:D :D :D

happiestwhen — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:57:51 GMT

-~-YAKITATE!! JAPAN-~-

About this Guide

I love this series. The only way I can think to describe it is big-hearted. It's just so sweet and warm and giving, much like its main character, Azuma. This show makes me so happy and I've found myself laughing out loud through whole episodes. And god, it's about bread. This series takes something as simple as that and makes it into something heartwarming and meaningful.

The anime ended as recently as March of last year, and yet, even though the series is still fairly "fresh" (*kicks self*), there doesn't seem to be much of a fandom. I've found a few doujinshi of the series (in comparison to the few thousand I've come across for Prince of Tennis) and I haven't seen any jfandom art sites. The English speaking fandom seems to be even slimmer pickings. I can count the number of fics I read and really loved on one hand. :(

Suffice to say, I think the series definitely deserves some more love, and so I'm making this post in the hope that it will inspire at least one of you to give this wonderful series a try. Please read with an open mind and an open heart. I know the premise of this show is weird but, hey, a lot of you get giddy over tennis, so this can't be all that different. At the very least, this show will make you hungry for a slice of warm bread. ♥

Table of Contents
i. The Series
ii. The Characters
iii. The Pairings
iv. The Crack
v. The Meta
vi. Download Resources
vii. Fandom Resources

**This post is going to be primarily anime-centric because the manga is not completely translated as of yet, although I will include some differences between the anime and manga, where pertinent. I've also done my best to avoid mentioning any spoilery plotpoint things.**

i. The Series

Yakitate!! Japan (焼きたて!! ジャぱん), translated as "Freshly Baked!! Ja-pan" is a manga and anime series originated by Hashiguchi Takashi. There are 25 volumes in the manga, and the anime series spans 69 episodes. The series ran from October 2004 to March 2006. The manga series concluded on January 10, 2007, and has been licensed by VIZ media for sale in North America, but only two volumes have been published thus far. (I own both of these, and while there are the usual naming discrepancies in the VIZ translation, I'd say it's passable if you want to pick the books up and have manga in hardcopy.)

The story centers around Azuma Kazuma, a boy who was born with unusually warm hands, or "Solar hands". From a very young age, he has been making bread on his own to share with his family. He learned the technique from a kind baker and ever since, he's been determined to prove to Japan that bread can taste better than rice. His goal is to develop a "Ja-pan", a national bread for his country.

Ja-pan is one of the main puns of the series, since "pan" is the Japanese word for bread. Ja-pan would naturally follow as the national bread for Japan, like "furansupan" (French bread), "doitsupan" (German bread), and "itariapan" (Italian bread). The story is full of puns and over-the-top bread "reactions" based on these puns, and also parodies specific animanga series as well as the shounen genre as a whole.

• The Four Main Arcs

The Pantasia Entrance Exam Arc: In this arc, Azuma journeys to Tokyo to apply for work at the Pantasia Main Branch Store as a baker. What follows are a series of exams. The "main" characters are introduced during this arc.

The Rookie Tournament Arc / The Newcomer Arc: This arc sparks tension and competition as Azuma is invited to compete in a tournament against Pantasia bakers from all over Japan. New rivals and antagonists are introduced, and the crack levels rise.

The Monaco Cup Arc: Azuma, Kawachi, and Suwabara travel to France for special training and compete in the prestigious Monaco Cup baking competition against teams from all over the world. The bread challenges get more and more bizarre, a new judge appears on the scene with an extensive (and ridiculous) list of skills, and royal bloodlines bring an unexpected twist. In a pinch, I'd say that this arc is probably my favorite. :D

The Yakitate!! 25 Arc (called the Yakitate!! 9 Arc in the anime): The owner of St. Pierre challenges the Pantasia bakers to a baking competition. They face off against a variety of opponents, both new and foreign and... familiar.

The show follows the shounen series format in terms of featuring fierce competition. Yakitate even has this great "We will rock you"-esque theme music that plays to signify the rising tension. ;D (right-click save)

• Seeds of Knowledge

The episodes are often followed with "Seeds of Knowledge" segments that further explain the ingredients or baking techniques featured in the episode. Even though a lot of the reactions are completely outrageous, the actual baking has some earth logic behind it! The Seeds of Knowledge are pretty interesting, and sometimes there are even live-action baking tutorials!:

When I showed this series to my mother, she said something like, "I feel like this should be airing on the Cooking Channel" and it probably would encourage more people to bake! :D

ii. The Characters

Pantasia

• Azuma Kazuma

Azuma is the story's protagonist. He's sixteen years old, but acts much younger due to his sheltered upbringing. As a result, he often confuses the exact names and terminology of types of breads, baking styles, equipment, and ingredients. He also tends to call anyone slightly older than him "occhan" or "old man", even when they're like Kuroyanagi or Pierrot and are, in fact, only in their early 20's.

Azuma is adorable and empathizes with everyone around him to a ridiculous degree. Even though he's easily more innovative than Kawachi or Suwabara, he remains down-to-earth and understands that everything can be improved and expanded on. He has a great love and respect for the other bakers, and wants to learn from them. Even though he knows his Ja-pan is good, and has a competitive streak, deep-down, he just wants to share his delicious bread with people and invent something that all of Japan can enjoy. Basically he epitomizes everything wee. *___*

His resolve is never broken.

He's always 100% determined, even in the seemingly most hopeless of situations.

Sometimes his ideas are a little ... questionable. :-P

But he's just a creative thinker! :D

And is really really adorable when he's pouting and hugging his knees to his chest.

But I love him most when he's happy. :)

• Kawachi Kyousuke

Kawachi is hotheaded and a bit dim, but his heart is in the right place. Early on in the series, he and Azuma declare each other "rivals", and swear to fight it out to the end. Kawachi is following in his late father's footsteps, vowing to succeed where his father failed and live out his dream, and he will stop at nothing to make up for the difference in ability between him and Azuma. He obviously knows a lot about bread, but he doesn't have the Solar Hands, and so is at an immediate disadvantage.

He's easily the character in Yakitate with the most hair hair styles -- four, plus two wigs, meriting him nicknames like "Baldy", and he is often used for comic relief as a result. His trademark catchphrase is "What was that?!" (Nanyate?! in Japanese) and he speaks in Kansai dialect. I think the series would be much quieter without him in it.

• Suwabara Kai

Suwabara abides by a strict samurai code of honor that he carries with him both in in the dojo and in front of the oven. He wears a bandana pulled low over his eyes and is generally fearsome and warrior-like.

But, like another bandana-wearing boy we know and love, Suwabara has a softer side. He's afraid of heights and wary around girls, and is fiercely loyal to his friends and his bakery.

He treats Azuma as an obstacle he must throw all his strength at to overcome, and as for Kawachi, well, their relationship is slightly less honorable. Suwabara can be a sore loser, destroying things with his sword including his master's dojo and library books, but this disgrace fuels him to grow stronger and learn more about bread. He's such an endearing character and even has his own music theme! (right-click save)

• Kanmuri Shigeru

For a long time, I debated back and forth on this character's gender, and even now, I feel like I'm going to screw up the pronouns. "Pinky", as spurious and I dubbed him, is what you might call a "data baker". He graduated Harvard at the young age of 16 and is incredibly logical and intelligent. He has History with Kuroyanagi, although the exact nature of it is a bit hazy.

On account of being so intelligent, Kanmuri's patience runs short pretty easily when dealing with people like Kawachi...

• Azusagawa Tsukino

Tsukino is the owner of the southern Tokyo Pantasia store, and runs it alongside Matsushiro Ken, the store's manager. Still a high school student herself, she is sweet and thoughtful and is always looking out for the best for Azuma and Kawachi. She wants nothing more than to see her little store succeed in the face of the looming threat of the St. Pierre bakery. And she has a mischievous streak, too. She is easily the show's strongest female character.

• Matsushiro Ken ("Manager")

As his title suggests, Ken is the manager of the southern Tokyo Pantasia bakery. He's ostensibly lazy and carefree, not doing anything to help out with the bakery's daily revenue loss or Kinoshita's struggle to manage the store all on his own.

He's also a bit immature, playing pranks on his coworkers, spying, popping up unexpectedly to surprise people, etc. But he means well. Sometimes his tricks are just to bring out the best in his employees. He wants to get them fired up so that they will take each new challenge seriously and never underestimate their opponents.

He's also possibly the only Japanese man you will in the show see to sport an afro. o_O The 'fro is the foundation of his life's philosophy, and he equates it with "being a man".

• Kuroyanagi Ryou

Kuroyanagi is one of the wildest characters on the show. Easy to anger, he's the manager at Pantasia's main store and one of the premium bread judges in Japan. He studied food science at Harvard and can explain the ingredients and baking process for basically any bread in the world -- and he clearly enjoys doing so. Looking cool and imparting his baking knowledge are two of his main interests. He also reacts pretty extremely to delicious bread. These "bread reactions" are basically tasting bread and then acting out in a crazy, pun-based manner. For Kuroyanagi, there is no cost too high when it comes to bread reactions.

While at Harvard, Kuroyanagi dated a girl named Cathy and since then has had a bit of an obsession with long blonde hair, unluckily for Meister Kirisaki... ;) He also knew and helped tutor Kanmuri Shigeru, and was presumably friends with him as well. He advanced quickly at Harvard, graduating at the young age of 19. His other friend at Harvard was Kid, who was always getting held back while Kuroyanagi was moving ahead. They helped each other through tough times and even as Kuroyanagi left Kid behind, he still regarded him as a "double-crust" friend. :((

Look how cute and eager he was when he was wee! (You know you want to write the fic where Inui and Kuroyan know each other at Harvard...)

Kuroyanagi has a hot temper and loves criticizing and insulting people, but can't stand being wrong or interrupted. He doesn't like tardiness or having his name shortened, and he goes ballistic when Azuma calls him "old". He's only 22!!

I think Kuroyan actually has a certain fondness for Azuma, and even Kawachi, despite the hard time he always gives them.

As for the important matter of his sexuality...

garlandgraves: kuroyan is so bi it hurts.
garlandgraves: no, he is like, trisexual
garlandgraves: men, women, bread
garlandgraves: it doesn't matter

• Meister Kirisaki

Meister Kirisaki is the General Manager at the entire Pantasia company. He is never seen without his elegant cloak and facemask and is an intensely private person. He helps to judge the newcomer tournament along with his pet peacock, Coo, who has excellent taste in bread as well.

I think he and his bird have a little something goin' on together, but... that's just me. :>

• Kinoshita Kageto

Poor Kinoshita always gets the short end of the stick. I call him Mushroom Head, and you probably will too, because it seems like an obvious nickname and because his real name is pretty easy to slip from both the characters' minds, and the viewers. He's the most diligent worker at the south branch Pantasia store. When the others are preparing for bread competitions, he manages the entire store on his own, using his unique ability to replicate himself as a means of keeping all the customers happy and attended to. He's able to replicate another's baking skills 95% as good as the original.

He's so put upon and writes letters in his head to his mother about how lonely he is and how poorly he's being treated. As with a voodoo doll, when people forget about him, he feels the sting of it, literally. He's memorable for... not being memorable.

• Azusagawa Mizuno

Mizuno is Tsukino's little sister. She's spunky and competitive and possibly has a penchant for Furries. She reminds me a little of D. Gray-man's Rodo Kamelot mixed with Ouran's Honey-senpai.

St. Pierre

• Mokoyama

Mokoyama works at the St. Pierre main branch in South Tokyo -- situated directly opposite the Pantasia store where Azuma works. He's ridiculously flamboyant and calls Matsushiro "Ken-chan", blows him kisses, and gets blushy around him. Er.

Also, his special hobby is knitting.

He's probably gay.

Really, really flamingly flamingly gay.

• Azusagawa Yukino

This one's a twat of the first order. It didn't take long for Yukino to earn herself the nickname "bitchface" from me and spurious, and believe me, it fits. Wait until you meet her. Yukino is cold-hearted and cruel, determined to trample anyone and everyone in her path in order to get what she wants, and she isn't above using underhanded means. She plays nice for the press, but you can hear her maniacal cackling (literally -- it's freaky) on the inside as she coerces everyone under her thumb.

She has a grudge against Pantasia and Tsukino especially. See, she's is Tsukino's older sister and she pretty much hates Tsukino for it. Their family history is pretty shaky -- Tsukino's a lovechild; it does not bode well. Yukino calls the Pantasia bakers "cockroaches" and wants to crush them, even kill them, to make sure that Pantasia is hers. She's connected with Kanmuri in that she was the original benefactor for his scientific research, but she's kind of a slave-driver and I wouldn't be surprised if poor Pinky has lasting trauma from it all.

• Kirisaki Yuichi

Kirisaki Yuuichi is the owner of St. Pierre. He's kind of an asshole and is working with Yukino to try to seize control of Pantasia. He has many 'connections' and sort of comes off as more of a mob boss than a baker.

The French

• The Kaysers

These guys are creepy. Dubbed the "tentacle-sex fingered bird cult" (wait until you get to the arc, you'll see why), these are the main antagonists of the Monaco Arc. These three (Gran, Bob, and Edward) are the elite bread artisans of the most famous bakery in France and they're serious business. They're also "sworn brothers".

• Sophie Balzac Kirisaki

Sophie runs a bakery in France that is situated directly across from the Kayser's main store. She is Kirisaki's little sister and she helps Azuma, Suwabara, and Kawachi train for the Monaco Cup. She also seems to have some chemistry with both Kuroyanagi and Kawachi.

• Pierrot

Pierrot is a clown and the bread judge of the Monaco Cup. He calls himself a "world-class" clown, which means he can do pretty much anything, including speak over 140 languages and make over 150 copies of himself. His bread reactions are often less showy than Kuroyanagi's and often involve long-winded anecdotes from his troubled past. (He has silver hair. A+)

The Americans

• Spencer Henley Hoko ("Shachihoko")

Shachihoko is fluent in Japanese despite being a foreigner. He's Italian-American and so has a stereotypically huge family and is obsessed with baseball (Nagoya baseball to be specific). I like him because he bakes a bread that gives Kuroyanagi one of the most hilarious reactions I've ever seen.

• Shadow White

Shadow White has an eerie ability to mimic other people's actions exactly, including their baking abilities. He's ... creepy. Hence the lack of screencap.

• Monica Adenauer

Monica has a sweet tooth, loves candy, and is often seen chewing gum. This is probably fitting because she's a pastry chef. She was born in Germany but now lives in the United States. She provides the show with a lot of gratuitous naked fanservice...

CMAP

CMAP is a group of four celebrity chefs and entertainers. It is an acronym for "Cooking Meal Assemble People" and spoofs the Japanese band, SMAP.

• Takumi

Takumi is the most popular of the CMAP group. He has red hair with an emo haircut and looks perpetually mopey and tired. (Think PoT's Kamio only even more scene. He's seriously cute. *___*) Since he has played lots of foreign roles, he often speaks English and Japanese at the same time.

• Other bakers

Kaname, Narumi, and Chimatsuri. Kaname is smart and rational, and acts as the brain behind the CMAP group. He looks sort of like Tsutsui from Hikaru no Go. Narumi looks like a chick and is incredibly self-absorbed and narcissistic. He says at one point that those below him should "just die". Chimatsuri is the baking equivalent of Akutsu Jin. You don't want to mess with this guy or he'll get you with his "flame arm".

Others

• Brad Kidd / Kid

Known just as "Kid" in the anime, he's Kuroyanagi's former classmate from Harvard. For more on his character (so much more, oh god), See the entry under "crack". :))

• Debu Hachiguchi

This character is a bread judge and is based on the mangaka himself. He used to be a manga artist but when he got successful, he became hugely overweight and now has to have a crane take carry him around, and an assistant -- Heidi -- to help him out.

• Azuma's sister

Azuma's sister is pretty cool. She rides a motorbike and helps Azuma collect ingredients.

• Azuma's grandfather

Through his stubborn attitude, Azuma's grandfather is actually one of the key people to push Azuma to develop his Ja-pan. He used to love rice, swear by it, even, but Azuma was determined to change him and get him to accept bread instead.

He's more than a little quirky.

iii. The Pairings

(This section is going to be heavily biased.)

• ♥♥♥Azuma/Kawachi♥♥♥

I honestly believe that these two are the heart of this show. They take it from being the most cracked out anime you will ever watch and push it to become something sweet and heartwarming.

Their relationship is so pure, and almost overwhelmingly wee. :( I sort of can't deal with it sometimes. I've been wanting to write these two for ages, but I feel like I can never find enough words to properly convey how great they are together.

It starts as a rivalry, with Kawachi annoyed by Azuma's oblivious and naive nature, but once they realize they're both working for the same thing, that relationship changes. They become close, and Kawachi becomes fond of Azuma just as Azuma looks up to and encourages Kawachi in return.

Kawachi had me from the first time he provoked Azuma and was disappointed when he didn't react. Azuma is unpredictable, he isn't what Kawachi expects. He doesn't get upset like Suwabara or Kuroyanagi might.

And Azuma... Azuma had me from the moment he first said "Kawachi" in that stuttery and unsure voice. *_*

This pairing is so easy to fall for. I first watched the series months ago but I still love them just as much as I first did. They hit you hard and stick with you.

They even have this adorable canon love theme. Well, actually, I think this song is played for more than just these two, but I've come to associate it with them. It's called "Taiyou no Shakehand" which roughly translates to "handshake of the sun" or "solar handshake", I think. :( :( :(

• Kawachi/Suwabara

Hatesex. >: ) That's what this pairing is all about. Insults and collar-grabs and nicknames. "Suwa-chan" and "Baldy". Threats of seppuku and fights in the middle of baking competitions. These two are hot and can't seem to stay out of each other's faces. They're just such a fun pairing, all testosterone and challenges and a competitive one-upping of each other at every turn. And underneath all the fighting is something deeper. They do care about each other. ♥ But don't take my word for it. I'll let the picspam do the talking.

This is my second-most favorite ship in the series because gah, they're just so full of energy and tension and I kind of want them to throw bags of flour at each other or something. All night long.

And I'm not even going to start on how badly I want to read some permutation of Kawachi/Suwabara/Momoshiro/Kaidoh because ohgodjsd;lfksajfas.

• Azuma/Tsukino & Kawachi/Tsukino

These two pairings, Azuma/Tsukino especially, are the ones that the series really seems to be pushing for, and it's no wonder why. Tsukino is a beautifully drawn character and she cares for these boys, both of them. In the very beginning of the series, she gives Azuma her hairband to keep his hair out of his face and appease Kuroyanagi during the Pantasia application process. Azuma wears the headband for the remainder of the series.

And Azuma and Kawachi both reciprocate! Part of their main motivation to win is so that Tsukino will be able to keep her beloved bakery.

They want to win for her.

• Matushiro/Tsukino

garlandgraves introduced me to the idea of this pairing. They're playful and the way they're constantly teasing and poking at each other could easily be viewed as flirtation. ;) They're also kind of scheming, like the manager pushing Tsukino to show off her sex appeal, and their generally questionable business ethics and management of the south branch Pantasia store.

Ok, so their love is kind of immature, too. The manager makes Tsukino masks out of cardboard and imitates her, both when she is and isn't around to notice, and they get into to fights and throw paper balls at each other. You know what they say about pulling the hair of the girl you like...

They're not always at odds with each other though. Sometimes they conspire together to turn a shady profit. And they're good at meddling.

Plus? They just want to have fun.

• Kuroyanagi/Kanmuri

This pairing is probably the second most popular pairing in the fandom after Azuma/Kawachi, and while it's not a personal favorite of mine, I can see where the fans get their evidence from.

Kuroyanagi and Kanmuri attended Harvard together, Kanmuri as a bright young prodigy and Kuroyanagi as his mentor. Kanmuri still looks up to Kuroyanagi and calls him 'senpai'. (There's much speculation about the nature of their relationship after this is revealed. :-P) The two have a close relationship, as signified by Kuroyanagi calling Kanmuri by his first name, and are on the same level, intellectually-speaking, and have a mutual understanding of the more scientific intricacies of bread-making.

In sum, I think this youtube clip sort of speaks for itself:

Obviously the list doesn't stop there. Kirisaki/Kuroyanagi, Matsushiro/Kuroyanagi, Suwabara/Azuma, Yukino/Kanmuri, Yukino/Tsukino, Kanmuri/Azuma, Kanmuri/Kawachi... the possibilities are pretty endless...

Um. :-"

This show has a good size cast of characters, each of which has chemistry with multiple people. (And there are a couple of pairings I'm deliberately not mentioning for spoilery reasons.) So don't let my preferences sway you... Check out the series for yourself and see what pairings catch your eye. :>

iv. The Crack

• Bread Reactions

The bread "reactions" are central to the hilarity of this series. Instead of just enjoying bread as a normal person might, the bread judges in Yakitate work hard to react to the bread in humorous ways. If the bread is especially delicious, the judge will have an extreme reaction to it. In the case of one of Azuma's bread, the person eating it can even get sent to heaven.

Oftentimes, bread reactions are based on puns, and the goal of the reaction is to decipher the pun and its relation to the bread's name or key ingredient. The judges will go to great lengths for these pun-based reactions, even sending themselves to jail or, well...:

Other times the judge(s) will react to the consistency of the bread, its texture, how fluffy it is. In one case, Suwabara makes a dancing snake bread that causes Kuroyanagi to start dancing himself.

One of the most exciting things about watching the show is trying to figure out what kind of pun the judge is going to use for their next reaction. Sometimes the reactions are weird, especially when Kawachi is involved.

No, I don't know either. :))

• Kid

Kid is the simultaneously the creepiest and most hilarious character in the series. He shows up everywhere. Kuroyanagi's former best friend, Kid basically exists as a parody of the All-American poster boy. And he really does do everything you can think of.

He's often used as a deus-ex-machina sort of figure during reactions, flashbacks, or baking explanations. A couple of times he's crossdressed, sometimes he's de-aged. One of the funniest things about this show is playing the Where's Waldo game and trying to spot Kid in an episode. This isn't to say that he shows up in every single episode, but he's around quite a bit. :))

He looks like a fat Brad Pitt, or maybe a younger Bill Clinton, and the thing that makes Kid creepy is that his face never seems to move. His expression is always sort of fixed in that sort of sleazy look of amusement. His voice doesn't help with the creepy factor. Oh Kid.

• Jokes, Puns, and Stereotypes

Yakitate!! Japan functions in this very simplified world, where bread can cure any number of ills, transport people to heaven or bring them back from the dead, and solve just about any problem or argument. As a result, a lot of things are very black & white in the show, especially the depictions of foreigners.

But the series mocks the Japanese just as much, having Suwabara as the typical samurai and Kawachi as the fool with the Kansai accent as per a typical Japanese Manzai routine. It's all relative, and it's all zany.

• Bread as a Sex Metaphor

I feel like a show about bread can't go escape the whole phallic associations people have with baguettes, rolling pins, etc. ;) And believe me, the jokes are there to be made.

Ok, so I'm a pervert... you can't tell me there's not some truth to it.

As for other questionable imagery...

I'm not even going to touch this one.

• The Disco

Yes, this gets a category of its own. Because it is just that great. The "disco ending" is the second ED in the anime, and features a digitally-animated version of Matsushiro Ken dancing, hip-thrusts and all. I was so startled when I reached the end of an episode and there was the leather-clad Manager shaking his ass on a little light-up stage. Wtf doesn't even begin to describe it:

v. The Meta

• Parodying other shows

Yakitate is a series that's bigger than itself. It forays into new settings and universes using the bread reactions as a vehicle. Over the course of the 69 anime episodes, Yakitate parodies Gundam, Naruto, Lord of the Rings, Detective Conan, Dragonball Z, Survivor, a sci-fi film called Gamera, a Japanese novel by Miyazawa Kenji, and possibly many more that I didn't even notice.

A lot of these other shows and their characters are incorporated directly into the bread reactions. I can't say enough about how anything is possible when it comes to bread reactions.

There's usually a skeptical character who will point out that having Detective Conan show up during a bread judging seems implausible and also probably goes against copyright, but in Yakitate, the thing is that we the viewers get used to it, and with each new episode, we grow accustomed to the forays into strangeness.

Basically, crossovers and AUs? Are canon. So so canon.

• Self-referencing/Self-reflexive Meta

One of the funniest things about this show is how self-aware it is. When something ridiculous happens, there isn't always the expected suspension of disbelief from the characters.

The truly strange things don't go unacknowledged, and having the characters express what the viewers are no doubt thinking is one of the most endearing things about this show. It doesn't let itself off easy without explanations. If Azuma were to kill the dinosaurs through an especially tasty brioche, someone would notice and think it a little odd. ;)

This is one way in which Yakitate parodies itself and the animanga medium as a whole. In addition, there are numerous shounen-ai/yaoi fake-outs, acknowledgment of the medium in which the plot unfolds, dramatic irony, etc, which reflect an interesting meta discussion within the series.

The series even has its characters watching or experience an inverted version of the show at one point. Talk about mindfucky. :-P

• Face fault

"Face fault" refers to the anime-specific exaggeration of character and scenery features. For example, the giant sweat drops, pulsating forehead veins, etc. I'm sure you've all watched a series that makes use of these elements. (The wikipedia article on face fault can be found here.)

In Yakitate!! Japan, everything is exaggerated, especially during the bread reactions. The distortion of facial features and setting backgrounds mirrors the way the show's content is often unexpected, outlandish, and downright silly. This is not because Yakitate falls into the trap of becoming an overly cliched anime, in my opinion. I think it parodies and transcends that in many ways. The parody is in some ways reminiscent of Ouran. Yes, the animation is silly and over the top, but that's simply because it's mocking a genre, using the stereotypes as examples and then inverting them, or having the characters themselves comment on how ridiculously they're behaving.

vi. Download Resources

• Anime

(right-click + save)
- Episode 1
- Episode 2
- Episode 3
- Episode 4
- Episode 5

(change the .pan extensions to .avi to play)

There are 64 more episodes to the series, but I don't have the webspace to host them all. Luckily, another site has links: downloads to all of the anime episodes on up-file. Torrents of the series are available here on Anime Suki.

Episodes can also be viewed on youtube. I believe the first ten or so are uploaded in un-split form, and the ones that follow are uploaded in three-part chunks. I watched the entire series the first time through on youtube, so it is doable. If downloading is a hassle, know that this is available as an option.

• Manga

(right-click + save)
- Volume 1
- Volume 2
- Volume 3
- Volume 4
- Volume 5
- Volume 6
- Volume 7
- Volume 8
- Volume 9
- Volume 10
- Volume 11
- Volume 12
- Volume 13
- Volume 14
- Volume 15
- Volume 16

(change the .pan extension to .zip)

Scans of the latest manga chapters are available through minna-scan. I'm not sure how closely the anime and manga are linked, but seeing as the anime ended well before the manga did, there are probably differences in the later volumes.

I confess that I am not actually caught up on the manga, and prefer the anime anyway because I like seeing the crack with sound and motion. ;) But I will say this: There is a lot more ... fanservice in the manga? At the end of the volumes, there are these odd hidden-camera segments featuring Tsukino in her underwear. No lie. Her sex appeal is played up in the anime as well, but not to that degree. :>

• OP and ED songs

(right-click + save)
- Comet Cloud (1st OP)
- Sunday (1st ED)
- To All Tha Dreamers (2nd ED)
- Promise (2nd OP)
- Hummingbird (3rd ED)
- Re_START (4th ED)
- Merry Go Round (5th ED)
- Kokoro no Biidama (6th ED)
- Chiisana Uta (3rd OP)

vii. Fandom Resources

• Fic Recs

These recs are my personal favorites in the fandom and only represent a sampling of what's actually out there. That said, this fandom is tiny, and from all the searching I've done, it also seems pretty inactive. (Like, seriously, the category on ff.net only has forty-five fics. :\) If you know of any fic archives or authors who've written in this fandom, feel free to link to them in comments! The same goes if you decide to write something yourself. >.> *nudges*

- Too Normal For You by Nanaki BH (Azuma/Kawachi)
- Alternatives by reality_is (Kuroyanagi, Kanmuri, Cathy)
- Overreaction by reality_is (Kuroyanagi/Pierrot, NC-17)
- Untitled drabble by reality_is (Kawachi-centric)
- 1096 Days by Ranier (Azuma/Kawachi)

• LJ Links

- fresh_made: general community
- yakitate_icons: icons

It is a sad, sad state of affairs that a series this great only has two fan lj communities, both of which are pretty dead. A month or two ago, there was also yakitate_slash, but that appears to be deleted. :| I'm thinking of opening up a Yakitate!! Japan community, if there's enough interest...

• Information

- the official series website (in Japanese)
- entry on wikipedia. This has a lot of info about the show, including a list of every single bread baked on the show. *_*
- entry on AnimeNfo

• Fanlistings

Some of these fanlistings are more thorough than others. The ones hosted on neo-dynasty are particularly helpful with providing character profiles and information. If you find another fanlisting, or choose to create your own, please let me know and I'll add it to the list!

- Fresh Baked!: Yakitate!! Japan fanlisting. This site also has an index of ja-pan, which includes the types of bread as well as the reaction they produced. It also has mini-summaries of the anime episodes up through ep38 as well as summaries of the four arcs.
- Warm Light on a Winter's Day: Azuma Kawachi fanlisting
- Yipeeey!: Kawachi Kyousuke fanlisting
- Azusagawa Tsukino fanlisting
- Get Fired Up!: Matushiro Ken fanlisting
- Samurai Heart: Suwabara Kai fanlisting
- Reactive: Kuroyanagi Ryou fanlisting
- Genius: Kanmuri Shigeru fanlisting
- World Class Clown: Pierrot fanlisting
- Nagoya Spirit: Shachihoko fanlisting
- Candies: Monica Adenauer fanlisting
- Stay with You: Azuma/Tsukino fanlisting
- Naked Time: Suwabara/Monica fanlisting
- Flirtacious: Suwabara/Monica fanlisting
- Intellectual Dreamer: Hashiguchi Takashi fanlisting (the mangaka!)

• Bonus!

- Azuma/Kawachi doujinshi by K2 (change .pan to .zip and unzip to view!)

Closing Notes: Thank you so much to garlandgraves for beta-reading this post, and for burning me copies of the episodes, manga, and OSTs, and to bookshop for graciously providing me with webspace. <3

I really really hope you guys take something away from this post and decide to give this series a try. I really think it has something to offer for everyone. ♥

"sleeping and laughing at the same time is the funniest."

:D :D :D