As Tachibana, Ono, and Kanda continue to run the bakery "Antique," their daily routine is suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a tall, mysterious man in dark sunglasses. Addressing Tachibana as "my lord", his name is Chikage Kobayakawa. Not only does the man's appearance lead to surprising revelations about bakery manager Tachibana and his past, but also triggers chef Ono's notorious "demonic charm." The bakery also deals with the hectic holiday rush, and this year, Tachibana has decided to start a special Christmas delivery service - as Santa in a red Ferrari!
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delicieux!,
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This review is from: Antique Bakery Volume 2 (Paperback)
The first volume of ANTIQUE BAKERY introduced us to the locale itself - a French-style patisserie set up in a former antique shop - and some of its customers. In this second helping author/artist Fumi Yoshinaga concentrates on the bakery's staff, three of whom we've already met: the owner, Tachibana, raffish son of a wealthy family; Ono, pastry chef and "gay of demonic charm"; and Kanda, the ex-boxer with a passion for sweets. (The opening story includes a notably unglamorous view of Kanda's past life in a biker gang). The trio becomes a quartet with the entrance of Chikage Kobayakawa, a combination bodyguard/servant dispatched by Tachibana's family. Although Chikage comes on like a modern ninja - impeccable suit, impenetrable dark glasses - he's so physically and socially awkward that it's Tachibana who winds up as an exasperated life-coach-cum-nanny. Ono, however, gets caught in a trap of his own making when he sets out to seduce the handsome lummox and then realises, almost too late, how easy it can be to hurt someone who's truly innocent and sincere.
The next episode is pure comedy with a trimming of culinary expertise, as the bakery gears up for a busy Christmas season: Tachibana realises that his idea of making deliveries dressed up as Santa may be counter-productive, while back at the shop the others cope with a stream of customers - including a group of chattering, brainless "kogals" - and discuss how make the perfect buche de Noel. However, the volume ends on a darker note as Tachibana discloses just why his family are so anxious about him... A little four-page "extra" illustrates personality through food preference, from Tachibana's exaggeratedly masculine taste for beer and spicy food to Kanda's lunch of butter-cake, gulped down between practice sessions at the gym. It's a little unfortunate that Amazon chooses to describe this title as "yaoi", since readers looking for explicit man-on-man action are going to be disappointed. ANTIQUE BAKERY, rather, is character-driven comedy, with touches of bitter-sweet melancholy and a basic psychological realism that skew it toward the adult market (as does Yoshinaga's art, which tends to concentrate on figures with minimal background detail: shoujo manga cliches such as floating stars or flowers are used strictly for humorous effect). On the technical side, DMP has done a fine job of printing and presentation, and Sachiko Sato's translation makes the dialogue a pleasure to read. One tiny gripe: it would be nice if DMP invested in a Del Rey-style notes section somewhere in the book, since some references aren't entirely clear by themselves. For example, a panel of Chikage sneezing on p.41 doesn't mean a lot unless the reader is aware of the Japanese superstition that you sneeze when other people are talking about you. Again, when Kanda spoils his first attempt at a buche de Noel and assumes that he should "go into the mountains and make hundreds of buches de Noel until I've unlocked its secrets", Yoshinaga is poking fun at the genre of strenuous work-as-character-building-activity manga described by Frederick Schodt in his MANGA! MANGA!, but a casual reader mightn't get the joke. (Ono supplies a refreshing dose of common sense: "That would just be a waste of ingredients... I'll just explain now"). However, this would simply be the cherry on the cake - so to speak - for one of the most satisfying titles available today.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
'tis the season to be nutty...,
By
This review is from: Antique Bakery Volume 2 (Paperback)
this second volume starts off with a very easily misconstrued scene, which in any other yaoi manga worth its salt would have degenerated into a frenzied orgy. not so with "antique bakery". it's just one of the many examples where yoshinaga-sensei pokes fun at the cliches of yaoi mangas, and as in the first volume, this is about as risque as it gets. however, despite (or maybe because of, depending on your tastes) the lack of sex, this manga still manages to capture my interest. there is a certain sense of realism entertwined in this series. while this volume continues the trend of its predecessor with its comic ingenuity and wittiness, there is an underlying feeling that there are more to the characters than what they seem.
the arrival of a black-suited man, complete with dark sunglasses on a dreary afternoon interrupted the malaise growing in the bakery, much to the chagrin of tachibana. it turns out that the man, chikage kobayakawa, is associated with tachibana's family and was sent to "take care" of him. appearances however, can be deceiving and this is doubly true for chikage. despite his looks, chikage is so desperately hopeless (and innocent) that tachibana ends up taking care of him instead of the other way around! with his arrival, tachibana's background is also slowly revealed, showing a clearer picture of the man who seems to cruise through life steeped in cynicism. the bulk of this volume deals with the oncoming christmas season, and the various delicacies created especially to entice customers intent on celebrating it. it should also be noted that in japan, christmas is usually celebrated with your significant other, compared to the family-oriented celebration more common in western societies - somehow it's a lover's celebration there. *shrugs* at least, that's how i've seen it being portrayed. in anycase, tachibana's wacko idea of a santa claus cake-delivery service - with his ferrari no less! - injected much humor into the volume. the people who appreciates the gesture turns out to be the ones he least expected to. as usual, tachibana's craziness totally plays out the cliche that we can't really understand rich people... *lol* in anycase, in between all that, eiji's history is also further explored, and readers get to see ono's 'demonic charm' in action as he, unwillingly perhaps, unleashes its power on the very naive chikage. for a very laidback series, quite a lot of things happen in this volume. yoshinaga-sensei cooks up an interesting blend of gravity, humor and madness that somehow reflects how real life could be just as insane. what i like most is how we get to see more sides of tachibana, especially in view of the way he treats chikage. it's true that tachibana does abuse him to a certain degree, tyrannical even, but on the other hand one doesn't seem to feel that way especially when we see just how much trouble tachibana goes through taking care of chikage. it's hilarious! as in volume one, the pastries, cakes and traitteur looks utterly delectable. the chocolate scratch and sniff cover, combined with the illustrated delicacies makes me salivate every time. it's frigging insane! background art is sparse for the most part, but the involved and witty dialogue more than makes up for it. after all, this is definitely a manga that engages the mind more than anything else. if you love the first volume, you won't be disappointed by this one.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What's That in Your Sack, Santa?,
This review is from: Antique Bakery Volume 2 (Paperback)
It's winter and the grey skies bring in more than rain. They bring in a mysterious man driving an luxury car, and wearing a tailored suit and sunglasses. Ack! Is it the yakuza? Addressing bakery owner Tachibana as "My Lord", EH?! Just what kind of family is Tachibana from? Tachibana's secret family history comes to the attention of his employees, thanks to one bad eye-sighted dimwit of a good looking man, the young family retainer Chikage Kobayakawa. When he is not bumping into walls or getting lost, he turns a lot of heads, male and female. Will Ono be able to resist using his demonic charm on him? One thing is for certain, with the super busy Christmas season approaching, new items on the menu and a Christmas delivery service being offered, they could use some extra help. But is Chikage up for it, in more ways than one?
Fumi Yoshinaga brings us another volume of her slice of life comedy drama, Antique Bakery, and once more the four men struggle to deal with their personal lives, boundaries of friendship, and maintaining a top notch customer experience. The laughs come aplenty with the introduction of the sweetly inept Chikage as he bumps and crashes his way into the hearts of customers and employees alike, while Tachibana's hilarious attempt at playing Santa in a red sports car while delivering the Christmas cakes is shriekingly funny. Small screaming children, blasé teens and drunken adults abound making this a season to remember, though not necessarily for the right reasons. Deftly balancing tragic personal pasts with comically frenetic business, we get a tableau of everyday life. The three men have now become four, and the patisserie settles on into its new routine with unexpected success (and the occasional minor failure). Work and friendship has never been so heart-warmingly funny, but a word of warning here. Yoshinaga sensei once more weaves delectable explanations of the confections on offer, and now the bakery has added light savoury meals to the mix. If the descriptions are not mouthwatering enough, wait until you see the pictures! Wonderful detailed images that will make the mouth water, both over the food and the handsome servers, abound. Add to this that Digital Manga Publishing once more use a delectable food image on the cover that is scratch and sniff, and you might find yourself wanting to consume the book in more ways than one if you are not careful.
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