Nobunaga no Chef

I have zero culinary ability, but I always enjoy reading about how people like to cook and how they affront challenges related to cooking. Cooking is the rare art where there is a palpable physical effect on those that experience it. Mastering cooking is not just about making something that tastes good but also knowing what to serve in each moment. There’s as much creativity and expression as with other more commonly accepted arts as drawing or writing.

Nobunaga no Chef… is not exactly that. This is not a manga about someone honing their craft or discovering their passion or anything like that. If anything, this is a pure historical fiction piece. This is pure historical fiction, the story of an incredible French cuisine chef from the present living in Sengoku Japan and becoming the chef of the infamous Oda Nobunaga. Afterwards, said chef gets involved in practically all major political moments of the era and gets by with his attitude and his cooking aptitude alone.

What differentiates this manga from other cooking stories like Bambino is how there rarely is a cooking “battle”. Ken, our protagonist, is easily superior to 99% of all cooks of this era by the simple virtue of him knowing modern recipes and anything that’s related to food. Instead, Ken’s challenges come from trying to match his guests’ humour, ingredients or by trying to convey messages (sometimes even secret codes!) through his cooking.

Part of the intrigue also comes in seeing how Ken can introduce western cooking into the Sengoku period. Introducing new concepts into an old world while explaining the modern philosophies behind cooking to these warriors is surprisingly entertaining all around.

There’s a bunch of cooking in most chapters, yet Ken’s culinary repertoire doesn’t seem to ever falter, always coming up with new ideas on what to present everyone. However, at the same time we encounter a good amount of chapters dedicated to the military exploits from Oda Nobunaga. We see in great detail how he and some of his contemporaries like Tokugawa Ieyasu accomplish some great feats in their quest for total domination of the country.

This manga, if anything, is thorough. It’s 300 chapters long and it covers more than 10 years of Oda’s life. While this approach adds detail to the world, with several rivals appearing time and time again and showing their outlook on life to great effect (Takeda and Kennyo are great characters all around), it also detracts from some of the more prominent subplots of the manga.

The main romantic subplot, in particular, is a bit hilarious in that regard, starting from the very first chapter and spending like 75% of the duration with a “when will they tie the knot?” approach that is absurd. We know you’re getting married. Please add more substance to this love plot. It’s a bit egregious how these characters love each other when Ken spends 80% of the duration of the manga in places far away from the main love interest.

It’s also a bit tiring to see Ken mostly only suffering inconveniences that are related to external factors outside of cooking. If Ken is in a bad position, it’s because he has been captured, not because he has ever made a mistake in his cooking. His cooking is ALWAYS correct, which can be a bit tiring. I know the point of the overall structure is to showcase the surprising recipes that Ken comes up with, but it’s not my favorite approach.

The long duration, however, adds depth to Ken as a protagonist, showcasing his calm but composed attitude towards life and how it can be shaken by the military campaigns of someone he still undoubtedly admires. Oda Nobunaga is also a great character who is written very entertainingly, without really going overboard with stereotype of him as a “demonic emperor” (in fact, the manga shows him in an interesting positive manner that makes a lot of sense in the modern era).

I find that the manga has several great arcs related to the military battles that Oda goes through. The final arc, the Honnoji Incident, is particularly captivating as a way to showcase Ken’s resolve, his philosophy, Oda’s cunning and their overall relationship with the main orchestrator behind the incident: Akechi Mitsuhide.

Overall, while I enjoyed parts of its long-form storytelling, it’s also true that said long-form storytelling sometimes detracts from its subplots and overall pace. I liked seeing Ken’s solutions to problems through his cooking and it was an overall pleasant reading experience despite its length. As a historical fiction work, it’s interesting and I think it uses its setting to its advantage across its 300 chapters to showcase life in that period, a lot of cooking and a set of charming characters.