Anime: Chuuka Ichiban!

I was amazed at first when I knew that there was an anime specially about cooking (Because I love eating :-). After seeing it, I have to say that I am a little bit disappointed. The cooking part went well, but the rest?

Animation
The animation is just average. Considering it is made in 1997, it is not too bad. What differs from the quality nowadays is:
- Less smooth character design
- Poor detail of surroundings
- Too many static screens
I would have given it 6 points if there weren't these tasty looking dishes. Because cooking is the major part of this anime and they are very well drawn and detailed, it boosts up the score for little.

Sound
I watched the Anime-Keep version (the only complete fan sub for this one) and they had two different voice castings for episode 1-36 (Cantonese) and episode 37-52 (Mandarin Chinese).
The Mandarin voice casting is really bad. Everyone seems to read down those scripts without any emotions. Not only does the main character Mao sound like a looser, he also gets a different name. In the Cantonese version, people call him by name or surname, but in the Mandarin version, he is called "Little household manager" (even by the emperor!), which really isn't appropriate at all.
The whole series also have too many noisy kids who cheer for Mao's cooking. It's ok to cheer now and then, but it is insane to hear the same phrases in almost every episode again and again!

Story
The story is very pale. Basically it is just about Mao wandering around in China and duelling more and more powerful enemies (in terms of cooking skills). The design of the duel process is a total failure because of its absolute monotonic development. 70% of the duels are like this:
1. Mao and opponent begin duel
2. Opponent starts cooking
3. Mao does nothing (he thinks, waits, whatever)
4. Opponent finishes his dish
5. Mao starts cooking and finishes just in time
6. Jury tastes opponent's dish first and finds it marvellous
7. Jury tastes Mao's dish second and finds it much better
8. Mao wins duel
In the remaining 30%, Mao sometimes does not wait and starts cooking right at the beginning. Only once did the jury taste Mao's dish first. But that all doesn't change the fact that Mao wins 100% of his matches. So what's the point of a duel if you already know the result in advance (at the latest after a few episodes)?
If the main plot itself is about duelling cooking skills, this result resolves in an absolute failure. Throw in a defeat now and then would have greatly improved the show.

Cooking
I think it is ok to replace character rating by cooking rating as the show is more about cooking design than character design.
Concerning character design, there seem to be only two types of characters: those who can't cook (at least not good enough to be mentioned) and those who cook (thus duelling Mao and losing to him).
On the other hand, the cooking is quite elegant. Considering how many episodes and duels the show has and all of the cooking has different topics, it is quite variegated. Some of the dishes are realistic and some of them are exaggerated. If you don't know Chinese cooking too well, you could even find some realistic dishes unrealistic :-)
Generally speaking, the series cover the main cooking styles quite well. It also features many typical Chinese dishes.

Value
Considering the demonstration of Chinese cooking, the real existing dishes and that you might be able to learn one or two cooking tricks, one cannot deny that this anime has some value. No more, no less.

Enjoyment
I only enjoyed the show because I like Chinese cuisine a lot. Every time I watch scenes with tasty dishes, I feel the emptiness of my stomach :-) If it was just for the story or plot, I wouldn't have been able to finish half of the series.
If you don't like Chinese cooking or you are not interested in it, then consider lowering the enjoyment score by two or more. If you don't know some basics about Chinese cooking, it is also possible that you won't know what they are talking about in some scenes.

This is a fun and underrated anime -- we need more people seeding and supporting it!! It's very hard to get the whole series.

From anything-asian.net:

"Chinese cuisine has become international by now. The cooking style of 4000 years once was so rich heading the unprecedented completion and countless super chef completed indesperation. Thoese days are known as the Cooking Warring States period. The 19th century, during upheavals at the end of the Qing dynasty. 2,000 km south-west from the capital, Beijing. A rich land steeped n fog where the Changjiang River flows. In this town in Szechuan province. A new Chinese chef legend is about to be born."