Although I’ve been pretty addicted to Harem comedy as of late, I’m glad to come across Yakitate! Ja-Pan, a stellar example of the “Best____ in Japan”/”Quest for the best” genre. You may call it something different, but we’ve all seen this type of work before – a young guy gets it into his mind to become the greatest/best “______” in all of Japan. He’s forced to face many challengers and struggles before he can realize his dream, and his passion attracts the admiration of friends and rivals alike – and usually a young woman, too. The “____” can be any number of things: Go player (Hikaru no Go), drift racer (Initial D), Chinese cook (Iron Wok Jan), so on and so forth. I’ve even heard there was a manga from the 60’s/70’s about a guy who wanted to be the greatest pachinko (Japanese pinball) player in Japan! Japanese culture buffs will have noticed this “quest for the best” story has a long history in that country – witness the ever-popular and oft-repeated story of legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.
Ok, enough literary theory for today……
As a young boy, rice-loving Kuzuma Azuma was forced by his sister into eating a local baker’s delicious bread – and was instantly converted into a bread-loving wannabe baker. The mysterious baker passed on his techniques to young Azuma, as well as the dream of creating a uniquely Japanese bread that would rival the great breads of Europe – in essence, a true “Ja-Pan” (“pan” is the Japanese word for bread). Ten years have come and gone, and 16 year old Kuzuma has become an amazingly talented baker with dreams of continuing his studies at Pantasia, the greatest bakery chain in Japan. When he arrives in Tokyo from the country, he finds out that he must fight his way into an apprenticeship by engaging in a baking competition! Despite being outclassed by more experienced bakers, Azuma has an ace up his sleeve – 55 different and unique bread recipes he has created himself. His creation – bread in the shape of Mt Fuji – impresses the judges, but will his skills impress his weird afro-wearing new boss, Ken Matsushiro?
I’m gonna be pretty blunt here and say that I think YJ is pretty dang awesome. The detailed art is top-notch, with appealingly illustrated characters and well-rendered backgrounds; the characters themselves are lively and hilarious – particularly the eternally cheerful Azuma and the stoic yet eccentric store manager Ken; and the author’s knowledge of the science and art of bread is amazing. It’s a rare creator that can get so many laughs and so much action out of characters baking bread – particularly bread-loving characters in Japan, a country that regards rice as “the staff of life”.
I’ve heard that there’s an anime version of this series, so you know I’ll be hunting that down soon. In the meantime, this series is definitely a “must-read”!
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