Oishinbo - Vol. 38 Ch. 350 - The Ramen War (Part 7)

[MangaDex]

 

[PA270]

Surprise sur-fucking-prise, Kaibara Yuzan is here to save the day again. You know, with only three parts left, I almost was convinced that he wasn't going to show up this time, but fool on me. Seriously, can we have one multi-chapter storyline where Yuzan doesn't show up? Just one? Is that too much to ask?

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

Surprise sur-fucking-prise, Kaibara Yuzan is here to save the day again. You know, with only three parts left, I almost was convinced that he wasn't going to show up this time, but fool on me. Seriously, can we have one multi-chapter storyline where Yuzan doesn't show up? Just one? Is that too much to ask?

I figured we were gonna see him at some point. When was the last time we went a whole volume without him?

 

[SonnyShizuku]

I figured we were gonna see him at some point. When was the last time we went a whole volume without him?

I had some free time so I double checked it.

It seems that Yuzan appears on every single volume up until volume 38 except on volume 12.

Even then he appears on the cover on said volume, so it can be said that he exists on every single volumes up until current translation.

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

I had some free time so I double checked it.

It seems that Yuzan appears on every single volume up until volume 38 except on volume 12.

Even then he appears on the cover on said volume, so it can be said that he exists on every single volumes up until current translation.

Wow, Volume 12! I salute your diligence.

 

[Pleialdebaran]

Of all people why is Kurita also surprised? Did she think Yuzan is the type of person to praise food blindly? Not to mention since Yamaoka is involved, Yuzan will always give criticism whether the ramen is good or not

 

[maddery]

I don't mind Yuzan criticizing their ramen. The whole arc is rather meh. It's been dragging far too long.

 

[PA270]

I don't mind Yuzan criticizing their ramen. The whole arc is rather meh. It's been dragging far too long.

My issue is less Yuzan criticizing their ramen and more to do with that this is what happens every single arc at this point. Yamaoka puts his all into helping someone with a problem, Yuzan shows up and reveals the flaws, the flaws get fixed, and Yuzan gets the credit for the problem being solved. It's repetitive and dull and extremely frustrating, especially if you're someone like me who still hates how Kariya turned Yuzan into this all-knowing arbiter of taste that Yamaoka needs to learn from and get over his negative feelings towards when he is a) still a tremendous asshole to most people and b) remains the reason Yamaoka's mother overworked herself to death in a desperate desire to please him.

But I do agree with you, this arc really didn't need to be an entire volume. It's bland, the characters aren't particularly enjoyable, and whatever charm it had at the beginning just could not last through an entire volume's worth of chapters.

 

[TakesatoKeita]

b) remains the reason Yamaoka's mother overworked herself to death in a desperate desire to please him.

I do think it's kind of funny (and terrifying to think about) that the only way we can finally understand what actually happened to Yamaoka's mother is during the Fukushima nuclear arc, IIRC, and that's the manga's final arc before it went into an infinite hiatus.

While I kind of understand that there's indeed more truth behind what happened between Yuzan and Yamaoka's mother, the manga's glacially slow character and story development and lots of repetitive arcs (Yamaoka being a loser, Yuzan being the Gary Stu by default) somehow only make people (especially foreign readers) not want the truth to be revealed anyway because the waiting isn't worth it.

I figured we were gonna see him at some point. When was the last time we went a whole volume without him?

I think now it's basically impossible to have a long story arc like this one without his presence, especially since Kurita, of course, always has Yuzan at the back of her mind as her silver bullet to whatever issue Yamaoka is facing now.

 

[PA270]

I do think it's kind of funny (and terrifying to think about) that the only way we can finally understand what actually happened to Yamaoka's mother is during the Fukushima nuclear arc, IIRC, and that's the manga's final arc before it went into an infinite hiatus.

Wait, Kariya actually ended up addressing it? I honestly just figured he was never going to explain it and just hope the readers would forget. I mean, it begs the question why it took him until 2014 to finally come back to this and try to retcon it into a more nuanced relationship, but still, at least he came back to it, I guess?

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

Wait, Kariya actually ended up addressing it? I honestly just figured he was never going to explain it and just hope the readers would forget. I mean, it begs the question why it took him until 2014 to finally come back to this and try to retcon it into a more nuanced relationship, but still, at least he came back to it, I guess?

Yes, he did. I think it was because he really was planning to wrap it up naturally after another volume or two, and it was one of the things that he hadn't really delved into that needed to be resolved.

Incidentally, I'm wondering if with the new anime series coming that he might bother to finish things up once and for all.

 

[TakesatoKeita]

try to retcon it into a more nuanced relationship

I'm going to be a devil's advocate in this, but Kariya has actually meant their whole relationship to be more nuanced even since the manga's earlier volumes back in the 80s. It's usually done through Toyama (pretty much the only neutral ground between Yamaoka and Yuzan), who usually tries to convince Yamaoka to become more understanding and more willing to listen to Yuzan's side of the story, though it never catches on.

However, like many other things in this manga, Kariya's efforts to make their relationship more nuanced aren't exactly the best, as they're not convincing enough or the scenes that show such nuances are usually undermined by something else.

Incidentally, I'm wondering if with the new anime series coming that he might bother to finish things up once and for all.

I wonder which arcs are going to be adapted in the new anime, or even if the studio will actually write a new story, since you definitely can't adapt the Fukushima arc and you need to make the story far more concise.