Get Jiro: Anthony Bourdain's Ultraviolent Sushi Chef Makes for Wild, Pulpy Television
A love of food and a taste for bloodthirsty action collide as a very angry chef gets caught up in a brutal turf war between warring restaurants in LA
TL;DR
- Foodie culture is satirized for its sentimentality and purity fixation.
- 'Get Jiro' is an adult animated series that pairs a love of food with ultraviolence.
- The series is set in a dystopian near-future Los Angeles where food is a sensual pleasure resistant to digitalization, giving chefs significant power.
- The protagonist, Jiro, is a sushi chef who uses his knives violently, even decapitating a customer for improper soy sauce use.
- The show features cartoonish yet gory violence, including "custard violence" and "creme brulee blowtorch violence."
- Characters like detective Cynda from the City of Angels Health Department (CAHD) are involved in a power struggle over food supply lines.
- The series uses exaggerated comic-book aesthetics and characters.
- It is co-written by Joel Rose and the late Anthony Bourdain, whose influence is seen in the blend of machismo, empathy, and critique of food as class currency.
- The show is compared to Sweeney Todd, Batman, and Grand Theft Auto, with Jiro having much higher standards than Seinfeld's Soup Nazi.