Anthony Bourdain’s wild vision of a future where chefs rule Los Angeles is coming to television.
Adult Swim has released the official trailer and first-look photos for Get Jiro, a new animated series based on the bestselling graphic novels created by Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose.The series premieres Saturday, October 3, 2026 at midnight ET/PT as part of Adult Swim’s Toonami block before streaming the following day on HBO Max.
Brian Tee leads the voice cast as Jiro, a mysterious sushi chef navigating a post-apocalyptic, near-future Los Angeles where food isn’t simply something people eat — it’s currency, status and power. Titus Welliver, Alison Pill and Justin Kirk also star in the Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios series.
And if you’ve never encountered Bourdain’s Get Jiro! before, the premise is wonderfully insane.
Watch The Get Jiro Official Trailer
The first red-band trailer offers a bloody introduction to a Los Angeles where restaurants function more like criminal territories and culinary disputes can become deadly. Jiro enters that world as a ruthless sushi chef with his own rules — and very little patience for people who disrespect his craft.
It’s an idea that feels unmistakably connected to Bourdain: food is the entry point, but the story quickly expands into questions about culture, obsession, class and power.
Adult Swim president Michael Ouweleen said the network was already a fan of Bourdain and Rose’s graphic novels when Warner Bros. Animation approached them about the project, describing the resulting series as a cinematic extension of the way Bourdain used food to explore considerably bigger ideas.
What Is Get Jiro About?
Get Jiro takes place in a post-apocalyptic, near-future Los Angeles where culinary culture has become the dominant force in society.
The world’s most powerful people are chefs.
Food functions as currency and helps determine social class.
Into that world comes Jiro, a mysterious sushi chef who sets out on a quest for vengeance.
The original graphic novel pushes that premise even further. DC describes its future Los Angeles as a place where master chefs wield the power of crime lords and diners are willing to kill simply to secure a table at the city’s most desirable restaurants. Jiro’s arrival eventually threatens to ignite an all-out culinary war.
Yes, Anthony Bourdain essentially created a dystopian action story in which chefs are mob bosses and a sushi chef becomes the dangerous outsider.
You can understand why Adult Swim wanted it.
Get Jiro Started With Anthony Bourdain And Joel Rose
Long before the Adult Swim adaptation, Get Jiro! began as an original graphic novel written by Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose, with artwork by Langdon Foss.
Published through DC’s Vertigo imprint, the original story became a New York Times bestseller and offered Bourdain and Rose an opportunity to turn contemporary food culture into an exaggerated, violent dystopia.
Bourdain and Rose later returned to the character with Get Jiro: Blood and Sushi, which explores Jiro’s origins in Japan.
That story reveals Jiro as the heir to a Yakuza crime family who secretly develops a passion for cooking rather than following the violent path his father has planned for him. Alé Garza provided the artwork for the follow-up.
DC also released Get Jiro! The Complete Collection in June 2026, collecting both stories in a single volume.
Who Stars In Get Jiro?
Brian Tee voices Jiro, the mysterious sushi chef at the center of the story.
The voice cast also features:
Titus Welliver, Alison Pill and Justin Kirk.
The series was developed by Alessandro Tanaka and Brian Gatewood, who executive produce alongside Jordan Blum and Sam Register.
Get Jiro is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios.
When Does Get Jiro Premiere?
Get Jiro premieres Saturday, October 3, 2026 at midnight ET/PT on Adult Swim as part of the network’s Toonami anime/action block.
The series will then be available to stream Sunday, October 4 on HBO Max.
Between Bourdain’s name, an unusually inventive source material and a world where a badly prepared meal might have considerably more serious consequences than a one-star review, Get Jiro certainly won’t have much trouble distinguishing itself from the rest of the fall television schedule.
Get Jiro First-Look Photos
Adult Swim has also released a collection of first-look photos from Get Jiro, offering a closer look at the animated world inspired by Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose’s graphic novels.
The new images showcase the series’ vision of a near-future Los Angeles where culinary culture has become a source of wealth, status and power — and where Brian Tee’s Jiro enters the city’s dangerous food hierarchy with vengeance on his mind.
Check out the first-look photos from Get Jiro below.
Thomas Miller is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Seat42F, covering television, movies and streaming entertainment. He launched Seat42F in 2007 and has spent nearly two decades covering the entertainment industry.
