Oishinbo - Vol. 38 Ch. 346 - The Ramen War (Part 3)

[MangaDex]

 

[SonnyShizuku]

Lmao, did Kariya (or Hanasaki) just recycled the 3 stongmen udon maker? They look almost exactly like them

 

[bernkastel-11]

Lmao, did Kariya (or Hanasaki) just recycled the 3 stongmen udon maker? They look almost exactly like them

I mean less works to come up with new characters to draw

 

[bernkastel-11]

While I understand the Ryusei CEO guy, he's extremely EXTREMELY determined about making his own business, NGL I wanna see how he would be like if he keeps up being this passionate, but once again, him monopolizing small businesses and driving them out is not good and frankly enough, terrible because that's destroying people's livelihoods and force them to follow his corporate system

 

[d_a_renoir]

I didn't look at spoiler, but I already have the feeling that they'd lose one round and make a comeback later. There's just something that feels kind of unimpressive about those ramen masters.

Also. Kariya just makes and ditches characters however he wants, but I feel like if there's better continuity they could've asked the Dragon House brothers to help them with the noodles. Like in the burger chapter the buns were outsourced and the owner just focused on the patties and other fillings, so getting the noodles made elsewhere is surely not a problem.

So if it works, the noodle pulling brother can make a batch for them. Or learn to do the bamboo rolling method from Wang-san's restaurant like in the Hiyashi Chuka episode.

 

[Pleialdebaran]

Revival expert? Should have hired Toshizo Kitakata

 

[TakesatoKeita]

Not related to the story per se, but it brings this wistful feeling when I saw that scene with NYC's World Trade Center building still standing, which really shows just how this manga feels like it comes from a time long ago.

Revival expert? Should have hired Toshizo Kitakata

Damn, haven't heard that name for a while.

For those not in the know, Toshizo Kitakata is the main character of Shoku King, a cooking manga about a former chef who embarks on a journey across Japan as a "restaurant revival specialist" to fix restaurants, à la Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

Maybe it's just a thing that a lot of food-focused mangakas had back in the day, but Shoku King has a lot of thematic similarities with Oishinbo, best illustrated here:

With that in mind, I want to share what might be a hot take:

For all the many, MANY FLAWS that Oishinbo had, I would still rather read it over Shoku King because of just how insufferable Kitakata is as a character and how Shoku King just took a lot of the wrong lessons from Oishinbo.

Unlike Yamaoka's much more personable and likable personality, Kitakata is unfortunately a mix of Yuzan's high-and-mighty bits and Ramsay's worst personality aspects, which made my attempt to complete my reading for Shoku King a complete slog.

Having read a lot of the mangaka's food-focused works other than Shoku King, like Kenka Ramen and Kuishinbou, I can safely say that Kitakata is the worst of all of them because of the characteristics I've mentioned above. Which is a shame, because his other works are far more readable and enjoyable to sit through.

 

[LavTheBurger]

Maybe it's just a thing that a lot of food-focused mangakas had back in the day, but Shoku King has a lot of thematic similarities with Oishinbo, best illustrated here:

With that in mind, I want to share what might be a hot take:

For all the many, MANY FLAWS that Oishinbo had, I would still rather read it over Shoku King because of just how insufferable Kitakata is as a character and how Shoku King just took a lot of the wrong lessons from Oishinbo.

Unlike Yamaoka's much more personable and likable personality, Kitakata is unfortunately a mix of Yuzan's high-and-mighty bits and Ramsay's worst personality aspects, which made my attempt to complete my reading for Shoku King a complete slog.

Having read a lot of the mangaka's food-focused works other than Shoku King, like Kenka Ramen and Kuishinbou, I can safely say that Kitakata is the worst of all of them because of the characteristics I've mentioned above. Which is a shame, because his other works are far more readable and enjoyable to sit through.

Kuishinbou is probably my favorite because the melodrama mixed with the topic is just funny, plus I do genuinely find eating contests interesting as setups and prep work go. The protag goes from " Guy who thinks this is all pretty silly " to wandering Eating Contest Ronin cus hes sabotaged ONCE.

George Hunter, you are so rad and cool.

Shoku King I mainly like for the food pictures honestly. I dont disagree with your assessment.

 

[versyn]

Speaking of Kuishinbou, is there an actual place to read the whole thing for free? I remember reading through it on Manga Rock some years ago but now I can't find it anywhere without paying up coins.

 

[Diabeetiz]

Not related to the story per se, but it brings this wistful feeling when I saw that scene with NYC's World Trade Center building still standing, which really shows just how this manga feels like it comes from a time long ago.


Damn, haven't heard that name for a while.

For those not in the know, Toshizo Kitakata is the main character of Shoku King, a cooking manga about a former chef who embarks on a journey across Japan as a "restaurant revival specialist" to fix restaurants, à la Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

Maybe it's just a thing that a lot of food-focused mangakas had back in the day, but Shoku King has a lot of thematic similarities with Oishinbo, best illustrated here:

With that in mind, I want to share what might be a hot take:

For all the many, MANY FLAWS that Oishinbo had, I would still rather read it over Shoku King because of just how insufferable Kitakata is as a character and how Shoku King just took a lot of the wrong lessons from Oishinbo.

Unlike Yamaoka's much more personable and likable personality, Kitakata is unfortunately a mix of Yuzan's high-and-mighty bits and Ramsay's worst personality aspects, which made my attempt to complete my reading for Shoku King a complete slog.

Having read a lot of the mangaka's food-focused works other than Shoku King, like Kenka Ramen and Kuishinbou, I can safely say that Kitakata is the worst of all of them because of the characteristics I've mentioned above. Which is a shame, because his other works are far more readable and enjoyable to sit through.

I suggest reading "The chef", basically Jack Black but chef version, very very interesting and a bit more grounded than jb.

 

[Diabeetiz]

Speaking of Kuishinbou, is there an actual place to read the whole thing for free? I remember reading through it on Manga Rock some years ago but now I can't find it anywhere without paying up coins.

Mangafirr

 

[TakesatoKeita]

Kuishinbou is probably my favorite because the melodrama mixed with the topic is just funny, plus I do genuinely find eating contests interesting as setups and prep work go. The protag goes from " Guy who thinks this is all pretty silly " to wandering Eating Contest Ronin cus hes sabotaged ONCE.

Kuishinbou is very fun to read, but my personal favorite is Kenka Ramen, because I think the protag is a fun fellow and actually has proper character and professional development, from a former delinquent gang leader to a fully-fledged ramen chef capable of standing against the giants.

When it comes to Kitakata from Shoku King, I personally don't have a problem with the protag being a legendary chef with decades of experience.

However, my major gripe with him is that he comes off less like a proper restaurant revival specialist (like Ramsay) who deserves his widespread fame and respect, and more like this Yuzan-like figure presented as someone who can do no wrong, is always right about his overly preachy rants about the importance of using organic ingredients, and is pretty much a Gary Sue who deserves none of that respect.

Though Kitakata did have 2 moments in the story where he was actually wrong for once, their resolutions were completely unsatisfactory and felt like as if nothing about him changed afterward, which only soured my reception for him.

Out of all of Shigeru Tsuchiyama's works, I would say that Shoku King is the one where he just fumbled the writing for his protag (from what I think is a result of trying to copy Oishinbo), while all others are much more enjoyable.

I suggest reading "The chef", basically Jack Black but chef version, very very interesting and a bit more grounded than jb.

I've read the first 3 chapters in English that seem to be the only available English translations out there, and I think it's alright. I'll see if it's available to read online in Japanese as well.

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

While I understand the Ryusei CEO guy, he's extremely EXTREMELY determined about making his own business, NGL I wanna see how he would be like if he keeps up being this passionate, but once again, him monopolizing small businesses and driving them out is not good and frankly enough, terrible because that's destroying people's livelihoods and force them to follow his corporate system

Hanasaki isn't really that great at designing new characters, which is interesting to me because when he works from a photograph, his designs are pretty good and his food drawing is also excellent, IMO. Just drawing original characters isn't his strength.

 

[LavTheBurger]

Kuishinbou is very fun to read, but my personal favorite is Kenka Ramen, because I think the protag is a fun fellow and actually has proper character and professional development, from a former delinquent gang leader to a fully-fledged ramen chef capable of standing against the giants.

When it comes to Kitakata from Shoku King, I personally don't have a problem with the protag being a legendary chef with decades of experience.

However, my major gripe with him is that he comes off less like a proper restaurant revival specialist (like Ramsay) who deserves his widespread fame and respect, and more like this Yuzan-like figure presented as someone who can do no wrong, is always right about his overly preachy rants about the importance of using organic ingredients, and is pretty much a Gary Sue who deserves none of that respect.

Though Kitakata did have 2 moments in the story where he was actually wrong for once, their resolutions were completely unsatisfactory and felt like as if nothing about him changed afterward, which only soured my reception for him.

Out of all of Shigeru Tsuchiyama's works, I would say that Shoku King is the one where he just fumbled the writing for his protag (from what I think is a result of trying to copy Oishinbo), while all others are much more enjoyable.


I've read the first 3 chapters in English that seem to be the only available English translations out there, and I think it's alright. I'll see if it's available to read online in Japanese as well.

I think Shoku King is also not....like Kitakata is often the least interesting part of any one arc he's in because the other cast is alright to interesting and theyre the focus, hes the solution to a problem more than a character. I like the Ramen couple for example, the pizza brothers, and the Goryokaku trio of headchefs (and the Hotel breakfast girl). Granted, part of it is those are some foods I like showcased.

I also like the Prisoner manga he does, with the " talk about a food " stories. Simple concept, to the point.

 

[versyn]

Mangafirr

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

[Pleialdebaran]

Not related to the story per se, but it brings this wistful feeling when I saw that scene with NYC's World Trade Center building still standing, which really shows just how this manga feels like it comes from a time long ago.


Damn, haven't heard that name for a while.

For those not in the know, Toshizo Kitakata is the main character of Shoku King, a cooking manga about a former chef who embarks on a journey across Japan as a "restaurant revival specialist" to fix restaurants, à la Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

Maybe it's just a thing that a lot of food-focused mangakas had back in the day, but Shoku King has a lot of thematic similarities with Oishinbo, best illustrated here:

With that in mind, I want to share what might be a hot take:

For all the many, MANY FLAWS that Oishinbo had, I would still rather read it over Shoku King because of just how insufferable Kitakata is as a character and how Shoku King just took a lot of the wrong lessons from Oishinbo.

Unlike Yamaoka's much more personable and likable personality, Kitakata is unfortunately a mix of Yuzan's high-and-mighty bits and Ramsay's worst personality aspects, which made my attempt to complete my reading for Shoku King a complete slog.

Having read a lot of the mangaka's food-focused works other than Shoku King, like Kenka Ramen and Kuishinbou, I can safely say that Kitakata is the worst of all of them because of the characteristics I've mentioned above. Which is a shame, because his other works are far more readable and enjoyable to sit through.

One of my hobby is visiting restaurant be it cheap or expensive one. Then after taking one bite if the food sucks, I like to whisper "this restaurant is finished!" like Kitakata. Obviously, I'm not brave enough to say it loudly

 

[Diabeetiz]

One of my hobby is visiting restaurant be it cheap or expensive one. Then after taking one bite if the food sucks, I like to whisper "this restaurant is finished!" like Kitakata. Obviously, I'm not brave enough to say it loudly

To be honest, he only does that if somebody had a revival request. Otherwise he just leaves