The dialogue in page 2 is kind of all over the place, so that warrants a reshuffling.
To be fair, the ladies has already been flanderised into obnoxious hags who bully Yamaoka constantly many many chapters before Dan even appeared. Kurita herself included. They were screeching when Yamaoka bought sushi for old Toyama's family and refused to tell them who it was for, and them being a bunch of jerks about it forced him to share the sushi. I still want to throttle every single one of them so bad.Please don't tell me we have to sit through six more of these Australia contests, I am literally begging you. I need a break from Kaibara Yuzan, and I need it now.
Oh, and President Dan has now officially become my least favorite character in this manga. Compared to the Tozai staff, who by and large are awful due to Flanderization, and even Yuzan himself, whose major problem is that the narrative is bending over backwards to treat him as a god, Dan is just a conniving, weasly shit who turned this Australia thing into an Ultimate vs. Supreme Menu showdown purely to get Kurita's attention. He's obnoxious, he's deeply biased (the way he was lavishing praise on the Supreme Menu during that dinner scene made me want to vomit), his very presence has made Kurita's formerly likeable coworkers into ungrateful busybody harridans, and he is just absolutely sucks.
I actually prefer the early Yuzan, who by and large was simply a horrid man who SOMETIMES had good points about cooking, and whose reputation came off as " People respect him but he is also fairly disliked, because ofcourse he would be, his personality SUCKS. ". It was also shown he isnt infallible and his ego can blind him to new takes (The bonito and Mayo comes to mind, or the Mackerel sushi, both chapters I like)Please don't tell me we have to sit through six more of these Australia contests, I am literally begging you. I need a break from Kaibara Yuzan, and I need it now.
Oh, and President Dan has now officially become my least favorite character in this manga. Compared to the Tozai staff, who by and large are awful due to Flanderization, and even Yuzan himself, whose major problem is that the narrative is bending over backwards to treat him as a god, Dan is just a conniving, weasly shit who turned this Australia thing into an Ultimate vs. Supreme Menu showdown purely to get Kurita's attention. He's obnoxious, he's deeply biased (the way he was lavishing praise on the Supreme Menu during that dinner scene made me want to vomit), his very presence has made Kurita's formerly likeable coworkers into ungrateful busybody harridans, and he is just absolutely sucks.
To be fair, the ladies has already been flanderised into obnoxious hags who bully Yamaoka constantly many many chapters before Dan even appeared. Kurita herself included. They were screeching when Yamaoka bought sushi for old Toyama's family and refused to tell them who it was for, and them being a bunch of jerks about it forced him to share the sushi. I still want to throttle every single one of them so bad.
I actually prefer the early Yuzan, who by and large was simply a horrid man who SOMETIMES had good points about cooking, and whose reputation came off as " People respect him but he is also fairly disliked, because ofcourse he would be, his personality SUCKS. ". It was also shown he isnt infallible and his ego can blind him to new takes (The bonito and Mayo comes to mind, or the Mackerel sushi, both chapters I like)
Making him more genuinely respected (Honestly not narratively earned at all) whilst also....making him win WAY too much ontop of the fact he "gives" alot of his losses....Its not a great formula, I'mma say it.
I do like seeing the food of the duels but given they become easier to predict ontop of being a bit long, I kind of as of where we are, prefer the interpersonal stuff. Heck, I'd want more time away from Tozai if it was possible.
Also yeah, Dan sucks. Like I am aware through Ala Carte volumes down the line we are gonna meet a guy who IS as close as this series gets to a out and out villain, but maaaaan, he just has nothing to like. Like atleast Kinjo (Who IS also showing some less than great behavior recently) is like..personable enough in a way I could see people would gravitate to. Dan doesnt even get that.
I think one example that pissed me off the most about these ladies post-flanderization was during the Raw Meat Showdown arc, particularly in this chapter, because not only did they partake in physically harming Yamaoka when he was in a justified self-defense, they just straight up defended that piece-of-shit of a brat when it's obvious that his method to protect his older brother could genuinely cause long-lasting physical harm, or even death.To be fair, the ladies has already been flanderised into obnoxious hags who bully Yamaoka constantly many many chapters before Dan even appeared. Kurita herself included. They were screeching when Yamaoka bought sushi for old Toyama's family and refused to tell them who it was for, and them being a bunch of jerks about it forced him to share the sushi. I still want to throttle every single one of them so bad.
Yeah, like its not like the brother is a lil kid coming in and randomly punching Yamaoka's leg.I think one example that pissed me off the most about these ladies post-flanderization was during the Raw Meat Showdown arc, particularly in this chapter, because not only did they partake in physically harming Yamaoka when he was in a justified self-defense, they just straight up defended that piece-of-shit of a brat when it's obvious that his method to protect his older brother could genuinely cause long-lasting physical harm, or even death.
Believe you mean this guy from 188. Name's different, so I think its reuse of design. I did think it was him too.Totally valid, but the thing is, I still remember a time when they were likeable, so it's hard for me to hate them. When I see them as they are now, the only anger I feel is to the story and the writer that wrecked them. With President Dan, there isn't that buffer; he's introduced as an obnoxious biased manipulative prat and just goes on from there.
Oh, I fully agree with you here! I much prefer early Yuzan over modern Yuzan for the very reasons you mentioned. But even modern Yuzan occasionally has some good moments (him calling out the land developers in the Longevity Cooking Showdown especially comes to mind), even if they're almost entirely outweighed by the times the narrative backflips to give him the edge. And yeah, when I say I want a break from Yuzan, I also want a break from the competitions period. It's just too much.
Also 100% agree here. Kanegami is probably the closest we'll get to an out-and-out villain (although I'm almost positive he showed up in a chapter earlier in the run. Can't remember which off the top of my head...) now that Yuzan has been "rehabilitated." But at least he's supposed to be hated. Dan I genuinely can't tell what Kariya wants us to feel about this guy, and the way that he simultaneously shills Kaibara some more while also being a less interesting romantic rival just makes me so annoyed every time he's on panel. At least Kinjo started out as a decent contender before the Flanderization bug started to bite him this volume. Dan is just...ugh.
Yeah, like it's slapstick that felt super out of place to me because the setting is way more subdued. That baseball bat attack doesn't look "LOL funny slapstick", it looks like "legitimate attempted murder". This is not like a gag/comedy series like a Ranma 1/2 manga where you can literally beat up someone with an iron club and it's totally fine.I think one example that pissed me off the most about these ladies post-flanderization was during the Raw Meat Showdown arc, particularly in this chapter, because not only did they partake in physically harming Yamaoka when he was in a justified self-defense, they just straight up defended that piece-of-shit of a brat when it's obvious that his method to protect his older brother could genuinely cause long-lasting physical harm, or even death.
Sometimes I wonder if Kariya decided to make comedy (particularly slapstick) a staple genre in Oishinbo because slapstick comedy was more popular in pop culture in the day (thus the need to ride on that trend), editorial intervention, or other reasons lost to time.Yeah, like it's slapstick that felt super out of place to me because the setting is way more subdued. That baseball bat attack doesn't look "LOL funny slapstick", it looks like "legitimate attempted murder". This is not like a gag/comedy series like a Ranma 1/2 manga where you can literally beat up someone with an iron club and it's totally fine.
Yeah, I was rereading some old chapters recently and the characters were much more subdued back then. Even when Koizumi or Ohara was yelling it looks serious and not the comedic "AAAAH I'M FREAKING OUT" like they do in the later chapters. Before it was only Tomii who was the flailing guy.Sometimes I wonder if Kariya decided to make comedy (particularly slapstick) a staple genre in Oishinbo because slapstick comedy was more popular in pop culture in the day (thus the need to ride on that trend), editorial intervention, or other reasons lost to time.
Regardless, since the setting is more realistic and of this world compared to Ranma 1/2 or Gintama, never mind the infamous and cringe-inducing slapstick jokes, the comedy overall just unfortunately falls flat for me, because IMO Oishinbo wasn't designed to be that way from the start.
Hi, on page 15 I think the "supreme menu" was mistakenly written as "ultimate menu". Thanks for the chapters as always!