'Get Jiro' brings Anthony Bourdain's graphic novel to TV

Anthony Bourdain's 2012 graphic novel Get Jiro has been adapted into an animated series for Adult Swim. Created by Alessandro Tanaka and Brian Gatewood, the project followed almost a decade of discussions, endured a writer's strike, and then took two years in production after Bourdain's death in 2018.

The show imagines a dystopian Los Angeles where chefs rule society and food is one of the few non-virtual experiences left. Restaurants are treated like temples, ingredients are scarce and precious, and the city is split between an Inner Rim of luxury and a lawless Outer Rim.

The enigmatic sushi chef Jiro, voiced by Brian Tee, arrives from Japan to make pristine sushi in a place where requests like "NO soy sauce." can carry dire consequences. Animation, editing and sound design lean into the beautiful and the grotesque, making every slice of fish and grain of rice vivid.

anthony bourdain, get jiro, adult swim, animated series, graphic novel, brian tee, alessandro tanaka, brian gatewood, los angeles, dystopian