Oishinbo - Vol. 31 Ch. 288 - The Ultimate Vs. The Supreme: The Hotpot Showdown!! (Part 4)
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When Yamaoka finally explained the full Ultimate Hotpot, it definitely brought to my mind the Chinese New Year's hotpots. We also kinda just put whatever we want (or whatever we have) into the hotpot and eat it like in the chapter.
It's a very carefree and bustly dining experience. Even the 'hotpot police' that Yamaoka described is easy to find amongst friends and family.
It's a very carefree and bustly dining experience. Even the 'hotpot police' that Yamaoka described is easy to find amongst friends and family.
I just now realized how weirdly one dimensional it is to have Yamaoka always react with such negativity to whatever Kaibara presents - he's super into new food exhibits otherwise, so even if the point is supposed to be that he's resentful, it would make still more sense for him to react like Kyoguko or Dan to the idea of five emperor hot pots
A) It’s not one dimensional, it’s valid trauma due to Yuzan being an abusive husband and father who worked his mother to death and who constantly condescends to him at every opportunity.
B) Five Emperor Hotpots would be a cool concept…if the implicit nature of the challenge wasn’t to produce a singular hotpot that would have appeal for everyone, making the whole thing Yuzan utterly misleading the Tozai Team and pulling five hotpots out of his ass. Yes, there has been dish number disparity between the Ultimate and Supreme Menus on occasion, but this entire challenge was started when Yuzan discussed how difficult it would be to create a hotpot that would appeal to everyone, and then further supported by the Hechikan encounter promoting a sense of inclusiveness and respect that lent itself to a singular adjustable dish.
So yeah. I think Yamaoka has the right to be pissed here.
A character that is written to react the same way every time is written one dimensionally. I don't care if you want to defend why he would be one dimensional if he existed in real life; the fact remains that in this story we are only seeing him react again and again to these situations in the same one dimensional way, and it would be more interesting to see him react some other way to the learning opportunity (since the situations themselves are going to be pretty formulaic by the nature of the competition).
As for the dish - hey, if you think throwing your hands up and going 'fuck it, put whatever in there I'm not going to guide you' is inclusive and respectful I would prefer not to eat at your restaurant. Theoretically this is supposed to result in a recipe book - imagine turning to the recipe for 'ultimate' hot pot and just getting 'yeah, I dunno, you do you, I guess' instead of a recommendation from someone who supposedly researched hot pot and has great taste.
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This is a great observation, cause what you've picked up on is the same thing Kurita has noticed in Yamaoka.
For a few volumes now, Kurita has been getting less and less sure of Yamaoka's position. She's starting to question if Yamaoka's claims are entirely true, and that maybe his telling of what happened is too one-sided. This comes largely from her interactions with Kaibara and the people around him, and how many people seem to respect Kaibara as a person, not just a chef.
Kurita and Yamaoka are now on different paths. Yamaoka is on a quest to defeat his father, while Kurita is on a quest to discover the truth at the heart of the matter. Personally, I like this development, as it gives Kurita more agency as a character and prevents her from being just Yamaoka's lapdog.
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