a possible interest to the Japanese
reading portion of society which is larger in the USA now than ever
before.
later
bliss
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* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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