It's dumb, over the top, strange... and a must see. Think of it as the Japanese version of the Super Bowl, or Boxing... except with cooking. No... really. It's really interesting. The Chairman (always in an over the top outfit) shows the theme food that the cooks must use and focus on. The channeling picks an Iron Chef to take on. And they both spend one hour cooking as many meals with the theme in focus using the arena style kitchen (no, really... it's exactly as you'd imagine such a thing!) to fix them all. A group of judges taste each dish, and vote for a winner.

Is it as strange as it sounds? No, of course not... it's stranger. It's a mix of sports, cooking, campy fun and culture clash... with a dash of actual cooking knowlege that you learn as you watch.

If you have the food network and never bothered to watch it before (and really, I don't blame you... I didn't either when we first got it), watch this. Give it one show to see if you like it. You'll either find it boring or utterly love it.