Favorite Food Themed Manga!
Today on the blog, I’m delving into the wonderful world of Food Themed Manga! If you’re interested in seeing my previous post on Josei Manga click here!
Our Dining Table
Eating around other people is a struggle for salaryman Yutaka, despite his talent for cooking. All that changes when he meets Minoru and Tane—two brothers, many years apart in age—who ask him to teach them how to make his delicious food! It’s not long before Yutaka finds himself falling hard for the meals they share together—and falling in love!
I love to read stories involving food because they can be warmhearted, complicated, and emotional. Our Dining Table delivers on these very three elements. It was heartwarming to see the three main characters bond over the course of the story and how food brings them together. There is romance in the story, but it felt natural in how it progressed. Moreover, in the narrative, there was a theme of overcoming painful pasts and moving toward the future.
Kitchen Princess
Set in modern-day Japan, Kitchen Princess follows Najika Kazami, a cheerful thirteen-year-old who searches for her “flan prince,” a boy who rescued her from drowning as a young girl and brought a little happiness to her life after her parents’ death.
This manga has a sweet love story and it’s set in a school with multiple cooking competitions. I appreciated that in this series Najika was not given a magical power and had to keep improving her cooking skills over the course of the story. It’s very lighthearted and a bit formulaic at times, but its fluffiness is the story’s key appeal.
What Did You Eat Yesterday
A hard-working middle-aged gay couple in Tokyo come to enjoy the finer moments of life through food. After long days at work, either in the law firm or the hair salon, Shiro and Kenji will always have down time together by the dinner table, where they can discuss their troubles, hash out their feelings and enjoy delicately prepared home cooked meals!
This slice-of-life manga is about a couple who navigate daily life in Japan while relishing gourmet meals at night. While the book focuses on the couple’s love for food, it also shows one perspective of what LGBT life is like in Japan. It’s a moderately paced story and I enjoyed seeing how Shiro and Kenji interact with each other, work through their arguments, and their work/family life. There are a variety of recipes featured in each book which are delicious and easy to follow!
Yakitake!! Japan
England. France. Germany. What common thread binds these three nations together? Answer: 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!
You would think by first looking at this manga that it would be a simple baked goods story, but it is anything but that. Reading the book (and watching the anime) is so entertaining, with its tense baking competitions and a string of memorable characters. Kazuma is a very skilled baker, but his interactions with others allow him to become a better cook and motivate him for future recipes. I love his journey of growth throughout the series and how the characters encourage novice bakers like me to try new recipes.
Bread & Butter
Life isn’t going too well for Yuzuki. She’s a 34-years-old and without a boyfriend. The elementary school she works at is close to firing her, and to top it off she doesn’t know what to do with her life at all. But even when she quits her job and tries to have an arranged marriage things don’t work out. Only the bread she eats at the small stationery store around the corner gives her comfort. So one day, she asks the store owner to marry her on a whim and to her surprise, he agrees…?
In romance series set in a bakery instead of falling into the typical tropes of “fake marriage,” the author takes the time to weave through the dense narratives of the two main characters. It does have some romance bits here and there, but it felt refreshing to see the characters navigate through their past and future. Each chapter focuses on a different recipe of bread and how it reflects metaphors for the characters. The nuances and delicate way each bread is created apply to life’s obstacles.
That concludes my favorite food-themed manga list! What are your favorites or recommendations?
This wasn’t a fav, but it certainly was interesting — Delicious in Dungeon. It’s fantasy about a band adventuring in a dungeon and cooking up the monsters into fantastic meals.
Oooh! I’ve never heard of Delicious in Dungeon, I’ll have to look this manga up. Thanks for the recommendation.