YAKITATE!! JAPAN, VOL. 3

VIZ MEDIA
CARTOONIST: Takashi Hashiguchi
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Drew Williams
ISBN: 978-1-4215-0721-7; soft cover; Rated “‘T+’ for Older Teen”
200 pp., B&W, $9.99

Obsessed with making the national bread of Japan (a nation where rice, not bread, is the staple), Kazuma Azuma takes his 55 experimental bread recipes, each a version of his ideal bread, Ja-pan (“pan” is Japanese for “bread”) and heads for Tokyo where he lands a job at the South Branch of the famed bread store chain, Pantasia.  There, he befriends the founder’s granddaughter, Tsukino Azusagawa, and a fellow-student-turned-bitter-rival, Kyosuke Kawachi.  The trio labors under the guise of master bread maker, the muscular, afro-wearing, Ken Matsuhiro.

So it’s on – the annual Pantasia Rookie Tournament, that decides which newbie bakers are going to get a job at the prestigious central branch.  When Kazuma uses margarine in his butter roll recipe when everyone knows that butter roll means that a baker uses butter, the crap is about to hit the fan.  Still, that’s not the worst of it.  Tsukino’s ugly family secrets kick their way out of the closet when her sister, Mizuno, arrives on the scene, and li’l sis has her eye on bread-making wonder boy, Kazuma.

Yakitate!! Japan, Vol. 3 is the most mature volume yet of the series.  While the first two volumes introduced the series core characters and immersed the readers in the arcane lore and knotty science of baking bread, Vol. 3 reveals creator Takashi Hashiguchi weaving a serial comic narrative built on strong characters, clever scenes (a recently deceased spirit ruminates on the spectacular piece of bread that allowed him to die happy), and witty (when not bizarre) dialogue.

It seems impossible to believe that a great comedy can come from a story about a bunch of eccentric bakers and assorted oddballs who are all obsessed with bread.  Sometimes, however, the unusual does work out.  Thirty years ago, the smart money said George Lucas and his strange little space movie were both dead and buried before the movie hit theatres.

Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the images.  The Comic Book Locator phone number is 1-888-COMIC BOOK.