Spiderus

I am astonished by how little hype there is for this show! Did is just go under everyone's radar? Is the government hiding it because it's too good??  It is definitely not so low as to average 3 stars! I would place it nearer to 4 personally, but note I haven't seen the original series (TCMB stands on its own though!)

STORY Although watching cooking completion after cooking competition sounds overdone, repetitive, and predictable (can't lie, it kinda is), do not make such a presumption! This series is too extra not to keep you engaged throughout all 12 episodes. The way cooking is presented is totally flamboyant and excessively dramatic - just the way it should be. It makes what could be the mundane task of putting a meal together into a high stakes battle between equally talented rivals! Sure, spinning a staff by doing a handstand on two fingers alone, simultaneously rolling out 50 perfect dim sum skins is impossible, but that's anime for you. I also love when a show starts out so innocent, and then everything goes to cottage cheese and now the cast is involved in an evil underground cooking war fighting to obtain the same thing before the other - cough what I mean is, the story gets more complicated with each episode and pasts resurface and it's just a grand old time.

ANIMATION The style isn't too different to be strange, but different enough to be noticable. The white rimmed lighting is its main feature, and I found the quality and mood it gave to be as bright and lively as the dishes being created. Also Mao's eyebrows are on fleek, dang son.

CHARACTERS I was surprised by the amount of depth to the characters for a show that focuses on cooking! There's guys with trama, peeps with old romantic grudges, more trauma guys, shady egoistic figures, or simply kids following their hopes and dreams like any rightminded historic anime child would be doing.

OVERALL This show was torture- how can I watch such delicious food and not feel the pain of knowing I'll never taste something so magnificent? If what you're searching for is a delicious adventure to protect the world through imaginative cooking, a tale of talented young lad battling against the Underworld, then be at peace, for you have found your last supper.