Chūka Ichiban!
Chūka Ichiban! (中華一番!, The best in Chinese (food)) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Etsushi Ogawa. It was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Magazine Special from October 1995 to November 1996; a follow-up sequel, Shin Chūka Ichiban! (真・中華一番!, True ver. - The best in Chinese (food)!), was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from January 1997 to May 1999. Both series' overall chapters were collected in seventeen tankōbon volumes. The story is centered on Liu Mao Xing, a boy whose aim is to become the best chef he could be. In November 2017, Ogawa started a sequel entitled Chūka Ichiban! Kiwami, published in Kodansha's Magazine Pocket app.
| Chūka Ichiban! | |
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Liu Mao Xing (front) and Mei Li (back) | |
| 中華一番! (Chūka Ichiban) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Cooking |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Etsushi Ogawa |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| Magazine |
|
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | October 11, 1995 – November 5, 1996 |
| Volumes | 5 |
| Manga | |
| Shin Chūka Ichiban! | |
| Written by | Etsushi Ogawa |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Magazine |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | January 1, 1997 – May 19, 1999 |
| Volumes | 12 |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Etsushi Ogawa |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Magazine |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | October 11, 1995 – May 19, 1999 |
| Volumes | 17 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Masami Anno |
| Produced by |
|
| Music by | Michihiko Ohta |
| Studio | Nippon Animation |
| Original network | Fuji TV |
| Original run | April 27, 1997 – September 13, 1998 |
| Episodes | 52 |
| Manga | |
| Chūka Ichiban! Kiwami | |
| Written by | Etsushi Ogawa |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| Magazine | Magazine Pocket |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | November 10, 2017 – present |
| Volumes | 16 |
| Anime television series | |
| True Cooking Master Boy | |
| Directed by | Itsuro Kawasaki |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Itsuro Kawasaki |
| Music by | Jun Ichikawa |
| Studio | Production I.G |
| Licensed by | Crunchyroll
|
| Original network | MBS, TBS, BS-TBS, Tokyo MX, BS-NTV |
| Original run | October 12, 2019 – March 30, 2021 |
| Episodes | 24 |
A 52-episode anime television series adaptation by Nippon Animation aired on Fuji TV from April 1997 to September 1998. In some other countries, the anime adaptation was also called Cooking Master Boy. A second 24-episode anime television series adaptation of Shin Chūka Ichiban!, or True Cooking Master Boy, produced by NAS and Production I.G, aired for two seasons from October to December 2019 and January to March 2021, respectively.