Cover ’Get Jiro!,’ an adaptation from Anthony Bourdain’s graphic novel of the same name, promises to be an action packed series around culinary domination (Photo: IMDB)
’Get Jiro!,’ an adaptation from Anthony Bourdain’s graphic novel of the same name, promises to be an action packed series around culinary domination (Photo: IMDB)
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How does a humble sushi chef find himself at the epicentre of a culinary turf war? The animated adaptation of Anthony Bourdain’s satirical comic defends his craft and the culinary world he belonged to
A piece of nigiri has just arrived at the table, and a diner is already ignoring the chef’s recommendations and reaching for the soy sauce. A flash of steel later, the customer’s decapitated head hits the floor. This is a delightfully macabre scene from the trailer for the adult animated series Get Jiro!, and perhaps the most uncompromising display of Anthony Bourdain’s humour.
Adapted from the graphic novel co-authored by the late Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose, the series debuted on October 3, on Adult Swim’s late-night block. Set in a dystopian, near-future Los Angeles, the narrative presents a world where chefs wield absolute power, food is currency and society is brutally divided by class. Here, the vengeance of a mysterious sushi master unfolds in a city ruled entirely by appetite.
Chef, writer and now, graphic novelist
Above Main character Jiro navigates a world divided according to cuisines (Photo: IMDB)
Main character Jiro navigates a world divided according to cuisines (Photo: IMDB)
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Bourdain, first and foremost a chef, famously laid bare the gritty realities of the restaurant industry with his seminal 2000 memoir Kitchen Confidential. He later brought global food cultures, human stories and geopolitical realities into our living rooms through groundbreaking programmes such as No Reservations and Parts Unknown.
Novelist and comic writer Rose was a friend from Bourdain's early years, who believed in his literary talent and helped to publish his initial works. United by a mutual affection for comic books and Japanese yakuza cinema, the duo released Get Jiro! in 2012.
Bourdain once remarked that the tale served as a dark satire of the very culinary world he inhabited. Now, in a ten-episode first season brought to life by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios, protagonist Jiro (voiced by Brian Tee) fiercely defends his craft as a sushi chef and pursues his own vendettas amid a bloody battle for culinary supremacy.
Tokyo, and the institutions that shaped Bourdain’s vision for ‘Get Jiro!’
Bourdain’s passion for sushi is evident in the chronicles of his Tokyo travels, and three institutions stand out as influences on the story.
Ginza Sushiko Honten, founded in 1885, served as the training ground of acclaimed New York chef Masa Takayama. Upon revisiting the restaurant with Takayama, Bourdain praised its offerings in his travel notes. He also famously cited Sukiyabashi Jiro as his choice for a last meal on earth, and often credited his understanding of sushi to Naomichi Yasuda of Sushi Bar Yasuda, with whom he had cultivated a mentorship and friendship. Bourdain also named Yasuda—a long-time martial artist who expressed genuine agony whenever he saw a customer mistreat his sushi—as the primary inspiration for the character Jiro.
Together, these three sushi restaurants embody his culinary aspirations, his cherished friendships and his curiosity about culinary lineage.
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A culinary world of underworld crime, intense action and unexpected comedy
Above HBO Max in the US launched the series on October 4 (Photo: IMDb)
HBO Max in the US launched the series on October 4 (Photo: IMDb)
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Get Jiro! propels this earnest reverence for gastronomy to an absurd, perilous extreme. As our sushi chef is thrust into a violent tug-of-war between feuding culinary factions, the production, distribution and consumption of food becomes entangled with notions of power.
Audiences can look forward to a thrilling saga where brutal revenge, dark humour and a meticulous display of culinary details converge. Beneath the bloodshed, it offers a poignant reflection of Bourdain’s love for Japanese culture, and a brilliant self-deprecation regarding the elite food circles he navigated.
Following its Adult Swim premiere, the series arrived on HBO Max in the US on October 4, with release dates for Asian audiences still pending local platform announcements. While we await its regional debut, perhaps there is no better time to revisit Bourdain's Tokyo journeys. After all, the exaggerated blade wielded in the animation is forged, in part, from the respect and understanding he accumulated over years spent observing masters at work at the sushi counter.
Adapted from the original Chinese article by Wina Chen.
Formerly a lifestyle editor, Celia is now an Associate Dining Editor at Tatler Hong Kong, where she covers local dining stories with a strong sense of narrative and cultural context. She focuses on the people, places and moments shaping the city’s food scene, bringing a storytelling-led approach to restaurant features, chef profiles and on-the-ground coverage.
