Azuma Kazuma, an energetic and dense young man, was introduced to the art of bread making when he was six. He decides to take the path of bread-making and become a baker right after graduating from middle school. Through his travels, he encounters many rivals and found work at the branch store of the most famous bread maker brand, the Phantasia.
Book Description
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- This item is eligible for our 4-for-3 promotion. Eligible products include select Books and Home & Garden items. Buy any 4 eligible items and get the lowest-priced item free. Here's how (restrictions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Kazuma Azuma is an enthusiastic, slightly gullible young baker who dreams of creating Ja-pan: a nationally recognized bread of Japan equal to the great breads of Germany, France and other countries. Aiding Kazuma in his baking quest are his legendary "Hands of the Sun," exceptionally warm hands that speed the fermentation of yeast. For years Kazuma works to bake Ja-pan, mastering 56 different styles before traveling to Tokyo in hopes of furthering his studies at the famous bakery chain Pantasia. But before he is guaranteed employment at Pantasia, Kazuma must submit to a rigorous employment exam. He faces both the cunning Kyousuke Kawachi, who seeks to knock him out of the running, and Tsukino Azusagawa, a mysterious young woman with a vested interest in seeing him advance. The three soon find their lives are hopelessly intertwined, and together they struggle to make their marks in the world of dough. Indeed, all of Hashiguchi's characters are a clever mix of fierce pride and youthful optimism. He chooses to play it safe with his art, using a style very typical of manga, yet the book's whimsical nature shines through. Fans of the over the top Iron Wok Jan will enjoy this shonen manga of competitive baking. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Who knew baking bread could be so... so...,
By
This review is from: Yakitate!! Japan, Volume 1 (Paperback)
...entertaining!
Yakitate!! Japan tells the humorous story Kazuma Azuma and his quest to find (and bake) the ultimate bread of Japan, a bread all Japanese can love and enjoy and that the world will take notice of. Volume one introduces that basic characters as well as giving Azuma his backstory (something very rare in modern storytelling, where backstories are often the stuff of glazed over flashbacks to keep the mystery). We meet Azuma as a bread-hating/rice-loving child whose sister forces him to discover the delciousness of well made bread. Thus begins his quest and the action proper... Fast foward a few years and Azuma has been invited to tryout at Japan's foremost bakery, Pantasia. There he meets and competes with several members of his future bread making team... the ambitious Kawachi, the stern Kai Suwabara, and cute Tsukino. While techniques are presented as hooks in this volume, actual bread recipes (unless I missed one) will have to wait until volume 2. Still, it's nice to know the author actually did some homework about baking before diving headfirst into the series. The art is typcial shonen with recognizable archetypes in basic character design, with a few catchy stretches here and there (such as in the much be-Afro'd manager of the Southern Branch, Ken Matsushiro). If you're looking for a fun little series with a theme, this is a good title to get. It's light and airy, with some great humor and a few subtle touches to keep the mature reader interested.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ja-PAN! Azuma's Quest for a National Bread,
By Gankaku "gankaku" (Fairfax, Va) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Yakitate!! Japan, Volume 1 (Paperback)
Kazuma Azuma (or Azuma Kazuma on the English cartoon) has a life dream to be a baker - but not just any baker. He dreams to be the one who makes a national bread for Japan. He wants Japan to have a staple bread that will be as well loved as rice. And many countries have their own signature breads (France, Germany, etc.) and he wants Japan to also have one.
So he does all these bread experiments and names them Ja-Pan (it's a play/pun on the word pan which is a Japanese word for bread). So with each Ja-Pan # experiment, he gets closer to creating that national bread. I like the play on words and seeing all the interesting bread combinations that Azuma makes. What is REALLY funny is when someone tastes one of his breads. They're whisked off to other worlds in their minds, other places. It's funny to see their reactions. If you have a chance to watch the anime series, it's even funnier. This first manga seems to cover quite a few of the anime episodes. The cartoons keep quite in line with the manga, but expand a bit on it - so when I read the manga I noticed really that nothing was missing that was in the anime episodes. Quite enjoyable stuff, and I'd be interested in finding more anime/manga that run along these lines. There's no violence and no romance from what I've seen, just a really great story.
4.0 out of 5 stars
enjoyable beginning,
By spacedog "spacedog7" (boston, ma United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Yakitate!! Japan, Volume 1 (Paperback)
i don't know anything about baking, but regardless the fantasy take on it makes this book fit right at home alongside other "boy genius" manga like pokemon and hikaru no go. the boy genius here is typically happy-go-lucky and determined, but other than his puppy-dog-like enthusiasm there's not a whole lot of characterization. but this is just the first volume so he certainly has time to grow. there are some nice twists with the baking audition and although the setup is a little generic and the lead-in to volume 2 didn't really grab me, i definitely enjoyed volume 1 enough to check out the next one.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
