2 screenshot limit

I made the mistake of reading this volume of Oishinbo on the way home from work two days ago. I then mentally hit myself on the head, closed the book, and tried not to dream about how good a plate of pork gyoza would taste right about then.

I think this is going to be the general idea whenever I review a volume from this series. It doesn’t help that I really enjoy food, including Japanese food, and it also doesn’t help that I am easily suggestible when it comes to images and descriptions of said yummy things.

This volume covers two food items that would be common to any Japanese person, and I think, nowadays, it’s also common to most people who’ve been exposed to Japanese cuisine. However, when they talk about ramen here, they don’t mean the artificial stuff packaged in a small styrofoam cup — this is the real stuff, prepared with homemade stock, handpulled noodles, and luscious toppings. I really like how this series approaches the concepts of food and cooking. On one hand, we have people who are snobby and want nothing but premium and exclusive ingredients to create the best dish. But on the other hand, there’s also those who think that good food can be prepared with regular ingredients as long as the cook is conscious of how the ingredients will end up when combined, and takes the appropriate care in melding all the tastes of the dish.

The rivalry between Yamaoka and Kaibara continues in this volume too. Maybe I’m becoming used to their little squabbles, but I feel that this time around, father and son have mellowed a bit. There was even a point when I think Kaibara accepted a draw…well, mostly ’cause he didn’t consider the fight a real one, but hey, it’s the thought that counts. It’s really cute how they’re absolutely alike but they’re just so stubborn to see that.

There is one chapter in the volume that had a different feel from the rest of the book, and that was the one that explained the tension between the Chinese and Japanese. The food ’section’ was only a peripheral note, it seemed to me. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, or that it shouldn’t have been included; I think this manga excels in explaining material that most people think they know, but in reality, they only know a little bit of it, or only the part that’s hearsay. This series presents it in a more factual way, I think, and actually seems to encourage the reader to go beyond the manga writer’s explanation to conduct additional research.

And on that note, time for lunch.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 12:25 pm and is filed under manga & manhwa, viz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.