25 minSeason 1 • Episode 99
LatestMister Ajikko is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Daisuke Terasawa about a young boy cook. It was later adapted into anime series, produced by TV Tokyo and Sunrise. This show was broadcast from October 8, 1987 to September 28, 1989 with a total of 99 episodes. One of the earliest cooking/battle related manga and anime of its kind, there are some indications that this series is the inspiration for the live action competitive cooking show, Iron Chef.
Direction
Sunrise's early anime craft elevates kitchen duels to epic stakes.
Writing
Tournament arcs but make them about knife skills and dashi.
Minami Takayama
Youichi Ajiyoshi
Chieko Honda
Minmin
Takkô Ishimori
Bravo Ojisan
Saeko Shimazu
Shoukichi
Takaya Hashi
Robot Cook Sally
Kazuhiko Inoue
Takao Ajiyoshi
Shozo Iizuka
Chef Marui
Hochu Otsuka
Takao Ajiyoshi
Mari Yokoo
Noriko
Yoko Kawanami
Yamaoka Mitsuko
Kiyoshi Kobayashi
Genichiro Murata
Kenyu Horiuchi
Chef shimonaka
Banjo Ginga
Aji Shogun
Teiyu Ichiryusai
Kazuma
Hirotaka Suzuoki
Kazuya Konishi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This series essentially invented the 'cooking battle' genre in manga/anime, paving the way for Yakitate!! Japan, Food Wars!, and countless imitators.
The 99-episode run was unusually long for a non-merchandise-driven 80s anime, suggesting TV Tokyo believed in the format's staying power.
JP
