Oishinbo: Rated D for Delicious

With the Eisner’s coming up next week, Kristin of ComicAttack.net invited a number of bloggers to do reviews of Eisner nominees leading up til the awards ceremony on Friday night. Today, my review of Oishinbo: A La Carte went up. You can read the full post here, but I’ve included two paragraphs for your enjoyment with Kristin’s permission.

“Since there are seven volumes of Oishinbo, but no set order in which read them, I am going to suggest most readers start with The Joy of Rice. The volume starts out on a good foot, introducing Kyogoku, a significant secondary character and giving us a background on Yamaoka and Kurita before their relationship starts. The first chapter in The Joy of Rice also introduces us to Yamaoka’s rivalry with his father in absentia, but we get to see a battle between the two at the end of the book. In between are less dramatic stories than the Yamaoka vs. Kaibara battles involving coworkers, new acquaintances or friends, which I personally enjoy a lot more than the big rivalry ones.
I also greatly enjoyed the Vegetables, Ramen and Gyoza and Japanese Cuisine volumes to the point where I was having trouble recommending a good place to start. Even though I don’t have the remaining three volumes, Izakaya–Pub Food, Sake and Fish, Sushi and Sashimi, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy them if I came across them with a spare $12 + tax handy. If my recommendation and an Eisner nomination (soon to be win?) isn’t enough, even famous chefs and major foodie magazines are talking about Oishinbo. With crossover appeal like that, what are you waiting for? Go pick up a volume and let Viz know that we want more awesome volumes of Oishinbo: A La Carte, but for the love of all that is delicious, DON’T READ IT RIGHT BEFORE YOU EAT.*
*I totally just made that mistake.”

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m kind rooting for Oishinbo to win so Viz will put out more volumes. ^_~