Audience reviews
12 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Villan_RDX26
Tetsunabe no Jan! is a work of art that perfectly adapts the source material with fluid, modern animation and extraordinary voice acting. The protagonist, Akiyama Jan, is an arrogant prick, but he has the cooking skills needed to back himself up. Nothing matters to him other than winning, and he sees cooking only as a means of competition. Jan’s voice actor conveys his arrogant, annoying nature with finesse, mixing in all sorts of emotions. Jan’s rival, Kiriko Gobancho, is also a great addition. Her tomboyish personality and her ambition to become the best chef stir up their rivalry even more. Kiriko’s approach to cooking with heart and Jan’s approach to cooking to win clash nicely in the latter half of the anime, and I liked it very much. She succeeds in humbling Jan and making him face t…
Read at the sourceWielbiciel-Zoro
To sum up the "Tetsunabe no Jan!" anime, which turned out to be another pleasant surprise of this year's summer season, it’s a cooking-and-rivalry series that feels like a hardcore version of Food Wars, even though the original manga dates back to 1995 (meaning there is a 31-year gap between the source material and this anime adaptation).
Akiyama is a fascinating protagonist or rather, an anti-hero. He is arrogant, speaks his mind bluntly, and enjoys humiliating his opponents, driven by the philosophy that cooking is a form of combat. This stands in stark contrast to his rival, Kiriko, whose cooking is motivated by love and similar sentiments. I also appreciate that the series doesn't try to sugarcoat things; it remains a faithful adaptation of the original manga, which was uncompromising…
Read at the sourceXeno4445
Thee show was both very entertaining and easy to watch no matter what mood I was in, while not feeling like empty calories thanks to how much it delved into Jan's character.
The constant notes from the narrator about the series' legacy were also very unique and fun. (And just generally it's cool how much the anime hypes its own story up._
This season did a good job of balancing knocking Jan down a peg for being an ass and giving him wins as an underdog.
Jan was definitely my favorite character, but Otani and Kiriko were also big standouts.
Okonogi is cool too, and the head chef has mad aura.
The animation itself wasn't bad though nothing special. I liked the opening and how it used the manga's panels.
Read at the sourcescudgreen
The show very much wants you, the viewer, to know that it is from the 90's.
Not in like a soft-message kind of way either. It's going to directly tell you that "this is the first anime adaptation the series has gotten and it had a 27 volume mainline cooking battle manga, and also we're aware that a lot of information has come out since then and sensibilities have changed but we decided to keep things faithful, so if you don't like it, tough."
Jan is a prick.
This is not Food Wars. Friendship doesn't make the meal tastier and help save the day. We aren't using chainsaws to carve and cook for the mafia. Iron Wok Jan focuses on Chinese food and cut-throat Iron Chef style kitchen competition. Jan's mantra is that winning is everything and any less makes you a loser. His reasoning is explai…
Read at the sourceP_F_V
I’ve watched two anime based off of classic manga I read as a teen these past two seasons that drastically failed to live up to my expectations. Irok Wok Jan is the one where I had no expectations because I hadn’t read it, though through the fourth-wall breaking narration, it seems the most concerned with managing them.
It’s definitely my favorite of the three (the other two are Drops of God and Red River). Maybe that’s because it’s fresh to me, but this Shonen cooking classic has far more spirit (of the three anime, not the manga). The narration makes it clear how much the makers are passionate about the manga, to the point where they explain the historical, cultural, and legal context of multiple plot points. Jan and Kiriko’s dynamic is a bit tsundere, but in a Shonen rival way instead…
Read at the sourceChuy_diazz
A cooking battle anime is always a welcome sight.
It is an underexplored genre, making series of this kind particularly interesting. *Jan* brings more than just culinary battles to the table; it presents a clash of philosophies. The primary conflict lies between cooking as a means of conquest and cooking as an act of service—represented by Jan and the deuteragonist, Kiriko, respectively. The anime is defined by the constant friction between them; while they can understand each other as people, they cannot reconcile their views as chefs. Each character is built upon these fundamental ideas.
Jan embodies conquest, and is consequently written much like a villain. His backstory, actions, and moments of catharsis all fit the villain archetype perfectly. This results in a series where the prot…
Read at the sourceFarseerX
There are not many writings that can make you root for a asshole and understand them at the same time.
I understand why this Jan is the way he is and I can root for him while also want to se his downfall or rather want to see his view of cooking change. Never read the manga and now for the first time seeing this. I might need to. This was a ride that had me sitting through all 12 episodes in one day. I loved it.
It might not be for everyone, but damn if I did not like it! Close to loving it!
Read at the sourcebrwhyan
Iron Wok Jan is a grounded cooking anime with an absolutely insane protagonist; the type of guy who deserves to be killed by his coworkers, but you show up every episode wanting to see the new way he's going to annoy everyone. It's very cute to see how much appreciation the creative team making the show has for the original source material, but the semi-regular narration explaining that it is, in fact, a manga from the '90s and things have changed since then does take me out of the story. As does everyone -- other than the titular protagonist, Jan -- being sort of a wooden vehicle for talking about chinese food or discipline. It's a relatively one-dimensional show, but Jan's single-minded insane intensity keeps it feeling fun and interesting. Unfortunately, other than Jan, it's not somethi…
Read at the sourceHERMIT_PAIMON
"Arrogance and cockiness "
These words define scum characters in anime but here it's a different story . My boy akiyama is trained to inherit these qualities and it's fun to watch people like him who have skills to prove their arrogance worth . I like cooking shows very much , they increase your knowledge about food culture and industry and you can even try new recipes at home too .
Iron work jan literally going in my top 10 2026 anime list . It's a fun ride , a punch of flavours. It's a adaptation from 90s manga you can literally guess just by looking art style unfortunately they don't make manga like this anymore. Nothing more to say , can't wait for 2nd season.
Read at the sourceJonaRM
This is a cooking anime based on a manga from over 20 years ago. It follows Jan, a boy who inherited all the Chinese culinary knowledge of his grandfather—one of the greatest chefs of all time—as he learns about a whole new world of cooking at a restaurant.
Jan believes that cooking is all about competition and being the best, whereas the heiress of the restaurant where he works believes that cooking is about preparing food from the heart for the customer. Jan is arrogant and thinks he is superior to everyone else; while he often is, he still has plenty to learn.
It focuses primarily on Chinese cuisine, though it touches on dishes from other countries as well. Since some of the information is dated, the narrator occasionally corrects or supplements the facts. It is a great watch; there i…
Read at the sourceKudo_Endo
Burger joints are a dime a dozen, HOWEVER only one claimed to serve the best burger in town – The X-Burger.
A classic cheeseburger is a simple arrangement: ground meat patty, lettuce, tomato, onion and a slice of cheese neatly placed in a sliced bun. The simple ingredients make it difficult for a chef to craft the ultimate version, with most restaurants opting to add esoteric toppings to stand out from the rest.
One fateful day, I entered The X-Burger and sat at a table. Before the waiters finished telling me they were closed for the night, I demanded:
- A classic.
After some insistence, the maître took my order to the kitchen. A few minutes later, he came back with my neatly assembled cheeseburger. I immediately leaned forward to smell the food. Then I took each component apart to ana…
Read at the sourceFeelo-97
This one took me by surprise. Came in expecting a regular cooking anime but left wanting a second season.
Iron Wok Jan is an anime about a chef who is cocky, arrogant and thinks cooking is a competition. In a sense it is also a battle shounen but the fights here aren't about throwing hands but about cooking in the most unique ways you and I have probably ever seen before.
I don't know much about the mangaka but as a modern recreation of a 90s manga meant to appeal to both older and modern audiences, I believe it successfully does so and I recommend this to anyone looking for a good binge - albeit not a masterclass in storytelling. The appeal comes from cooking in the most unique ways and akiyama getting proven right or wrong in his methods.
Though Fair warning - akiyama can be a bit...…
Read at the source
