manga: Antique Bakery Vol 1-2

[meganbmoore]

This is one of those series that tends to get a lot of “if you don’t like *insert genre/trope/etc. thing is an example of* you might still like this” recs. In this case, yaoi. But then, despite often being billed as yaoi and released by a publisher that primarily licenses yaoi titles, this isn’t actually yaoi, but is a josei title where one of the four leads is gay, and another possibly (probably) bisexual.

Tachibana is the scion of a rich family who decides to leave the family business and open a cake shop in what used to be an antique store. With his family’s money, he’s able to hire Ono, a “legendary cake master” who also attended Tachibana’s high school, and confessed his love for Tachibana, only to be rejected. Ono’s cakes are exquisite, but he comes with complications that make hiring a staff difficult. For one thing, he’s scared of women, and his general reaction to them seems to be either to lose the ability to speak, to run away crying, or some combination. Obviously, a female employee is out of the question. For another, in the years since being rejected, Ono has become “a gay of demonic charm.” Despite his mousy appearance, just exposure to him tends to make men of any sexuality fall in love with him, and fights have broken out at his former jobs.

Eventually, they’re able to find Kanda, a former boxer with a sweet tooth who isn’t Ono’s type at all, and is too busy trying to learn to bake as well as Ono to even notice the demonic charm. Later, they’re joined by Tachibana’s hopelessly helpless butler, Chikage, who was raised by Tachibana’s family. Chikage is very much Ono’s type, but is also so simple and puppylike that just thinking about it tends to make Ono have spasms of guilt.

The food pr0n is amazing, and Tachibana’s descriptions of the various cakes offered by the shop are both detailed and somehow hilarious. Like many manga series revolving around a shop, the series starts off mostly focusing on the stories of the various customers, and then shifts to being more about the people who run the shop. Normally, I’m ready for the anthology section to take a back seat to the main story, but here, I wanted it to last longer.

I’m amused by both Tachibana and Ono, but I’ve long since lost almost any interest in both rich angsty playboys and men who no one can resist, resulting in an endless stream of lovers. I find the childish-but somehow apparently the most grownup and self-aware of the lot-Kanda and the puppyish Chikage much more endearing, but they’re given much less attention.

Overall, it’s very funny and charming, though I suspect that Yoshinaga Fumi’s kinks are a little closer to my squicks, based on the huge-if acknowledged-power imbalance in Ono and Chikage’s relationship, and with what seems to be her approach to Tachibana’s family and past.

Comments

[mscongeniality.livejournal.com]

You know, this is the first thing I've read about Antique Bakery that made me think I should give it a try. I might just have to pick it up.

[snarp]

I suspect that Yoshinaga Fumi’s kinks are a little closer to my squicks, based on the huge-if acknowledged-power imbalance in Ono and Chikage’s relationship, and with what seems to be her approach to Tachibana’s family and past.

Never, ever, ever read Yoshinaga's Gerard and Jacques. Trust me on this.

[keelieinblack.livejournal.com]

You're probably right about the kink/squick issue, given what I've seen and read of Yoshinaga Fumi's doujinshi for the series.

I do love this series, though. I just wish the various adaptations were as likable--the Korean movie was good, but both the Japanese TV series and anime were fairly blah.

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

Man, I just watched the K-movie for this. It was so amazingly fun that it more than made up for the absolute fail of the anime adaptation. (I haven't seen any of the J-drama, but as I've heard they made Ono straight, I can hardly see how it's even worth mentioning.)

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Normally, I’m ready for the anthology section to take a back seat to the main story, but here, I wanted it to last longer.

I’m amused by both Tachibana and Ono, but I’ve long since lost almost any interest in both rich angsty playboys and men who no one can resist, resulting in an endless stream of lovers. I find the childish-but somehow apparently the most grownup and self-aware of the lot-Kanda and the puppyish Chikage much more endearing, but they’re given much less attention.

Well, if it's any consolation, the anthology-aspect never goes completely away, and Chikage and Kanda (who are great favorites of mine, too) get lots of wonderful moments in the remaining volumes. In Book 3 you get the bit I think I'd mentioned previously about a pair of female reporters, some great bits about Chikage's family, and early in Book 4 there's some wonderful Kanda-centric stuff -- he actually reminds me more than a bit of Goku, when all is said and done. Although the end of the last book does wind up focusing a lot more on Tachibana, who I didn't dislike but did find the least interesting of all the guys...but there's enough of a mystery aspect to that final arc that I wasn't too bothered by his getting the spotlight.

(Definitely stay away from the post-series DJ, of course; the yaoi subtext of the main series becomes blatant, explicit text there.)

[ivy-chan.livejournal.com]

I watched the anime, and god, I love the food porn. I think Farmer Boy introduced me to food porn, and it grabbed my heart and never let go. I spent hours after watching the anime Antique Bakery wanting to go and buy cakes from one of our bakeries nearby. The series itself wasn't anything I would have watched outside the cake porn, but I did like how the series handled Tachibana's past and subsequent Issues. And yeah, Kanda was nifty.

[nebulia.livejournal.com]

I think the thing that makes Antique Bakery considered yaoi are the hardcore explicit 14 (15 now? not sure) yaoi doujin that Yoshinaga did for the series. xD Though I really like the series itself for portraying gay characters without it being BL or yaoi. :)

But I loved Chikage and Kanda too! They were so cute! I wanted to see them more as well (I wanted more about Chikage's daughter and wife. That was perhaps my favorite side story. :D).