Antique Bakery, Volume 2

Antique Bakery #2

by Fumi Yoshinaga

As Tachibana, Ono, and Kanda continue to run the bakery "Antique," their daily routine is suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a tall, mysterious man in dark sunglasses. Addressing Tachibana as "my lord", his name is Chikage Kobayakawa. Not only does the man's appearance lead to surprising revelations about bakery manager Tachibana and his past, but also triggers chef Ono's notorious "demonic charm." The bakery also deals with the hectic holiday rush, and this year, Tachibana has decided to start a special Christmas delivery service -- as Santa in a red Ferrari!

Genres: Manga, Comics, Yaoi, Graphic Novels, LGBT, Contemporary, Drama

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2001

About the author

Japanese: よしなが ふみ

Fumi Yoshinaga (よしなが ふみ Yoshinaga Fumi, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist known for her shōjo and shōnen-ai works.

Fumi Yoshinaga was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1971. She attended the prestigious Keio University in Tokyo.

In an interview, she said that "I want to show the people who didn't win, whose dreams didn't come true. It is not possible for everybody to get first prize. I want my readers to understand the happiness that people can get from trying hard, going through the process, and getting frustrated."

Little is known about her personal life. She mentions that her favourite operas are those by Mozart in the author's note of Solfege.

She debuted in 1994 with The Moon and the Sandals, serialized in Hanaoto magazine, but was previously a participant in comic markets.

Of Yoshinaga's many works, several have been licensed internationally. She was also selected and exhibited as one of the "Twenty Major Manga artist Who Contributed to the World of Shōjo Manga (World War II to Present)" for Professor Masami Toku's exhibition, "Shōjo Manga: Girl Power!" at CSU-Chico.

Outside of her work with Japanese publishers, she also self-publishes original doujinshi on a regular basis, most notably for Antique Bakery. Yoshinaga has also drawn fan parodies of Slam Dunk, Rose of Versailles, and Legend of Galactic Heroes.

Reviews

[Lou (Lou and Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

After binge reading the first volume, I had to read this volume and it did not disappoint me. The tone of this series remained the same and it was so refreshing to read such a light story. Even though there are serious topics like the kidnapping of a child (it happens before the books are set), this book still filled me with warm fuzzy feelings. It's so wholesome. In addition, that cliffhanger makes me want to read the third volume asap, so that is what I will be doing. I love the fact that this is exactly what I need and I am enjoying it so much. I would definitely recommend this series!

[Bee (BacchusVines) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that ending dropped out of nowhere, but I love it! Excited to continue the series c:

[Meghan Bohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

At least the second read through.

[Nicole Bunge · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll say it again - this is this is shōnen-ai, not yaoi.

The plot is slightly better than the first volume - so if you're waffling on continuing this series (I read a lot of first volumes and give up) read the second one before you make up your mind.

The author attempts to present these episodes/recipes as stand-alone, with bits of over-arching plot thrown in (a la "Petshop of Horrors" or... any prime-time drama on tv.)

You find out that the owner (who is from a wealthy family) was kidnapped as a child, but has no memory of the event, other than the kidnapper fed him desserts. The kidnapper was never caught, and it haunts the former police investigator who ruined his career on the case, and somehow became a desert-obsessed recluse who now frequents this shop- because it's the best in town.

Also, the chef tries to put his 'gay-demon' (his words, not mine) moves on the owner's clumsy butler, who shows up out of the blue one day and proceeds to be a walking prat-fall. Not a lot happens. There is very little 'boy love' or 'romance' -just a gay character who may or may not hook up with a straight one in a future volume. I was kinda annoyed this was even labeled 'yaoi.'

That said, there is a plot building under all this... frosting... but it's taking a long time for this delicate souffle to rise. Debatable if I'll continue the series.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the first volume had a much more episodic feel, this reads more coherently and is still a whole lot of fun and cute and delicious-looking. Really enjoyable, and I love when episodic stories turn up later and actually end up having an impact. I didn't exactly plan on reading this, but now I find I can't stop.

[K.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cast gets a little bigger in the second volume of this light comedy drama series.

Chikage, the inept, but loyal childhood friend/self proclaimed servant of Tachibana, shows up at the Antique Bakery. To Ono’s delighted distress, Chikage is just his type. Can he keep his ‘demonic’ charm at bay or will he be out of another job?

The entire staff faces their next challenge at Christmas when Tachibana decides to make special deliveries dressed as Santa, leaving everyone else to take care of the store. A little more of Tachibana’s past is revealed when members of his family come to the Antique Bakery and a regular customer recognizes him from childhood.

Our characters get a little deeper as two of them take a couple of steps towards having a romantic relationship, yet it didn’t end with a predictable conclusion. One of them asks a powerful question I agree with whole heartedly. Do you have to be sexually involved with someone for your relationship to matter? Or do spinning around in the rain and almost kissing mean nothing?

This volume packs a powerful, emotional punch while remaining playful and light, mingling comedy and humor with the deep feelings comedy and humor often come from. It asks important questions about relationships while continuing to entertain, moving the story forward through the characters and their development. It makes me, the reader eager to go with them, wondering where they’ll end up next.

[Jessica Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Antique Bakery feels like a corner stone of Boy’s Love in its infancy in the US and its the first example of what I like to call ‘cooking gays’ that I can think of. Published by DMP (Digital Manga Publishing) with its pencil sketchy art style and scratch and sniff slipcovers, if the men on the front didn’t catch your eye, the beautiful illustrations of the desserts definitely would. Sadly our covers don’t smell anymore, but I do remember the scents of strawberry and chocolate from various volumes while reading these bakery hijinks...

Read the full review for all four volumes at Well, Are They? A Queer Review Blog:
https://wellarethey.blogspot.com/2023...

[Jordan MacKinnon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay .... this volume was so much better than the first!! Everything started to make sense! Not only did we get one tragic backstory, we got two!! And along with a potential new romance which is just so sweet!! And pure hilarity because these guys are just a wonderful time to read about their attempts to run the bakery!! Of course the descriptions of the desserts makes me hungry!!! But we actually have a little intrigue into one of the character's past and a will they, won't they situation happening! So onwards to the next volume!

[rondoravioli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this volume a lot better than the first, though the explanations of the deserts can sometimes drag on for too long.

That being said, Chikage was a welcome addition this volume! He rounds out the dynamics at the bakery nicely, and I'm curious to see if he and Ono's relationship will develop in the future.

[Bryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh dear, I am reviewing these out of order -- well, I liked this volume very much, it is a little darker than the first, revealing some painful pieces of various people's pasts, but still mostly funny and focused on the delights of baking and eating.

[Patricia allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did this story just keep getting better and better over and over haha. Out upstanding Gay is so flippen funny. He really is a bad boy haha. I love it. I really want to eat these cakes also. The descriptions our lovely boxer does makes it seem like heaven.

[Martu (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, this just took an interesting dark turn... and I really like it.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this mostly made me hungry

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars! Again, I feel like there is some weird language that makes this awkward to read in 2020, but I liked this a lot better than Vol. 1 with the introduction of Chikage. He's probably my favorite of the group, by a lot. I think there was a lot better characterization and some interesting backstory we got a peek into for each of our characters. I don't really care for the overly descriptive dessert presentations (especially because we barely see the desserts themselves) but admittedly I'm reading this series pretty quickly so 🤷‍♀️

[Danielle Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Fumi Yoshinaga, but this series so far has just been ok...I wish there was more story and less recipes...we'll see how volume three goes.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please see my review for this whole series in volume 1.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars and I'm done with the series

[Anna C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Di volume ini Ono akhirnya berhasil ngeliat muka Chikage (krn sehari2 itu dia pake sunnies terus secara matanya ga tahan terang) dan baru sadar kalo Chikage itu tipenya bgt, huahahaha. Dan OMG, pose dia di tengah hujan deras wkt lagi berusaha godain Chikage itu, ROFL. XD Bknnya ikutan terpesona kaya si Chikage, aku malah ngakak krn gayanya si Ono itu sok seksi bgt and WTF abis, huahahaha.
Serius, Ono ini tipe cowok yg harus dijauhi semua pria dan wanita (kalo dia straight atau biseksual). Menggoda dan mempermainkan hati incarannya, padahal dia itu ga serius, cuma pgn bobo bareng, ckckck. Sukurin si Ono ditampar Tachibana krn uda nyakitin hati Chikage dgn memberi harapan palsu. Kasihan Chikage yg polos dan lugu itu....

Di volume ini juga ada Buche de Noel, rol gulung berbentuk potongan kayu yg selalu muncul pas Natal. Wew, aku jadi ngiler abis ngebayangin yg 3D-nya, hahaha. Ngomong soal rol gulung, aku jadi inget bolu gulung Medan rasa jeruk, dan omong soal kue Medan, aku juga jadi ingat kue lapis legit, Bika Ambon rasa pandan...ada lagi sate padang Medan yg pedas bgt, emi Medan (semcm mie udon dgn saus yg kental dan khas bgt rasanya, susah gambarinnya pake kata2 pokoknya, bkn kritikus makanan sih, hahaha... Pokoknya enak bgt apalagi kalo dituangin sambel ijo sebanyak2nya *dasarnya pecinta cabe :p*, dlm saus itu ada hebi, jadilah sausnya wangi udang juga, hahaha. Plus ada irisan jeruk nipis dan seiris telur buat nemenin mienya), lap choi (kepiting goreng, peyek udang, tahu, kangkung, tauge, kerupuk yg semuanya disiram bumbu asam manis gitu, cocok buat dimakan sore2 buat snack ringan sblm dinner), chai pao (semacam gyoza Jepang...chai pao itu dari bahasa Hokkien dimana chai artinya sayuran dan pao artinya bungkus, biasa dicocol dgn sambal merah yg pedas bgt. Makanan Medan semuanya wajib ada sambal yg nemenin! XDD Terus terang nih, aku lbh demen chai pao ketimbang siomai, jiaozi, hakau, xiao long bao dan sejenisnya yg umumnya ditemui dlm menu dimsum).

Anyway, berikut ini gbr2 makanan yg kusebutin tadi buat bagi yg blm tau. :)









Sebenarnya chai pao ini kulitnya ga harus kuning loh, kadang bening kaya kulitnya jiaozi gitu.


Arghhh, sialan, kalo baca komik makanan plus ngeliat gambar makanan pas lg jam makan bikin aku jadi lapar berat. Duh, aku jadi kangen makanan Medan nih....T_____T uda lama ga makan makanan Medan..... T______T

Anyway, ini topiknya jadi agak melenceng gitu dari kue, hahaha. *memang dasarnya tukang bikin review yg OOT sih :p*

[Mads · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Yoshinaga effect strikes again! As per usual, I loved this volume. Yoshinaga's got subtle comedy and facial expressions down to a science and it's great.
Chikage is introduced in this volume (this is the problem with reading these out of order, I already know this guy), and he's a pretty fun character. I don't really like how he's basically inept at everything he does, but if Yoshinaga uses this as his base for character growth, then I'm excited to see where this goes. I like his relationship with Ono - those chapters in the book were some of my favorites - and I hope the author does something with it, rather than leave it hanging as a "will they/won't they" situation, which is one of my least favorite tropes. I like how you can see how one affects the other and how they each bring something interesting to the potential relationship.
I'm not sure how much I liked the introduction of the kidnapping storyline. I like how it's handled in the next volume, but for now it kind of comes out of nowhere and is pretty much waved off. I guess that's kind of the point: Tachibana is not very good at talking about serious subjects. But I don't know, he handled his aunts pretty well and is aware of the impact he has on people, so who's to say?
Overall, another solid volume, which we can pretty solidly dub the "backstory dump" volume. Not that that's a bad thing! In fact, it was very interesting to learn about who Eiji was before becoming a boxer. Simply the story moving forward.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think the comedy lands very well unfortunately

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

We get Eiji's back story (the boxer) and we learn about Takibana's past as well as his klutzy bodyguard turns up and ends up as a 4th member of the staff. This is very bad news for gay of demonic charm Ono, because Chikage is so his type! Not a bad volume, quite fun. Ends on a really excellent cliff hanger as we learn why exactly Tachibana randomly decided one day to open a bakery....

Not my favourite artwork, but the characters are all well developped, individualised and interesting enough to hold my attention.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now we have Chikage, who looks like a yakuza member but is bumbling and clueless--as well as extremely handsome and therefore something of a focus of Ono's attentions. The scene with Ono and Chikage in the rain is...hard to describe. Kinda over the top yet delightful in a way.

Chikage's an excellent addition to the cast of characters (in both sense of that word!)

Oh, and yes, the delicious pastry descriptions continue.

See vol. 1 for my overall review of the series.

[Mikael Kuoppala · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part of this four part saga felt like the very definition of guilty pleasure for me; fluffy, silly, goofy, sweet, but not all that substantial or intellectually stimulating. Volume 2 surprises by deepening the concept and the characters considerably. Forget all about guilt, this is pleasure enjoyed with pride and thought. The overall feel of this series still remains sugary, but there are honest, observant and quite dark elements present as well.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waah, akhirnya Kobayakawa Chikage muncul juga! *langsung ngebayangin Hiroshi Abe, nyam nyam slurp*

Bagian Chikage yang terlalu jangkung jadi sering kepentok ambang pintu... lha kok ya persis seperti yang kupikirkan tiap kali nonton Hiroshi Abe di dorama manapun, kapan dia bakal kepentok pintu yang kependekan buat dia :)

Well, tapi jdorama Antique Bakery beda banget dengan manganya, jadi tak usah berharap ada adegan hot antara Hiroshi Abe dan Fujiki Naohito >.<

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I forget how fast it takes to read a manga. *sadface* Volume 2 is where the character developments happen, where we learned about the men behind Antique Bakery (the store) -- and I should I have noted in Volume 1's review, but Volume 1 is where we are introduced to Antique Bakery (the store) and how it was founded.

[Edna · Rating 3 out of 5]

For Manga beginners, this book may not be the best to start with; it's a bit confusing getting used to the back-to-front, left-to-right formatted text, the exaggerated expressions and symbols and same-sex theme. But even though it seems a bit erratic, the story drew me in and I found myself compelled to finish the book just to see what's happens!

[quinnster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm actually really starting to get into these! They really are like a television series and each book is an episode with all kinds of drama, comedy and romance. Each volume we're learning a bit more about each character although this book was more about Tachibana.

Fun, light and will definitely get you craving some cake of some sort!

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't do it. i can't read right to left. I made it about 15 pages in and couldn't do it anymore. The characters all looked the same, and the drawing style changed every few frames. I couldn't keep the characters straight after only a few pages. Not for me. My first experience with manga. I will definitely try again, but not with this series.

[Oyceter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue to adore this series, particularly Ono's dual personalities and his "demonic charm," along with clueless Chikage.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I get really really hungry when I read this series...