FIGHTING
FOODONS
(NHK, December 11, 2001-June 25, 2002 JAP
FOX, September 14, 2002-August 30, 2003 US)
Kodansha, Red Entertainment, 4Kids Entertainment
MAIN CAST:
Ted Lewis – Tsukiji
Bakunouchi/Chef Jack/Chef John, Frenchy
Le Toast, Mayor
Slim Rations, Sir
Dumpling
Wataru Takagi (Japanese) - Haoji/Oslo
Maddie Blaustein - Haoji/Oslo, King Hungry
the Ate, Dia’s mother, Burnt Meatballs,
Pound Cake, Puddington
J. David Brimmer (as Michael
Alston Baley) – Don Cook/King Gorgeous Gorge
James Carter Cathcart (as Jimmy
Zoppi) – Kima/Cinnamonkey
Hidenobu Kiuchi (Japanese) - Masa/Cole
Slawter, Bear, Brightron, BurRed, Gran Beret, Konso Metaru,
Mysterious Man, Nikumi Sona, Pizza Ghost, Potato, Shish-Ka-Beast,
Steak
King
Eric Stuart – Masa/Cole Slawter,
Gazmacho, Manhattan
Chowderhead, Burnt Meatballs, Sergeant
Side Order, Slice
Oliver Wyman - Grill
Kouji Nakata (Japanese) & Scottie Ray - Narrator
Fighting
Foodons began as a manga by Naoto
Tsushima serialized in Comic
BomBom in 1998.
Called Kakutō Ryōri Densetsu
Bisutoro Recipe, or Martial Arts Cooking Legend Bistro Recipe, the
story followed a world where a king wondered if “tofu surprise or stuffed duck”
would be stronger. A chef used magical cards called Meal Tickets that allowed him to
turn prepared food into sentient monsters. The living foods were dubbed Fighting Foodons and often pit in combat against
each other. What began as entertainment designed to determine what meal would
be enjoyed that day became a major competition in the kingdom.
 |
| King Gorge. |
When Gorgeous Gorge (Don Cook in
the anime, voiced by Jin Nishimura & Michael Alston Baley) became the new
king, he decided he wanted to conquer the world. He used his army of Gluttons to kidnap the best chefs and force them to
make powerful Foodons for him. He also created elite soldiers that were
human/animal hybrids. They included Clawdia (Tamao Hayashi
& Veronica Taylor), who was rocket scientist Dia before she was transformed into a pink
cat lady; Cinnamonkey (Kima in the anime, voiced by Shintarou Oohata &
Jimmy Zoppi), a green monkey that worked with Dia; Cole Slawter (Masa in the
anime, voiced by Hidenobu Kiuchi & Eric Stuart), a blue bear who
specialized in seafood-based Foodons; Rose Marinade (Chu-Nyan in the anime,
voiced by Yoko Sasaki & Megan Hollingshead), a two-tailed fox; and Grill
(Takeshi Maeda & Oliver Wyman), a bat-turned-cyborg. The latter four were
known as Gorge’s Big Four and often bossed Clawdia around. But their
collective boss was Mussels Marinara (Wayne Grayson), a high-ranking member of
the Glutton Empire.
 |
| Chase, Kayla, Pie-Tin and Oslo with the MAC Cart. |
In opposition to the Gluttons was a
group of rebel Chefs. Chase (Zen Bakunouchi in the anime, voiced by Chika
Sakamoto & Tara Jayne) was an impatient 10-year-old chef-in-training who
discovered that he could make Foodons and trained to eventually become a Master
Chef. He frequently travelled with his 8-year-old sister, Kayla (Karin in the
anime, voiced by Megumi Nasu & Amy Palant), who often guarded their
transport, the Mobile Attack Cuisine Cart (or MAC Cart); Oslo (Haoji in the anime, voiced by Wataru
Takagi & Maddie Blaustein), a Grub Guru who was betrayed by his former
student, King Gorge, and took up training Chase; Pie Tin (Pi-Tan in the anime,
voiced by Yuko Mita & Kayzie Rogers), a 5-year-old boy whose parents were
taken by King Gorge; and Albert (Ash in the anime, voiced by Hikaru Tokita
& Andrew Rannells), a chef who was a fan of Chase’s father and joined
Chase’s group. Chase and Kayla’s father was Chef Jack (Tsukiji in the anime,
voiced by Masami Iwasaki & Ted Lewis), who led the Rebel Chefs against King
Gorge under the guise of Chef John. He trained Coco (Natsume in the anime,
voiced by Chisa Yokoyama & Lisa Ortiz), a ninja girl and member of the
Rebels that developed a crush on Chase. Each character had a selection of
Foodons that they summoned to do their battling, either in the arena or against
their foes, which could evolve into more powerful forms when paired up with
certain other Foodons. More advanced 5-Star Meal Tickets and Platinum Meal
Tickets, as well as particular ingredients, could also produce more powerful
Foodons.
 |
| Chase's primary Foodon: Fired Ricer. |
In 1999, the manga was
adapted into two video games for the Game Boy Color in Japan.
They were developed by Red 5 Software and published by Banpresto. Similarly to Pokémon, it
was a turn-based battle game between summoned creatures. They also made a Wonderswan game licensed
by Bandai. Kodansha and Red Entertainment then
adapted the manga into an anime that aired on Japan’s NHK network from December 11, 2001
to June 25, 2002 for a total of 26 episodes. It was animated by Group TAC. 4Kids Entertainment
acquired the rights to dub and broadcast the show on their new FoxBox programming block; a
joint-venture between 4Kids and FOX that
replaced Fox Kids. Fighting
Foodons, initially to be titled Fighting Feud, began with the block
on September 14, 2002 and ran until the following August.
 |
| Clawdia with her Foodon, Bearafooda. |
The English dub was written by David Sartorius, Jim Malone, Scott DeSimon and Lewis, with Paul Taylor on translations. A
great deal of the show’s humor came from the outlandish situations in the
premise, as well as the countless food names (some changed to be more Americanized foods) and puns. The series’ theme was
composed by Louis Cortelezzi and Norman J. Grossfeld based on Jacques Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld”
(a song most associated with the French dance, the Cancan). It was performed by Darren Dunstan and Kate Petterle. Dunstan also
served as the series’ voice director. The rest of the show’s music was composed
by Dan Stein, Greg Kalember, James
West, John Angier, Manny Corallo, Ralph Schuckett, Rusty Andrews and Cortelezzi.
In 2017, Discotek Media released
the complete series to DVD.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Hey!
Omachi!! (Rice to Meet You)” (12/11/01 JAP, 9/14/02 US) – Chase and Kayla set
out to rescue their father from King Gorge’s prison while Chase discovers he
can summon Foodons.
“With
Pipipin and Patan! (Pie Tin Power)” (12/18/01 JAP, 9/21/02 US) – Pie Tin sets
out to rescue his parents and Clawdia makes it so that he believes Chase and
Kayla are Gluttons.
“Save
Haodji! (Mushroom with a View)” (12/25/01 JAP, 9/28/02 US) – Clawdia ambushes
the Foodons while they search the woods for a magical mushroom that will
restore Oslo’s hair.
“Yokoso
Gosuto no Morie (You Wanna Pizza Me)” (1/8/02 JAP, 10/26/02 US) – When Princess
Cupcake ate out instead of eating Master Flambé’s masterpiece pizza, his ghost
has his mansion and land since.
“Open
Foodon Tournament (Ship of Foods)” (1/15/02 JAP, 10/5/02 US) – When Fried Ricer
comes out on top of the Floating Foodon contest, King Gorge’s son challenges
Chase to a battle.
“Final
Battle Foodon Tournament (We Have a Weiner)” (1/22/02 JAP, 10/12/02 US) – When
Chase loses a practice match to Chef Albert, he loses all confidence for the
Floating Foodon contest.
“Fourth
Royal Gourmet King, Ritsuko! (Avast Ye Gluttons)” (1/29/02 JAP, 10/19/02 US) – When
Chef Jack is revealed to be Chase’s father, the kids realize the contest was a
trap set by the Gluttons.
“Curry
Showdown on the South Island! (Battling Banana Island)” (2/5/02 JAP, 11/2/02 US)
– Chase wakes up to discover he’s ended up on a mysterious tropical island.
“The
Taste of Grandma Is? (Hot Pepper Pursuit)” (2/12/02 JAP, 11/9/02 US) – While
searching for his friends Chase encounters the Peppers: secret agents who help
people whose loved ones go missing.
“Master
the Ultimate Mystery!! (Boot Camp Buffet)” (2/19/02 JAP, 11/16/02 US) – Chase
goes to the Gruel Academy to learn the finer points of combat cooking, but the
school’s precious scroll is under threat of theft.
“Tears
of a Hidden Foodon (El Taco Grande)” (2/26/02 JAP, 11/23/02 US) – The kids end
up in a Western town where a rebel Taco Foodon seeks to steal the last
remaining jar of salsa in order to free his fellow Foodons from oppression.
“Tropical
Food God? (Cinnamonkey’s Secret)” (3/5/02 JAP, 11/30/02 US) – Cinnamonkey sets
out to conquer an entire kingdom for the Gluttons.
“Attack!
Four Heavenly King Masa (Slaw and Order)” (3/12/02 JAP, 12/7/02 US) – The kids
set out to rescue Coco and Chef John from capture, resulting in Cole Slawter
challenging Chase to a battle.
“Confrontation!
Four Heavenly King Masa (The Comeback Squid)” (3/10/02 JAP, 12/14/02 US) – Chase
tries to help some fishermen with their giant octopus and squid problem, but
Fried Ricer turns out to be afraid of them.
“Eating
God’s Lost Things (Swine Dining)” (3/26/02 JAP, 2/1/03 US) – The Rebels try to
fight off the Pork Platoon, but end up suffering from a dose of Swine Flu.
“Burger
Squadron of Love and Justice (Attack of the Burger Brigade)” (4/9/02 JAP,
2/8/03 US) – Chase and his friends try to cheer up the captured town of
Gladburger but soon the Gluttons come for Chase.
“Final
Battle!! Ramen Showdown (Use Your Noodle)” (4/16/02 JAP, 2/15/03 US) – While
imprisoned, Kayla and Pie Tin eat tainted food that turn them into loyal
Gluttons.
“Disappearance!?
Tropicana (Assault and Pepper)” (4/23/02 JAP, 3/1/03 US) – Chase enters into an
all-out battle with Rose Marinade and her most powerful Foodons.
“Spy
and Great!! (License to Grill)” (4/30/02 JAP, 3/8/03 US) – With Fruit Turtle’s
destruction, the kids go to find Davy Gravy to create the Foodon Deluxe and get
Chase back into a cooking mood.
“A
Dangerous Blunder!? (To Catch a Beef)” (5/7/02 JAP, 3/15/03 US) – Clawdia sets
out to steal the secret ingredient for the Foodon Deluxe.
“Supai
de dai Suppai!? (Hot and Spy’c)” (5/21/02 JAP, 3/22/03 US) – Clawdia attempts
to prove her worth to Grill by capturing the Hot Peppers.
“Guardian
Robo Start (You Go Grill Pt. 1)” (5/28/02 JAP, 3/29/03 US) – Chase and his
friends set out to stop Chef Grill before he unleashes the greatest Foodon
ever.
“Machine
Cooker Grill!! (You Go Grill Pt. 2)” (6/4/02 JAP, 4/5/03 US) – Chase fails to
stop Grill, and now they must face the Butcherbot.
“Rush!
Don Cook Castle!! (A Whole Lot at Steak)” (6/11/02 JAP, 4/12/03 US) – Chase and
his friends finally defeat the Big Four and set their sights on King Gorge.
“Final
Battle! Don Cook (Chase in Space)” (6/18/02 JAP, 8/23/03 US) – Chase and the
gang go after King Gorge.
“Magical
Cuisine (A Dish Better Served Cold)” (6/25/02 JAP, 8/30/03 US) – Chase has to
stop King Gorge from unleashing Devouron.
