Puffer Whale

Puffer Whale
Name
Japanese	フグ鯨
Romanized	Fugu Kujira
Aliases	Daphnia Whale
Bestiary
Type	Mammal/Fish
Capture Level	1 29 (without breaking the poison sack)
Length	6m (normally) 50-60cm (at lower sea levels)
Weight	5-7kg
Price	100g / 920,000 yen; Whole fish (poison sack intact) / 100,000,000 yen; Whole fish (poison sack removed) / 300,000,000 yen; Whole fish (poisoned) / 0 yen (8,000,000 yen on the black market)
Habitat	Cavern Lagoon (Human World), Blue Grill (Gourmet World), Deep-sea
Debut Appearance
Manga	Gourmet 15
Anime	Episode 6
Game	Toriko: Gourmet Survival
[v · t · e]

Puffer Whales (フグ鯨, Fugu Kujira) are a rare mammal fish beast classified as a "special caution food" due to the incredible difficulty of capturing and preparing them and they are considered a deep-sea delicacy.

Anatomy[]

The mature Puffer Whale is a deep-sea fish that is normally around six meters in length but as it goes deeper the water pressure of the sea depth compresses them to the size of a normal puffer fish. It is a small, pudgy-looking white fish with a round body, thin fins, small beady eyes, and large blue lips. As a result of the deep pressure, this causes the tastiness of the fish to become highly concentrated but also results in a huge amount of waste to become highly concentrated as well that forms into what is known as the 'poison sack'. Its poison sack resembles a small gooey purple blob whose position in the body varies between Puffer Whales. When startled the chemical reaction will cause the release of its poison, causing its body to turn into a dotted dark purple color that shows off its intense toxicity. When the poison sack is successfully removed, its body turns into a bright golden color, however, this only occurs to fish that haven't released their poison.

Image Gallery

Behavior[]

Due to their normally large bodies becoming compressed to very small sizes at lower depths, Puffer Whales become pretty docile and cowardly fish which causes them to travel in large schools at all times and will even huddle together in the shape of their bigger form to fool predators. Even the slightest action or contact from potential predators will cause it to release its poison, making it a very cautious creature. Once every ten years, it goes to the shore of the Cavern Lagoon to mate. They normally reside deep beneath the seas of the Human World, however rare breeds of Puffer Whale are known to exist in Area 6's Blue Grill.

Powers and Abilities[]

Poison Sack[]

It has an extremely potent nerve poison in a sack in its body which is all the wastes and poisons in its body compressed into a sack. Each Puffer Whale has a unique poison sack location. They are extremely sensitive as the slightest touch can break the sack. When the sack is broken, the entire fish is poisoned becoming a deep purple color. However the poison does not affect its taste, which is why it is sold on the black market when available.^[1] The poison sack itself can apparently be made into food, as Tylan has made Puffer Whale Dried Poison Sack his Hors d'Oeuvre.

Preparation[]

To ensure the Puffer Whale is safe to eat, before any further steps can be taken, someone with keen senses must first ascertain the location of the poison sack. Afterwards, extremely precise cuts must be made to open the Puffer Whale and reveal the poison sac, if the handling is off by even a millimeter the poison sack will instantly rupture and render the fish unsafe for consumption. Complicating this step is the fact that the location of the poison sac is completely unique to fish to fish, meaning there are over a hundred variations of cuts needed to expose the poison sac. Likewise the Puffer Whale's body is deceptively dense (comparable to an Andre Marlin) for its size due to the extreme compression it had underwent, making the precise knife work needed that much more difficult. Once the poison sac is exposed, it can only be removed with bare hands, during which the sac must be constantly rotated whilst simultaneously removing the mucus membrane.

As Food[]

Its taste is so delicious that it has an endless deliciousness factor, with an enormous taste and an endless bliss that remains even after consuming the meat. Likewise, people have disregarded their life to eat a poisoned Puffer Whale. In fact, about 100,000 people die eating poisoned Puffer Whale every time they come out in the market. Puffer Whale is extremely difficult to catch and cook based on three factors: the chance of a person getting close enough without scaring it (an action that would cause the whale to release its poison) is probably 25%, the chances of someone effectively knocking the fish is around 5%, and the chances of removing the poison sack without breaking it are about 0.1%. If the poison sack is correctly removed the whale will turn a very rich golden color. Almost every part of the Puffer Whale is edible and they also have different properties:

• Tongue: It is a high concentration of fat and when heated it turns into oil. The oil can be used over and over again without turning old.
• Organs: They possess a high concentration of nutrients and energy. If eaten raw, a person can work ten days in a row without sleep.
• Skin: If dried, its freshness won't drop for a century.
• Body: Its meat starts shining when the poison sack is taken. The meat is also as moistened as rice cakes. There is also some energizing effect, but it is lower than the organs.
• Backfin: Can be used for making soup. The taste won't drop even if it's used continually for 3 years. It can also be used to make Puffer Fin Sake.
• Poison Sac: Apparently, even the deadliest part of the Puffer Whale can be eaten if prepared properly. Poison Chef Tylan has this item listed on his Full Course Menu as the Hors d'Oeuvre.

History[]

Puffer Whale Arc[]

Upon diving through the Cavern Lagoon's waters, Toriko and Coco were met by a huge Puffer Whale that turned out to be a pod of small Puffer Whales huddled together to protect themselves. Impulsively, Toriko ran after small Puffer Whales, startling them, causing their poison to leak, and thus turning them inedible. Coco used Shoumei to hide his presence, and then used his Delicate-Type Knocking Gun to capture one whale. Toriko learned from Coco and used the same technique, but instead of a Knocking Gun, he used his Fork. Finally, they captured 10 of them. On the other hand, Jiro captured around 30 or more, single-handedly. Coco tried preparing the Puffer Whale, but was off by a millimeter due to arm fatigue, again releasing its poison, and rendering it inedible, thus requesting Komatsu to do it. Meanwhile, the Puffer Whales have already started leaving the shallow waters into the deep sea, but were met by a black GT Robo through the way. After 9 useless tries, Komatsu finally prepares one, which they dined on. And just when they were about to leave, the GT Robo came out of water, and with him a net, housing lots of whales in.

Meteor Garlic Arc[]

During Toriko, Coco and Komatsu's trip to the Jidal Kingdom, Komatsu encountered a black market stall selling poisoned Puffer Whales. The owner of the stall honestly told them they were delicious but eating them would kill anyone instantly, which greatly horrified Komatsu.

Bubble Fruit Arc[]

When Toriko and Komatsu had finished the Food Honor training they had been doing in Shokurin Temple, the temple's assistant master Shuu tested Komatsu's skills by having him remove the poison sack of a Puffer Whale, which he succeeded in doing with even greater ease and skill then the first time he tried.

ANOTHER Arc[]

After Komatsu and his support group arrived in the deep sea country of Blue Grill, they went to explore the food stands in the port town and discovered among their goods a rare breed of Puffer Whale.

GOD Arc[]

At Toriko and Rin's wedding reception, the Fish Dish, Ougai is served with slices of Puffer Whale, Shining Gourami, Madam Fish, and ANOTHER, and in response, Mansam requests some Fin Sake.^[2]

Appearances in Other Media[]

Toriko Jump Special OVA[]

The Puffer Whale makes a brief cameo appearance in the Toriko Jump Special OVA, in the ending credits Sono Na wa Toriko along with several other ingredients.

Toriko 3D Movie[]

The Puffer Whale makes another brief cameo appearance in Toriko 3D Movie: Kaimaku! Gourmet Adventure!!, in the ending credits The Sharing Song: Toriko no Theme, which shows an animated scene from the Puffer Whale Arc where it is being captured by Toriko and Coco.

Toriko the Movie: Bishokushin's Special Menu[]

In the film Toriko the Movie: Bishokushin's Special Menu, Puffer Whales appear residing in the seas near the film's main setting.

Toriko: Gourmet Survival[]

Puffer Whales appear in the game Toriko: Gourmet Survival for the PSP. They are one of the many animals on Megamori Island and can be caught on the island's underwater level. They require knocking in order to be caught.

Toriko: Gourmet Survival 2[]

Puffer Whales appear once again in Toriko: Gourmet Survival 2 for the PSP. Here their role and behavior is the same as in the last game and they can be caught underwater with knocking.

Merchandise[]

The Puffer Whale has been featured in a wide variety of merchandise, such as toys, figurines, keychains, games, trading cards, and buildable models.

Puffer Whale sticker

Poison Puffer Whale Keychain

Puffer Whale Trading Card

Poison Puffer Whale sticker

Golden Puffer Whale sticker

Trivia[]

• The Puffer Whale has made the most appearances and most mentions in Toriko out of any other non-character beast.
• The poison sack of the Puffer Whale is the Hors d'Oeuvre of Chef Tylan's Full Course Menu.
• It ranked 14th in the first Popularity Poll with 169 votes.

References[]

Site Navigation[]