It looks like the revival of Iron Chef Japan has been cancelled

Update: Fuji TV formally announced on March 1st that the new Iron Chef has been cancelled. ;_;

newironchef-title.jpg

Well, I speculated back at the beginning of the month on Facebook that this might happen, and unfortunately I was right. Although it hasn't been officially confirmed yet, a Japanese weekly magazine called Shuukan Gendai is reporting that the revival of Iron Chef, that I wrote rave reviews of, has been cancelled due to low ratings, and will go off the air at the end of March. (March is when a lot of things end in Japan, such as the school year, the fiscal year, and so on.)

According to the magazine, although the show debuted strongly, its ratings have been disappointingly low, hovering around 6% - 7% of total viewership. They even tried putting on a 3-hour live special on New Year's Eve, against the venerable Kōhaku Uta Gassen on NHK - and only garnered a miserable 4% rating.

While weekly pulp magazines like Shuukan Gendai are the equivalent of the tabloid press in terms of credibility and such in Japan, they probably have it right. I suppose that I have about a .01% hope that they got it wrong...but probably not.

It's really disappointing, but perhaps shows such as this that showcase the flamboyant and expensive top end of the culinary world just don't fly anymore in Japan. Ever since the original Iron Chef ended its run in 1999 (followed by a couple of specials in subsequent years), typical food oriented programming in Japan has been things like "the top 20 tonkatsu restaurants" or "great value for money ryokan" or "the tastiest instant ramen" and the like.

Whatever the reason, I'm really sorry to see it disappear so soon. :( I guess the chances that broadcasters in other countries will get it are nonexistent now.

Submitted by maki on 2013-01-24 09:39.
Filed under:  books and media tv iron chef

If you enjoyed this article, please consider becoming my patron via Patreon. ^_^

Become a Patron!

Comments

anon.

24 January, 2013 - 10:13

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

maki

24 January, 2013 - 18:32

I had to delete some of your OOOs because they broke the page ^_^; But I feel your pain!

cooking. eating...

25 January, 2013 - 04:41

...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....................

was my initial response too.

It's really a shame. Although iron chef's ingredients are over the top sometime, it does give me the odd inspiration or two. Plus, it's always nice to see chefs who do not use expletives every second word, who respect and are cordial to each other eventhough they are competing (except bobby flay).

Emiri

24 January, 2013 - 12:10

Did they really expect to go up against Kohaku...and win? o.O I'm an Australian living in Australia, and even I watch Kohaku on cable!

Sad about the cancellation, though. ):

Andrew

24 January, 2013 - 12:44

Isn't pitting anything against Kouhaku somewhat futile? I'd have to say 4% is decent considering.

maki

24 January, 2013 - 18:33

I suppose they were going for 'alternative programming'...so many people these days in Japan complain about Kohaku, how boring and stuck in the past it is, etc. But I guess a lot of people still watch out of sheer habit or something.

Maneki Neko

26 January, 2013 - 16:23

Maybe they should've made a programme called "Iron Chef: B-kyuu cuisine!" or something instead. Then they'd have normal every day people showing up to make plain food.

Maybe people are looking for things that are more plain or value food items, like you said.

neisan

28 January, 2013 - 15:01

Really sad if true... No more revival in Japan?
Only Gendai published about it?

neisan

28 January, 2013 - 15:06

Really sad...Is the source only Gendai, tabloid?

Nanami Kamimura

17 February, 2013 - 20:27

The latest episode just aired three days ago with a new episode on the 22nd. The last two episodes before it were aired in January. Maybe they're not actually doing it every week as the original was in the past. You can also note that the schedule is very erratic. There was no November 16 episode and only one December episode aside from the Omisoka special.

But yeah, I did read in Kotaku that this revival is receiving bad rating recently, but the Kotaku writer only speculated on the reason why.

I'll rather wait for an official word from Fuji TV about this though.

maki

18 February, 2013 - 13:36

I certainly hope it does continue! I do think it's pretty great still. I hate reading about it on the Japanese internets though, since the 2ch-and-like snarkers have been out in full force beating it down.

anihimura

24 February, 2013 - 04:11

whatt????!!!!!!

I am going to see the first episode on TransTV (Indonesia) today at 3pm.

I expect it to be a long running show. The should not stop the show!!!

...................ORZ..............

Maureengoodin

23 April, 2013 - 14:51

Japan has been things like “the top 20 tonkatsu restaurants” or “great value for money ryokan” or “the tastiest instant ramen” and the like. kamagrafx.com