[TV Series] Yakitate!! Japan

[Vantage]

Title: Yakitate!! Japan
Studio: Sunrise
Genre: Comedy & Baking/Cooking
Type: Television Show

Brief Plot Synopsis:
Azuma Kazuma is a young boy with the dream of creating a bread distinct in it of itself. A bread that will be recognized as the bread of Japan. Azuma becomes a baker for Pantasia, one of Japan's most successful bakery franchises, and with the aid of Manager, Kawachi Kyosuke, and Azusagawa Tsukino he pursues his dream of creating Ja-Pan.

Animation: 8.5/10 & 9.5/10
There are two important things to take into consideration when rating Yakitate!! Japan's animation, the artistic quality, and the humorous effect it has on its viewing audience. The artistic quality is at the common high standard we find and appreciate amongst some of the better Japanese Animations. I would put it within the same group as anime's like Love Hina, and Chobits. However, the comedic quality of this animation is way above average. I personally find Yakitate!! Japan one of the funniest animations I have ever watched. During the bread tasting scenes, one will find them self laughing out loud at the randomness and intuitiveness of the tasters responses to the fantastic bread they are tasting. At times the tasters body will form into a melon after tasting melon bread, or die and go to heaven, meet beautiful women at a brothel, and come back to life in tears after eating Japan #44.

Audio: 6.5/10
The music is made to fit the plot, and is done quite well. Although, there aren't any noteworthy pieces that people will be talking about after the show. As a standard of comparison, I would rate Yoko Kanno's: Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack at a 10/10, or Kenji Kawai's: Ghost in the Shell Soundtrack at a 9/10.

Characters: 8/10
The characters in Yakitate!! Japan are absolutely hilarious. Azuma Kazuma is the sort of epitome of a lead character in an Anime; a young boy who leaves his family to pursue a goal of mammoth proportions. The interesting thing is that the producers of Yakitate!! Japan have integrated the secondary characters to take on lead roles at time, this only adds to the fantastic humor that is Yakitate!! Japan. The stories about how Manager got his Afro, or the INSANE reactions of Kuroyanagi Ryo are a laugh riot. I watch the show primarily because of Kawachi. If you watch the show you probably understand what I am talking about, "What was that!". Don't expect a high level of depth within these characters, as it is a comedy anime, but don’t assume that they are one-dimensional. Along with each character is a funny intricate plot that brings them all together.

Overall: 8/10
I would defiantly recommend Yakitate!! Japan to any one, anime fan or not. In some ways I find it has a humor that would equal the American Family Guy, but pulling it away from that is a continual plot, and an interesting one at that. The producers of Yakitate!! Japan have put forth what appears to be the most successful means to structuring an anime, that being one filled with training and tournament battles. As a comedy I would rate this among the highest, if not the highest. As an anime, I believe an 8/10 is a fair rating. For those who have spend the last few weeks watching deep and dark Anime's, it's a great change of pace. Enjoy Fans!

Reviewed by: Vantage

[Gjallarhorn]

Story: (9/10) Entertaining. Childish, often ridiculous, yet very entertaining. There have been a few cooking related anime, but this one is far above any others I have seen. It has a very unique plot, as well as a very large amount of jokes and allusions which take some knowledge about Japanese culture, baking, and the cultures of other countries, such as France, Germany, and America. I am generaly able to pick up and understand these types of jokes, although the translator's notes in the fansubs did note a lot which I did not pick up on. If you plan to watch this and understand what character's are saying, definatly be sure you understand foreign cultures. Very funny if you understand what is being talked about. Also, most people may say that an anime revolving around baking is strange, wierd, or stupid, but it is very well done. Do not assume anything about this anime based on plot alone.

Animation: (9/10) The art style itself is nothing to be dazzled by, although the quality of the animation is very high compared to a lot of anime. The are style changes often, from very serious style, to a crazy, up beat style, using chibi-ish characters.

Audio: (8/10) The voice acting is done very well, and the voice actors show a lot of skill at their job, especially at changing their voice to fit the emotions of the characters in a split second, which happens frequently. The opening and closing music is definatly made to fit the show, but they are still good, although the insert music(music played in the background of the show) is nothing special at all.

Characters: (10/10) The strongest point of Yakitate!!Japan. Each and every character is great, and has a well developed past and personality. We have the main main character, Azuma Kazuma, who is a very motivated character, who is really a genius, although he shows absolutely no sign of it, and even when he does, his ignorance overshadows it, ending up in highly comedic situations. The Manager is one of my favorite characters, simply because of his serious nature, yet goofy appearance, especially with an afro he got because of Christianity( O_o; ). An interesting story behind that. And then we have the crazy and irrational "reactions" that characters have...There is just too much going on with the characters to cover it all. They are simply fantastic.

Overall: (9/10) A great series, if you can understand that there is so much figurative content going on, and that most of what is said is not literal. I highly recommend this to older anime fans who will be able to understand it and appreciate it to its fullest. For the younger fans who will not understand everything, it is still a tremendously entertaining show, with non-stop laughing.

[S_C_L-1]

Story: 4/10*

*yep, you read that right! the plot sucked. but did i really care? no. From the very first episode, u know what will happen in the LAST. but this is one of those animes that is "about the journey, not the destination". so completely disregard this part of the review.

Animation: 9/10

generally, nothing spectacular... until some 1 eats some bread... or Azuma says something stupid... or has anything to do with Kawachi... or....... the quality of the animation really comes out in sudden bursts and sorta catches u off guard... so this really depends what kind of person u are... if you have ADD, add a bit to the score.

Music: 7/10

as previously stated... kinda bland... it works well to give a certain atmosphere at the begining of a scene, but kinda loses it after... not the kind of thing i'd rush out to buy the OST, but it does its job.

Acting: 10/10

another good example of the greatness of Japanese voice actors. I adored the way that Azuma would say things he knew nothing about (well... he SORTA does... he just gets confused easily) in a tone of complete self confidence... Or the way Kawachi rapidly changes attitude towards... everything and everyone... from the "cool guy" to complete desperation to AGONISING PAIN!

Bread: 10/10

As a baker, this show was a wealth of knowledge and inspiration. since most all the breads in the show actually exist (some baker guy in japan... to lazy to wiki up the link...). this show is HIGHLY educationnal in its own way.

Characters: 9.9/10

Awesome characters! definitely a strong point in this anime as previously said. but heres where the review gets hard... some of the characters are SO neglected that it just isnt funny... until they poke fun at it. :P

unfortunately, it does get kinda bland when u know how every 1 will react... but they seem to catch on to this problem and change the direction near the end.

Overall: 9/10

a great anime, good for all ages and definitely worth checking out! just try to keep an open mind about it, the plot doesnt affect the show in one bit.

[~*Athena*~]

Story: 8/10


although it's expected that they will win every battle, the story for me is still original..

i haven't seen any other match with bread as their theme..

have you guys??:p

Animation: 10/10

the animation is really great..

the creator of this anime is really great..

i can conclude from this anime that the creator is one hell of an anime fanatic..

the appearance of characters from one piece, detective conan, and even the movie the lord of the rings..

great job!!

Music: 10/10

i really like every opening and ending themes..

rhythem really rocks!!

Acting: 10/10

all of them are comedians right?!

then, i gave them the 10 because almost all of them made me laugh..:cool:

Characters: 10/10
just like in acting, they all made me laugh..

Overall: 10/10

ill give them a 10 because almost everything is good..

actually, not only good, but best..

they made me laugh and that's why i love anime..

[October.]

story(10):
i love this anime. its entertaining altough sometimes it is ridiculous. it makes me know a lot about bread.:)

Characters(10):
the characters are funny and they are entertaining.

Animation(10) :
it is absolutely cute..the characters are so cute.:cool:

Music(9) :
the music is great too.but i don't like the ending theme as much as i like the beginning.

Overall :
it is one of the best anime(according to me)i love the characters, the story and animation!

[ANIMEGATES]

Story (8/10) the story is good. The story line can easily be understand by the viewers though the viewers have not seen the beggining.

Characters (9/10) The characters are funny. It entertains a lot. People laugh out when they usually see the facial expressions and feelings of the judges when they have eaten the bread.

Music (8/10) the music are nice..

Animation (8/10) animation are perfectly made..

overall (8.25/10) a very nice anime...

[Marden]

Story (8/10):
I like the unexpected twist and turns in the story but to my dismay it got little romance in it. The best part of it are the reactions of the characters to the bread made there.

Characters (7/10):
In guess Azuma's appearance doesn't have much appeal to the viewers making it worse with that pink headband on his head.

Music (8/10):
Not bad but nothing special, kind of soothing.

Animation (9/10):
The anime's animation is one of the keys making it a success, which is good.

Acting (10/10): With all those exaggerated reactions and all, it made an excellent anime.

Overall (9/10)
It's not boring even though it's all about bread and very funny!!!
To me it's one of the best animes I've watched

[~OTAKYU~]

meh its ok i like it