louandlife's review
3.0
I enjoyed reading this book and this series. However, I do think that this volume was a slight let down but overall I did enjoy the series. I felt like the plot with the kidnapper was resolved too quickly and the ending was a bit bitter sweet. The rest of the volumes gave me feeling of happiness but now I'm sad because of the ending and that the series has finished. I liked the fact that whilst was a yaoi manga, it didn't have any problematic elements around being gay/gay people/relationships. I would recommend this series but I would warn people that it's a bit like a slice of life manga series about a bakery so not a lot of things will happen beyond friendships forming and developing, alongside the kidnapper plot. I do think that the series is gripping, but it did take me longer then I would have liked to have finished this volume.
jay_mack9712's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What a bittersweet ending to everything! This was a wonderful story about four men coming together to run a bakery. By the end of this series, they'd become their own found family. I wouldn't ever consider this a real love story. Sure there were elements of it, but honestly it came down to the four individuals and how they came together to create this beautiful bakery and building relationship together.
Honestly after the first volume, I didn't expect to like this series. But honestly it grew on me over time and every character became one that I cared about. Also the confusion and disjointedness from the beginning volume was cleared up by the end which was nice, so it did have a purpose. Overall a really nice series about found family and French baked goods!
Honestly after the first volume, I didn't expect to like this series. But honestly it grew on me over time and every character became one that I cared about. Also the confusion and disjointedness from the beginning volume was cleared up by the end which was nice, so it did have a purpose. Overall a really nice series about found family and French baked goods!
beththebookdragon's review
4.0
More serious in tone than the earlier volumes, with the bakery involved in a police investigation, but still retains the trademark humor and bantering, and Kanda gets more attention than in previous volumes.
ladydewinter's review
5.0
Okay, this was really, really good. I admit I would never have thought it when I started reading this, but it slowly developed from a more or less ridiculous concept to a great story about four people who I came to care about a *lot*.
In the beginning, it seems rather disjointed, but it makes sense - like the first couple of episodes of a tv show it takes some time getting to know the characters. But then slowly their backstories are told and it was just great to see what these characters were like - how they weren't what I thought they were like initially.
I also loved how pieces from the earlier chapters ended up playing an important role later. And while it was really funny and cute at times, it also was rather sad at others, and I admit that I would have wished for a happy ending for Ono and Chikage, but since the story isn't *over* over at that point I can still think of them living happily ever after if I want, right?
Seriously, this was *good*. I'm kind of blown away by how much I liked this.
In the beginning, it seems rather disjointed, but it makes sense - like the first couple of episodes of a tv show it takes some time getting to know the characters. But then slowly their backstories are told and it was just great to see what these characters were like - how they weren't what I thought they were like initially.
I also loved how pieces from the earlier chapters ended up playing an important role later. And while it was really funny and cute at times, it also was rather sad at others, and I admit that I would have wished for a happy ending for Ono and Chikage, but since the story isn't *over* over at that point I can still think of them living happily ever after if I want, right?
Seriously, this was *good*. I'm kind of blown away by how much I liked this.
library_brandy's review
3.0
Not much to say about this series. I wanted to like it a lot, and I liked it enough to read through all four volumes, but... eh. I'm not much of a manga reader--I love comics but manga somehow short-circuits my brain--and there were a bunch of elements that just didn't make sense to me. That could be in part because it skipped all over the place, time-wise, but still.
Good enough, I guess.
Good enough, I guess.
greymalkin's review
3.0
I liked that there was some actual plot in this one and backstory stuff for the characters, but it continues to be frustratingly confusing about who is doing what and why. Characters seem to come and go full of portent but nothing happens. Just when it gets to the interesting part, it seems to just end or skip forward to the aftermath. Perhaps I'm just missing something...? I still love the descriptions of the desserts though!
dee2799d's review
5.0
What else can I say about this series? It's old and everyone knows about it: it won the Kodansha Award in 2002 for shoujo manga (yes, it's a shoujo manga and not a BL), and Fumi Yoshinaga is a multi-award winning mangaka. This manga series has had a Korean movie and a Japanese TV drama based on it (the Korean version is better, as they rewrote a lot of things about Ono in the TV drama).
So: it's good and anyone who wants to read a gentle story about (to paraphrase Tachibana) 'how sweets and pastries play a role in our lives' should give it a try. The characters we meet are not always nice and some of them (especially in the final volume) are downright nasty, but there's always this gentleness that permeates this manga: I'm not sure if it's the way they talk (very polite for the most part) or the way the expressions are drawn (Fumi Yoshinaga has very delicate line work), but it's just so gentle you know? And almost nostalgic. I haven't read all of her work, but I can say that while they're mostly grounded in reality (e.g. Ono's relationship with his family after he came out, very similar to [b: What did you eat yesterday?|18339951|What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 1|Fumi Yoshinaga|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1395779183l/18339951._SX50_.jpg|3674605] ) there's also a feeling of 'this is what the world should be like, and how we can be kinder people' in the ones that I've read and love.
This and Ono Natsume's [b: Gente|4314229|Gente tóxica|Bernardo Stamateas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328815170l/4314229._SY75_.jpg|4362010] are my go-to manga series when I want something soothing actually.
So: it's good and anyone who wants to read a gentle story about (to paraphrase Tachibana) 'how sweets and pastries play a role in our lives' should give it a try. The characters we meet are not always nice and some of them (especially in the final volume) are downright nasty, but there's always this gentleness that permeates this manga: I'm not sure if it's the way they talk (very polite for the most part) or the way the expressions are drawn (Fumi Yoshinaga has very delicate line work), but it's just so gentle you know? And almost nostalgic. I haven't read all of her work, but I can say that while they're mostly grounded in reality (e.g. Ono's relationship with his family after he came out, very similar to [b: What did you eat yesterday?|18339951|What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 1|Fumi Yoshinaga|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1395779183l/18339951._SX50_.jpg|3674605] ) there's also a feeling of 'this is what the world should be like, and how we can be kinder people' in the ones that I've read and love.
This and Ono Natsume's [b: Gente|4314229|Gente tóxica|Bernardo Stamateas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328815170l/4314229._SY75_.jpg|4362010] are my go-to manga series when I want something soothing actually.
More...