Chūka Ichiban

Chūka Ichiban!

Chūka Ichiban!, also known as Cooking Master Boy or The best in Chinese (food)!, was written by Etsushi Ogawa and published by Kodansha in 1995. It is a combination of adventure and comedy. It is a culinary manga which focuses on a boy whose goal is to become the best chef. It was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1995 to 1997. Its anime television series was directed by Masami Anno and it has 52 episodes.

The setting of this story is in the Qing Dynasty of China in the 19^th century.It is introduced in the first episode that during a fictitious era called "The Era of the Cooking Wars" in which all chefs manage to become the top chef to gain respect and power. In this era, the high-grade chef has great authority. (Funtv, 2014) The protagonist is a 13 years old boy named Liu Mao Xing. The story starts at Mao's birthplace Szechuan. Mao’s mother Pai was the “Fairy of Cuisine” in her restaurant. After the death of his mother, he traveled around China to learn more about cooking in order to become a legendary chef like his mother. In his long journey, he met many good friends as well as many fierce rivals who challenged him in cooking.

This story centered on Mao and his group of people fighting against the Underground Cooking Society for the Legendary Cooking Utensils.The Underground Cooking Society, also known as the Dark Cooking Society, is an organized group which manages to control over China through the cooking field. Although they already have a great control all over China, they still seek all the eight Legendary Cooking Utensils to get absolute power. They would do anything to win the cooking battle and get rid of those who stood in their way.

About the origin of Legendary Cooking Utensils, it was said that in ancient times, a meteorite fell from the sky and was firstly discovered by Master Chef Shui Lei. Shui crafted eight cooking utensils using the meteorite. The Legendary Cooking Utensils included Ever-Soul Knife, Coiled Dragon Pot,Holy Copperware and so on. Not only were those eight high-class cooking tools, they could place mystical effects on the food they were used on. The eight cooking utensils were so powerful that Master Chef Shui Lei had to store them in eight separate locations of China, preventing people from fighting over them.

The Legendary Cooking Utensils have huge power, whether they were being used by good or evil. If they are used by good, they could bring about great results that would make people happy. If they are used by evil, they can have destructive powers that could devastate all of China. Also, if a Legendary Cooking Utensil is used on something other than cooking (i.e. killing), its mystical powers would diminish. (Wiki, 2014)

The main characters are Liu Mao Xing, Pai,Mei Li, Zhi Lao (Shirou), Xi Er (Shell),Li Wen (Leon), Lan Fei Hong.

Liu Mao Xing was grew up in the kitchen of his mother’s restaurant, so he had the same passion for cooking as his mother. Mao decided to cook when his mother’s restaurant in risk. Although he did not cook very much, he was a genius chef. When General Lee knew Mao’s gift, he sent him to learn cooking techniques to become a Super Chef. Mao was curious to learn more about cooking, so he decided to travel around China to learn different kinds of cooking. He put customers' needs first and he was able to make creative dishes to satisfy his customers. The unique taste buds are a great contender for a chef. Mao had the ability to identify or call the names of all the ingredients he had eaten.

 Pai was Mao's deceased mother and she once was the Master Chef of Kikkaro Restaurant. Pai was reputed as the 'Szechuan Fairy', or the 'Fairy of Cuisine', and was one of the most famous chefs all over China. Although she didn't teach Mao her cooking techniques directly, she did teach him her ideals about cooking. She taught him how to use cooking to make people happy and healthy. Pai was such a great chef that she was considered a threat to the Underground Cooking Society. In her early years as a chef, the Underground would always send chefs to battle her, which she always won. She even made a notebook compiling all the information she gained from battling chefs from the Dark Cooking Society, which would include the Dark Cooking Techniques that they used against her. Mao would eventually come to have possession of this book.

In the manga, it is revealed that she died from exhaustion. After her former pupil, Shouan, became a Super Chef, he stole all the chefs that were cooking in her restaurant, making her do all the work on her own. Though she died, her teachings would live on in her son, Mao. (Wiki, 2014)

    Mei Li, a 16 years old girl, was the daughter of Chouyu. She fell in love with Mao for his passion for cooking and his kindness to others.Although she did not have much knowledge about cooking, she tried to help Mao with all kinds of other things. She decided to travel with Mao in his journey to learn cooking.

Zhi Lao (Shirou) was a half-breed of Japanese and Chinese. He was a 12 years old boy and he was mischievous. Mei Li and Mao found him passed out in the forest because of hunger.He decided to travel with Mao and learn to cook with him after finding out that Mao was a Super Chef. Shirou is the trouble maker in his group.

    Xi Er (Shell), also called "Steel Staff Shell", was the  youngest Dim Sum Master(He was in his twenties). He was called "Steel Staff Shell" because he used to carry a very heavy steel staff which could be used both as a weapon and cooking utensil.He was defeated by Mao in a cooking battle. Shell was good at sports and math. He latter joined Mao and other group members in his travel to look for the Legendary Cooking Utensils.

    Li Wen (Leon) once was a member of the Dark Cooking Society and he later betrayed and escaped from this organization.With the help of superior knives and the skills to wield, he could use seafood as primary ingredients to make great dishes.Mao and Leon were both the successor to the Ever-Soul knife.Leon was also a natural genius in cooking. He traveled with Mao to retrieve the Legendary Cooking Utensils, preventing the Dark Cooking Society from having them.

Lan Fei Hong was a very handsome genius chef whose age was 16 years old. He was the true rival of Mao in the field of cooking. He had many advantages in traits: he was calm and collected. He could always do things in an well-organized way. He met Mao in the the Super Chef tournament.Although he was the rival and had a cold personality, he helped Mao some times in the competition. Lan Fei Hong knew about the mother of Mao and considered her as his savior. In the past, Lan Fei Hong’s whole family was killed and he was kidnapped by the Underground Cooking Society. He was forced to attend the torturous training and face death every day. He finally escaped from this organization and passed out near the Kikkaro Restaurant where Mao’s mother Pai found him and healed his wounds.He learned cooking from Pai and found that making dishes for people will make them happy.

When Mao met Fei again, Fei was a chef in the Dark Cooking Society and was going to become the Head Chef of the Imperial Kitchen. Mao found out that Fei was being manipulated by the Underground. After being healed by the Legendary Cooking Utensils, Fei told Mao that he was drugged by the Dark Cooking Society, as a result he would turn evil and become one of their pawns in controlling over China. General Lee demanded Fei to protect Mao as he looks for the Legendary Cooking Utensils (not to make it obvious that he was being lenient to Fei). So, Fei ended up in traveling with the rest of the group.(Wiki, 2014)

    I highly recommend this manga because it is inspirational. Dreams and righteousness are fully encouraged in this manga. It can educate teenagers to follow their dreams despite of all kinds of adversities. Different from most manga and anime, the made dishes of Chūka Ichiban are basically realistic without far-fetched ideas and concepts. Although, the cooking techniques, for example, light speed cutting of ingredients in mid-air , are greatly exaggerated. Also the reactions of characters and the final results of resulting dishes (e.g. dishes emitting glowing dragons or blinding bright light) are highly exaggerated. Even though the process is flashy, people can actually follow the manga and reproduce the dishes for themselves(similar to Yakitate!! Japan). So it is also a good way to learn cooking skills though this manga.

Reference

Wiki,Chūka Ichiban!. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chūka_Ichiban!

Funtv, Chūka Ichiban!. http://www.fun.tv/vplay/m-94209.e-1?alliance=152055