Talk:Iron Chef

Japanese wikipedia

Does anyone with a grasp of Japanese know if there is anything worth translating in the Japanese Iron Chef article? 202.6.138.33 06:46, 18 September 2005 (UTC)

Foreign challengers

"In some cases, the challenger may not speak Japanese, in which case the chef is given students that can speak fluently in the challenger's native language." I don't think this is the case, since I remember that Ron Siegel had a hard time communicating with his assistants in the Lobster Battle and gave them nicknames. [maestro] 12:36, 10 September 2005 (UTC)

This was not the case in earlier episodes, but definitely in the final year of Iron Chef, IIRC. kelvSYC 04:14, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

Translation of chefs' names

Iron Chef Chinese Kenichi Chin's name is spelled 'Chen' in the English-dubbed FoodTV version. However, 'Chin' is the correct Hepburn romanization of his Japanese name 陳 This is even remarked upon in the episode with Chin Gen Sai ( Bok Choy ) as the theme ingredient. I'd like to recommend that we keep my initial spelling of 'Chin', because that is the name used on the original version of the show. I invite comment on the matter, however, because I know this sort of decision can be culturally sensitive. Of course, in the original, the position of the names are also family name first, so it is "Chin Kenichi' in Japanese. I understand that family-name last is the appropriate convention for English wikipedia. Olof

The other names were given as they're used on the American version. One question, tho. The article said that the Iron Chefs are from Japan. But, although Masaharu Morimoto is Japanese, he's famous for his restaurant in New York. I didn't know how to correct that without writing a runon sentence that had a life of its own. -- Zoe

perhaps making a Masaharu Morimoto page... Olof

Broadcast times

The article states:

Aired as a prime-time TV show, ...

If my memory serves, it was aired 11pm - 11:30 or 11:45 time slot and I think it's not prime-time.

 Fukumoto

Maybe it's worth noting that as of March 25th, the Food Network no longer airs Iron Chef. I checked on their website and Iron Chef isn't in the schedule from the 25th up until April 30th (the last day in the schedule). It would appear that it was cancelled. 68.238.248.38 22:57, 29 March 2006 (UTC)Nick

It's still on; Monday nights (or way early morning) in the 4am slot. At least, this has been the case for the past few weeks. Glendale2x 23:13, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it's on right now.

66.72.198.56 08:39, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Korn

Is Korn really a notable judge? I've only seen him once.

—wwoods 05

44, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

He has appeared at least three times in the dubbed episodes. Which battles escapes me....

Rumor

I heard here that the 1st season was lost. Is that true?

Awkward phrasing

The flamboyant host, Takeshi Kaga (鹿賀丈史) (known on the show as Chairman Kaga(主宰)), and extravagant production values, contrasted with curiously pedestrian voice-over narration and polite but generally insipid commentary from the judges, not all of whom are food professionals ("This is really very good"), contribute to the eccentric style of the show.

This is very hard to read because the wording is so confusing. Urbster1

Special ingredient not secret?

One aspect of the show is not clear to me or my family (in fact, that's why I looked it up here). It appears to the viewer that the "special ingredient" is chosen secretly, and that when it is revealed, the chefs must recall appropriate recipes from memory, or improvise, or both.

However, when you see how the chefs jump into action without hesitating -- and how they always seem to have what they need on hand -- we sometimes suspect that the chefs are told of the ingredient -- or at least the type of ingredient, such as "fish" -- in advance, and that it is only the audience who is supposed to be surprised.

Does anyone know which is true? It's important enough to add to the article. -- ShawnVW

The chefs get a short list of what the ingredient could be, but don't know what it actually is until game time. I don't know how long that list is (I've heard between 2 and 6). It would be impossible to stock the stadium with every conceivable ingredient, so the list allows the chefs to narrow down what they want. --Vik Reykja (talk) 20:16, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Here's a link to more discussion on that. --Vik Reykja (talk) 20:30, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Thanks. I've updated the article. ShawnVW

I'm thinking about reverting your edit, but I'm going to wait until tonight (PST) so I can watch one of my recorded episodes first. The reason is that I don't think the Japanese version calls it a secret ingredient, but rather a theme ingredient. I think your edit would be more appropriate on the Iron Chef America page. If they do refer to it as a secret ingredient, then your addition should of course remain. --Vik Reykja ♬ 17:45, 29 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I didn't revert you (that was bad wording to begin with) but I have changed your edit. Hopefully I haven't introduce POV by saying the US version is "wrong". I await correction if I did. →Vik Reykja 06:26, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)

And the theme is...

I'm not sure if this question should be in the article but I'm hoping someone will at least answer me here. What is Kaga saying when he announces the theme ingredient? It sounds a bit like "kyomo teva!.. (ingredient)" My question is: (a) what is he saying (how is it written/pronounced) and (b) what is he saying (literally translated)? Thanks to any who can help with this simple question. →Vik Reykja 06:19, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Kaga says " 今日の テーマ ... [ingredient]" Which is romanized as "kyou no teema." Teema is a japanization of "theme" and kyou means "today". "No" is a particle that sort of is possesive. Think along the line of "Theme of Today" or, as the show says, "Today's Theme."

Kyou is, in an english sense, 1 syllable (not "ki-yo") and the "o" sound is a pronounced a bit longer. "No" is like english and for "teema," saying it like "tay-mah" is close enough for someone who isn't going to be trying to talk to actual japanese people.

Hope this helps- samaraphile

One slight addendum: Kaga says "kyou no teema...kore desu!" samaraphile has capably analyzed "kyou no teema"; "kore desu" would be something like "this is it." I suspect that were we in Japanese class, our teachers would nudge us to insert a "wa" (topic marker) making the full sentence "kyou no teema wa kore desu" ("This is today's theme", literally "as for today's theme...it's this"). The "u" in "desu" undergoes the same kind of deemphasis or near elision that "i" and "u" get in some other contexts, so "desu" is pronounced "des" (with soft s).

Excellent, excellent. Thank you samaraphile and User:12.216.178.59 for the detailed information. I had a Japanese best friend when I was about 13 years old and he taught me a few things about the language. I've been meaning to learn more but I don't have anyone to talk to anymore and although I remember most of the Katakana I learned, Hiragana and Kanji are too daunting for me right now. I love the sound of it still and one of these days I'll get to go over there. →Vik Reykja 04:54, 11 May 2005 (UTC)

I changed the US$ price under broadcast history because the actual exhange-rate price was over $800,000 lower then what was originally stated.

Different versions of Iron Chef

The following entries from Stephanie Masumura's Iron Chef FAQ (archived site) need to be paraphrased and incorporated into the article. I am temporarily reproducing the text here for convenience, but will remove it when the work is completed. — mjb 8 July 2005 08:32 (UTC)

What is the broadcast history of the show?

In Japan, the show started in October 1993 originally as a 30 minute program on Sunday nights. The show was wildly popular, so they expanded it to an hour (~45 minutes w/o commercials) and it was on air Friday nights at 10:00pm. Occasionally, a longer special would air. These usually tend to be around the New Years time frame. The viewing audience tended to be the younger generation, mainly men and women in their 20s and 30s. In 1994, the show was nominated for an Emmy. In 1997, it was nominated for another Emmy in the International Division under the "Popular Arts" Section. The show stopped its weekly production in September of 1999, though the producers said they would continue to make specials, about 4 a year. Two have been produced so far in 2000. The weekly show production was halted because the producer wanted to end the show while it was still popular (typical for Japanese programs). The high costs to produce the show may also have played a role.

In North America, before July 1999, selected cities could watch the Japanese feed (intended for a Japanese audience (read: no subtitling, typically)). After July 1999, the International version of Iron Chef (dubbed and subtitled) was available through the Food Network. FujiTV provides the subtitling and dubbing and the Food Network is the distributor. A few of the episodes had all dubbing, but Kaga no longer is dubbed. [1]

Where can I watch Iron Chef?

Fuji TV is the creator of Iron Chef. They show two versions of the show. One is the "International Iron Chef", which has a mix of subtitles and dub-overs. It is available on the Food Network, a cable station. It airs 7pm and 10pm PST (10pm and 1am EST) on Fridays and Saturdays and 7pm EST on Sunday. The two slots on Friday will be for the same show. A different (and older) show will be aired during the Saturday/Sunday slots.

The show originally aired in the US in limited areas (New York, Hawaii, Los Angeles and San Francisco) before the Food Network began airing the show. The version shown in the above areas was sometimes subtitled, but mostly not (read: in the original Japanese).

Back in the pre-Food Network Iron Chef days, a group in Hawaii was used to provide the translations. — (from elsewhere in the FAQ)

What is the difference between Iron Chef and the International Iron Chef?

Iron Chef, in its original form (no subtitles or dubbing) is the "Iron Chef" show that is seen in limited release across the US. The "International Iron Chef" is the version that the Food Network shows. It has been reformulated for a non-Japanese speaking audience and is subtitled and dubbed over. Back before 1998, there was a version of Iron Chef that had all subtitles (no dubbing) and was released under the "Iron Chef" descriptor. When the original subtitled Iron Chef became popular, the subtitles were pulled and the International version announced. The International version tends to use Chinese pronunciations for Chinese words, which is why some of the text on this site may read differently than what you see on the Food Network (I primarily watched Iron Chef through the Japanese feed).

Names

The original article stated that the names were not in traditional Japanese style (family name first) but had been romanized. In my opinion, this is misleading. Romanization, according to my knowledge and to wikipedia simply refers to transcribing something (in this case it would be the name) using the roman alphabet. I've also had a brief look at the wikipedia articles on names and I can find nothing which states writing family name first as romanization. You can and many people do romanize their names (i.e. write them in the roman alphabet) with the family name first. For example, my name is Chinese and I usually write my name in traditional Chinese style (family name first). Yet I can't even remember how to write my name in Chinese characters and I can't even write it properly when I copy it from a sample since I don't know how! In fact, I have never heard of anyone describing writing your name family name last as Romanization. Therefore IMHO it is misleading to refer to writing the name family name last as Romanization. I have hence changed the references to state that the names follow the tradiational European style. I'm not sure whether this is a fair characterisation and if you don't feel it is then change it. Perhaps it's best just to state it does not follow tradiational Japanese style but instead is writting family name last. 60.234.141.76 15:31, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

A lot of the English Transliterations of names, which show an 'h' proceeding an 'o' is most likely put there as to not confuse non-Japanese speakers, and to give more emphasis on the elongated sound (IE: Ohta, Kanoh, etc.) As in 99% of cases a consonant cannot precede another consonant that is not the same (with a few exceptions.) In most cases those 'oh' would be written in hiragana as 'ou'.

Choice of Iron Chef

I've never heard before that the competitor's choice of Iron chef was known well in advance. I know that some battles they'd say so (especially when they want a rematch of a certain chef or for some other obvious reason), and like for Iron chef Kobe they would. I can see some logic in knowing in advance, but I'd still like a source proving all battles the choice was known in advance...

Ditto, I've never heard that before. [maestro] 12:37, 10 September 2005 (UTC)

Meaning of "Allez Cuisine?"

Whenever Chairman Kaga calls the chefs to the podium, he says "Allez Cuisine." Whats it's actual translation?

Sort of "Go kitchen!", so I guess "Go cook!".

Atlant 15:50, 21 September 2005 (UTC)

"Cuisine" in French can mean both "kitchen" and "cooking" (amongst other things), and a better idiomatic translation would be more along the lines of "Get Cooking!" or "Hurry up and cook!" or even "Start cooking!" (sort of along the lines of "Gentlemen, start your engines!"). At least, that's how I've always taken the phrase when my French cousin and his wife use it on each other (in jest, of course!).

GW 23:34, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

It should also be noted that "Cuisine" means cooking as a noun, not as as a gerund. I don't think would be considered valid French, more like ... um, French engrish? So you might literally say something more like "Get to the cooking!" or "Get on with the cooking!", but yes, I would say "Get cooking" or the like is a better paraphrasing. Pimlottc 21:32, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

"Bang a gong"

As an American, the first time I heard the translated phrase "Bang a gong, we are on" I felt a shock of recoginition -- it reminds me of a song lyric. However, I have no idea if the song I am thinking of is or has ever been popular in Japan. Any thoughts? --Jacquelyn Marie 03:58, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

The song you are thinking of is "Get It On" by T. Rex. I have no idea if that line was used in the original Japanese production or if it was added in the dubbing. I have a feeling the dubbing is not an exact translation of everything said in Japanese. Mwalcoff 05:00, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

It's not an exact translation. The guy who does Fukui-san, Bill Bickard, has done a few interviews here-and-there. Apparently he is given full translations of the original episode, and he is then free to put it into his own words and make it flow better - however, he's not allowed to actually change the meaning of what they say. I'll try and find the interview... here. — [maestro] 11:08, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

Future DVD Release?

Given that the Iron Chef FAQ states that there are no video (or DVD) releases of episodes, are there any plans for future DVD releases of the broadcast episodes (Food Network dubbed editions). I am sure that many would be interested.

I've looked high and wide, but I've never been able to find any kind of reference. I really wish they would put it out on DVD. — mæstro ^t/c, 11:38, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Probably female

  Meisyuku Ri (李 明淑; episode 78; defeated by Chen) is probably female.

It's usually not that hard to tell. Does anyone know the episode/challenger in question? — mæstro ^t/c, 11:38, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

From Japanese wikipedia

Based on the wordlingo and google translations of the Japanese article, I believe:

• it aired from October 10th, 1993 to September 24th, 1999
• it began airing weekly at 10pm on Sundays, a timeslot often used for experimental programs
• in April 1994 it moved to 11pm on Fridays... something about "at that time was broadcasted to one corporation offer 45 minute framework of the Nissan Motor Co., Ltd."
• sponsored by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd, and apparently also Nisshin Flour Milling Co., Ltd. and Kao Soap Co., Ltd.

There's some very indepth-looking information there. Translation would be worthwhile. — mæstro ^t/c, 14:06, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Translation From Japanese Wikipedia

Um, if you all don't mind, I would like to re-write the whole Iron Chef article. I could translate the Japanese Wikipedia page for it, and add in extras, would anyone like me to? Son Goku22

Thanks for your interest in this page! For my part, I would prefer that you not rewrite the entire article, but instead draw on the Japanese article to add content or edit those sections that need some updates. Tadanisakari 05:35, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Number of dishes

I just watched Battle Sea Bass, which stated it was the last Iron Chef episode before the "King of Iron Chefs" tournament. In a special message from the Chairman at the end of the episode, he stated that they had tasted 14,113 dishes. Under the section listing his top 10 dishes, it says about 2500 dishes. Is one of these number inaccurate?JordeeBec 05:11, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

2500 is definately not correct. The 2000th Dish special was held fairly early on in the series, and there have been far more than 500 dishes since then. — mæstro ^t/c, 14:52, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Strange Date Format

I'm confused by the date format used in describing when the show began and finished airing. I think it's because the editor put the year and month as a Wiki link (?)

In any case, the format is not usually used in English (year, month, day) and it's also not grammatically correct. There's a number of ways you could do it, but I wanted to check here for the consensus before doing anything. Here's how it is now...

'It began airing on 1993 October 10 as a half-hour show, and after 23 episodes was expanded to a one-hour format. The show ended on 1999 September 24,'

Since the time span is in years, it seems appropriate to highlight the year rather than a specific month/day. So I would think to do it like this: 'It began airing in 1993 (October 10) as a half-hour show, ... The show ended on the 24th of September, 1999.'

Actually, it probably should be the 'The last show was aired on September 24, 1999'. Spurrymoses 03:39, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Refrence in Duck Dodgers

In an episode of Duck Dodgers, there's a refrence to Iron Chef. It's been a while so I forgot when it happened, but Dodgers asks the Cadet something like "When does any climatic battle happen in a kitchen?!", in which the Cadet replies "Iron Chef. Every episode." Could anyone who remembers the exact episode and quote add this to the pop culture refrences? 69.175.56.3 08:48, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Favorite Dishes

What's the citation for this section? I know that Kaga in the 2000th dish special specified that his favorite dish ever was Chen's Prawns in Chili Sauce, and yet nowhere is it mentioned in this list. 07 July 2006

The official Iron Chef Book had a section where Kaga listed his favorite dishes; I don't have a copy to verify that this is the same list, but it sounds right. Pimlottc 20:55, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

is the original iron chef still airing?

i enjoy both iron chef america & original iron chef when use to air during prime time. but iron chef still aired & it comes on every early tuesday morning since May. i kind of miss that show.66.80.76.138 22:24, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

morimoto vs. bobby flay II

the main reason why flay won the second time was that one of the judges (i think it was asako kishi) hated the theme ingredient (lobster) and marked morimoto VERY low.

Is it rigged?

Well is it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 220.236.187.105 (talk • contribs) .

So you are saying that Bobby Flay didn't have to use lobster? Either way, this is speculation. Happy cricket 23:57, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

Bad grammer in Broadcast history

I noticed that the following sentance in the Broadcast history section of the article need to be fixed (underlined in the quote below). Would fix it myself, but don't have the time now, so thought I would make a note of it. :)

"It may be felt that the tone the American dub gives the show is essential to its charms, heightened perhaps by the fact that in most episodes, the flamboyant Chairman is subtitled instead of dubbed."

--TenguTech 02:37, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

That doesn't sound too bad to me. — mæstro ^t/c, 11:28, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

It's not wrong but it's confusing. I've changed it to "the tone given to the show by the American dub". --Sumple (Talk) 00:37, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

silly literary flourish

Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are. —Brillat-Savarin

With the above words begins each edition of Iron Chef, a Japanese television program produced by FujiTV.

I know that most Wikipedians are utterly ignorant to the method of academic writing, but does anyone find the above flourish a little much for a reference work? Ignore the prettiness of it, and focus on the purpose of an encyclopedia: to concisely present plain information on its subjects. I can see this type of intro in a Newsweek article, but it just seems unnecessarily flowery for an encyclopedia.