Originally published here at Anime Radius.

Nothing tickles me more as an avid reader of shonen manga when a series finds a plotline and sticks to it, and that is what is happening in the fourth volume of Toriko, in which Toriko and his allies begin actively fighting the Gourmet Corp. that are sending its robots out to capture ingredients and destroy innocent animals without mercy. Now that the series isn't just about Toriko and Komatsu wandering around aimlessly looking for food to add to Toriko's dream menu, the series allows itself some actual development in the plot department, especially when it comes to how the gourmet world works and what kind of people make up the Four Kings (hint: not normal ones). Plus, the series is no longer just Toriko and Komatsu doing things; it's slowly becoming an ensemble cast with the addition of Mansom and Rin into the flow of events as well as the introduction of one of the Four Kings, the impossibly strong-haired Sunny. Anyone who can 'taste' someone with the extra fine hairs hanging off his head that are strong enough to lift a baby mammoth over his head with relative ease is certainly strong enough (and strange enough) to be one of Toriko's colleagues.

Considering the volume opens with the rather tragic death of a Battle Wolf shortly after giving birth, the fourth book of Toriko is surprisingly high on hijinks and action, not sparing any extra time on the events surrounding the newborn wolf before plunging back into the meat of the plot that is the Gourmet Corp's scheme to capture high level ingredients illegally. We also see a bit more of Toriko's gentle side as he starts taking care of Terry Cloth as his surrogate father. Another wonderful introduction to the story is the arrival of Sunny, a fellow King, and the start of another story arc, this time following Toriko and crew on their search for the Regal Mammoth which ends up separating the lot of them thanks to being flung around by a giant rock monster. There's plenty of fighting and action to go around, especially on Toriko's end, and even Komatsu gets in on some of the excitement. Not bad for a sous chef!

The story may be strange, the characters bizarre, but Toriko never fails to entertain as a consistently quality shonen series and if Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro keeps it up, he could have a Weekly Shonen Jump all-time favorite on his hands. ( )