5/5 For fanatics only!
  by therosen (New York, NY United States)
This is the definitive work on the Iron Chef television program. It is deep in detail for those fanatics looking for those extra insider tidbits on the program. The book brings out the trials and tribulations of the Chefs as they fought to stay on top. It also contains a deep mathematical analysis of the Iron Chefs that can only be appreciated by the true believers. The camp seriousness that pervades the show appears in the book as well.

If you care about knowing why Chairman Kaga's voice was subtitled, while everyone else was dubbed, this is the book for you.

If you want to know which Iron Chef talked Chen Kinichi out of walking away from the show, this book is for you.

If you're an Iron Chef fanatic, this book is for you.

If you're an aspiring chef or casual viewer, this probably isn't the right book for you.

5/5 Top entertainment, ok book
  by Pei Kang (NYC, USA)
Iron Chef is the most ingenious TV show ever created, well, the REAL original IC show, at any rate.

The over-the top cheesy quality, the bad-English dubbing, the dumb air-head actresses(who sometimes come up with surprising smart comments); the exotic ingredients, and of course--the challenges. The stuff that no normal person would ever cook, or dream of touching on his dinner plate.
The combination of sports arena quality and the sideshow of Prices Right, equals=valuable hours of your life spent on watching TV!

the book is very in depth, though not quite a "cook" book, the only true thing it lacks it the statistical point. Who won the battles, etc.

I am very disappointed in Food Network for not continuing to buy more Iron Chef shows and or continuing to show the reruns; and not to make them into DVDs....instead they're being despots and forcing us to watch that horrible horrible horrible mutant child that came out of that so called "chef".
Yet again, an original anime/comedy/whatever show is ruined...just like how they mangled Godzilla. the "Other Thing" show lacks the corny flavor, the second commentator (Fuki-San was awesome), the REAL chairman, a REAL Chef, REAL ingredients; Fun challengers, (ok, Ming Tsai was funny, but that's it);my respect for Ming grew after watching that only good episode...he was funny, relaxed, self-assured and he kicked Flay's butt!!
awful musical score (sure the soundtrack of the ONLY incarnation of IC was from.....movie, Backdraft), pathetic judges (they ALL annoy me, for some reason).

watching the "OTher Thing" gives me a stomach ache, a headache....and I keep rambling.

SCOUR THE EARTH for lost videos/tapes/bootlegs of the ONLY IRON CHEF. If you're a true fan, don't even bother watching "Other Thing".

"If my memory serves me correctly....this book will give me recollections of funny and good times."

+150 on the Wow meter for the show, 6+ for the book;
-100 on the Puke-O-Meter for "the Other Thing"

4/5 My guilty pleasure
  by P. Wung (Tipp City, OH USA)
I started watching the Iron Chef show as a lark. I thought it was fun and funny. Very cheesy and very funny. The whispered notes of disbelief, the cries of : "very sophisticated", "very well controled", "this is so good" really got me to giggle about the silliness. This book prolongs and deepens all the silliness. It is written as a serious review of all the shows in the series, with features on certain challengers deemed worthy by the author and of course all the Iron Chefs. It kind of walks the fine line between treating the show as reality and as a farce. Regardless of how you feel about the show, the book is superficially fascinating. I would never have thought that I would be the owner of a book on a TV show, a Japanese TV show featuring Chefs as gladiators and a comically dressed emcee who looks like he was dress by a crazed Andrew Lloyd Webber. I love the show, I never miss a new episode, I even sit through some of the old ones I have already seen. I like this book. I wouldn't feature it prominently on my bookshelf. I would, however, stealthily break it out whenever anyone speaks fondly of the show. Then I can share my guilty pleasure.

3/5 Love Love Love the TV show... the book was not all that!
  by Minnesota Raven (Minnesota)
The book was was very enlightening in explaining how things got started, giving you a chronological view of all the battles (albeit they neglected to say who won each battle) and a few (very few) insights into some of the key players.

Each chef gets a few pages to talk about their stint on the show and if one of them had not mentioned the idea of hints we would never know that about the show. They are given 5 hints as to what the secret ingredient will be about a week before taping. That gives them time to come up with possible menus. This kind of irked me. Why did we find out a valuable piece of info like this through Iron Chef Chinese and it's not fully explained who comes up with the hints nor any examples of the hints. I would have liked a little more insight into this aspect of the show.

What I did enjoy was hearing about it from everyone's perspective from the announcers, chefs, directors, producers, etc. I also think that a little more explanation of Japanese culture regarding losing vs. winning might have helped to explain some of the reactions of the chefs to losing a battle.

All in all it was enjoyable to read the behind the scenes info regarding the show but it certainly left a true fan wanting more.

5/5 Iron Chef Excitement
  by Beauty Hall (Seattle, WA)
My husband has been waiting for this book to come out, and we just got a copy. It's great, lots of photos and recipes. Our favorite part was the behind-the-scenes stuff. I never realized the pressure that is on each Iron Chef, and their challengers. It's funny to us, but to them, it is their reputations on the line each and every show. What fun!