David Lim
They got to the Gourmet Pyramid rather quickly. I seem to recall some filler episodes around this point. There are a couple of details that differ from the anime too, like the length of the episodes dedicated to Toriko, Zebura, and Komatsu making the crossing to the Sand Garden. And that thing about toriko's cheek scar which was not in the anime. Another point to note was that their fights and feasting in the Gourmet Pyramid itself were more gory. But overall, time seemed to pass more quickly in the manga than the anime.
A fun point to note is that Toriko's and Zebura's power level and power expenditure were presented as calorie measurements, kind of like what Dragonball did way back when with their scanners. But I don't recall it getting mentioned anymore after this arc. Guess it was yet another thing that was brought in as a feature, but subsequently abandoned again. And oh, all the monsters here capture levels in the mid double-digits now. As I mentioned in an earlier volume, these numbers used to be considered extremely "high". Now, knowing what's coming, these numbers are nothing.
Volume 14 nicely wraps up the Melk Stardust arc. It's another of the “training” ingredients, but this one is kind of unique in that Toriko and Komatsu were not actually capturing the ingredient together. Komatsu's side was actually the more interesting of the two, and he gets better development here. And as a side note, the series got its third female character.
The nice fantastical adventure of hunting for the Ozone Herb draws to a close on both an emotional and a dark note. Toriko's and Komatsu's relationship forges into something more, while a mysterious creature is revealed. As an interlude between arcs, if you thought the “regular” monsters were over-the-top and ridiculous, you haven't seen the Gourmet World monsters yet. The volume ends with Toriko and Komatsu setting out for their next training ingredient - Melk Stardust.
Everyone has finished healing at the country named “Life”, including a really incredible “healing” sequence for Toriko. It's ridiculous but it has its charms, just like all the “natural healing” ideas presented. I guess it was also a necessary time-skip of sorts to give Komatsu the time he needs to do his thing. This was one of funnier and lighter moments in the anime that I remember enjoying. Especially with the follow-up arc of the Ozone Herb. This is also the beginning of Toriko's “training regime” as laid out by the IGO president, who gets introduced in this volume, along with the leader of the bishoukukai. And a bit more is revealed that there is an overarching plot surrounding the “God” ingredient.
The Century Soup arc is drawing to a close. The fights are done and we got to see Tommyrod's craziest insect yet as his “ultimate”, but Teppei had an answer for that. Toriko gets seriously wounded. This is also where we start seeing Komatsu's general “attraction” to ingredients. And we also see Zonge actually being useful for once (right after I noted in the last volume's review that he had no point, lol - it completely slipped my mind).
Also, we get to see just how far off Toriko's power level really is compared to the really powerful people (both in the bishoukukai and the “good guys”) with two characters (one new) “flexing their muscles” (so to speak).
Toriko's fight with Tommyrod is turning from ridiculous to eye-rolling. The bloodiness of the manga compared to the anime makes it worse, in the sense that the damage is just so over the top. Some may like the over-exaggeration, but I just skimmed through this fight since I already knew what was going to happen. I did like Takimaru's and Match's underdog fights though, even though they had the same over-the-top damage. They were a bit less dragged-out compared to the anime.
And this was the first time the name Joa was mentioned. I can't remember whether this was name-dropped in the anime at all (and I'm not going to trawl through the episodes to check), but I totally had not realised this early connection to Mokkoi.
Well, as if Grinpatch was not weird enough, the newly-introduced Bishoukukai Vice Chef Tommyrod is downright disgusting (and has very poor fashion sense). More deviations from the anime are spotted here, as the dark and violent nature of the Bishoukukai are made the highlight of this volume. While Tommyrod has perhaps an understandable ability, it really defies belief. I'm not about denying the possibility, but sheer quantity is just quite ridiculous. But other than that, a mysterious character has made an appearance, running into Zonge's group (seriously, what is the point of this guy? The running gag about his name and RPG references got old really fast) and also Komatsu.
The BB Corn arc ended rather quickly and now we get into the Century Soup arc. As I recall from the anime, this is much longer. We get introduced to more of this “Gourmet” world with what is apparently the “capital” city of the human world, Gourmet Town (why it's translated as “Town” is beyond me). A short bout of exploration, we finally get introduced to a second female character - an old lady chef who's apparently a “living legend”. I'm really amused though, 8 volumes and only 2 females. Anyway, it's also from this legendary chef that we get more confirmation of Komatsu's instinct and talent for ingredients. And all this lead to the need to find the Century Shop in Ice Hell.
Side note: Just another observation based on the anime. This Century Soup arc is the last time we really get to see other bishoukuyas as something a bit more than just a single-scene footnote. Like the Hunter X Hunter I suppose, these minor characters just stop getting mentioned. But I feel that it's kind of a waste, as they bring the setting to life, that it's not just Toriko and his friends who are doing this stuff.
With the Regal Mammoth arc wrapped up nicely, we go after plants for a while: enter the BB Corn arc. The first of the Bishoukukai shows up in the flesh in this volume. A strange four-armed man. The funny thing is that not a single character in the entire anime commented on his four arms. I found that really odd. Sure, this series is about evolution and mutation but still, four arms and not a single character even referenced it, not even in the typical mange/anime shocked style of reactions. I do find his power to be genuinely interesting though, it's a really atypical set of abilities.
Sidenote: The closing of the Regal Mammoth arc is one of the last times that I can even recall the Four Heavenly Kings talking about their own personal full course menu. Over the course of the anime series, this goal of Toriko goes more and more into the background and no longer relevant. It's kind of disappointing as that was one his whole motivation for going on adventures to find gourmet ingredients in the first place, and not just "training" (which is what the latter parts of the series just devolves into).
And the Regal Mammoth arc draws to a close. We see the three (out of four) Heavenly Kings each battle a GT Robo. And here is where things are first very noticeably different from the anime. The fights are a lot of bloodier and more violent than what can be shown in an anime targeted at kids. I think like this better. But Komatsu's reactions to Toriko is the same as in anime. So however you feel while watching the anime, it'll be same here. This is where it all starts.
Interestingly, I had completely forgotten that Sani actually had this aversion to other people seeing his hair punch attack. This is probably the only time it was ever mentioned, and I guess the other just dropped it later, seeing as he needed to power up Sani as well.And another point of interest is that Rin had a Devil Durian fragrance, in which the tree actually shows up much later.
The Regal Mammoth arc truly gets underway in this volume as we see the Toriko, Sani, Terry, Rin, and Komatsu enter into the IGO's First Biotope. They subsequently get separated (only to rejoin later) and each group gets developed separately. Even Coco from the previous volume shows up halfway. The regal mammoth makes its appearance in full towards the end of this volume, with a rather big twist on what and how exactly are they retrieving the gourmet ingredient from it. The GT Robo are getting quite a bit of spotlight here as well, with a passing explanation of the Bishokukai.
Enter the 3rd of the Four Heavenly Kings, Sani (or Sunny, depending on translation). Somehow, I was hoping he'd be a bit different from the quite-ridiculous design in the anime. Without colour, I guess it's somehow a bit better, but I still can't quite get over his character design. There's just so many “parts/components” that clash with each other and feel out-of-place that I personally feel that it's a mess of a character. Interesting power though.
And, well, the Regal Mammoth arc begins and Toriko's arch-nemesis (according to my anime knowledge anyway) makes his first appearance.
Side note: I forgot that we actually got to see Chief Mansam's full course menu and Sani's partially completed menu. It's actually kinda funny how low those capture levels seem now, given the incredible power creep that comes later. I kinda prefer these earlier segments. They're more enjoyable.
And Terry makes his appearance in the Gourmet Coliseum. Rin too, with the distinction of being the very first female character (human, anyway) in the series. I forgot about the early “power levels”, with the Battle Wolf supposedly one of the greatest beasts from ancient times. How things would change the volumes go by.
The “rogue” version of these “Complete” sourcebooks. They chose the word “scoundrel” for a reason, in that this book was apparently designed for roguish characters as opposed to the rogue class.
The introduction tries to make that clear, presenting the scope of the rest of the source book. What's rather interesting is that they pointed out historical figures and fictional characters from other media as examples of the just what exactly are the sort of scoundrels they had in mind.
Chapter one basically expands on that idea, where scoundrel types are basically expanded on - personality, strengths and weaknesses, and character building recommendations. There's quite a lot of good exposition written here on just how to play scoundrels, although the categorisation is a bit predictable. I also find it a bit unconvincing that lawful characters can be considered as “scoundrels”, particularly the attempt to apply that label to paladins. But I suppose I can understand the motivation to make this sourcebook usable by all alignments and all characters classes.
Prestige classes follow in chapter 2. This is a weak chapter. Most of the prestige classes are really generic and don't stand out. Several have flavour problems - i.e. where the flavour description of the prestige class is completely at odds with their mechanics. And then there's the Gray Guard - which is basically the paladin version of trying to playing a good-aligned assassin. I can accept the motivations of the Gray Guard, I just can't accept forcing that role onto the paladin class.
Chapter three has some interesting options. Skill tricks are added as an option - basically, special moves for roguish characters -as a variant use of skill points. They're completely optional as I feel that creative players are already doing them using normal attribute and skill checks, but it does help give some structure to just what roguish characters can do. Note that these are not just physical moves, but also mental tricks.
The new feats are a mixed bag. There's a whole bunch of luck feats (i.e. reroll feats) which don't seem like they're worth picking up. And then there's a number of ambush feats, where you can give up some sneak attack die rolls for different effects, providing interesting options.
Chapter 4 contains the next set of expected stuff - new spells. Nothing particularly stands out to me, so it's just additional tools for scoundrels that rely on magic. It's a fairly short chapter.
Chapter 5 contains new physical tools. This part is surprisingly interesting. It has a section on hidden spaces, and an interesting selection of new alchemical (i.e. non-magical) tools, including “biological weapons” - that is, using actual living things (mostly insects) as tools. That's rather ingenious.
And finally chapter 6 introduces some adventure ideas (which are fine), a couple of new organisations (which I find to be either bad or silly), some NPC contact examples (which are ok), and a clone of the “magical sites” idea from other sourcebooks - mundane sites (which are bad). I don't think the bonuses these sites grant “work” when you have no magic involved. For those where the bonuses make sense, they still fail because the location is not the key - it's the deed or accomplishment. Trying to wrap it up as a location-specific effect is just awkward.
Overall, there are some bits and pieces here that can be fun options, especially for people who prefer to focus on actual role-playing. But I feel that it's held back by some rather major flaws.
The final volume was an action-packed series of chapters with a lot of cliché moments. I like the cliché stuff, since they always make for good plot when it's something that's kinda expected. What I didn't like was the glaring plot holes. It was kind of a downer - it's just really obvious that the writer didn't bother thinking it through properly. Things like, Coco was infected by the harpoon-wielding B.O.W. right in chapter 1, but had no effect on our civilian hero. And also our spy/actress/torturer/double-agent being so battle-hardened that no living being could sneak up on her or ambush her or surprise her, yet a recently-turned zombie could shuffle down a corridor, and then jump her from behind. It was the only time in all the chapters where a zombie didn't have any accompanying sound effect. These and also the fact that Claire was pretty... tame. She doesn't have much to do. That Assistant Director suddenly turned into action hero. So it was a rather lacklustre way to end a series that I had started off with a good vibe.
This one will give you nostalgia for the Sandman series. Sister to Morpheus; I love Death as a character, a portrayal that is so atypical. It's a toss-up on which of the two is my favourite Endless.
From the synopsis, Death takes on mortal form for one day each century, and in our particular century, she was a teenager who got a fellow teenager Sexton Furnival to tag along with her as she goes about experiencing life, seemingly for the first time. She's an avatar of Death, except, she's also a cheerful and friendly girl.
Through Death's mortal eyes and Sexton's cynical eyes, we experience life as it is, the realities and underlying truth of life. There's so many wonderful quotes in there that I dearly wish for a meatier story - the downside of the graphic novel - it's just not quite enough. Maybe it's because it barely scratches the itch of that feeling you get reading the Sandman; you'd wish there's more of it. The plot kinda hangs there with some loose ends, but perhaps that was intentional, since it's not like this is the last time that Death's gonna come visit...
The story follows a recently-dead boxer by the name Joey Castello, as he learns just what it means to die. The titular “Caravan of Shadows” doesn't become obvious until further into the book. It's primarily a story of self-discovery and growth, both for the main character and the primary supporting character of George.
I'm not very familiar with the Wraith setting in the World of Darkness series, but I think this novel does a good job of bringing it to life. It doesn't flood you with facts early on, but you learn about the world around the same time as Joey does.
The pacing of the plot is fine, although one can't help but feel that this a series of adventure arcs in a role-playing game (which it is). Aside from the main characters and the primary villain in the form of Doc Holliday, the story feels a little light on characterisation, with some even being relegated into nameless NPCs who are just tagging along.
The finale was a bit anti-climactic and it used a lucky break as a means of resolving the situation, so it didn't sit quite well with me. I was expecting a more “miraculous” (in the context of the plot) sort of victory. Oh well, the journey there was entertaining enough.
I would venture to guess that this was the beginning of the D&D comics of old, because Agrivar's and Kyriani's origin stories begin here. I've already read the other set of Classics with Agrivar in it. Funnily enough, it doesn't explain why Agrivar only appeared in the first story arc - there are two story arcs in this volume.
This comic series certainly did not age well at all. The first story arc tells how the party of five wound up together. Their names are... somewhat cringe-worthy in this day and age, but probably very awesome back when I was a kid. It tells of their first adventure together, being guided along and protected by Selune (whose depiction and origin story was completely at odds with the 2nd and 3rd editions that I'm more familiar with) to recover an artifact belonging to her and defeating an old enemy of hers.
The second story arc is where Agrivar just goes off on his own (and none of his former teammates even mentions him). It features another quite over-the-top and completely-ignoring-mechanics kind of adventure centered around the Musicians guild and jesters (of all things!) in Waterdeep.
You can get a kick of nostalgia of how D&D was back in the first edition, but if you're looking for superb storytelling or great characterisation, you won't really find it here.
This is the first supplementary sourcebook from Eberron that I've looked at. It's generally divided into three areas (but not always grouped together): options for “magic” characters, stuff for “magic” characters, and new enemies.
Chapter 1 starts off with explaining the concepts and perspectives of magic as they are in Eberron. It presents things like cities in Eberron being a magic-heavy but still a pre-industrial society.
It goes into more detail with very Eberron-specific stuff like elemental binding, dragonshard harvesting and supply/demand, and also daelkyr magic. Personally, I find elemental binding to be akin to slavery so I've never been of it (although I admit the vehicles were a great idea). Other forms of magic are briefly touched upon, specifically those from Aerenal, Argonnessen, Karrnath, and Riedra.
The chapter closes with two new organisations and some adventure hooks scattered about. They're not much to write about and not very memorable.
Chapter 2 presents 2 new races and 1 core class variant, along with your expected slew of new feats. The new races are the Daelkyr Half-Blood and Psiforged. Not very creative to be honest, with the former being evident in the name, and the latter just a psionic version of a warforged. The new class is basically a psionic version of the artificer, named.... Psionic Artificer. The feats are only somewhat mildly interesting, but they run the gamut from elemental binding feats to item creation to artificer feats, all quite Eberron-specific.
Chapter 3 showcases 8 new prestige classes that I personally would never want to try. I found them to be subpar, particularly in how the concept of the class gets translated into mechanics. For example, the Dragon Prophet is all about the Draconic Prophecy, yet he gains bonuses not through knowledge, but when being in a sort of trance. And also the Renegade Mastermaker of House Cannith. From the name alone, you simply would not have guessed that all of them start off replacing their hand with a mechanical hand, and their end goal being to literally turn into a warforged. Each prestige comes us adventure material like sample organisations, a random map here and there, but there's really not much value to them as they feel pretty arbitrary.
Chapter 4 is one of the better chapters I think. It contains new spells, new infusions, and new psionic powers. I don't know much about psionics, so no comment there, but the new infusions and spells are quite interesting (in a fun way, rather than powerful way), with only a few being Eberron-specific.
New items, equipment, and other options are in chapter 5. There's a good selection of stuff, with heavy Eberron-flavouring, which is a good thing. It has new materials, new vehicles, and dragonshard-powered items. The only bit I didn't like is the grafting section. You get options to graft elemental parts (which I found to be completely nonsensical), deathless parts (ok, although it felt really odd that the Aereni would even consider it), and plant parts (and perpetuated by druids no less, which I also found to be difficult to accept).
The sourcebook ends with Chapter 6, which contains just a few entries on symbionts (for the new race and one of the prestige classes), new homunculi (which I liked), two new Quori spirits, two extremely weird undead and some aberrations. It's a very short chapter that doesn't really tie into the whole “magic of Eberron” topic.
All in all, it's a decent “general” sourcebook, as opposed to being actually “focused” on the magic Eberron. It treats “magic” more like a “science” and briefly touches them in a broad spectrum. If you're looking for something that provides a in-depth look at the state of magic in Eberron, I don't think this is it. But if you're looking for more character options, then the sourcebook does provide, although I found them to be uninspired and generally somewhat bland.
Has a cliffhanger of an ending (but the real ending can be found in a series of “epilogue” chapters). The story finally stops its rollercoaster of a pace and goes back to its roots of an actual cooking contest. So we at least got a glimpse of what made it really awesome before the curtains came down.
