Toriko Volume 17
Creative Staff
Story: Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Art: Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Translation/Adaptation: Christine Dashiell/Hope Donovan
What They Say
After a trip to the Gourmet Shrine, the place where Gourmet God Acacia’s Full-Course Meal is honored, Toriko and Komatsu set their sights on the Shining Gourami. Since this glittering fish lives in one of the world’s most humongous and deadly waterfalls, they enlist the help of a powered-up Sunny and his new pet snake for a major fishing expedition.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With the completion of the Gourmet Pyramid arc, this volume starts off with what basically amounts to filler. I don’t mean to make that come off as condescending though. The first three chapters are essentially filler but they encapsulate the essence of Toriko; that means fun. The stories told involve the Gourmet Shrine, a Stun Apple capturing contest, and a conversation with an old man out to sell a single square foot of land. Not once during these moments do we get the feeling that we’re wasting time, that it is just padding because the author doesn’t know what to do next. The world of Toriko is so creative and so immense that there is a never ending supply of stories that can be told. That is what these chapters provide. More glimpses into this vast and wondrous world that act as both insight to the world and characters as well as just a bit of fun. I mean, you honestly don’t think that the world of Toriko is all serious business right? Didn’t think so.
Afterwards we begin our next arc: The Shining Gourami. It is yet another ingredient that Toriko has been tasked to collect by the IGO President as training to prepare him for entry into the Gourmet World. Whereas Toriko sought the assistance of Zebra for the Gourmet Pyramid, this arc has him enlisting the aid of my personal favorite Four Kings member, Sunny. Sunny’s extremely flamboyant mannerisms and general attitude and presence always seem to make the page that much more vibrant. And it’s not just his rainbow colored hair either. Together, Toriko, Sunny, and Komatsu head off to Death Falls to try and gain access to the caverns behind its massive wall and obtain the Shining Gourami. However, this bulk of the book is actually its shortcoming. We travel to Death Falls pretty quickly and everything seems to follow the brisk and exciting pacing that we have come to expect from the series. However, once the gang begin to try and get past the Falls’ wall, the pacing comes to a screeching halt. It’s actually very hard for me to try and explain.
The pages move by quickly and it is always exciting. We bounce between our crew in their ever increasingly treacherous predicament to flashbacks of Sunny training at the Roads to Hell. It is still a testament to the author that the artwork and panel flow is so mesmerizing and terrific to look at. However, once you reach the end of the book, you’ve seen one new move from Sunny, two new moves from Toriko, and they finally clear a path through the falls. In short, nothing actually happens. At all. It’s just a lot of talking and posturing, but mapped out to never be boring. That sounds like another glowing recommendation right? Just the fact that you feel so hollow at the end, that all of that excitement went nowhere…it just feels off and like Toriko is definitely not playing on either its “A” or “B” game.
In Summary
In the anime, each of the “filler” chapter were their own episode. That was actually pretty good. Make the fun self encapsulate just like these chapters. However, the rest of the book was also it’s own episode if I remember correctly. Maybe two episodes because there is a chapter or two of setup and travel to work through. That approach gives the tedium I describe as an encapsulated moment that is necessary and is then over. The sheer sprawl of encompassing 6 or 7 chapters in this volume only to leave the book empty-handed feels cheap. I can never discount the series’ artistry, it’s still top notch and among the very best running in the Shonen demographic, but I can’t ignore my gut feeling. That’s what Sunny has taught me.
Content Grade: B-
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: August 6th, 2013
MSRP: $9.99
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