Toriko 308 Review: What the Fuck is Pair?

Toriko, Chapter 308: Progressing at Full Power

This new chapter is a bit of a break from the rather m'eh Enbu training and cuts off to, well, everyone else. We start off with some random guy getting all happy about seeing those weird eyeball things being served, about how such delicious ingredients from the Gourmet World. Apparently Octo-chan has been going back and forth and delivering ingredients from the Gourmet World to the Human World.

We then cut to Mansam, who is eating Air... I really, really need to get used to Mansam having hair like Ichiryu, because I kept forgetting that Mansam looks like that now. He's got his left hand transformed into an Appetite Devil arm or whatever, and he notes how the deliciousness of Air has awakened the demon within him. Well, we never exactly knew that Mansam had a demon within him and he was pretty freaking damn scary and strong without one, but I guess, well, if Toriko and his buddies are going to be stronger, Mansam better well be. I like Mansam. I like seeing him.

Mansam notes how among the many chefs they had sent to the Gourmet World, some might awaken the Appetite Demons or whatever within them. And we get a huge panel of a good chunk of the supporting cast -- Lady Chiyo, Livebearer, Match, Chin Chin Chin, Zonge (of course), Yuda the millimeter guy, Tyran, Melk the Second, Takimaru and... Aimaru, I think? Also the bearded chef with a monocle whose name I forgot. (Looking it up, it's Damala Sky the 13th, apparently)

Also, Rin has apparently gone off to the Gourmet World as well, and hilariously mistakes Zonge for a demon. They've met up with the Daruma Monk and the others, and discuss Teppei for a bit. They note that the rainbow created by Heracles is going to disappear soon, but Nono can apparently create ice that will substitute as a bridge. A bridge that large, though? Also, in addition to Nono, other chefs like Wabutora and Chiru are hanging around. Chin Chin and the Daruma Monk talk about how Buranchi (or Brunch or whatever, I'm more used to typing Buranchi) has apparently gone to the Bishokukai, and, well, damn your ambiguous words, Daruma Monk!

No, Buranchi hasn't defected. He's apparently bringing Air to Midora at Toriko's request because of cryptic reasons. Maybe they're going to team up to beat NEO and the Nitro? The Bishokukai has made their base in the Umiyama, a mountain made out of sea because Toriko operates on batshit crazy logic. Buranchi is just zipping around as a thunderbolt, and kind of notes to himself just how intimidating the entrance is and his plan to split Midora's head into two is a bit far-fetched.

But we don't see Buranchi's meeting with Midora, since we cut away to Gourmet Planet which we saw a bit of before. And apparently the Blue Nitro has gotten their hands on the Air that Teppei stole. Mohawk Nitro and Earrings Nitro talk about how great the flavour of Air is, and how surprised they are that a human child can bring it to its 100% level of flavour, which is something they have no idea how to do. Joie (or Joa, or Zombie!Frohze) talks about how she has sent their men to 'handle' the matter of the boy, though Teppei clearly did a shitty job about it if Komatsu can survive without a heart for several days now. She also notes that Komatsu might have learned to prepare Air from seeing that one Nitro cookbook, so the Blue Nitro apparently doesn't know of that particular book's contents?

She also says that she will personally go and oversee the retrieval of Air, but Mohawk Nitro tells her not to rush and do it all at once during the Solar Eclipse. Earrings Nitro is all cryptic, wondering about 'this planet's full course' and all that, but someone called Pair has returned, and it's apparently the Nitro with the tribal skirt and the long hair that Toriko and Komatsu met on that cloud land with vegetables! Well, it's been a while since we saw him. So either his name is coincidentally Pair, which means he is either named after monkey balls or vice versa... or the Blue Nitros are the food manifested or some crazy shit?

Either way, Pair the Nitro shares a name with a baboon's balls.

They recall how Pair has met with Acacia before, which we know of, and note that while Toriko and Komatsu are a good pair, they won't be able to defeat the Monkey King. We cut over to the Four Kings who are just thinking generic badass stuff and doing this badass walk, and demanding the Monkey King to show himself... and is instead greeted by a boxing ring. Well I guess Bambina wants to throw the fuck down!

Overall it's an okay chapter to return to after a while, and it's a nice break from all the Bambina stuff which has been kind of mediocre for a while. Looking forward to finally going back to Bambina, and the little flashback to see what the IGO and NEO organizations are working on, respectively, is certainly a treat from the constant focus on Toriko's group.