Toriko, Vol. 16

I liked the closure of the Gourmet Pyramid and Mellow Cola arc, but not for the usual reasons of watching feast and celebrate the conclusion of an adventure or training, but rather for the revelation of more information regarding the greater overall plot arc involving the God ingredient. And now, more light is shed on the mysterious species that Toriko and Komatsu have encountered. Also, a bishoukukai nemesis makes a surprise appearance - and then followed up with a rather lame excuse of not wanting to fight. In the anime, I remember there was a specific dialogue that “inspired” Toriko, but in the manga, there was none of that, so that scene ended up being a bit pointless. And as an end to the volume, Toriko and Komatsu visit the Gourmet Temple, something I thought was a filler anime episode but apparently was not. The anime did change the sequence of events and padded it out a bit. Toriko had never been to the Gourmet Temple in the manga, same as Komatsu, but in the anime I recall that he had, only Komatsu had not.