Yakitate!! Japan, Volume 1

焼きたてジャぱん [Yakitate!! Japan] #1

by Takashi Hashiguchi

Are you ready for the Iron Chef of bread?! Manga shall not live by bread alone.

England. France. Germany. What common thread binds these three nations together? each is famous for producing unique, distinctive, delicious bread. But what about Japan, home to rice and delicacies of the sea? Is there not a doughy, gastronomic delight they can claim as their own? The answer is no...until now! Kazuma Azuma, a 16-year-old-boy blessed with otherworldly baking powers, has taken it upon himself to create Ja-pan, the national bread of the land of the rising sun!

The stakes are high and the competition is fierce, but Kazuma won't let anything prevent him from achieving his nation-changing, freshly baked goal. Relocating to Tokyo, Kazuma seeks to further his studies at Pantasia, a famous bakery chain. But will he rise to the challenge and pass the entrance examination, or will his best intentions fall flat?

Genres: Manga, Comics, Food, Graphic Novels, Humor, Comedy, Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 2002

About the author

Takashi Hashiguchi (橋口 たかし) is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his manga series Yakitate!! Japan, for which he won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 2004. Hashiguchi won a newcomer's award in 1987 (published in a magazine), and Combat Teacher debuted the following year in the same magazine.

A prevailing theme seen throughout his manga is the realization of childhood dreams, such as making bread in Yakitate!! Japan or becoming a yo-yo master in Super Yo-Yo (Chousoku Spinner). Hashiguchi mainly focuses on unusual occupations or sports.

He enjoys comedy as well, and took a brief interlude from drawing to try his luck as a comedian.
Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a silly book, and that's good. I don't know if you can take the concept too seriously. The silliness ranges from actually funny to sort of tiresome, which isn't terrible in a manga like this. I've definitely seen worse. The food aspect seems, to me, to be well done. It felt like the writer had done some serious research into bread baking. The references to real bread are factually accurate, and they look the way they should. I have no idea if some of Azuma's techniques, like the Fujiyama shaped naan, would actually work or not, but they seem plausible. And the reactions people have to eating his apparently delicious bread are funnier than I expected them to be. I might want to take this series in small doses, but I'm going to reading more.

[Suzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hashiguchi's bread baking battle comic. Azuma Kazuma (or Kazuma Azuma, depending on whether you read the VIZ or fanslated version first) wants to make bread a part of daily life in Japan. Silly and light. Shonen. Expect occasional fanservice. It doesn't detract from Yakitate, but it usually feels like it has been inserted in after the fact. As in, you're reading along and 'Oh, hey, that is an extra extra short skirt there for no particular reason.' Some internet people claim that Yakitate has NO FANSERVICE. I think that just means it is not happening constantly. Please see the covers of the English language version Volumes 4 and 10. I have read at least 40% of the way through all 26 volumes. I assure you, it is in there.

[MT · Rating 4 out of 5]

เราเชิดชูคนแบบซึกิโนะ คนที่ประสบความสำเร็จได้ด้วยมันสมอง คนที่แทบไม่ต้องลงแรงอะไรเลยในเกมกระดานทุนนิยม มีเพียงหน้าที่เดียวคือobserve&obeyกับสิ่งที่ตนได้วางไว้แล้วในเกมกระดานหาใช่หมากเองไม่ ส่วนอาซึมะคนที่มีambition&productivityที่ดีแต่ไร้ซึ่งความcompetitiveในสายเลือด(การแข่งขันขนมปังและtournamentเป็นเพียงsub goalเล็กๆของเขาเท่านั้น เขาไม่อยากแข่งกับใครเลย)ย่อมตอบสนองโลกทุนนิยมเสรีได้เพียงมิติเดียวคือในฐานะลูกจ้างไม่ก็เป็นหมากให้กับคนแบบซึกิโนะใช้เดินไปเรื่อยๆจนกว่าจะไร้ประสิทธิภาพไม่ก็ถูกexpioltจนสิ้นเนื้อประดาตัวจนกลายเป็นmarxist! แต่ฝ่ามือหัตตะวันของอาซึมะ ฝ่ามือที่ปั้นขนมปังที่คนกินขึ้นสวรรค์ได้หรือกลายเป็นงานศิลปะได้นิมันต้องรุ่งโรจน์มากๆในวงการแล้ว แต่อาซึมะก็ไม่เลือกไปเพราะดันตกหลุมพร่างมายาคติที่เรียกว่ามิตรภาพของซึกิโนะ

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is also posted in my blog :
https://onewordtoomuch.wordpress.com/...

This review is not for the entire series but only for some volumes.

Today I would like to review one manga that is not only delicious but educational as well. If you like food and not only eating it but involved in the process of making it, you would sure enjoy this.

We follow the story of Azuma, a boy who went to become an apprentice baker at Phantasia bakery. He has a rare gift: “the hand of the sun” which has more heat to make dough develop better than regular dough. He doesn’t know any name of the bread that he made, only called it Japan with a number. He met with some interesting characters who later become his team mates. At every turn, there are challenges that Azuma needs to overcome to become a famous baker. Every competition meets a new bump in the road, a new challenge and knowledge about cooking.

The moral of the story is about friendship, team work, doing what’s right according to your principle and hard work. There are many times that Azuma’s teammate or enemy is trying to cheat. Somehow with the help of his friends and some hard work, he could overcome the challenges.

The story is quite simple but the illustration is fantastic. Combining parts of martial arts, lots of action, focusing on facial expression and body parts, makes this manga feels cool to read. Not to mention there are some facts about the food or food ingredients that is well researched.

Recommend for those who loves the art of food with lots of action and humor.

[D E N Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhhhhh it was super nostalgic reading this. Yakitate Japan was one of the first anime shows I've watched XX years ago. I don't remember much of the details anymore since I was still extremely young when that show came out and I wasn't really able to follow the show religiously. But anyway, enough about the anime.

This manga/this volume was such a cute read!! Really made me miss the past. Definitely looking forward to read the rest of this series.

[Yuna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but though I liked the bread baking aspect, the humor wasn't my thing. I think I'd find Kazuma's naivete really grating in the long run if I kept going with the series.

[MissAnnThrope · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 March 2013

I am a sucker for manga that centers around food. So imagine my delight when I happened upon Yakitate!! Japan, Volume 1 and discovered that not only is it about food, but it is primarily about baking BREAD! Ohh...carby heaven!

Kazuma Azuma's life goal is to create a doughy delight that is distinctly Japanese and so delicious that it would make the famous breads of other nations seem inedible in comparison. Although Kazuma has the Hands of the Sun, he knows he needs more training to achieve his dream. He packs up for Tokyo to apprentice at the renowned bakery Pantasia.

Unbeknownst to Kazuma, he must participate in a series of challenges in order to be considered for employment at Pantasia. His ignorance for the different types of bread is sweet and hilarious. If you've ever wanted to learn about different types of bread, this manga will teach you a thing or two. I do wish there were recipes of the breads, but that's just me being greedy.

Yakitate!! Japan, Volume 1 is light-hearted and ridiculously silly. It's the perfect comfort food for when you need to escape the craziness of life. There were so many moments that made me laugh out loud that my cheeks started hurting. Watching the characters spasm as they taste the food never gets old. Sure, it's exaggerated but that's what makes it so dang funny. My favorite scene is of Kazuma's first experience with bread at six-year's-old. So adorable and funny!

I love how Kazuma's sister is so aggressive with making him understand that bread is amazing.








Hahaha! My favorite moment.


This is one of the most adorable manga I have ever read. From the clever pun on Ja-pan (pan means bread in Japanese) to the wonderfully naïve main character, Kazuma Azuma, this story had me in love with it from the very beginning. The sweet nature of Kazuma brought to mind Najika from Kitchen Princess. If the rest of the series is as good as this introductory volume, this will go right next to Kitchen Princess on my favorite manga shelf.

[Knife · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of this serie! It starts with a boy with a dream, to make the a bread so great it'll be know across the globe! But to do so, he gets involved in events that spiral out of control. My favorite character's the clown, and the manga is better than the anime imo.

[Kenny Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I know for a fact that most of people first seen this title will wonder and think "What the heck ? A show about Bread, you got to be kidding, what so interesting about watching a show on Bread ?". I know, dont worry I think that when I fist read it too, but now, this is my answer for it: That’s easy, it’s one of the best pure comedies since Azumanga Daioh, and it will fill you with laughter and excited in wondering what Azuma creation gonna be in the next chapter of Yakitate Japan. Throughout the series, you’ll find yourself bursting out with laughter. Example like Judge Kuroyanagi will quickly become your favorite by his ability of unable to contain himself after trying on one of Azuma great bread, or the humour acting of Manager Ken, who will put you to laughter almost every time you saw him, or may be the humour of Azuma countryside dense acting. On top of this, you have a pretty interesting and very enjoyable story, as Azuma dream of trying to become of the best bread maker in Japan. Also, the character in here are very well develop, a great story about rivalry and friendship. You will soon found very fond of the cast in here as you go on with the series. Yakitate!! Japan also gives you Bread Battles! (pretty silly you think, haha, but no) you actually find yourself getting into the competitions and rooting for the Pantasia Southern Tokyo branch employees to make the greatest tasting bread ever! .

Beside from the story, Yakitate Japan also have great animation as well. Since it only a recent anime, the art in it are very well made and fill with detail smile.gif . The music also great too. This is no surprise, considering Taku Iwasaki is the person behind it. With a resume including R.O.D. TV, Read or Die OVA, Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal, and Witch Hunter Robin, you can easily see why.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Kitchen Princess, I wanted to read another manga about food. My husband and I have a giant walk in closet full of manga and anime. I decided to pick the first ten volumes of this out of our pile. Not sure how I feel about it. It's fun, and silly, but it can almost be stupid at times. I hope I enjoy the next volumes a little bit more.

[Sulhan Habibi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread.

Tiba2 pengen baca manga ini lagi dan jadinya bongkar2 lemari.

Manga Yakitate!! Japan ini salah satu komik tentang roti yang absurd dan kocak banget. Jadi ingat dulu sampai ngakak melihat reaksi kelezatan roti buatan Azuma yang kebanyakan absurd (dan aneh). Hahaha..

Bagaimanapun juga, manga ini sangat menghibur.

*Jadi ingin makan roti enak

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh boy, I'm just getting myself in deep with long-running (which I consider to be 20+ volumes of manga) series where I'm jumping back and forth between them (while trying to mix in other stuff as well). Bleach. Fullmetal Alchemist. Nana. And now Yakitate!! Japan. A college friend introduced me to the anime of the series, which I fell completely in love with. I went and read through the manga and loved it, too. So this represents my return.

I don't read manga illegally anymore (to the relieved sigh of manga publishers everywhere)--although I never went as deep down the fan-translated manga hole as many manga fans do--but it's interesting comparing the experience of reading the "fansub" (is there a better term than that?) versus the official translation. Sure, the "fansubbers" tend to leave more terms untranslated (the Bleach ones I read back in the day use "Shinigami" instead of "soul reapers," or a preference to use the honorifics "-san" and "-chan"), which I tend to prefer, but otherwise the official releases have better translations in general. But while the US manga publishers are (understandably) heavy handed with their "translate everything!" philosophy, that doesn't mean that they're truly localizing--they're just, you know, translating. And that's great! Except with a series like Yakitate!! Japan, which is a series that goes deep into the world of puns. It's been a long time since I've read the "fansubbed" Yakitate!! Japan, so I won't be able to pull specific examples, but the "fansubbers" would write explanations for every pun in the margins--the linguistic construct of the pun and other context--so that English readers can see the mechanics of the pun. It can't replicate that "Aha!" gut-punch of knowing Japanese and reading it in the Japanese, but I enjoyed it a lot. The VIZ translation avoids most of this. It gives a quick explanation for one of the major recurring puns: "Pan" in Japanese is "bread," and the main character is trying to create a bread for Japanese people that will be so iconic that it will be named Japanese bread, like "french bread" is named after its country of origin; so he always calls his attempts Japan. VIZ slicks this over with a simple aside, although if I remember right, the "Ja" part plays into the pun deeper than just standing for Japan. The extra layer plays into the way we see our protagonist and explains some of the communication errors that crop up during the series. Or maybe I'm misremembering. Either way, VIZ doesn't do much about pun explaining in a series laced with them.

While that makes this official release of Yakitate!! Japan less humorous (although still funny!), it's a series that rides on more than jokes. I would argue the jokes are just a spice to an engaging mashup of your typical tournament-style fighting series (Yu Yu Hakusho, say) and bread baking. Think your favorite Food Network cooking competition: Chopped, say, or Iron Chef.

This volume is a bit of a slow ramp--as first volumes often are--but it still shines with the character introductions and some delightful artwork. Takashi Hashiguchi excels at character expressions, so even simple panels are engaging, but he also does complex panels that show a good eye for detail and composition.

Very recommended.

[V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every so often, it takes reading a manga to be educated on a certain subject matter - and in this particular manga, about bread making, types of breads, history of breads, etc. It was even more so captivating to have a youthful lead character - Kazuma. He is a charming boy who made it look like bread making was an interesting adventure and not a boring task as I always thought it would be. Of course, the supporting characters were also delightful. There were the comic relief Kyosuke and the beauty and bakery heiress Tsukino. I think the imposing Kai will also be playing a major role and of course, the weirdo horse feeder character Ken. I'm excited to learn the Japan's that Kazuma has already made since he already made up to #55.

[Rebecca Cairo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the silliness of this manga a lot— I like our main and his mission and I like the competition and the rivalry amongst other bread makers. However, that is where my liking of it wavers.

I found the pacing to be off and it was hard to really get into this story because of it. Then, there were quite a few weird comments and choices that weren’t my cup of tea. I’m not here for the random fatphobia or jokes about the lack of intelligence of Kazuma. I’m also not here for the sexualization of the only female character that’s just thrown in random places. I liked the initial idea of this manga but the execution is just not what I’m looking for.

[Ethan Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manga really has the power to make the sublime or the mundane interesting, and this one helps represent that. It’s literally about baking bread, but the main character’s nature is something I can really relate to, and the step-by-step analysis of baking really shows how intricate the process is. Mangas like these that you can tell the author put research into, and that make something totally ordinary into a well-crafted storyline are some of the best ones in my humble opinion🤠

5/5, someone come bake bread with me🥖🍞

[Wahyudha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keren nih. Nemu komik yang bercerita tentang membuat roti. kazuma Azuma remaja dengan TANGAN MATAHARI bermimpi bisa menciptakan roti yang bisa mengalahkan nasi sebagai makanan pokok Jepang. Kazuma sedang dalam seleksi toko roti terbesar di Jepang, Pantasia. Kazuma datang dengan poin tersisa 1 dari 10.dan terancam pulang alias tak lulus. Tapi kemampuannya yang beda a menyelamatkannya dengan roti Japan andalannya. Ia bertemu dengan pembuat roti croissant yang jg manajer di cabang Tokyo Selatan.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die Idee mit dem Brotbacken ist süß und es ist sogar recht lehrreich, da viel über die verschiedenen Brote und wie man die macht, erzklärt wird.
Leider haben wir aber auch direkt am Anfang einen super nervigen Mobber, der aber vermutlich der beste Freund vom MC wird, und ich hab da echt keine Lust drauf - das Mädel nervt mich auch :D und da der Manga in Deutschland abgebrochen wurde, seh ich auch keinen Sinn mehr, den weiter u lesen. So yeah.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard shonen hero’s journey... with breadmaking instead of monster hunting or martial arts or treasure. Very daft but not as stupid as it looks. Parts could come from a satire of shonen, like the standard brutal academy exam.

I also appreciate the implicit point that anything can be a profound mission, if you are lucky or gifted enough to lend something grandeur and telos.

[Ivy Blues · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know how to feel about this. I love the main character he’s cute and VeRy innocent. And the story makes me constantly worry about him as if I’m there with him, but something about him saying that he wants bread to be the new rice ticks me off.
A good read though ❤️

[Chi · Rating 3 out of 5]

HILARIOUS jokes and physical humour, but the ending was ridiculous!

[Hana Eka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read.

Kangen komik tentang makanan jadi baca ulang Yakitate!! Japan.

[Apsaryld · Rating 4 out of 5]

roti yang bahkan kuda pun bisa memakannya

[Nattapan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and entertaining manga and anime.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't think I would enjoy a manga about bread baking so much, but this was great!

[Saralyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, Cute and fluffy.

[Louis Guillaume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love

Love this manga !!!!! It is one of my favorites!! Can't wait to read more of this manga ! Gambatte

[CJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is ridiculous and I absolutely love it.
Who knew the competitive world of bread baking was so intense?!

[Francine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Protagonist has the "hands of the sun"? Oh, hell yeah, gimme that sweet over-the-top shonen bread-baking nonsense!

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am re reading this because of this girl that I like and she's discovering this on anime format. After more than a decade later it feels good to re read something you enjoyed in the past

[Amara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good first volume. It makes me think of Shokugeki no Souma, Skip Beat! It's got lots of energy.