Join Aki and Haru as they tackle one of the most perilous tasks two college roommates can face — feeding themselves! Easygoing Aki has mastered the art of affordable home-cooking to keep his good friend Haru upbeat and motivated throughout the school year. From homemade ramen to fried chicken to plum liqueur, each season offers a whole new menu! Chewing their way through life's ups and downs, the boys and their friends share in the simple joys of food and youth. Take a hearty bite out of this sweet and refreshing slice of life story!
Aww…this is really sweet. Each chapter centers around some kind of dish that the roomies are eating together—usually prepared by Aki. There’s maybe the tiniest hint of romantic feelings, but they’re never overt. Mostly it’s just the boys distracting themselves from impending college graduation with delicious food.
Probably more like 3.5 stars, but it's such a warm, cute story I'm bumping it up a little.
The recipes still make me laugh; one was largely made in a microwave, and one chapter is just "canned corn soup" from a vending machine, to keep the food theme going while the friend group is on the road to watch the new year's sunrise. I was pleasantly surprised, though, that (spoiler I guess?) Aki's career choice isn't going to be a chef. I'd assumed it was going to head that direction, but he's not really that creative or elaborate in the kitchen. It's just cozy home cooking that he does because it makes him and the people around him happy. And that's more the theme of this story.
There still isn't much (any?) progress on the romantic front, although Haru's sister does show up to give them knowing glances and to compare them to her relationship with her live-in boyfriend. And Haru is definitely struggling a good amount with the idea of a future that might not have Aki in it. It would honestly be pretty easy to keep reading this as just a solid friendship thing, if it wasn't labeled BL. But the author's note indicates they're happy to keep this on a slow, steady pace for a while. I wonder how long it will take to get there.
The art seems to have improved some in this volume - Haru seems a lot more attractive, anyway, and flashier than I remember him from the first volume? So the pages are fun to look at. And I'm also experiencing a good amount of Haru's photography professor's nostalgia for how great college life was. There was a lot of schoolwork and stress about a variety of things, but it was also just really, really nice to have that many friends all engaged in the same sorts of things, and spending a lot of time hanging out, eating, and talking about the future. It's a nice little escape, although it makes me a little sad. Like Haru thinking back to flashbacks of his friendship forming with Aki, I suppose.
There's a random bonus story at the end of this rather slim volume, which honestly just kinda seems like a portrait of the author...a bit pointless to include here, but I suppose it was a space filler.
This is just more of volume one with a little bit more 👀🏳️🌈? going on so nothing's changed. Anyway, here's my united notes for this volume because it's not worth structuring them out.
Doesn't... doesn't Aki have a job? Didn't he just get promoted?
1. You spelled glompping wrong and that hurts me more for some reason. 2. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE USING GLOMPPING IN A POST 2018 MANGA?!
WASH DOWN THE BEER! GUYS, YOU HAVE TO WASH DOWN THE BEER! Did you wash down the beer? Have you try washing down the beer, yet?
las amistades que hacen los pequeños retos de la vida. me sigue encantando la comida uno en el micro y otro toma su tiempo va avanzando muy poco en la parte de romance pero igual este manga se volvió uno de mis favoritos y que quiero tener físicamente para estar hojeando a cada rato y ver el arte que me ENCANTA.
it's just such a nice, comforting and natural story! the feelings realisation is starting veryyyyy slowly in this volume, but I really like that. all the recipes seem like fun and not too difficult, the food looks delicious and the art is gorgeous 😍 can't wait to read the next part and keep seeing how their relationship develops!
Such a warm, cute story! I like that they delved into a little more of their daily lives and serious-ish topics like thinning about the future and post graduation. Also the meals got upgraded because I did save those cheese potsticker dak-galbi and soy milk miso butter ramen recipes…
Still enjoyable middle of the road cozy read. I'm not that much into food as such and that's why this is not rounded up to 4 stars. Also this volume seems to broaden out a bit so you get to know a bit more than just about food.
Aki and Haru are finishing their 3rd year of college, trying to decide what careers they want to pursue. Their friends and shared meals help them get through the stress. I can see the appeal of the simple recipes.
I LOVE this, it’s so cute and the art is adorable, and I love the characters and their designs, ugh. It’s so good, just perfect slice of life slow burn love story.
The recipes sound so good but I wish there was a little more progress on their relationship. At this point I feel like it’s pretty much just loving glances.
I read the english version on hoopla, but it doesn't have a listing yet? This one was a bit too short and even more unfocused than usual for me, but I still had a good time.