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Reviewed by David Rasmussen Lately I’ve added a cooking video game review Epublication into my list of things I work on a monthly basis… so, well, now I no longer have an excuse not to read this no matter what I think of it. Yakitate!! Japan is a title about bread… but not the bread you spend as much as the bread you eat. That kind of bread… yeah, and here I thought only cooking video games could get away with these kind of plot devices. My bad. As of the 13th Volume everyone is over at the Monaco Cup dueling baking style… wow, isn’t this the kind of thing that only happens on the Food Network… no… yes… something… anyway after a rather short embarrassing confusion of words where somehow words of coup and revolution get mistaken for ideas of gay marriage… no, really? Anyway (and this is why I so didn’t touch this for so long), the first 50 or so pages is unfathomable drama… mostly because I am such a late comer to this title I have no clue what’s going on. This is, what, Volume 13? Yeah. Volume 13. It’s no wonder I am not the slightest bit versed in who’s what, what’s where, and why I should care what’s going on is going on. This is probably why I always suggest starting from Volume 1, not this far (so despite the fact I’m reviewing Volume 13 to 17 here during the next batch of weeks I would want you to start from Volume 1 when you go to the store or online to buy… it’s going to be far easier on you that way). Anyway after some drama about the characters and the angst they have over bread making or their personal demons (one character even going so far as “becoming a demon”… more or less) it’s back to Round 2 of the Monaco Cup and the tournament is on once again. Yeah, back to the bread-making battle, everyone... Sure, if you aren't addicted to cooking games or their puzzler equal then you are probably not going to swing on a title about baking bread… except that we’ve seen titles already run with the cooking theme and make great leaps in fan base appeal (the names presently elude my memory but there are a few… Iron Wok Jun I think though if I misnamed the title you can forgive me, can’t you), so this title is just another in a string of series that is looking to appeal to that audience… of course having gotcha like one of the major principals of the competition being stabbed near the 90th page works too… doesn’t it…? Well, don’t worry, that person who got stabbed will get better… then get worse and have to be carried off, all to make a point about “liberation” and drive the theme of that particular bread home… say what? Did we have to go the long round about, merry-go-round way to bring us back to the point of liberation in the bread and all that?!? Let’s see… then there’s hallucinations about hot looking women in Playboy bunny motifs and the lion who would be king… then the one who was stabbed (Pierrot) does get better and the title… meh. Yeah. OK. I know we’re halfway through but I have one big gripe about this read, and that is this read is a long slow slog when a short and snappy set of scenes would have worked better. I mean oh my god, did we have to go through so much context just to get to the point about Liberation in context of the bread?!? And then the next long long long drawn out sequence which… argh… Volume 14 wraps up the Monaco Cup and Team Japan has to fight hard to win, which isn’t easy as they still have Team USA to go through and more bread making… and more taking forever to make a point that could be said far easier with less context… wow, how did this series get to be so long in the tooth again? I mean come on!! It’s a series about people competing… in a bread-making contest!! No, really, where did this get it’s charm? My theory is that the charm lies in the complexity. Sure, it could be more to the point, but the depth of character and plot is probably one of its driving forces that keeps the title rolling loaves off the assembly line volume in and volume out for as long as this series lasted. A melodrama with sprinklings of humor about one person (and ultimately one team’s) quest to make bread nobody will ever forget, and all the many characters that cross their paths (each with their own stories and destinies that unroll before the reader as much as the stories of the main cast). That, I take it, is the drive and charm of the series. Why it went on for so long, why it is still probably going on to this day, and why it is as popular with its fan base as it is. I can’t think of much else but that, but that is reason enough for me to say its worth checking out… but not from this point. You’d probably be far more attached to the series if you went back to its origins, and started your journey at Volume 1. Sure, sure, I’m sure VIZ wants the present on sale volumes to move but this is not a series that you’ll be able to jump into at such a late point in the game, so to speak. You’re not going to like it unless you really make a connection to the series, and to do that you need to spring back to its beginnings and start there. Of course, if you're already a fan of cooking style manga, then hooking up with this is just the next step, you shouldn’t have any problems getting into this if you’ve done it before with other cooking-themed series. But then again, if that's you, you already knew that and didn't need me to tell you... So it’s not a runaway hit score, but it has a spark of possibility. Love the idea of cooking mangas, hate 'em, that’s up to you. But one more time make sure to start at the very beginning (or I have a feeling the series will just roll on without you as you won’t find any real good reason to get attached to the series if you have zero idea what’s going on in the series). C. Think you could have written a better review of Yakitate!! Japan v13-14? Write us and we'll probably let you give it a shot! --EiC PC |
12 March 2010 10 March 2010
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