spsn | Iron Chef Japan II ~ First Episode

In the midst of gazillions of cuisine competitions, to me, nothing can beat Iron Chef. No, not the US version (I condemned US version after watching Bobby Flay went up to stand on the kitchen table, me: big WTF!), it's the original that I'm talking about. Who can forget Chairman Kaga (now we know him as... Kaibutsu-kun papa!) who loves yellow bell pepper and his cronies (Iron Chef Japan, French, Chinese and ocassionally, Italian). Off course my favorite is Iron Chef French, Sakai Hiroyuki. Watched most of his battles and admire his poise during the battle. Calm, organized, never panic and the outcome? Magic!

So, reminiscing of Iron Chef which was aired more than a decade ago and raking superb ratings during its airtime, FujiTV decided to revive it with a new look in hope of repeating the success. If you compare the look of original Iron Chef and the new Iron Chef, can you tell the very obvious difference? A hint, FujiTV is definitely catering the program to the current generation as the general viewer in mind. The format is still the same, battle for 1 hour, judging and winnder announcement, BUT, look who's hosting now? They use Tamaki Hiroshi! Even Tamaki himself said that he can't replace the original, so the result? An Iron Chef episode w/ less kick on the host because we all know Tamaki's image is totally different from Kaga's and Kaga's is just so powerful, but if you step back and look it as a whole episode, you still get the Iron Chef's show and your pulses will still raise up at the last minute of the battle. So what else is different? The chefs! Aside from the host (oh so obvious), did you notice that all the chefs are young and quite ikemen in a sense? And, I get a feeling that if they have Iron Chef Italy, it could be Tatsuya Kawagoe. I hope this doesn't happen, but the possibility is there. Off course, they all can cook and have at the very least boasting-worth resume. But from this, obviously the target audience is fangirls with hope that the fans of original Iron Chef will check it out too. So, how the first episode really fare?

Well, first episode is a 2hour episode as what usually is for a premier nowadays. First battle is between Michiba Rokusaburo's (the former Iron Chef Japan) first apprentice against Iron Chef French (good looking!) on salmon. This first battle makes me glued to TV because they're so messy that I was so scared that they couldn't finish in 1 hour time limit. I like the nominators' presentation better because it's so traditionally Japanese with slight hint of fusion and quite grande... compare to the Iron Chef's. A bit disappointing because maybe I'm expecting magic since it's French and the output presentation is... rather mediocre Maybe it's his style and judges obviously like them and maybe the taste won hands down compare to the nominator, but for TV show? I'm not quite sure about the presentation still. Will keep a look out though. *Sakai is still the true Iron Chef*.

2nd battle is on abu buta (fatty pork? Not so sure) between Chen Kenichi's (the former Iron Chef Chinese) son. The nominator is so young that I don't think his experience is enough to go against the current Iron Chef Chinese. But I like this battle better. The iron chef showed the kick that he's experience and in control. And that super oily dish? OMG, I'm feeling my own artery clogged when he poured in the oil and the meet just sizzling on the big bowl. There's no doubt that it's delicious because the judges were raving on it and make me curious how it tasted like. But those fats and oil? *shuddered*.

Oh, they throw in bonus by having Ito Ideaki as one of the judges. See they're getting smarter with choices of judges. The originalused to be people that I never see before or maybe that time my horizon on Japanese entertainment was not that much to begin with. And off course, they follow the annoying new trend of promoting movies whatever in the show, which why Ito-san was there in the first place.

So, I think the new Iron Chef is worth watching especially if you like looking into pretty things because the show and set is prettier, the host is pretty, the iron chefs are good looking for chefs and most of all, the food are still pretty, and what's not to like from men sweating taking up pots and pans and churning out pleasing to the eyes dishes.

But I'd wonder if this is dubbed (how dare they voice over Tamaki? LOL) and export to the US, how this season will fare. As we all know the current generation of Asian's celebrities are getting prettier and even prettier than normal girls, so I'd wonder how people in US with the image of macho male persona take the whole package. Moreover, we'll definitely have comparison especially from those fanatics. It'll be interesting though :).

Bonus, this is Iron Chef French, good looking for a chef ne (off course the prettiest is still Tatsuya-san) haha...

And, you won't see Tamaki smirking like this in his drama especially the one currently airing, Kekkon Shinai: