Yakitate!! Japan

The premise of this anime series is about bread, of all things to base a plot on! I truly laughed. The main character has a special bread making power that he was born with, and he goes off to bread baking school. I wish it were available on DVD, and it doesn't matter if it's subtitled or dubbed - it's that good. Even the theme song alone is funny. At one point in the theme song, there's an African-Japanese man with an afro on horseback, wielding a French baguette as if it were a samurai sword. These images will not make sense unless you see the anime. You'll laugh until your sides hurt. It is definitely the most unique anime I have seen thus far.

"Yakitate!! Japan" is an incredibly weird show and one of the most enjoyable anime shows I've ever seen. This is because the subject matter is very dull but the writers inject so much silliness and insanity into it that you cannot help but laugh. This is because they take ordinary things and tell them in the most over-the-top manner you could imagine.

The story is about a young man who isn't very bright but has almost magical hands...called 'hands of the sun'. They are much warmer than usual and when he bakes bread these magical hands help him to make truly amazing bread. How amazing? Well, at times when folks try it, they reach magical heights and hallucinations....and are often left crying, reaching some sort of orgasm or experiencing a near-death situation! It's really ridiculous but is also a way of poking fun at the MANY super-serious fighting animes. In this case, the big fights are cooking competitions and they seem more serious than anything you'll see in "Dragonball", "Yu-Yu Hakusho" or "Naruto"!! Additionally, many of the characters are just nuts...such as a rival who looks like a very buff Satan, a boss with an amazing afro and the actual writer of the anime who is portrayed as a blob who is brought to competitions in a bulldozer! Too weird but also incredibly funny from start to finish. Not to be missed.

Yakitate! Ja-pan (translated as Fresh Baked! Japanese Bread) is the story of a young man named Azuma Kazuma and his journey to make the perfect Japanese Bread or Ja-pan, for Japan, and for the Japanese, that will be recognized the the whole world.

Of course, that's just on the outside. In reality, Yakitate! Ja-pan isn't really about the bread, but the reaction that come after eating the bread, and the pun that comes with the reaction. The series is lovable because of these puns. From popular anime titles like Naruto, Detective Conan, and Dragon Ball to blockbuster movies like The Matrix and Lord of the Rings. It's all there.

So what makes this title different from other titles of the same genre like Cooking Master Boy or Mr. Ajikko? Well, unlike the others who use cooking for world domination, Yakitate! Ja-pan is purely comedy. Sure, there are times that the story turns to drama, or even murder, but the comedic atmosphere makes you laugh at them. You'll be laughing at their own view of heaven. Just watch it.

Just remember that this is also fiction, although some of the bread made here are based on real bread, eating the home made Japan #2 won't turn you to a Super Saiyan or turn your body to rubber.

"Yakitate Japan" literally means 'Fresh Japan,' the first of numerous puns viewers will find hilarious in the series. While France, Germany, Italy, the U.S. and every other industrialized country in the world have 'national' breads, Japan, a country whose history has been largely dependent on rice for the population's starch needs, does not. The Anime's characters are interested in creating this national bread, one that captures the culture/spirit/essence of Japan. 'Pan' being the word for bread, we are to smile that 'Ja-Pan,' or more to the point 'Japan' is Japanese bread. The story tells us of Azuma Kazuma, a young baker from rural (modern day) Japan who moves to Tokyo to pursue his career. There he meets up with other young bakers and together they pursue what can really only be termed as 'Adventures in Baking.' It sounds ridiculous, and maybe it is, but if your interested in a unique spin on the workplace comedy, or if you're an Anime lover, you'll find this show wonderfully diverse in what it's able to do with animation usually reserved for giant robots, the Meiji-era, or general sci-fi (futuristic or steam punk). The characters are full of passion and wit, the plots are thoughtful and pop-culturally relevant. What's more is that in the renditions I've seen, the stenographers take extra care to ensure that not a single joke is lost on the English peaking world with superb subtitles and cogent super titles when necessary.

The show it seems, is designed to be a delightful diversion from our every day as well as that of Anime's general fare. The bottom line is that if you take some time to check out Yakitate Japan, you'll find it innocently sensual, and comically very tasty.

This show truly proves that you can make anything interesting if you're talented enough. I can't imagine anyone other than the people who worked on this make a story about competitive bread making as over-the-top and intense as this. I'm going to try to avoid spoilers, but potentially anything could spoil a joke so just go watch it before you continue reading. If you like over-the-top comedies, you'll love this.

Characters - Everyone in this show is just perfect. From the main character to the judges to the villains, everyone has a layer of depth that makes not only the comedy, but the drama work. While the characters in the show may find the clown judge's backstory annoying, it really serves to build up the character, provide comedy, and to be honest its interesting on its own. All the characters grow or develop in some way, and there are actually a lot more mature themes concerning death and family drama than I was expecting in a kids show. I don't want to spoil anything about the main villain, but she's evil and some of the stuff she does is incredibly twisted. I'm glad that it was handled so maturely by the writers.

Voice Acting - I have a lot of respect for the actors of this show. Out of context, they are all fantastic. Lines are delivered with the perfect emotion and tone for every scene. In context, I would never be able to read a script like this and say my lines with such a straight face. Its not just intensely screaming facts about bread, and explaining complex bread making techniques, but most of the jokes in Yakitate!! Japan come from absolutely ridiculous things happening and everyone taking it seriously. This show is incredibly over the top and full of fourth wall breaks and parodies of everything from Naruto to Japanese fairy tales to Dragon Ball to Gundum to Lord of the Rings. I can't count the number of times when a character whispers to another "Are we ok on copyright? Are you sure we wont' get cancelled?" Everything is delivered with such sincerity from the voice actors that it is just impressive.

Story - This series follows your typical shonen story structure. Its full of tournament arcs that get more and more intense as the show goes along. Its done very well and is extremely entertaining. I want to avoid spoilers so I'll just leave it at that.

Animation - The animation is Yakitate!! Japan's weakest link. This was clearly a quickly made production and it shows. The animation isn't bad, its just that there isn't much animation going on. Characters rarely move, and plenty of time-saving measures are taken. Whenever the animation needs to be expressive and ridiculous it is and its hilarious, so this is more of a nitpick, I just thought I'd point it out.