Like you may have guessed from the title, this series is about food. It centres around the life of a gay couple, Shiro and Kenji. Shiro is a reserved lawyer who is a foodie and Kenji is an outgoing hairdresser. The story centers around their domestic life in Japan, with their work and the minefields of their modern gay life.
This series asks 2 questions: Can they manage to balance their personal and professional life? And what will they cook next? This is my favourite part and the reason I keep revisiting the series. The series has recipes woven into the story. Those recipes are often directly linked to the plot of each chapter. What is interesting is that it offers step-by-step recipes with visuals too. But how can they do this? Simple, they offer these in the internal dialogues characters have, while showing you the visuals in the comic.
This is a Manga series, so a Japanese comic book series, which is read right to left (not the text, but the pages and panels). You can learn how to read Mangas here. For those who don’t like to read in reverse or are reluctant to try it, this is a great exercise for the brain and helps rewire it. This helps your brain to keep in shape. Like the old expression says: Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
To recap, these Mangas are part stories part recipe book, which is why it is so popular. It offers you a view of LGBTQ2+ rights and culture in Japan, while providing you with delicious recipes. Now, I must warn you: This book might make you hungry! Read at your own risk!
Author: Fumi Yoshinaga
Publishing Year: 2007 to present
Campbellton Centennial Library 