Iron Wok Jan!, Volume 1

By Shinji Saijyo

Jan is a talented young chef at a top class restaurant in Tokyo called Gottancho. Arrogant and full of self-confidence, Jan always challenges Kiriko, one of Gottancho's finest chefs. But when both Jan... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 158899256X
• ISBN13: 9781588992567
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: ComicsOne Corporation
• Length: 187 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

A testatment to my obscure taste in comics.

I love this series. The writer of this comic new exactly what he was doing when he write this. If there was an American TV show of this I would watch in an instant. Alas It seems the availablilty of this comic is some what sarce where I live. You would think living near chiacgo and being next to a bunch comic stores would help right? NOOOOOOO! I can't find the second volume anywhere. (Except for here.) It seems this is a classic example of what I want to is what other people don't seem to be to interested in. I love watch the character Jan talk about food and how he can really manipulate to be just about anything he wants it to be. The only problem is that DIAMOND DIRECT DIDN'T HAVE ISSUES 2 AND 3! Comic book distributors didn't have the freakin' comics! I went to other store only to see the had all the later issues. My quest must continue!

A New Battle Begins

I highly recommend this series to anyone who has even a mild interest in cooking and/or the 'Iron Chef' tv series. This is shonen but, hey, I am still hoping Jan & Kiriko will end up as a couple eventually. Maybe Okonogi should lock them in the freezer together. This is Volume 8 in the 'Iron Wok Jan' managa series and it packs a lot of goodies! First of all, it winds up the spring roll battle where Okonogi surprisingly enough becomes a serious contendor! Food critic Otani has not given up his long-standing grudge against Jan and uses his influence to place the mysterious Gogyo in the Head Chef position at Hotel Mirage (yes, that was Dan's position . . . ). But who are the two mysterious girls bearing a gift to Otani at the all-star opening bash at the Mirage? And a hyped-up televised battle begins between Gogyo and Jan (to be continued in Volume 9).

"This is my noodle cooking! Ready for this? Yaaaahhh!!"

If you're curious about those small-format books with numbers on the spines that are taking up an ever-increasing amount of space in your local bookstore, or if you think manga are only about kung-fu psychic robots from outer space and saucer-eyed girls in sailor outfits whose magic unicorns help them become popular at school, the "Iron Wok Jan" volumes (17 and counting, last I checked) are an excellent place to see what the field has to offer. All the ingredients (excuse the expression) of classic shonen manga - that's Japanese for "comics for boys" - are here: the grandfather whose memory must be honored, the stern mentor, the stammering sidekick, and the cute girls (who in this case are packing 42G casabas under their cooking uniforms). Then you have the stare of determination and the overcoming of obstacles. And of course you've got to have lots of gaping mouths, sweat beads and speed lines. It all adds up to a dementedly intense narrative that somehow manages not to take itself very seriously. Volume 4, for example, has the arrogant demon-eyed Jan Akiyama fiercely competing against his proud but virtuous colleague Kiriko Gobancho and the vampy Celine Yang (who for some reason is translated as a southern belle) at the "Iron Chef"-like 1st National Chinese Cuisine Cooking Contest "to become the greatest chef in Japan". Although Jan and Kiriko have made a side wager that the loser must leave the restaurant where they both work, there is even more than that at stake. Ultimately this is a battle between the three contestants' respective *philosophies* of cuisine. Jan, of course, insists that "Cooking is a competition". "I'll bathe you all in blood!" he taunts his rivals at one point - lolling a Gene Simmons length tongue. "Akiyama's cooking knows no defeat!" By contrast, Kiriko says that "Cooking is about heart" - and demonstrates it by choosing a dish that she invented to help kids eat their vegetables - "Coral noodles! This is my weapon!" And Celine, as befits a woman with her spectacular bust, holds that "Cooking is about abundance" - "To me, cookin's about how far you can go with flavah, aroma, and beauty." Once the battle begins, the reader is treated to some bravura flurries of action cartooning at its best - especially when Jan pulls out the knife-shaved noodles trick handed down to him by his dead grandfather. (Who naturally appears spectre-like in the background to exhort him to valor.) Anyone who has enjoyed the original "Iron Chef" will feel right at home with the proceedings - complete with know-everything Dr. Yukio Hatori-style commentary by Kiriko's uncle as he observes from the stands filled with gasping awe-struck spectators, and Kiriko's post-battle reflection that "I did the best I could! There were no oversights." So whose cuisine reigns supreme? Well, you would have to get Volume 5 to find out - since manga storytelling takes up vastly more pages than American-style comics. But if you enjoy food or authentic glimpses int

Out of television, in with illustration. A MANGA!!!!!!!

I absolutely love this book. A must-see!!!! Its tell the story of a young hot-shot, extremely cocky chef, Jan Akiyama, working at the Gobancho Resturant as a traniee but he is extremely proud to think that his cooking is better than others. He still have much more to learn. Sure, the comic genre will blow your big mind away when he comes up with something unique and creative dishes yet strange and bizzare. Its also feature some cool little martial art moves in the competition. Jan is not the only one, but there are other new prodigy in the cooking field is Kiriko Gobancho, and Cilene Yang (Big busty girl) complete against him as well. Each of them have different cooking philosophy. This comic will sure laugh your roundy belly till you pee in your pants. This is cooking manga managed to keep the reader entertaining than the cooking television. Buy it, I recommmend it.

Expertly served up, with lots of ham

This is volume one of the "Iron Wok Jan" series- new volumes are coming out on a monthly basis. It's a bit shy of 200 pages, b & w, in the original Japanese format (that is, backwards). This volume introduces us to cocky young chef Jan, who cooks only to defeat his opponents! If this sounds over the top, it assuredly is- but you'll be caught up in the high melodrama and the bizarre recipes. Now that Food Network is out of new episodes of "Iron Chef," there's no better place to get that "they're eating what?!" thrill.