Comics / Manga

Toriko: Volume 22 manga review

By Leroy Douresseaux
August 1, 2014 - 14:16

Toriko Volume 22 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

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Rated “T” for “Teen”

There is a savage, alternate version of Earth, where the pursuit of the most delicious foods rules over everything else.  It is literally eat or be eaten, as practically everything and everyone is on the menu.  Ultimate Gourmet Hunter Toriko is on a life-long quest to create the perfect full-course meal.  With young IGO chef Komatsu at his side, Toriko has an Ultimate Hunter-Chef partnership, as he faces every beast in his way, putting some in his bottomless stomach.

As Toriko, Vol. 22 (entitled Four-Beasts!! Chapters 190 to 198) opens, the brutal showdown at Chowlin Temple comes to an end.  It is the latest skirmish that will lead to the inevitable clash between IGO and Gourmet Corp.  The battle leaves gourmet living legend (and Toriko ally), Chin Chin-Chin, in need of Chiru’s healing knife.

Then, the news has been broadcast to the entire human world.  The slumbering beasts of the Gourmet World have awakened.  Now, the monstrous Four Beasts:  Mount Turtle, Invite Death, Fang King, and King Octopus Kong are coming to wreak havoc on humanity.  Only the Four Kings:  Toriko, Coco, Sunny, and Zebra can fight these bigger-than-Godzilla monsters and stop them before they destroy the world.

THE LOWDOWN:  The Toriko manga does not allow loyal readers to become complacent.  Both highly-imaginative and hugely entertaining, the series delivers one amazing creature after another and takes the reader to strange, wonderful places.

Toriko Volume 22 makes me believe that Toriko creator, Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, should have shot at creating a Godzilla comic book.  The Four Beasts and the scenes showing both humanity and the Four Kings battling them make for excellent monster comics.  Vol. 22 ends too early for me.  I want more.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for something on the weird foodie side will want the Shonen Jump manga, Toriko, on the menu.

Rating: A- /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12