The Toriko Gang is here to give you Vicers a deeper insight at Toriko, one of the popular Shonen series in Anime Vice's community. WayBig is my expert on Toriko since he finished the anime series, and he is up to speed with manga. He and I go over what Toriko has executed well and done poorly.
What are Toriko's best qualities?
WayBig: Toriko has an interesting and bizarre premise, which from the very start of the series develops into a world that’s full of great adventures centered on delicious ingredients. Toriko begins in the golden age of food known as Gourmet Age, where mostly everything directly orients to an enriching and growing food demanding society. One of the greatest things that Toriko does right is to never lose sight on it’s incredible originality that the story creates and always builds on the world that forms a fantasy quality to it that truly makes an exciting experience that is multiplied by just how well-built and intertwine the core concepts are in most if not all aspects of the Toriko world.
Toriko’s character cast reflects a wide range of personalities along with specific skill sets that distinguishes each character. At the same time the plot allows significant characters to be in the spotlight in a way that does not allow main character favoritism to ruin the importance of the other characters; regardless of when they made their appearance, which along with each character having a special identity, makes a story full of meaningful characters. Another elegant function that the story incorporates is the whole combo system, where it establishes relationships between the Bishokuya (Gourmet Hunters) and the chefs, which creates a new dynamic that showcases character’s abilities outside of just “epic fights” and just flows with the series’ setup.
Takashichea: The fights in Toriko are brief about 3 episodes max compared to most Shonen series whose fights span 3 to 10 episodes long. Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece are notoriously known for the long fights. Regarding music, the opening songs don't change often. There is a total of 2 OP songs. They are a bit odd. The ending songs are fun to hear. Some of you guys may find the songs addicting while others will find less memorable. One song that stood out was Samba de Toriko!!! by Hyadain. It was catchy, and there is a hidden message towards children. Telling them to eat healthy and exercise.
Where did Toriko perform poorly?
WayBig: I have 3 areas to discuss with you guys.
Animation
WayBig: For the most part the Toriko animation was pretty solid, however; there are times when it is bluntly obvious when the animation is slacking in quality. One of the biggest faults that the show has is a gradual increment of the lack of detail involving character designs and movements. The animation’s sin is only worsen when fans of the series transfer from the anime to the manga and can compare both of them, which will just make the toriko anime fans realize just how poorly the anime did in terms of representing the true artistic potential that the Toriko anime could have been. Especially towards the end of the series, where the animation is just so horrible that it wouldn’t be a surprise if Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro himself sued Toei Animation for doing such a poor job of attempting to animate his work.
Filler
Now filler can be much more than just a necessary evil that allows the canon material (usually the manga) time to expand the story, yet the Toriko filler did what most filler should not do and that is to just invent new characters from the start of the series just for an excuse to create even more filler. Now this honestly is not really a bad thing to do, but it must be done right in the sense that viewers can feel that the added characters are natural and likeable. Instead Toriko got Tina and unfortunate for us, she is a frequent character in the anime. So a con for the series would be this chronic character, who most people will find to be annoying and unnecessary to the series.
Deviation from Manga's Storyline
First lets make it clear that this will contain NO SPOILERS and that this will just be a short rant on how Toei Animation completely ruin the Toriko anime in just a few months. An alternative route that they could have done would have been to just make 100 episodes of filler with Tina as the main character, which would be much better than the unorganized rubbish that was given. The plot of the anime had gotten so far away from its source material that the only way to redeem the anime now would be if Toei Animation send an apology letter that also promise that they would redo the entire anime and also to never disrespect the plot in a similar fashion ever again. They should have just either place the anime in a hiatus status or include a filler arc to give the manga more time, but no they had to branch away from the manga and completely destroy the story.
How does Toriko stands out and distinguishes itself from other Shonen series?
Takashichea: Like my partner, WayBig, mention, Toriko's bizarre premise of involving food and the adventure surrounding their adventures focuses on living life to the fullest while enjoying the adventure and the rewards, mainly eating good food together with friends. Like all Shonen series, Toriko characters share a dream that they fight for. Toriko wants to find GOD, an ingredient, for his Full Course Menu. Most folks' dream is to complete their Full Course Menu with the best ingredients. It's different compared to Luffy and Naruto. Naruto wants to be acknowledged by becoming Hokage while Luffy wants to be the King of Pirates as part of the adventure towards reaching One Piece, the fable treasure. I say Toriko is more relatable to One Piece.
Are there certain characters that are memorable? Are Any characters do you personally hate?
WayBig covers the Four Heavenly Kings!
 | Toriko is the main character of the series, which has earned the nickname “The Glutton” and is one of the greatest Bishokuya (Gourmet Hunter). Toriko lives up to his nickname and consumes numerous ingredients, yet he lives by a rule that he will not kill any animal unless he plans on eating it. Toriko is also a very caring and intelligent person dispute being so wild and his goal is to capture GOD, the greatest ingredient of the world. |
 | Coco is a fortuneteller, who also happens to be one of the greatest Bishokuya in the world. Coco out of all the kings is the most calm and is referring to as gentlemen, however; Coco is ruthless against his enemies and will use cunning tactics to pick his opponents apart. Coco goal is to acquire the legendary drink, ATOM. |
 | Sunny is one of the greatest Bishokuya and a pretty boy, Sunny seeks to always find harmony and beauty in everything he does and sees. Sunny seems to be calm and collective, but can easily become upset when he faces unsightly opposition, which cause him to became less flamboyant. Sunny's personal goal is to find the dessert, Earth. |
 | if you're cocky, JUST RUN!!! Out of all the kings, Zebra is the most violent, cruel, and destructive. He loses his cool pretty quickly and is seen as a savage that is always willing to cause trouble. Despite his image, Zebra is a good guy and goes out of his way to make sure that innocent bystanders are not harm whenever he fights. Zebra, unlike his fellow kings, does not care about getting a certain ingredient, since his goal is to just satisfy his appetite with tasty food. |
Takashichea: Like Dragon Ball Z, Toriko has a predominant male cast. They don't rely on fan service compared to most recent Shonen series (IE: Magi and Fairy Tail). Komatsu is a very memorable and unique character. Unlike most Shonen supporting characters, Komatsu is not physically strong. He is weak and needs protection. He serves as the reverse role of damsel in distress, (See Anime Vice's Dudes in Distress!). He sort of reminds of Manta from Shaman King. Komatsu's appeal comes from his ethics and kindness. I don't think I have any characters I personally hate or find annoying in the series. I only watched up to 80 episodes of Toriko, and I do skip around. I heard most folks find Tina annoying. I don't mind Tina's character. She serves as the comic relief after the credits with herDishing With Tina and Guess the Legend with Tina segments.
Would you recommend Toriko to our folks? What audiences do you think Toriko would fit best?
Takashichea: When I was transitioning from Fairy Tail to One Piece and Toriko due to Fairy Tail's end back in March 2013, I was looking for a new Shonen series to watch. I was more compatible with One Piece than Toriko. Toriko is strange since it deals with food and the sense of adventure it goes with it. It's hard to recommend this show to fans who are looking for drama, a bit of romance, and fan service. It does drawn parallels to Dragon Ball Z's predominantly male cast with ripped bodies and sense of exploration from One Piece.
WayBig: Well for Toriko, one of the problems could be just how hard it is to get use to the premise of the story, and that was my problem with the series at first, but later on, it just made so much more sense and really makes Toriko stand out from the rest. As for a target audience, Toriko is definitely meant for DBZ fans and One Piece fans alike, which is pretty obvious considering how much effort was invested into the crossovers. Toriko is also meant for a younger Shonen audience as well, which is one of the reasons why the creators of the anime did not include some of the more “mature” elements that the manga contains, yet Toriko is not only limited to just the previous stated groups; it is also meant for anyone who enjoys discovering about a massive world with miles of adventures that includes a wide variety of characters and ideas.
About the Authors
 | WayBig1010101 is just your average anime/manga lover, that enjoys being a member of this amazing community |
 | Takashichea is an Asian American Studies student who is a big wiki and anime nerd. Follow him @Takashichea |
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