Oishinbo - Vol. 29 Ch. 271 - The Weakness of the Ultimate (Part 3)

[MangaDex]

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

Well, that's a wrap on Volume 29. See yinz guys at Volume 30!

 

[TakesatoKeita]

Well, there it is, the start of a rather long and confusing love dodecahedron or whatever between Yamaoka and Kurita and so many others!

Now I kinda want to eat some yakitori from around, though I'm not sure if they sell tail meat as yakitori too.

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

The one thing this chapter did was send me back in time to the mid-90s when I was in elementary school. Outside the front of the building was a large gingko tree and I will never forget for as long as I live how much the fruit off that thing would stink, especially in late August-early September, when we first would get back after summer break, or in like late April-early May when we'd be allowed to go outside for recess again because it was finally not freezing out...

I remember being in, I suppose it was first grade when this happened, so this would be the autumn of 1994, and I remember we'd gone outside to the front of the building in preparation for a field trip, so we were waiting on the bus, and all of a sudden, someone picked up one of those fruits and chucked it at someone else, and it led to a big fight right before we left where several of us were just throwing little gingko fruits at each other.

The tree was removed after the school was closed in 2011. I was sad when I saw that it had been cut down because that tree had apparently been there since the early 80s.

 

[d_a_renoir]

My issue that I raised in the previous chapter is even more clear here, LOL. Like it's just basically personal pride to the public.
It would make more sense if the battles were stopped, then the paper loses readers, and they have to persuade Dan to resume it.
How it's done here just came across as nonsensical or egoistic.

Also another thing I noticed too, but in the earlier chapters Koizumi was someone who was actually argumentative and would butt heads with Ohara a lot, but he's so much softer now LOL. If he had stuck to his original character, I would've had Koizumi just going like "Screw the Supreme Menu and the competition!!" and just drive Yamaoka to work harder on the menu, only for it to not work and they're forced to try to appease Dan.

(I know it's just for drama/conflict for Yamaoka, but Kurita is not all that LMAO, she keeps having all these random rich guys fawning over her and it just makes me roll my eyes)

 

[PA270]

God, I actually feel like screaming reading this chapter. It is literally the epitome of everything frustrating and draining about this stage of Oishinbo's development. Remember when Kaibara Yuzan wasn't being treated like an absolute god, when he was actually allowed to lose? When his arrogance and assholery were seen as negative traits to be countered and defeated rather than accepted? Seriously, it was bad enough in the Longevity Cooking Showdown when Toyama credited Kaibara for the Ulitmate Menu's victory when the team was heading in that direction before Yuzan even spoke to the resort owner. And don't even get me started on Dan; if I were Yamaoka, I would say that there was no point in continuing the competitions when the moderators have been taken over by someone with clear and undeniable bias. The change in how Kaibara's been written and how his food has been presented, to the point where the Ultimate Menu can only ever win if they've either gotten hints from Yuzan or if he intentionally slacks off, is bad enough, but now we have Dan coming in, making the already annoying romantic subplot even more so while also just being a smug obnoxious asshole to boot. And we haven't even gotten to the Salmon Challenge yet!

Ugh, sorry for the rant. I'm very grateful to the team for finally giving me a chance to read Oishinbo in full after having been tantalized by the a la Carte editions for so long, but this manga just fundamentally has some major issues with characterization and development that make reading certain chapters, particularly the competition ones, so frustrating.

 

[TakesatoKeita]

My issue that I raised in the previous chapter is even more clear here, LOL. Like it's just basically personal pride to the public.
It would make more sense if the battles were stopped, then the paper loses readers, and they have to persuade Dan to resume it.
How it's done here just came across as nonsensical or egoistic.

Also another thing I noticed too, but in the earlier chapters Koizumi was someone who was actually argumentative and would butt heads with Ohara a lot, but he's so much softer now LOL. If he had stuck to his original character, I would've had Koizumi just going like "Screw the Supreme Menu and the competition!!" and just drive Yamaoka to work harder on the menu, only for it to not work and they're forced to try to appease Dan.

(I know it's just for drama/conflict for Yamaoka, but Kurita is not all that LMAO, she keeps having all these random rich guys fawning over her and it just makes me roll my eyes)

I have a theory that, in-universe, the reason many guys are becoming attracted to Kurita is that, as a woman, she can hold her own ground and stand fairly well and strong on many occasions, which these guys see as something amazing that many other women don't have, at least according to these guys. And that matters more than her looks, IMO.

God, I actually feel like screaming reading this chapter. It is literally the epitome of everything frustrating and draining about this stage of Oishinbo's development. Remember when Kaibara Yuzan wasn't being treated like an absolute god, when he was actually allowed to lose? When his arrogance and assholery were seen as negative traits to be countered and defeated rather than accepted? Seriously, it was bad enough in the Longevity Cooking Showdown when Toyama credited Kaibara for the Ulitmate Menu's victory when the team was heading in that direction before Yuzan even spoke to the resort owner. And don't even get me started on Dan; if I were Yamaoka, I would say that there was no point in continuing the competitions when the moderators have been taken over by someone with clear and undeniable bias. The change in how Kaibara's been written and how his food has been presented, to the point where the Ultimate Menu can only ever win if they've either gotten hints from Yuzan or if he intentionally slacks off, is bad enough, but now we have Dan coming in, making the already annoying romantic subplot even more so while also just being a smug obnoxious asshole to boot. And we haven't even gotten to the Salmon Challenge yet!

Ugh, sorry for the rant. I'm very grateful to the team for finally giving me a chance to read Oishinbo in full after having been tantalized by the a la Carte editions for so long, but this manga just fundamentally has some major issues with characterization and development that make reading certain chapters, particularly the competition ones, so frustrating.

I feel you. Coming from someone who has more or less read all the chapters and volumes in their original Japanese version, Oishinbo unfortunately has quite a problem in the form of its characters being flanderized (much to the detriment of their character writing) and slow-ass development, even though you skip all the filler chapters and jump straight to the Ultimate vs. Supreme matches.

And yeah, the Salmon Challenge one, that's a doozy. I can somewhat understand why Kaibara is pissed off at Yamaoka in that battle (for reasons that we should wait until the chapters are published here/you read them yourself in the à la Carte editions), but that one battle is pretty much one of the moments where I genuinely feel bad for Yamaoka for his absolutely shitty luck.

 

[d_a_renoir]

I have a theory that, in-universe, the reason many guys are becoming attracted to Kurita is that, as a woman, she can hold her own ground and stand fairly well and strong on many occasions, which these guys see as something amazing that many other women don't have, at least according to these guys. And that matters more than her looks, IMO.

I'm not talking about her face, my dude. Nobody in this manga look attractive whatsoever.
Her character is not all that and she's kind of annoying. She's petty, and then there's moments where she acts tough but then fails to back it up and then gets others in trouble because of that "tough girl" attitude. Most of the time she's tolerable, but still not all that.

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

My issue that I raised in the previous chapter is even more clear here, LOL. Like it's just basically personal pride to the public.
It would make more sense if the battles were stopped, then the paper loses readers, and they have to persuade Dan to resume it.
How it's done here just came across as nonsensical or egoistic.

Also another thing I noticed too, but in the earlier chapters Koizumi was someone who was actually argumentative and would butt heads with Ohara a lot, but he's so much softer now LOL. If he had stuck to his original character, I would've had Koizumi just going like "Screw the Supreme Menu and the competition!!" and just drive Yamaoka to work harder on the menu, only for it to not work and they're forced to try to appease Dan.

(I know it's just for drama/conflict for Yamaoka, but Kurita is not all that LMAO, she keeps having all these random rich guys fawning over her and it just makes me roll my eyes)

I discussed it on the r/oishinbo subreddit, so I won't go into it again, but Koizumi is a prominent victim of Flanderization, as were most of the characters.

God, I actually feel like screaming reading this chapter. It is literally the epitome of everything frustrating and draining about this stage of Oishinbo's development. Remember when Kaibara Yuzan wasn't being treated like an absolute god, when he was actually allowed to lose? When his arrogance and assholery were seen as negative traits to be countered and defeated rather than accepted? Seriously, it was bad enough in the Longevity Cooking Showdown when Toyama credited Kaibara for the Ulitmate Menu's victory when the team was heading in that direction before Yuzan even spoke to the resort owner. And don't even get me started on Dan; if I were Yamaoka, I would say that there was no point in continuing the competitions when the moderators have been taken over by someone with clear and undeniable bias. The change in how Kaibara's been written and how his food has been presented, to the point where the Ultimate Menu can only ever win if they've either gotten hints from Yuzan or if he intentionally slacks off, is bad enough, but now we have Dan coming in, making the already annoying romantic subplot even more so while also just being a smug obnoxious asshole to boot. And we haven't even gotten to the Salmon Challenge yet!

Ugh, sorry for the rant. I'm very grateful to the team for finally giving me a chance to read Oishinbo in full after having been tantalized by the a la Carte editions for so long, but this manga just fundamentally has some major issues with characterization and development that make reading certain chapters, particularly the competition ones, so frustrating.

I get how you feel. The whole reason I wanted to read it (as someone who had only read one a'la carte volume at the time I began doing the translations. I primarily came to this project after watching the first 36 episodes of the anime and then just wanting to read the whole thing) was that the original conflict was more fascinating to me. Not so much the Supreme VS Ultimate menu showdowns. I very much just wanted to see how Yamaoka would finally get Kaibara to bow to him (which was what Yamaoka said that he wanted at the end of episode 2). Kaibara was not portrayed so godlike then.

 

[PA270]

I feel you. Coming from someone who has more or less read all the chapters and volumes in their original Japanese version, Oishinbo unfortunately has quite a problem in the form of its characters being flanderized (much to the detriment of their character writing) and slow-ass development, even though you skip all the filler chapters and jump straight to the Ultimate vs. Supreme matches.

And yeah, the Salmon Challenge one, that's a doozy. I can somewhat understand why Kaibara is pissed off at Yamaoka in that battle (for reasons that we should wait until the chapters are published here/you read them yourself in the à la Carte editions), but that one battle is pretty much one of the moments where I genuinely feel bad for Yamaoka for his absolutely shitty luck.

Glad to know I'm not alone! And yeah, it is a serious issue, especially when the goal of any series should be to get us to care about its characters. Flanderization is an absolute curse, and this series has been majorly impacted by it. And I'm right there with you on the Salmon Showdown, but I agree, let's not get too into it for those who haven't read it.

I get how you feel. The whole reason I wanted to read it (as someone who had only read one a'la carte volume at the time I began doing the translations. I primarily came to this project after watching the first 36 episodes of the anime and then just wanting to read the whole thing) was that the original conflict was more fascinating to me. Not so much the Supreme VS Ultimate menu showdowns. I very much just wanted to see how Yamaoka would finally get Kaibara to bow to him (which was what Yamaoka said that he wanted at the end of episode 2). Kaibara was not portrayed so godlike then.

Again, I totally get you! The original conflict was great! And I don't inherently mind Kaibara winnning; Hell, his first appearance had him win, even if Yamaoka got him back in literally the next chapter! But now it is literally impossible for Yamaoka to win without Kaibara basically allowing it. He can barely even tie when Kaibara doesn't allow it! And the worst part is that while every other character has been flanderized, Kaibara hasn't! He's still the same self-righteous asshole he was in the beginning! He shows no grace in victory, and only shows grace in defeat because he's never really defeated. And yet the narrative is portraying him as being overall well-intentioned and generally right even when he's being an absolute ass. It's just not good character writing, and it makes most of his appearances absolutely frustrating.

 

[SonnyShizuku]

Dunno about the others, but there's no way in hell I could slaughter and eat animals that I had given them a name, lmao

 

[LavTheBurger]

I discussed it on the r/oishinbo subreddit, so I won't go into it again, but Koizumi is a prominent victim of Flanderization, as were most of the characters.



I get how you feel. The whole reason I wanted to read it (as someone who had only read one a'la carte volume at the time I began doing the translations. I primarily came to this project after watching the first 36 episodes of the anime and then just wanting to read the whole thing) was that the original conflict was more fascinating to me. Not so much the Supreme VS Ultimate menu showdowns. I very much just wanted to see how Yamaoka would finally get Kaibara to bow to him (which was what Yamaoka said that he wanted at the end of episode 2). Kaibara was not portrayed so godlike then.

We discussed it way back that we dont know everything about Kaibara and Yamaoka's mother, but I feel the flanderization clashes so high for him is because to us readers, we were introduced to him with the fact " His abusive ways killed his wife. "

Most of the staff working with Yamaoka was told this, and it FEELS like the writer wanted to lessen or change THAT detail cus if my workmate told me " You are just jealous of Kaibara cus he can make art, he is actually really wise and magnanimous. " when same workmate knows he pretty much killed my mom? I'd tell them to buzz off. Be it Tomii, Kurita or even the boss.

Like if it WAS just the things Shiro mentioned that he hounded him to learn alot, I could atleast see how the flanderization would be easier to ease into.

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

We discussed it way back that we dont know everything about Kaibara and Yamaoka's mother, but I feel the flanderization clashes so high for him is because to us readers, we were introduced to him with the fact " His abusive ways killed his wife. "

Most of the staff working with Yamaoka was told this, and it FEELS like the writer wanted to lessen or change THAT detail cus if my workmate told me " You are just jealous of Kaibara cus he can make art, he is actually really wise and magnanimous. " when same workmate knows he pretty much killed my mom? I'd tell them to buzz off. Be it Tomii, Kurita or even the boss.

Like if it WAS just the things Shiro mentioned that he hounded him to learn alot, I could atleast see how the flanderization would be easier to ease into.

Yes, that's true, we don't know everything, and in fact, the only one who does have the whole story is Toyama. It seems like they all thought he was being hyperbolic, or it's possible that Kariya forgot that one particular line, because as we've gone on, it seems more and more like Yamaoka hates his father because he yelled a lot and didn't make things easier on his mother when she was not strong constitutionally rather than blaming him for killing her. At least that's how I'm interpreting his behavior over the last several volumes...

Also, since it was mentioned above, the Salmon battle is in this volume. It's only a few chapters away.

 

[Diabeetiz]

Not Dan with clear and extremely personal bias lmao.
Anyway we call the tip of chicken tail the chicken butt. We rarely eat it cuz its extremely unhealthy since its pure fat and skin. And also its kinda dirty if not done well