by It has been announced that Shinji Saijo’s classic manga, “Tetsunabe no Jan!” (Iron Pot Jan!), will be adapted into a television anime in 2026. Serialized in “Weekly Shonen Champion” (Akita Shoten) from 1995 to 2000 and boasting a cumulative circulation of over 10 million copies, the reason it remained unanimated for nearly 30 years is simple: “The content is too dangerous.”
style that disregards ethics and compliance has long been branded “unfilmable.” This announcement has brought joy to longtime fans, but also some surprise: “We’re in the Reiwa era now!” and “Are they really doing this?” The protagonist, Akiyama Sho (Jan), is the grandson of a chef known as the “King of Chinese Cuisine,” and his cooking skills are top-notch.
However, his face is a stark villain, his personality arrogant and haughty, and his laugh is an eerie, loud “Kakakakakaka!” and “Kekekekekeke!” In a typical shonen manga, he’d be the type of character who’d be defeated by the protagonist midway through the story. His devilish portrayal has led to him being mocked as the “Devilman of cooking manga.” Jean has only one creed: “Cooking is a competition.” There’s no compassion or fair play. He’ll do anything to win, and as long as he wins, that’s all that matters.
This attitude is exemplified by a shocking episode depicted in the early cooking competition. In the preliminary round, Jean serves a soup made from a blend of multiple mushrooms. The judges are ecstatic with the taste, chanting “Delicious! Delicious!” for no apparent reason.
The score is supposed to be 10 points, but for some reason it’s 50,000. Immediately after, the judges fall into a hallucinatory state and collapse. In fact, the soup is utilizing the effects of “magic mushrooms.” He uses his cooking to “dazzle” the judges and physically snatch victory. At this point, many readers must have realized something was wrong with the main character of this manga. As an aside, magic mushrooms were only regulated as a drug-producing plant in 2002, when they were still legal. But Jean’s unreasonableness doesn’t end there.
In another competition, he clashes with a diligent, hardworking young chef. His opponent prepares a delicate Chinese dish where time and temperature control are crucial. Jean sees through his opponent’s weakness and serves his own dish to the judges first. It’s a sweet and gentle soup that leaves you feeling full and happy just by eating it.
The other person’s dish, served after the judges are delighted, cools down and becomes oily and heavy, preventing its full flavor from fully manifesting. Jean spits out at his opponent, “No one’s going to eat your food!” It’s a rude remark that you wouldn’t expect from a main character, but it truly reflects the true essence of the man Jean is. In yet another competition, he monopolizes the kitchen gas and cooks at an insanely high heat. As a result, the fire alarm goes off, triggering the sprinklers and flooding the other contestants’ dishes. Jean has already anticipated this, managing to protect only his own plate and snatch victory. He’s more of a strategist than a chef. Jean sometimes loses, but he breaks down in tears in full view of everyone, and the moment he recovers, he shouts, “I’m going to bleed you and the judges!” This mental strength is what draws readers in, even though he’s a villain.
The series is packed with scenes that make you wonder how it will be adapted into an anime. Squeezing pigeon blood, dog hotpot, and meat containing maggots are all quite grotesque and graphic. Numerous episodes completely violate the Reiwa era’s compliance standards. He casually discards bad food, uses violence against those who disrupt his cooking, undergoes abusive training, drinks underage, and even butchers a judge’s pet dog without permission and cooks its meat.
The list goes on and on. However, this work’s radicalism isn’t the only reason it’s hailed as a masterpiece. It was one of the earliest cookbooks to incorporate cutting-edge Chinese cooking techniques at the time, such as XO sauce, knife-cut noodles, and sous vide cooking, making it a highly innovative cooking manga.
Thanks to the supervision of culinary expert Oyama Keiko, the depictions of food, while seemingly absurd, are surprisingly logical, leading many readers to say, “This work helped me discover the depths of Chinese cuisine.” Cooking is a competition, and competition is ruthless. Taking this philosophy to its extreme, the result was Akiyama Jean, an “uncharacteristic protagonist.” Thirty years on, how well can this dangerous masterpiece recreate the original’s madness? The high-pitched laughter of “Kakakakakaka!” will likely reverberate once again in 2026, leaving a lasting mark on the history of cooking manga.
