Checking in on several manga series involving food that I’ve enjoyed reading so far… below find thoughts on the latest volumes of How to Grill Our Love and What Did You Eat Yesterday? as well as a review of Let’s Eat Together, Aki and Haru.
What Did You Eat Yesterday?
What Did You Eat Yesterday? volume 22
by Fumi Yoshinaga
This series continues to be my absolute favorite. The chapters don’t involve major events, but it’s all the more realistic and relatable for that. Shiro and Kenji are distinctly middle-aged men, and so their concerns involve a favorite bakery closing, or seeing an ex’s grownup child, or hunkering down at home during a big storm, or (finishing a storyline that began back in volume 19) finally seeing old friends get married and dealing with the emotions raised at the event.
Yoshinaga’s style is so distinctive, I always recognize her work. Her faces are both lovely and expressive, and the food looks realistic and delicious. It makes for an authentic world with plenty of background and detail.
Plus, it’s about food. After a number of years, feeding yourself and your loved ones can become a chore, so seeing someone enjoy putting together a variety of meals is inspiring. Particularly when the recipes take into account “this will use up the leftover veg from last night” or “this was on special at the supermarket” or “this is a quick way to make tomato sauce” (although incorporating ketchup in it reminds the reader that this is definitely Japanese). The first story has Shiro making something just to use a new kitchen toy, an immersion blender; I’ve definitely chosen recipes to try out a new gadget myself. There’s also an entire chapter about meals to make with a hot plate. This series is encouraging and comforting.
How to Grill Our Love
How to Grill Our Love volume 13
by Shiori Hanatsuka
Since the couple settled down together a while ago, this series has become a set of chapters where someone making a dish fits into some event or emotional discovery. It’s What Did You Eat Yesterday? with a straight couple. The recipes are a bit vaguer (they don’t include measurements, for example) and less focused on being easy to make. They’re also less likely to be full meals.
I like the two characters here, though — they mean well, and even when they’re worried, as in the first chapter, about being out of sync and whether they’re really compatible, I know they’ll figure it out. In this case, by eating different things together.
In this volume, their friend Rina becomes a girl-group idol temporarily (and the snacks made are irrelevant to the story), and Chihiro worries about her father and his age after a minor accident. She also has a night with insomnia and finds things to do… and eat.
I particularly liked the chapter where Kenta is thinking about whether he will have friends and hobbies in retirement — it’s an issue for a lot of people who throw themselves into family and work for so many years. It’s handled in a light and humorous fashion, but it’s also great seeing him address the issue head-on.
Sometimes the chapter is just about the food, and that’s fun too. Although I’m never going to make my own glazed donuts. And I don’t think meatloaf is really that special for a party — but the idea of an appetizer pot luck with friends sounds great.
Let’s Eat Together, Aki and Haru
Let’s Eat Together, Aki and Haru
by Makoto Taji
Speaking of manga like What Did You Eat Yesterday?… this short (three-volume) series is about college housemates Aki and Haru. Aki is messy and outgoing, while Haru is quiet and strict. Aki cooks meals for them, and while others wonder about their relationship, they are just, as far as they’re concerned, really good friends who never want to stop living together or leave each other.
(Spoiler: Until volume 3, where they quickly admit feelings for each other before the series ends. That’s why this is part of Tokyopop’s LoveLove line — I found myself wondering through reading most of the series how much was reader shipping, similar to Antique Bakery, although that one is not BL.)
Aki’s meals are student-type food, like packaged ramen or leftovers on top of rice or what’s on sale or food from a can or what you can make in a sandwich grill. At the end of each chapter is a text page that gives the recipe, very convenient for the reader.
While lightweight, which I found enjoyable, there are also thoughtful moments. For example, in the second volume, Aki doesn’t know what he wants to do after graduation. He feels as though everyone else has a goal, and he just likes cooking. Haru gives him the useful advice that “There’s strength in being okay with simple.” I liked hearing that myself.
I also found it relatable where, also in that book, the boys win a hot plate and start cooking everything on it and finding reasons to use it. I’ve been doing the same thing with my new air fryer.
They’re very cute together. (I also find Haru’s love of Chief Penguin, a stuffed toy wearing a tie, adorable.) The only drama is that, as college students, they have to face life beyond school at some point, a conflict that drives much of the third volume.
The ending comes abruptly. I wish there was more, as I’d like to spend more time with these young men. But like time in school, good times are only of limited duration.
English (US) · 