Get Jiro, Anthony Bourdain's animated sushi-chef series, gets warm reviews ahead of premiere
Reviewers at The A.V. Club and The Guardian praise Get Jiro, an ultraviolent animated series based on Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose's graphic novel, as funny and pulpy. It premieres on Adult Swim on 3 October and streams on HBO Max.
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The story, neutrally told
Left · 2Get Jiro is an adult animated series based on the graphic novel Get Jiro!, created by Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose; the A.V. Club and the Guardian both reviewed it as it launched. The A.V. ClubLC “who created the original Get Jiro! graphic novel with Joel Rose” Read at The A.V. Club ↗ The GuardianLC “It is produced by and based on a graphic novel co-written by Joel Rose and, ah! – Anthony Bourdain.” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 2According to the A.V. Club, it premieres on 3 October at midnight on Adult Swim and streams on HBO Max on 4 October; the Guardian gives HBO Max from Sunday 4 October. The A.V. ClubLC “Get Jiro premieres October 3 at midnight on Adult Swim, and streams on HBO Max October 4.” Read at The A.V. Club ↗ The GuardianLC “Get Jiro (from Sunday 4 October, HBO Max)” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 2The series is set in a dystopian future Los Angeles where food is power and master chefs operate like crime lords; the reviewers describe Jiro, a taciturn sushi chef played by Brian Tee, who decapitates a customer in the first scene for dipping nigiri in soy sauce. The A.V. ClubLC “Jiro (Brian Tee) responds as any reasonable chef might: he decapitates him.” Read at The A.V. Club ↗ The GuardianLC “In the first scene, he decapitates a customer for the crime of dipping his fish in soy sauce.” Read at The Guardian ↗
Left · 2Jiro is caught between rival kitchen powers; the A.V. Club names Bob, a haute-cuisine kingpin, and Rose, a vegan chef whose followers are armed anarchists, while the Guardian describes a turf war between warring restaurants, militant vegans and a City of Angels Health Department detective, Cynda. The A.V. ClubLC “His great rival is Rose, a vegan chef whose legion are styled as idealistic young anarchists” Read at The A.V. Club ↗ The GuardianLC “One of the characters trying to get Jiro is Cynda, a detective with the City of Angels Health Department.” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 2Both reviews stress the comic, food-themed violence, citing waterboarding with buttery sauces and crème brûlée techniques (A.V. Club) and cheese-grater, custard and blowtorch violence (Guardian). The A.V. ClubLC “Young men are waterboarded with buttery sauces, chef de parties slice arteries as often as they do vegetables, and a crème brûlée technique is deployed” Read at The A.V. Club ↗ The GuardianLC “There is cheese-grater violence, custard violence, creme brulee blowtorch violence.” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 1The A.V. Club's Leila Latif calls it "deranged and delectable", says its 20-minute episodes keep a 10-episode run zippy, and finds the series a fitting tribute to Bourdain, though she says the gentrification material can become dour and some dialogue strains. The A.V. ClubLC “The zippy 20-minute episodes help enormously.”“The gentrification material can become dour” Read at The A.V. Club ↗
Left · 1The Guardian's Rhik Samadder calls it "wild, pulpy television" and camp, notes it is not for the squeamish, and says beneath the pulp it indicts how food becomes class currency and a weapon. The GuardianLC “It’s not for the squeamish, clearly.”“The story is an indictment of how food becomes class currency, and can be wielded as a weapon.” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 2Both reviews link the show to Bourdain's sensibility: the A.V. Club says it feels "Bourdain-ish" in treating petty culinary grievances with the gravity of murder, and the Guardian says his influence shows in the politics simmering beneath the action. The A.V. ClubLC “There is something wonderfully Bourdain-ish about treating these petty culinary grievances with exactly the same gravity as murder.” Read at The A.V. Club ↗ The GuardianLC “His influence shows: beneath the pulpy twists and action hits, politics simmers.” Read at The Guardian ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left2 outlets
- Framing
- Both left-leaning outlets run positive opinion reviews: the A.V. Club treats the show as a heartfelt tribute to Bourdain, while the Guardian treats it as a gleeful, satirical riff on foodie culture.
- Emphasis
- Absurd food-based violence, humour, Brian Tee's performance (A.V. Club), satire of foodie culture and class (Guardian), and Bourdain's influence.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Neither review reports production controversy or audience reception; the Guardian says little about the voice cast or animation beyond character design.
- Charged language
- “deranged and delectable”“gloriously unhinged”“wild, pulpy television”“ultraviolent”
- For example
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“Get Jiro takes that conviction and pushes it to its most gloriously unhinged conclusion” — The A.V. Club
“Get Jiro is camp and in on the joke, tongue firmly in its pig cheek.” — The Guardian
Centre0 outlets
No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Get Jiro is an animated series based on the graphic novel by Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose.
- It is set in a dystopian Los Angeles where chefs wield crime-lord power.
- Jiro is a sushi chef who beheads a customer over soy sauce in the opening scene.
- Both reviewers find it funny and enjoyable despite its extreme violence.
Where accounts differ
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How closely the show reflects Bourdain
- Left
- The A.V. Club calls it the more loving and apt tribute to Bourdain, tying it to his respect for food culture and craft; the Guardian is lighter, noting his influence mainly in the political undercurrent and treating the show as camp and pulp.
Anthony Bourdain person
Bourdain, who died in 2018, is presented as co-creator of the source graphic novel whose convictions about respecting cuisine on its own terms, and wicked humour, shape the series; reviewers say it carries his spirit.
“There is something wonderfully Bourdain-ish about treating these petty culinary grievances with exactly the same gravity as murder.” — The A.V. Club
“A man who stirred machismo with empathy, and was as interested in people as the primal energy of kitchens.” — The Guardian
North America1 outlet
The A.V. Club frames it as a fitting posthumous tribute to Bourdain, weighing it against a recent Bourdain biopic.
“it is this deranged little cartoon that feels like the more loving and apt tribute to the man” — The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
UK and Ireland1 outlet
The Guardian opens with a wry critique of foodie culture and treats the show as camp, pulpy satire.
“Has foodie culture gone too far?” — The Guardian
The Guardian
Left2 articles
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The A.V. ClubLC · · Opinion
Get Jiro is a deranged and delectable posthumous treat from Anthony Bourdain
Celebratory Enthusiastic review presenting the series as a loving, funny tribute to Bourdain with minor reservations.
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The GuardianLC · · Opinion
Get Jiro: Anthony Bourdain’s ultraviolent sushi chef makes for wild, pulpy television
Mixed Playful, jokey review that enjoys the camp ultraviolence and reads it as satire of foodie culture.
Centre0 articles
No coverage yet.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 2 Oct 18:00 First The A.V. ClubLC Get Jiro is a deranged and delectable posthumous treat from Anthony Bourdain Opinion
- 3 Oct 07:00 +13h 1m The GuardianLC Get Jiro: Anthony Bourdain’s ultraviolent sushi chef makes for wild, pulpy television Opinion
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.