Everyone talks about Christmas or Halloween as their favorite holiday, but for me, it will always be Thanksgiving. It's the time where my family cares about me, the time where I can enjoy my heritage and watch teenage mutant ninja turtles. But of course, the thing that we all love is the sorry excuse to eat all we want, and what better way to show that than by feasting your eyes on one of my favorite webtoons: (looks like I'm trading one pun for another) Gourmet Hound by Leehama.
Author
Leehama, through her love of all things, cooking and her work as a writer decided to create Gh as a combination of both of her loves. While we have never formerly met, I very much appreciate any person who decides to do what she loves no matter how scary it is and goes to show how webtoon truly is a great site for other creators.
Summary
Born with innate strength and a sharp nose Lucy Fuji has always loved food. To her, every cook had a one of a kind taste to them, and the one that she cherished above all others was the restaurant of Dimanche, with who her grandmother had strong ties. But unfortunately, after her death, Dimache's familiar taste faded away. So, to finally get closure for losing so much, she now hunts down the former chefs to find the taste she once longed for.
Characters
Lucy Fuji: Our main heroine, Lucy, is a very bright and cheery person that can also be ferocious when angered. She is a woman of many regrets in her life and seeks to use her search to not only find the taste she longs for but also the answer to her grief. Her other interests include mystery books and series.
Graham Ramos: Playfully nicknamed Gramps by Lucy Graham is a former Dimanche chef who lost his sense of smell, forever making him question his skill. He has often been a guide to his friends and a rock to Lucy's decisions, always being ready to help on her quest as he tries to help the other chefs find closure as well. He also loves dogs.
Overview/Good stuff
Gourmet Hound has a beautiful art style and a very diverse cast. Each character and chapter has a food pun that gets explained, so it adds a lot more diversity to the cast and chapters. Every arc focuses on another chef with different feelings over the giant layoff and makes you feel like you stepped into another life along the way. All of them are given a lot of time to develop independently, so you feel as though they're all different despite only having limited time to make a point. One of the greatest parts of the Webtoon is probably Lucy herself, who knows that her search for the chefs can be hurtful to them and tries her best to minimize the damage. She is the perfect character for this type of story, and I'm glad to have her.
Above all that, though, Gourmet hound is still very much a story about cooking. It is never afraid to make fun of various cooking shows and skills. But it also never tries to brush off the heart of a good meal. We take it for granted, but it shows that even the little things in life are very important, so don't waste it.
A running theme of this Webtoon has always been dealing with pain. How we need to be there for those we care for, how we need to learn and grow strong from experience, how we are supposed to find our place in this crazy world. Because your life matters because you deserve to live in this world and make of it what you will. And be thankful for it.
Epilogue
Gh is probably one of my favorite comics; I can't imagine living without it even after its' beautiful ending, and it is a story you need to see for yourself to believe. I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving, and I hope your just a little thankful for this series. Because next time I'm shining a light on one of my newest faves.