12-Days of Anime, Day 1: Yakitate!! Japan
An anime about baking bread.
Yeah that’s pretty much what this whole show is about.
Imagine Food Wars, but with 90% less fanservice and 100% more baking.
Notice how I said 90% fanservice. I mean, there’s still that little 10%…
Once upon a time, there was a handsome and intelligent boy who watched a certain anime every time he got home from school. Before diligently starting his homework, he would tune in to the television and watch an anime about baking. He liked this show because it was funny and had heart, with likeable characters and an easy-to-follow story.
Many years into the future, that same boy is giving everyone his initial thoughts on the show that he loved as a child in an editorial format on a website.
That boy was me, Dio.
And the anime, well, is what I’m focusing for today.
What’s up, everyone, my name is Ken, from thebuttonsmashers.com, and today, I present to you Day 1 of the 12-Days of Anime, featuring my immediate two-cents on the bewildering ballad of breadmaking anime: Yakitate!! Japan.
Since he was a little kid, Kazuma Azuma loved making bread. He holds the dream of continuing the goal that the baker who inspired him wanted: to create a bread that can represent Japan as a country, similar to English bread and French bread. In order to do that, he brings his talent, ideas, and legendary “Hands of the Sun” (unnaturally warm hands that allow dough to ferment quicker) to Pantasia, a bakery located at the heart of Tokyo, and hopes to bake his way through the competition!
As you can probably tell, this is a cooking-anime, one that focuses on making bread (so that includes anything from normal breakfast bread to pastries). Therefore, there are “loaves” of intricate moments here and there that really highlights how this show uses breadmaking as a medium of storytelling.
Get it guys? ‘Cuz……”loaves” kinda sounds like “loads” and…………..ok…………
But in all seriousness though, this show is actually really hard to put down once you’ve gotten yourself invested in it. What draws you into the story are not only the likeable characters, but also the comedy that utilizes stuff ranging from puns to slapstick to breaking the 4th wall completely MULTIPLE TIMES. The pacing is rather well-done as the story moves along it’s different arcs properly, and essentially there is some sort of plot crutch that would entice viewers to go to the next episode immediately.
The animation for the show is notably average for its time, being a show that aired in 2003. However, what interested me the most are the character designs. A lot of them looked rather unique and the expressions that are put onto those characters can easily portray what their personalities would most likely be, which is great.
What is rather note-worthy for Yakitate! Japan, however, is its soundtrack. Multiple tracks focus on the slow, light-hearted aspects of the show, yet when it switches to the more competitive and hyped-up moments, it’s able to utilize its tracks to compliment said moments. In summation, the entire OST was fun to listen to and really helped set up the atmosphere that the show was going for.
Like seriously, who would think that this OST:
-would be in the same anime as this OST:
It’s astounding, really.
So what recommendation do I give this show?
Yeah, sure, go ahead and watch it. It does look and feel slightly older than what someone might usually watch, what with its animation and its plot structure, but really there isn’t much I can nitpick about this show at this point. The comedy is on point, characters were fun to watch on screen, and the story is straightforward enough that you would want to watch what’s next.
