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In celebration of its 100th year, the Tōzai News has decided to create the “Ultimate Menu,” a meal that encompasses everything that is the best about Japanese cuisine. Assigned to the task of creating this menu is a slacker journalist named Yamaoka Shirō, who cares nothing for work but everything for food. His coworker Kurita Yūko works with him, and a host of other coworkers and friends all have their parts to play. However, he faces a skilled opponent—artist and gourmand Kaibara Yūzan, who is also Yamaoka’s estranged father! Kaibara is working on his own “Supreme Menu” for the rival Teito Times and he’ll waste no opportunity to put Yamaoka in his place.

Kariya and Hanasaki’s manga seems like a strange beast at first for American readers who are used to manga about ninjas or schoolgirls. And when you hear that Oishinbo has been running in Japan since 1983 and 102 volumes of Yamaoka and Kurita’s adventures have been published so far, that’s when you might wonder “Is there really that much to say about food?” But know that Viz has done Western readers a great service bringing over seven of the A La Carte volumes. The A La Carte volumes contain stories culled from the main Oishinbo volumes, arranged by subject. These seven give readers just enough detail to whet their appetite for good cuisine. Food is a big topic these days in the news media and popular culture. Oishinbo, which often focuses on organic, natural, and local foods, is particularly timely.
 
The one seeming drawback with the A La Carte volumes is that because their stories are picked for their topic, they are not chronological. For readers who prefer to start reading at the very beginning, this might at first appear to be a problem. Luckily, the stories were skillfully chosen and Viz is careful to add explanatory endnotes, so readers are able to follow the nonfood related events easily. In the end, the lack of linear storytelling ends up being a potential advantage for attracting foodie readers who might not pick up a manga ordinarily. The focus is always on the food, especially in the early volumes, and they never have to worry that they might be reading out of order or if they can’t remember who a side character is.
 
This doesn’t mean that character development is lacking. Readers will soon find themselves caught up in Yamaoka and Kurita’s lives. The two eventually become a couple and then get married. It is fun to get glimpses of their life together, even when those glimpses are out of order. Kaibara also changes as readers slowly assemble the pieces of his personality, though he and Yamaoka are likely to never repair their relationship. It’s that kind of ordinariness of adult life that is much of the appeal of Oishinbo. Sure, Yamaoka et al. are fans of high-quality food. But they also see the value of a simple meal, a meal that can take you back to childhood, or the joys of sharing food with others. One doesn’t have to be a gourmand to understand those wonders, but simply open to the idea that food is an essential part of a nation’s culture.
 

Hanasaki’s art is as down-to-earth as Kariya’s characters, another selling point for non-manga fans. His simple comic style is clear and easy to follow. Characters are distinct, their facial expressions are easily readable, and the panels flow clearly from one to the next. Oishinbo is printed in traditional Japanese right-to-left style, but that may be the only barrier to the reader previously unfamiliar with manga. Viz has included copious endnotes that explain Japanese food and cultural terms. There are color recipes at the front of each volume that re-create a dish from one of the stories. As with good food, all of the elements combine beautifully to makeOishinbo a top-notch addition to any graphic novel collection and to any collection of writing on food.

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