Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu Volume 1 (OTHERWORLDLY IZAKAYA NOBU TP)

Two German soldiers in a fictional medieval city stumble across a new pub that's really a time-traveling izakaya (Japanese tavern) with delicious chilled ale called “Whatsontapp”. The chef prepares something different every time, but it’s always what the audience loves but didn’t know they wanted.The various food terms — and we get both Japanese and German terms, which feels entertainingly educational — are explained both in the story itself and in a glossary at the back. Soldiers eat oden, a warming boiled stew, or kara-age, fried chicken, while a devious tax collector is foiled by a homey, nostalgic spaghetti napolitan.As characters explain the wonders of the restaurant and its food to each other, the reader also finds out how these items are assembled and how delicious they would taste. The faces are expressive and the food attractive and detailed. Much like in Food Wars, the amazing tastes cause the eaters to fantasize exaggerated images, but the ones here are more poetic — princesses or angels — less focused on nudity or body parts (thank goodness!). We don’t see recipes for the dishes, but they’re life-changing for the cast.And those characters are more than just a role. Even in the short space of a chapter, they’re given purpose and personality, fleshing out their enjoyment of the meals. For example, it’s fun seeing European merchants in the middle ages trying raw sashimi for the first time, daring each other into it. There’s no explanation for how this magic happens, but I like the approach of people telling each other “you’ve got to try this amazing new place to eat!” (Review originally posted at ComicsWorthReading.com.)

The food looks bland and unappetizing in the black-and-white panels, and when drawn in color, it looks downright ugly. The bare-bones descriptions of the food leave much to be desired.The people working there seem one-dimensional, with little or no description to help us understand who they are or why they're willing to prepare and sell food and drinks in a completely different setting than modern Japan.Does the izakaya have a 24/7 presence in the city, or does it occasionally appear? How do the staff get home once the pub closes? Too many questions are left unanswered, and there's not much motivation to get interested in the setting.This seems almost like an opportunistic cash grab to take advantage of the present isekai craze, but it's rather poorly done. I doubt I'll read any further volumes.

Anime is great but book gives us different stories

...I have been reading the first volumes of this series, and I am finding it an exceptional journey. The artwork draws on standard manga, but is plowing its own path, with the Japanese and European characters having their own distinction. The characters are well-drawn, Shinobu seems a plain, but still most attractive and engaging working girl. Chief is the steadying presence behind the counter. The soldiers, citizens and officials of a time gone by do tend to have some stereotypical behaviors, but on the whole they are quite well done. The explanation of dishes is not overdone, no pun intended, and people soon learn if you want good food and drink, come to this mysterious place out of time.There are similar stories such as these, and it partly takes from Spider Robinson, as I admit I did myself for my book, "Live from the Cafe." Nobu brought me back to that story, a place where people of all classes can meet, put issues aside (usually) and enjoy the food and atmosphere.This series stands out beyond most others, to be certain.

So, we're read all the volumes of "Oishinbo" and "Drops of God" and have marveled at the amazing dishes in a thousand cooking shows, but have we ever just sat back and enjoyed the heck out of a common, ordinary edamame and a glass of beer?Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu beings with a ridiculous premise - a common Japanese pub opens up onto a fantasy German town (medieval guards, 19th century tax collectors...Germany of the imagination) and from there takes flight as a celebration of Napolitan spaghetti, and sashimi, daikon and other Japanese foods. Love is poured up every item, from fried squid rings to pork belly, with the adoration of the German characters and gives the reader a wholly new look at what they might ignore as just another meal.This book is absolutely delightful and I highly recommend it for folks who love - or would like to learn to love - Japanese pub food.

Otherworldly Izakata Nobu is a sweet slice of life manga about an Izakaya (a Japanese pub!) and the delicious food they serve, however there is something special about it! The manga is set in a fantasy medieval world in Europe, and we see slight insights into the customers that come in, and their amazing reactions to the food.This is a slower paced manga which really focuses on the food, and I really enjoyed the change of pace from other faster paced mangas.All in all, I would recommend this manga to people interested in Japanese food and culture.Further recommendations for fans of this genre / manga:* Delicious in Dungeon - another manga with a focus on food, this time in a fantasy D&D style world! The party tries to dungeon crawl surviving on eating the monsters in the dungeon.* Hakumei and Mikochi - another slice of life manga with less food focus than the other two, this is about two tiny friends that live in the woods! Very sweet and wholesome.