Anthony Bourdain’s “Get Jiro!” comic is getting the television treatment, thanks to Adult Swim

News of the show was announced Friday, during the Warner Bros. Discovery Adult Animation Showcase

By Joy Saha

Staff Writer

Published June 18, 2024 2:29PM (EDT)

Host Anthony Bourdain at the 2005 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 16, 2005 in Beverly Hills, California.  (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Host Anthony Bourdain at the 2005 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 16, 2005 in Beverly Hills, California. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Adult Swim is slated to produce a new animated show based on “Get Jiro!,” the New York Times best-selling DC/Vertigo graphic novels by co-writers Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose and illustrator Langdon Foss. Per Variety, the show was announced Friday, during the Warner Bros. Discovery Adult Animation Showcase at the Annecy Animation Festival.

In the same vein as the comic, the show follows Jiro, a renegade sushi chef, who fights crime in a dystopic rendition of Los Angeles where hungry patrons murder to secure a table at the most prestigious restaurants. “It's a bloody culinary war of epic proportions, and in the end, no chef may be left alive!” according to the novel’s official plot synopsis. “Get Jiro!” the show is created by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka, who co-wrote the 2023 A24 crime thriller film “Sharper” starring Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan. Gatewood and Tanaka were also producers on NBC’s comedy series “Superstore.”

Peter Girardi, executive vice president at Warner Bros. Animation, told Variety that the late Bourdain “was a big comic fan, a big anime fan.” Bourdain’s favorite movie was “Mind Game,” based on Robin Nishi's manga of the same name.

“When I got to Warner Brothers Animation, ‘Get Jiro’ was one of the first things that I optioned from DC,” Girardi said, adding that he began developing an animated adaptation with Bourdain when the acclaimed celebrity chef and author was still alive.

Girardi continued, “We’re looking for things that are unexpected, that tell stories that we haven’t heard before or other way into a story that we think we’ve heard so many times. And this graphic novel was really that.”


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In addition to “Get Jiro!,” Adult Swim has ordered an adaptation of Jillian Tamaki’s 2010 webcomic “SuperMutant Magic Academy.” The comic will be produced by Tamaki and “Regular Show” creator J.G. Quintel. It will also be produced by Cartoon Network Studios.

At this time, no details about either of the shows’ crew, cast, or release date have been announced.


By Joy Saha

Joy Saha is a staff writer at Salon. She writes about food news and trends and their intersection with culture. She holds a BA in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

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