Shin Oishinbo’s 2027 Return Has a New Cast and a Complicated Food Rivalry

Oishinbo is returning to television in 2027, with a new cast for a food competition that is also a family argument. Yohei Azakami, Hitomi Sasaki and Akio Otsuka will play Shiro Yamaoka, Yuko Kurita and Yuzan Kaibara in Shin Oishinbo, the new television anime based on Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki’s manga. Their casting was announced September 24.

The story is not just about picking beautiful dishes. Yamaoka has to compete against a father he no longer speaks to, while Kurita brings the palate that gets her chosen for the newspaper’s food project. The pair’s working relationship also comes with feelings neither of them finds easy to admit. Here is how the confirmed characters and voices fit together.

Why the two menus matter

Yamaoka and Kurita work at the Tozai News, where they have been chosen to put together the Ultimate Menu. Their rival is Kaibara’s Supreme Menu. These are competing attempts to choose exceptional dishes, not two restaurants offering a lunch special. Every contest gives the characters a reason to argue about ingredients, technique and what makes a meal worth eating.

The competition is harder for Yamaoka because Kaibara is his father. They have broken off their relationship, and the official character profile says Yamaoka blames his father’s controlling behavior for his mother’s early death. That history makes beating the Supreme Menu more than a professional assignment.

Kaibara is also an artist, with interests in pottery, calligraphy and writing. He runs the members-only Bishoku Club and brings exacting standards to food. The series does not set up a simple contest between an amateur reporter and an ordinary restaurant critic: Yamaoka has serious knowledge of his own, even when his attitude at work suggests otherwise.

Kurita has more to do than keep the peace

Yamaoka can be lazy and difficult, but he becomes focused when food is involved. Kurita is a newer employee whose exceptional palate earns her a place on the project. Kaibara respects her abilities too, which gives her a position neither man can simply dismiss.

The new series’ official story adds a complication away from the dishes. A young publishing-company president, Ichiro Dan, joins the menu contest as its referee and falls for Kurita. Yamaoka and Kurita, meanwhile, struggle to admit their own feelings. The menu rivalry and the romance are both part of the announced premise; the people deciding which meal wins have more on their minds than the food.

Kurita is therefore part of both disagreements. Her judgment matters to the food project, and the referee’s interest in her complicates her relationship with Yamaoka. That gives the new series a reason to spend time with the colleagues away from the menu contest. The announcement has not identified a specific manga arc or how many episodes it will take to tell this story.

Meet the new voices

Yohei Azakami plays Yamaoka, Hitomi Sasaki plays Kurita, and Akio Otsuka plays Kaibara. Their roles are confirmed in the official cast announcement, alongside comments about finding the right balance in characters longtime readers already know.

Azakami describes Yamaoka as someone full of contradictions. He can be careless in daily life yet deeply principled about food, and his resemblance to the father he dislikes makes the role more complicated. Discussing Kurita’s place in his life, Azakami says, translated from Japanese:

“Maybe Kurita is the one who guides him.”

Sasaki’s comments point to another useful contrast. Kurita initially seems friendly and dependable, but she can also be unexpectedly sharp-tongued. She is not just there to soften every argument. Those differences give the pair room to disagree while working on the same menu.

What is confirmed for 2027

Kenichi Nishida directs, Takahiro Nagano handles series composition, and Nozomi Kawashige designs the characters. SynergySP and Vega Entertainment are responsible for animation production, with Shin-Ei Animation credited as producer. The original manga is by writer Kariya and artist Hanasaki, published by Shogakukan in Weekly Big Comic Spirits.

For now, the Shin Oishinbo series page has a 2027 Japanese television window. There is no confirmed month, broadcaster or U.S. streaming service, and no announced English-language title. The three lead roles and production team are set, but where and when international viewers can watch the full episodes still has to be announced.