ミスター味っ子 (Mr. Ajikko)
99 episodes TV series (1987 - 1989)

Ajiyoshi Yoichi (味吉陽一) is just another boy who manages a small restaurant together with his mother. One day, Murata Genjiro (村田源次郎), aka "The King of Taste" (味皇) dined at the restaurant by chance and is surprised by the delicious taste of the katsu-don cooked by Youichi, as well as Youichi's delicate culinary skills. Subsequently, Youichi is being invited to Genjiro's own restaruant empire, and slowly Youichi finds himself involved in the world of cut-throat culinary competitions, facing other chiefs with exceptional skills just like him, as well as the rivalry bwteen Genjiro and the "Taste General". Can Youichi stays on top with his skills and unorthodox ideas??

Links:
The listing on Sunrise (in Japanese)

I first watched ミスター味っ子 sometime around 1987, and I instantly loved it. Sadly, there are no fansubs version available, and no one has picked up the license for it. Fortunately, Sunrise has released 3 complete DVD boxset in 2005 (region 2 DVD of course), now it is a matter of "do I really want to buy them without any translation..."??

Based on the same manga by Terazawa Daisuke (寺沢大介), it was one of the best anime I have ever watch in the late 1980s. The show is prominent for its exaggeration, like the way eveybody chops the veggie (better than a machine, man), as well as the trademark moves when the tasters say "oishii!" (I can only guess how crazy it will be in the original Japanese, since I watched in Cantonese..) It is just a classic show in its time. With close to a hundred episodes, and every one of them is all about cooking, it just shows how popular the show was back then...

Recently, a sequel to the orignial manga, ミスター味っ子 II, can be spotted at your local Japanese bookstore, if you are lucky. Unfortunately, I have not bought one yet... So far 3 volumes have been released. Too bad I have never read the original manga...

Dino's Rating: 10
Will Girls Like It: Possible, if they like to cook too...