In August, I read the first volume of Fumi Yoshinaga’s Antique Bakery (Digital Mang), and it was good. This week, I read the second volume, and it was much, much better.
I enjoyed many of the customer vignettes in the first installment, but Yoshinaga focuses more on her leads this time around. It results in charming workplace comedy that’s gentle, sexy, and sly.
Entrepreneur Tachibana, genius pastry chef Ono, and enthusiastic apprentice Kanada are joined by the mysterious Chikage, Tachibana’s devoted, hopelessly inept servant. It’s a nice way to reveal more of Tachibana’s background, and it gives Ono a different kind of love interest. (He even reigns in his “Gay Demonic Charm” in the face of Chikage’s guilelessness.) All of the leads get some revealing moments, particularly in a well choreographed sequence where they deal with the Christmas rush.
As with last time, Yoshinaga shows the perfect skill set as an illustrator to convey this material. Character design is excellent (especially with the varied masses buying holiday treats), and facial expressions and body language are often priceless. The food images aren’t as numerous this time around, but they’re still sumptuously detailed.
It’s official. Antique Bakery has gone from a book I like an awful lot to one I love.
(It’s also one of the titles featured in Tony Salvaggio’s latest Calling Manga Island column at Comic Book Resources, a nice run-down of the year in manga. Go, read, and find some new additions to your wish list.)