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is a Japanese
manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...
series written and illustrated by
Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro is a Japanese manga artist. He first gained success with his comedy series ''Seikimatsu Leader den Takeshi!'' (1997–2002), but is better known for '' Toriko'' which was serialized from 2008 to 2016 and has over 25 million copies in circulation ...
. It follows the adventures of Toriko, a Gourmet Hunter, as he searches for rare, diverse foods to complete a full-course meal. On his journey, he is accompanied by a timid chef who wants to improve his skills. ''Toriko'' was serialized in
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The fol ...
's ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that ru ...
'' from May 2008 to November 2016, with its chapters collected into 43 ''
tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volumes. A short film was created by Ufotable for the Jump Super Anime Tour 2009, with another created for the 2010 tour. The manga has also been adapted into an
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series produced by
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...
, which was broadcast in Japan from April 2011 to March 2014. Additionally, Toei developed a 2011 animated 3D short film and a 2013 feature film. The manga series has been licensed for English release by
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
in North America and
Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
in Australasia. Madman also licensed the anime series in Australasia, while
Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
licensed it in North America. Discotek Media licensed the 2013 film in North America. As of November 2020, the ''Toriko'' manga had over 25 million copies in circulation.


Synopsis


Setting

The planet of ''Toriko'' is separated into two parts; the and the . The Human World is where modern civilization exists and occupies just 30% of the planet, the rest is the Gourmet World, which is inhospitable to most humans due to the strength of the wildlife and extreme climate changes. In the , which began five centuries ago at the end of the hundred-year war, the taste and texture of food is extremely important. The (IGO), maintains order and defends civilians from dangerous animals and gourmet criminals. Originally set-up by the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
, the IGO is now independent from them and holds more influence as it is composed of 360 nations. They apply a numerical rating from 1 to 100, referred to as , to most ingredients based on the difficulty of acquiring it. The IGO has a group of seven individuals with highly sensitive taste, called the or G7, that are in charge of assigning the star ranking of restaurants and the ranking of chefs. Individuals known as , who have usually trained their abilities to that of superhuman, are regularly hired by restaurants and the rich to seek high-level ingredients and rare animals. One can also increase their strength by implanting into their bodies. are those who dedicate themselves to protecting ingredients from extinction or exhaustion, and who can also arrest people that partake in the transaction of illegal goods, violate poaching laws, or causes extinction of an entire species.


Plot

Toriko is a Gourmet Hunter searching for the most precious foods in the world so he can create his full-course meal. A man with inhuman ability, he utilizes his incredible strength and knowledge of the animal kingdom to capture ferocious, evasive, and rare beasts to further his menu. He is accompanied by the weak and timid chef Komatsu, who, inspired by Toriko's ambition, travels with him to improve his culinary skills and to find rare ingredients. Toriko and his friends often fight against the , who seek to take control of the world's entire food supply and are looking for the highly sought-after ingredient , which the legendary Gourmet Hunter Acacia used to end the war that took place five-hundred years before the series began.


Media


Manga

Written and illustrated by
Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro is a Japanese manga artist. He first gained success with his comedy series ''Seikimatsu Leader den Takeshi!'' (1997–2002), but is better known for '' Toriko'' which was serialized from 2008 to 2016 and has over 25 million copies in circulation ...
, ''Toriko'' was serialized in the manga anthology ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that ru ...
'' from May 19, 2008 to November 21, 2016. The 396 individual chapters were collected and published into 43 ''
tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volumes by
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The fol ...
between November 4, 2008 and December 31, 2016. Readers and fans of the series were able to submit ideas and designs for monsters and ingredients that appear in the manga. At San Diego Comic-Con International 2009,
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
announced they had licensed ''Toriko'' for English release. The first collected volume of ''Toriko'' was released on June 1, 2010, and Viz has released forty-three volumes as of August 7, 2018. The manga premiered in the February 2010 edition of a digital supplement available only to subscribers of Viz's printed '' Shonen Jump'' magazine. When the printed magazine ended, ''Toriko'' was one of the launch titles of its digital successor ''
Weekly Shonen Jump Weekly, The Weekly, or variations, may refer to: News media * ''Weekly'' (news magazine), an English-language national news magazine published in Mauritius *Weekly newspaper, any newspaper published on a weekly schedule *Alternative newspaper, als ...
'' (originally named ''Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha''), starting with chapter 171 in its debut issue on January 30, 2012. The ''Toriko'' and ''One Piece'' crossover was sent out free to annual subscribers of the magazine who signed up before April 30, 2012.
Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
released the first volume in Australasia on July 10, 2010, and have released twenty-six volumes as of April 10, 2015. Shimabukuro collaborated with
Eiichiro Oda is a Japanese manga artist and the creator of the series ''One Piece'' (1997–present). With more than 516.5 million ''tankōbon'' copies in circulation worldwide, ''One Piece'' is both the best-selling manga in history and the best-se ...
, author of ''
One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chap ...
'', for a crossover one-shot of their series titled , which ran in the April 4, 2011 issue of ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. There is also a spin-off manga series titled , written by Toshinori Takayama and illustrated by Akitsugu Mizumoto. It was serialized in ''
Saikyō Jump is a Japanese monthly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. The magazine was started on December 3, 2010 with three completely original titles and seven spin-off manga from series in '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' and ''V Jump''. Originally ...
'' from December 3, 2010 to December 2, 2016, with the chapters collected into 9 ''tankōbon'' between April 4, 2012 and December 31, 2016.


Films

A short film simply titled ''Toriko'', directed by Mitsuru Obunai and produced by Ufotable, was shown on October 12, 2009 at the Jump Super Anime Tour 2009. It was streamed on ''Weekly Shōnen Jumps English website one month later. A second short, titled , was shown at the following year's Jump Super Anime Tour on October 23, 2010. An animated
3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pic ...
short, , produced by Toei Animation, was released in Japanese theaters on March 19, 2011 as a double feature with the ''One Piece'' film ''One Piece 3D: Mugiwara Chase''. A feature-length film, , was released in theaters on July 27, 2013. It was licensed in North America by Discotek Media, who released the film on DVD and Blu-ray in 2018.


Anime

In December 2010, it was announced that
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...
would be adapting ''Toriko'' into an anime television series in 2011. It is directed by Akifumi Zako and began broadcasting in Japan on
Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network ...
on April 3, 2011. It took over '' Dragon Ball Kais 9:00 am slot on Sunday in the "Dream 9" time-slot, airing before ''One Piece''. A cross-over special between ''Toriko'' and ''One Piece'', considered episode 1 of ''Toriko'' and episode 492 of ''One Piece'', aired as the series' premiere, with another between the two series airing on April 10, 2012, episode 51 of ''Toriko'' and episode 542 of ''One Piece''. A two-part hour-long crossover special between ''Toriko'', ''One Piece'' and ''Dragon Ball Z'' aired on Fuji TV on April 7, 2013. Referred to as ''Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special!!'', the parts are considered episode 590 of ''One Piece'' and episode 99 of ''Toriko'' respectively. The ''Toriko'' anime ended with episode 147 on March 30, 2014, being replaced by the return of ''Dragon Ball Kai''. In 2011,
Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
announced that it licensed ''Toriko'' for streaming in North America within four days after the Japanese broadcast. It premiered on
Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...
and Funimation's official website on April 14. Eventually, the series was rescheduled to stream within three days after the Japanese broadcast. Funimation began releasing the series on DVD with an English dub from January 8, 2013, which abruptly stopped on May 7, 2013, for unknown reasons. Madman Entertainment announced they licensed the anime for Australasia on February 3, 2013.


Other media

A book titled was published on October 2, 2009, consisting of an interview with Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, the 2007 ''Toriko'' one-shot, and other unrelated one-shots by the author. The guidebook was released on November 4, 2011 and includes the original one-shot for ''Toriko'' from 2002 and the ''One Piece'' crossover chapter. A third companion book, listed as simply the 29.5 volume of ''Toriko'', was released on June 4, 2014. The television show ''
Sakiyomi Jum-Bang! is a variety show aired on Japan's TV Tokyo network. The series' title is a of and ''Bang''. The first episode was broadcast on April 3, 2009. It features comics from Shueisha's weekly and monthly manga anthologies (Weekly Shōnen Jump, V Jump ...
'' created a Vomic, a
portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsTakashi Kondō is a Japanese voice actor represented by Vi-vo. He is known for providing the voice of the video game character Terry Bogard, which he has done since 2016, starting with ''The King of Fighters XIV''. He also voices the characters Faust and Po ...
and Komatsu by
Daisuke Kishio is a Japanese voice actor, singer and narrator from Matsusaka, Mie. He changed his given name from 大輔 to だいすけ on June 1, 2007 with the pronunciation and romanization remaining the same. He joined Aoni Production on April 1, 2014. H ...
. There have been five
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
s created by
Namco Bandai is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
based on ''Toriko''. Two for the
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...
, ''Toriko: Gourmet Survival!'' (2011) and ''Toriko: Gourmet Survival! 2'' (2012), and three for the
Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generati ...
, ''Toriko: Gourmet Monsters!'' (2012), ''Toriko: Gourmet Battle!'' (2013) and ''Toriko: Ultimate Survival'' (2013). Toriko and Zebra are also playable characters in the ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' crossover
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
and
PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international terri ...
fighting game ''
J-Stars Victory VS is a crossover fighting video game that combines the universes of several ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' manga series, including former series and some that have been transferred to other magazines. It was released in Japan by Bandai Namco Entertainme ...
''.


Reception

In 2009, ''Toriko'' was nominated for the second annual Manga Taishō award. The first and second collected ''tankōbon'' volumes, both released on November 4, 2008, were ranked 10th and 11th respectively on
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike i ...
's manga chart for their first week, with nearly 70,000 and 67,000 copies sold. It was the 10th best-selling manga series during the first half of 2011, with over 1.8 million copies sold. ''Toriko'' was the eleventh best-selling manga series of 2012, with over 3 million copies sold, and the thirteenth best of 2013, selling 2.8 million. In 2011,
Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
estimated ''Toriko'' would bring US$25.6 million in toys for the 2012 fiscal year. The series had 18 million volumes in circulation as of November 2013, and over 20 million volumes in circulation as of June 2014. As of November 2020, the manga had over 25 million copies in circulation. ''
Otaku USA ''Otaku USA'' is a bimonthly magazine published by Sovereign Media, which covers various elements of the " otaku" lifestyle (such as anime, manga, video games, cosplay and Japanese popular music) from an American perspective. The issues we ...
s Joseph Luster called ''Toriko'' "an absolute feast for fans of beasts", not able to tell "whether Shimabukuro just comes up with everything on the spot or if it's all meticulously planned out", and said that the series' charm is "how it effortlessly applies classic shonen tropes to such an outlandish world." However, he commented that "The formula of ''Toriko'' is apparent right from the start in true shonen fashion ..tougher and tougher creatures will quickly follow." Deb Aoki writing for About.com also praised the imaginative beasts and monsters of the series, as well as the occasional informational bits on the true science of foods, but called the art "grotesquely goofy." Lissa Pattillo of
Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ...
(ANN) called ''Toriko'' an "in-your-face action story riding on the back of a gastronomic fetch-quest." She compared Toriko's design to that of characters from ''
Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...
'' and ''
Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 ' ...
'', and suggested this might deter some readers. ANN's Rebecca Silverman stated that "Shimabukuro has clearly devoted time and thought to crafting the story's world, as complex creatures, animal profiles, and distinctive landscapes attest.", and called his art an "odd mix of old school ''
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly ''seinen'' manga ...
''-style manly men and newer ''
One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chap ...
''-style
chibi Chibi most often refers to: * Chibi (style), a super-deformed style of Japanese-influenced caricature *Chibi, Hubei (赤壁 lit. Red Cliff), a county-level city in southeastern Hubei, China. Chibi may also refer to: Places * Chibi Subdistrict, ...
s." Carlo Santos, also for ANN, praised the action, saying "For over-the-top action, it's hard to beat the thrill of Toriko punching out a swarm of giant insects, or the creep factor of a villain who literally wears another human's skin.", and called the art one of the series' highlights. Reviewing the anime, Santos said "Fans will know what to expect in each adventure: ravenous strongmen flexing their superpowers, ferocious foes being slaughtered by said strongmen, and a rich, imaginative world full of impossibly delicious foods. But the simplicity of Toriko is also its downfall: there are no clever twists in store, the characters don't develop at all, either personally or interpersonally, and even the most calculating villains are just mindless targets waiting to be knocked down one by one. The on-again, off-again animation also does a disservice to the bright colors and creative designs of the series."


References


External links


Official manga website
of ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that ru ...
''
Official anime website
of
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

Official manga website
of
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

Official manga website
of
Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
* {{Toei Animation films 2010s 2008 manga 2009 anime films 2010 anime films 2011 anime films 2011 anime television series debuts 2013 anime films Adventure anime and manga Anime films based on manga Anime series based on manga Comedy anime and manga Cooking in anime and manga Discotek Media Fantasy anime and manga Fuji TV original programming Funimation Martial arts anime and manga Shōnen manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Toei Animation television Ufotable Viz Media manga