“Toriko: Part Two” is a fun, action-packed animated series that combines the concept of gourmet and finding the best ingredients and meat with heavy hitting action. The concept is surely unique for an anime series and if you want something different, something fun with many crazy adventures and a lot of action, “Toriko: Part Two” is recommended!
Image courtesy of © 2013 FUNimation. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: Toriko: Part Two
DURATION: Episodes 14-26
DVD INFORMATION: 4:3, Bilingual Japanese & English, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: FUNimation
RATED: 13+
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Originally created by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
Directed by Akifumi Zako
Series Composition by Isao Murayama
Script: Isao Murayama, Tomoko Taguchi, Yoichi Takahashi
Music by Hiromi Mizutani
Character Design by Hisashi Kagawa
Art by Masanobu Nomura
Anime Production by Toei Animation
Featuring the following voice talent:
Romi Park/Josh Grelle as Komatsu
Ryotaro Okiayu/Ian Sinclair as Toriko
Akio Ohtsuka as Livebearer
Akira Ishida as Tommyrod
Asami Tano/Leah Clark as Rin
Kokoro Kikuchi/Heather Walker as Cruppo
Banjou Ginga as Yosaku
Hideyuki Tanaka/Chuck Huber as Acacia
Hiro Yuuki as Ootake
Juurouta Kosugi as Mansam
Kenji Matsuda as Zebra
Kenjiro Ishimaru/Chris Guerrero as Narrator
Kenyuu Horiuchi as Ichiryu
Kokoro Kikuchi as Kruppoh
Masahito Yabe as Bei
Masaki Terasoma as Midora
Masaya Onosaka/David Wald as Teppei
Mitsuo Iwata/Aaron Robers as Sani (Sunny)
Nana Mizuki/Morgan Garrett as Tina
Sakiko Uran/Juli Erickson as Setsuno
Shinichiro Miki/Scott Freeman as Stajyun (Starjun)
Shinji Kawada/Robert McCollum as Johannes
Takahiro Sakurai/Jarrod Greene as Coco
Tetsuya Kakihara as Tom
Toshiyuki Morikawa/Philip Weber as Jirou
Yuji Mitsuya/Chris Rager as Grinpatch
Welcome to the Gourmet Age, a time when the world is full of deliciously deadly ingredients that the wealthiest appetites in existence can’t wait to devour. But only a mighty masticating mercenary like Toriko can track down the rarest animals on the planet and put them on a plate! This gluttonous gourmet hunter is one of the four Legendary Kings, superhuman warriors born to battle the likes of Troll Kongs, Gararagators, and Devil Pythons.
Accompanied by his loyal Battle Wolf and the promising young chef Komatsu, Toriko will circle the globe in search of the mouth-wateringly lethal ingredients that will one day make up his Full Course Menu of Life. The more ferocious the beast, the bigger the feast, but never forget the code of a true gourmet hunter: you gotta eat what you defeat!
The pursuit of for culinary delights continues in “Toriko: Part Two” as Toriko takes on GT Robot and comes face to face against the evil Gourmet Corps, Grinpatch.
In Japan, we have seen Shonen Jump series that have had a long life, not just as manga but as anime series. From the “Dragon Ball” series, “One Piece”, “Naruto”, “Bleach” and another series that has captivated readers and viewers is “Toriko”.
Created by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro in 2008, the manga series has been published on “Weekly Shonen Jump” and is currently on 22nd tankobon volume, while the anime series produced by Toei Animation is still being broadcast since 2011 on Fuji TV. And now part two of the anime series will be released in the U.S. courtesy of FUNimation in February 2013.
The series is directed by Akifumi Zako (“Fresh Pretty Cure”, “Ashita no Nadia”, “Ojamajo Doremi Na-i-sho”), series composition by Isao Murayama (“Saint Seiya Omega”, “Kaidan Restaurant”), music by Hiromi Mizutani (“Hell Girl”, “Hyakko”), character designs by Hisashi Kagawa (“Bomberman Jetters”, “Hataraki Man”, “Fresh Pretty Cure”) and art direction by Masanobu Nomura (“Blue Drop”, “The Big O”, “K”, “The Idolm@ster”, “Gurren Lagann”).
It’s important to note that in Japan, the first episode was a cross-over special with “One Piece”. For the U.S. DVD release, this cross over episode is not included.
Toriko takes place during a time where gourmet is important. The taste, the texture of food and rare ingredients are what chefs seek for, but in order to get rare ingredients and animals, major organizations hire Bishokuya (which are “gourmet hunters”).
The series begins with a chef named Komatsu who is dispatched by the International Gourmet Organization (IGO) to find Toriko in order to capture a rare animal known as a Gararagator (level 8). When Komatsu arrives, he sees the gourmet hunter easily catching a Pincer Fish. When Toriko finds out that Komatsu is trying to catch a Gararagator, Toriko who loves the challenge, agrees.
While Komatsu is timid and often scared of the creatures in the swamp and jungle, they come across a Gararagator, which is a gigantic red alligator and Toriko manages to kill it with his “Fork and Knife” technique but instead of giving the Gararagator to Komatsu for his organization, his intention to catching it was for a full-course menu. Wanting to become a world-renown chef, Komatsu feels that by being with Toriko, he can achieve that. So he asks if he can accompany Toriko on his adventures capturing animals for gourmet and Toriko accepts.
But as the two embark on their mission, they are challenged by a rival organization known as the Gourmet Corps who are bent on controlling the world’s ingredients and wanting the two dead.
In part two of “Toriko”, Toriko’s adventures for BB Corn and the Legendary Soup puts him at odds against the evil organization known as the Gourmet Corps. Meanwhile Komatsu without Toriko, must complete his fish dish by finding an exquisite sauce. Will he be able to complete it in time?
“Toriko: Part Two” features the following episodes (Note: Just to remind everyone that the episode 1 special featuring “One Piece” is not included. So, episode order is an episode off compared to what was shown in Japan.
- EPISODE 14 – Sunny takes on the GT Robot and someone is hunting Toriko and the gourmet hunters.
- EPISODE 15 – How will Komatsu respond when the GT Robot takes away his favorite knife.
- EPISODE 16 – After tasting jewel meat, a revived Toriko is ready to fight against the GT Robot.
- EPISODE 17 – Komatsu is on a mission to find a rare sauce, while Toriko is in the jungle looking for food for his Battle Wolf.
- EPISODE 18 – Terry, the Batle Wolf takes on a Zombie Wood.
- EPISODE 19 – Just when Toriko and Terry find BB Corn and are having a great time, Komatsu on the other hand takes on a giant lizard.
- EPISODE 20 – Toriko takes on the Gourmet Corps assassin, Grinpatch.
- EPISODE 21 – The battle between Toriko vs. Grinpatch continues.
- EPISODE 22 – Toriko and Komatsu travel to the city of culinary dreams and has dinner with a gourmet legend. Meanwhile, the evil Gourmet Corps continue their search for Jewel Meat.
- EPISODE 23 – Komatsu and Toriko take a tour of Setsuno’s kitchen.
- EPISODE 24 – Toriko and Komatsu search for the legendary Century Soup, but not far behind are the Gourmet Corps.
- EPISODE 25 – A GT Robot and Tunda Dragons stand between Toriko and the Century Soup.
- EPISODE 26 – Toriko vs. the Freezer Bison, Zonge ends up confronting angry Growlruses.
The main characters of “Toriko” are:
- Toriko – A gourmet hunter and one of the “Four Heavenly Kings” who loves to eat! Toriko does not kill and just eat any animal, he only will kill those that he wants to eat. A man with animal-tracking senses, superhuman strength, fighting skills and immunity to many poisons.
- Komatsu – A five star chef who works for the Hotel Gourmet, a prestigious restaurant owned by the International Gourmet Organization. A highly skilled chef who wants to get better and that is why he wants to join Toriko on his mission to find rare ingredients and become the best chef in the world.
- Coco – One of the “Four Heavenly Kings” who is a fortune teller and has exceptional stealth techniques and a wonderful animal tracker who is also immune to many poisons.
- Sunny – One of the “Four Heavenly Kings” and the older brother of Rin. He has a talent of sensing ones physical state.
- Zebra – One of the “Four Heavenly Kings” and is the most powerful of the four. Often angry and has a short-temper.
- Rin – A member of IGO who is tomboyish in nature, she has a major crush on Toriko and the younger sister of Sunny.
- Mansam – The IGO Development Bureau Director and Gourmet Research Facility Chief. An old friend of Toriko.
- Tina – A television reporter for “Gourmet News” who is following Toriko and Komatsu.
- Grinpatch – An evil sous chef for the Gourmet Corps, best known for his black teeth, four arms and giant straw.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Toriko” is an anime series that is full of detail for a TV series. Produced by Toei Animation, the animated series has a style of a classic old school anime series in terms of character design but what catches your eye is the detailed art backgrounds which are fantastic. Some scenes are in CG (such as water effects) but I really enjoyed the animation for this series.
As for audio, “Toriko” is presented in English 5.1 surround and in Japanese stereo. The English 5.1 soundtrack has better dynamic range when it comes to use of the surround channels but both are well-acted. For the English dub, both Ian Sinclair and Josh Grelle are both FUNimation veterans who are well-known for their voice work on series such as “Black Butler”, “Bird the Mighty” and “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood”.
For the Japanese soundtrack, you also get to hear veterans Romi Park (best known as Edward Elric for the “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” series and Toushiro Hitsugaya in “Bleach”) as Komatsu and Ryotaro Okiayu (Katsuhiko Jinnai in “El Hazard”, Scar on “Fullmetal Alchemist” and Kunimitsu Tezuka of “Prince of Tennis”) and Park’s delivery of the constant fear that Komatsu is often encountering is well-captured in her voice.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Toriko: Part Tw0” comes with the following special features:
- Episode 15 Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Ian Sinclair (Toriko), Heather Walker (Grupo), Morgan Garrett (Tina) and Scott Freeman (Starjun).
- Episode 20 Audio Commentary– Featuring audio commentary by Ian Sinclair (Toriko), Chris Guerrero (Narrator), Chris Rager (Grinpatch).
- Episode 26 Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Ian Sinclair (Toriko), Kyle Phillips (ADR Engineer) and ADR Director Tyler Walker.
- Textless Opening and Ending Songs – Textless opening for “Gatsu Gatsu!!” by Akira Kushida and closing for “Satisfaction” by FT Island and “Deli-Deli*Delicious” by Sea A.
- U.S. Trailer – FUNimation trailer for “Toriko”.
- Trailers – FUNimation trailers
Another action-packed adventure of “Toriko”, where the first 13-episodes were about establishing the characters, this time around, the series showcases much more action and introduces even more deadly opponents for Toriko with the introduction of the sinister Gourmet Corps.
As Toriko, Komatsu and members of the Gourmet Hunter team continue their adventures, they are unaware how much danger lies ahead of them.
While I know that “Toriko” is a popular manga and anime series in Japan and I have friends who are crazy over the series, I haven’t watched or read the series yet.
But now watching the first 26 episodes, I have to say that the gourmet concept is rather intriguing and in some way, it reminds me of older “Dragon Ball Z” episodes when young Gohan had to catch his own food and going after dinosaurs and other creatures. In the case of “Toriko”, it has the fun of a series like “One Piece”, a protagonist that reminds me of “Hokuto no Ken” (Fist of the North Star) with its buffed out character, Toriko and of course your timid follower, who wants to be grow and mature with the character of Komatsu.
While I have read many manga and watched many drama that had centered around food, “Toriko” is rather interesting in the fact that these surprising ingredients tend to be exotic fruit guarded by monsters or some type of behemoth or animals that look like they come out of the Jurassic age.
So far with the first 26 episodes, the adventures are quite enjoyable as Toriko and Komatsu are on various adventures commissioned by the International Gourmet Organization to find an exotic item for a dish or some dangerous animal. Toriko like Kenshiro of “Hokuto no Ken” is gifted with tremendous fighting ability, while Komatsu is well… a good companion and a chef that wants to be the world best. Part two of “Toriko” does a great job of showcasing Toriko’s special abilities, now that he is put up against the most powerful opponents.
From fighting giant robots to battling the evil sous chef Grinpatch, we get to learn that these opponents are not an easy fight for Toriko and because the evil Gourmet Corps are also after the legendary Jewel Meat, that means trouble will always be around for Toriko and Komatsu.
As for the DVD, the picture quality is pretty cool with the old school style of animation in combined with modern style of detailed art backgrounds and CG use. The series looks very good and it’s a colorful anime series that doesn’t look too soft. And for special features, you get three audio commentary from FUNimation English voice dub talent.
Overall, “Toriko: Part Two” is a fun, action-packed animated series that combines the concept of gourmet and finding the best ingredients and meat with heavy hitting action. The concept is surely unique for an anime series and if you want something different, something fun with many crazy adventures and a lot of action, “Toriko: Part Two” is recommended!
