What Did You Eat Yesterday? Vol. 3

きのう何食べた? [Kinō Nani Tabeta?] #3

by Fumi Yoshinaga

Not a home cooking semi-pro's partner for nothing, when Kenji prepares himself instant ramen in Shiro's absence, the level of dedication is rather inspiring.

Genres: Manga, LGBT, Comics, Food, Graphic Novels, Slice Of Life, Japan

158 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2009

About the author

Japanese: よしなが ふみ

Fumi Yoshinaga (よしなが ふみ Yoshinaga Fumi, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist known for her shōjo and shōnen-ai works.

Fumi Yoshinaga was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1971. She attended the prestigious Keio University in Tokyo.

In an interview, she said that "I want to show the people who didn't win, whose dreams didn't come true. It is not possible for everybody to get first prize. I want my readers to understand the happiness that people can get from trying hard, going through the process, and getting frustrated."

Little is known about her personal life. She mentions that her favourite operas are those by Mozart in the author's note of Solfege.

She debuted in 1994 with The Moon and the Sandals, serialized in Hanaoto magazine, but was previously a participant in comic markets.

Of Yoshinaga's many works, several have been licensed internationally. She was also selected and exhibited as one of the "Twenty Major Manga artist Who Contributed to the World of Shōjo Manga (World War II to Present)" for Professor Masami Toku's exhibition, "Shōjo Manga: Girl Power!" at CSU-Chico.

Outside of her work with Japanese publishers, she also self-publishes original doujinshi on a regular basis, most notably for Antique Bakery. Yoshinaga has also drawn fan parodies of Slam Dunk, Rose of Versailles, and Legend of Galactic Heroes.

Reviews

[Nicole]

The more I read these, the more I love Shiro and Kenji. It's the perfect escape from my life, and the art is just clean, and the recipes are so freaking intriguing to me. I know for a fact that I don't have Shiro's impressive knife skills but I still want to give it a go. I do love their relationship. Kenji's patience, Shiro's silent way of showing he cares. It truly is an adorable series.

[Beth]

This is one of a minority of manga I own whose cast is predominantly adults over the age of 30. In fact, looking at the copyright date of this volume (2009), Shiro is just about exactly my age. One of his current issues is needing to send money to his parents, largely because of his mom's spendthrift habits (kimono collecting, accoutrements of being in this or that religious group), and worrying that when he's retired, he won't have the means to support himself, since he has no children of his own* who could potentially help out. As a childless person with parents in their 70s, this was all too relatable for me.

* he's gay and tbh I don't know whether gay people can adopt or marry in Japan. well, not every couple wants to be parents, as my own marriage shows.

This continues to be a wonderfully homey story with amazing-looking food. I don't necessarily envy Kenji for having someone to make four-course meals for him every evening (not to mention a crepe brunch with a nice suite of savory and sweet fillings!), but I would absolutely not complain if I had a partner with the inclination and skills. :D

[marcia]

Vol. 1 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 2 ★★☆☆☆

Giving this series another go after finishing the immaculate Ōoku: The Inner Chambers. My initial frustration stems from wanting it to be something that it's not; now that I've embraced its episodic nature, I find it way more enjoyable. This volume focuses heavily on Shiro, whether it's sending his parents money, not wanting to creep out his junior at work, or worrying about grocery prices. Those who are looking for escapism will be disappointed but for me, it's so down-to-earth that it's comforting. I also find the recipes less intrusive this time, because they underline the routine nature of everyday life: for better or worse, you always need to cook and eat! Looking forward to reading more of this.

[Lara]

I was convinced to go back and give the rest of this series a try after a Goodreads friend raved about the final volume and the series as a whole. I really struggled with the second volume and just...didn't like one of the two main characters and how he was treating his partner, and I sort of just lost interest. But I'm glad I picked it back up, because I feel like Shiro's general self-absorbedness (self-absorbtion? What the heck is the correct form for this word and why is English so weird?) is dealt with really well here (go Kenji!), and he became a much more sympathetic character. It's still a slow, quiet sort of story, but I'm looking forward to the next volume now and seeing how Shiro and Kenji's relationship plays out.

Thanks for the inspiration, Skye! :)

[Noora]

3.5/5
dnf @ 50%
i so want to enjoy this. i borrowed 16 vols of it from the library
unfortunately, theres just sooo little plot. like its cute and i love the cooking but i wish it gave me more than that.
i loved the characters <3

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange)]

4.0 Stars
Super cute & funny. This manga inspires me to cook... and eat.

[Beau Manglass]

I truly believe Fumi Yoshinaga deserves the Pulitzer prize for Manga.

[anastasia]

Turned around on this series with this volume! I appreciated the level of characterization of our two leads.

[Matthew White Ellis]

I liked this volume a lot! I like the realistic relationships. Of course the love isn't quite the same after being together for, what. Three years? I don't think Shiro is being mean, I think he's just like a lot of other adults who get into long term relationships/ marriages/ or common law relations. I'm still loving how their relationship is playing, so that I find myself skimming over the recipes to get to more slice of life story lines. However, some of the recipes have definitely peaked my interest and I totally want to try the crepe recipe from this book and the one for homemade jam in volume 1.
I can't wait to get my hands on the next volume of this series.

[Patrice Sartor]

Volume 3 offers more of the same endearing mixture of food preparation and eating with a middle-aged gay couple living their lives. Shiro interacts more with his parents and deals with some deep issues related to them. My favorite chapter equates Shiro's grocery shopping on a budget and Kenji's securing of a hairstylist client to big game hunting.

Very entertaining, amusing, and filled with wondrous food descriptions. My only complaint is Shiro's reason for staying with Kenji, but hey, it's in character.

[ngọc ♡]

(A+)

I think it's pretty clear in this volume that Shirou has problems with admitting what he feels. Not only does he struggle with internalized homophobia, but also fear of abandonment and rejection that comes with previous failed relationships. Kenji understands this perfectly, though. He probably understands Shirou more than Shirou does himself.

Shirou still has a very long way to go, and Kenji will be there for him the whole way. I love these two so much.

[Laura]

Still loving the recipes and lovely food, but loving even more the slice-of-life relationships and their development. Shiro has a soul, after all!

[K]

Enjoyed this and did feel like the recipes were starting to take a bit more of a backseat, which was nice. It's probably a good thing that the next book is stuck in transit, so I'm forced to take a break for a little bit, but right now, I'm thinking that the next time there's a big sale, I'll grab some more of the series. I'd started with one, then with five, to see how I'm liking it and whether to keep going. Right now, I'm thinking yes, but hopefully book 4 will show up soon enough for me to make a more solid decision.

I do still wish there was more communication between Shiro and Kenji, other than the two of them sitting down for meals and talking about the food. When do they talk about their lives? Shiro seems to know very little about Kenji's family - which I would like to know more about, since it seems that they're estranged. It's likely that Kenji's father, at least, stopped speaking to him once he found out his son was gay.

It was only possible to gather this much because Kenji got uncharacteristically angry with Shiro when Shiro was complaining about having to spend New Year's with his parents - because of his father being freshly out of surgery. I liked that Shiro took Kenji's words to heart and that the meal he made was a clear apology that Kenji understood. But I do still wish they would actually talk.

Also interesting that Shiro talked with his grocery buddy about his relationship with Kenji. She seems actively dissatisfied with her husband - only staying with him because divorce would be too much of a hassle - which wasn't a great tone to set. But I don't think that's really what Shiro meant. He does want to stay with Kenji, putting in the effort to keep him happy since they don't and can't have a marriage certificate to tie them together, and I don't think it's only because he's tired of dating.

I'm a bit sad they're not going to go on their onsen holiday, but I suppose that's part of who they are, too; they like their quiet life and coming home from work to nice meals together.

One thing that's kind of missing for me is any sort of "through" storyline, other than the parts with Shiro's parents. Are we going to find out why Kenji's friend was being weird about money? Why didn't we get more of the interactions between Shiro and the coworker he accidentally hit on while trying very hard to not harass her. Things like that would make this series more fleshed out and interesting in the long run, so maybe I should wait to see how I like 4 & 5 before buying too many more.

[Justin]

This volume felt pretty evenly-balanced between the recipes and actual story, which was nice. Also gratifying was seeing a bit of resolution between Kakei and his parents. In the previous volume, his reaction following his father's surgery was bordering on downright cold. Here...well, you can tell they don't necessarily have the healthiest of relationships, but at least it all felt more genuine.

The remaining story parts of this volume were as much a look into facets of Japanese society, as they were about the personal lives of Kakei and Kenji. Everything from how seasonal changes affect the clientelle at various businesses, to how up-and-coming lawyers go about learning the trade--it's interesting stuff, from a cultural perspective.

All in all, What Did You Eat Yesterday? remains a nice, comfortable slice of life series. Nothing ground-breaking, but after a long, tiring day, it's relaxing to sit back and read a chapter or two.

[Sol]

Uuugh, this whole volume is perfection, but the start especially is SO great. The first chapter in this volume is nothing short of perfection. I love the little spat that Ken and Shiro get into, because I feel like it's such a real-life fight that they have. I also love how the fight resolves, too -- no apologies needed, just a warm meal on the table. Again, that just feels like real life to me, and I really love it.

Every chapter in this volume is just perfect though. Ken's New Years ramen, Shiro's visit with family, his big oopsie with a new coworker (I love how overly self conscious he is, it kills me, and honestly if I was that female coworker I'd be really wary of him too sadhkgdfhg)... the money problems, the recession... Yoshinaga just captures life that is real. I love it more than anything.

Also, that afternoon brunch of sweet and savory crepes with beer on the side is a neeeeeeed!!!!

[nitya]

this is really when the series starts actually doing consistent storylines across volumes so everything w shiro and his parents is handled really well and it also starts giving kenji a lot more credit and agency which is always nice to see. also the peaches chapter its so good to finally see shiro genuinely putting effort into their relationship. i just dont like the chapter with the apprentice though shiros specific brand of overthinking is always welcome esp w how much it diminishes as the series progresses

[ℂ ✧]

Estèticament està molt bé, però massa depriment, me n'he atipat... el Shiro és calculador i fred amb tothom, sembla que només li preocupen els diners, ja que no mostra cap mena de sentiment d'afecte cap als pares o el seu company Kenji, fins i tot sembla que li fan nosa :( pel que he anat fullejant dels següents volums la cosa no millora perquè van envellint amb la mateixa dinàmica i la cuina té massa protagonisme per a mi...

[Rocky Sunico]

This book continues along at its mellow but ever so charming pace and continues to give a lot of good feels. This volume features a lot of the small stories that managed to make their way into TV series, with good reason. But we also don't exactly get some larger meta-plot or story arc across the issues either.

Just a lot of feel-good, slice-of-life charmingness.

[Karen]

I’m giving up on the series because I am finding it difficult to warm up to Shiro. I don’t find him a particularly sympathetic character and he doesn’t display much emotion (it’s hard to tell whether he loves Kenji). Although finally there is a bit more character development in this volume. Kenji is a sweetheart though.

[Molly]

It is thoughtful volume about an issue Shiro has to face as a single child. I do find it difficult to imagine how either one of them might be happy together without more interaction between them as a couple. Maybe I will learn more about their journey as a couple in later volumes

[Stephanie Jones]

This is a sweet story of being a gay couple in the mid-forties. Older parents, aging self questions on how to manage life and it's surprises. The difficulties of leaving a relationship. It is better than to be together unhappy than to start over. I enjoy the simple cooking recipes.

[Doc Kinne]

After several years I'm returning to this series. Five years ago the recipies, apparently, were a bit of an annoyance. Now, they're more of the point. I'm enjoying things both from that standpoint and from a Japanese cultural standpoint.

[Nina]

Definitely curious to see where their relationship goes from here.

[Chris]

Pretty good.

[Jillian -always aspiring-]

Reread in 2019

You can really tell Yoshinaga loves food and cooking.

[白い世界]

2.5

[kutingtin]

this series has all of my faves- slice of life, Japan, yummy food and simple, sincere relationships ❤️❤️❤️

[Fiza]

I love this series so much

[Laurel]

More delicious sounding recipes that I want to branch out and explore, and more background on Kenji and Shiro's life together and Shiro's parents.

[Muhammad Rajab Al-mukarrom]

Lowkey I saw Kenji’s attitude in me lol