I'm warming up to this gentle slice-of-life drama again as the cute little daughter has a birthday, grapples with her conscience over a lie, and dares to run go on an errand to the corner store.
FOR REFERENCE
Contents: Chapter 21. Chewy Mochi Makes You Strong! -- Chapter 22. It's Been a While, Buri-Daikon -- Chapter 23. A Birthday and Sushi Cake -- Chapter 24. Liars and Spaghetti Carbonara with Parme-whatsit -- Chapter 25. Warm Croquettes Under a Starry Sky -- Yagi-chan's Circumstances -- Afterword -- Translation Notes -- Next Issue
There’s certainly a more emotional feel in this entry as we see Tsumugi and her father have a mochi-making party with one of her friends who’s about to be a big brother and Kotori reconnecting with her divorced father. It also looks like our little Tsumugi is starting to grow as she’s trying to do more challenging things by herself. A (100%/Outstanding)
I think this is the fist volume without any anime crossover…
It’s nice to see the father more confident in his abilities to cook now, in fact all three have gained confidence in one form or another, yet they still need each other for encouragement and hanging out. It’s cute, and the emotional hits are good too. At the end we have a “special” chapter where we see the father and one of his friends as high schoolers, with the mother there as well, and that was a welcome little bit. Also, first Italian dish showed up! XD
This series remains one of the best of both the "single dad" and "cooking with family" subgenres. Tsumugi's a believable five-turning-six-year-old, and if the recipes aren't entirely doable with the provided instructions, there's enough information that you can get close enough. If you need something charming in your life, this is a must-read.
Review for series so far 2-3 Stars… I like the art and premise. Each chapter is almost like a recipe with pictures, with a long-running story of Kouhei, his daughter Tsumugi and Kotori alongside it. Tsumugi is adorable and in the first double of volumes I didn’t mind that the pacing took it’s time but by book 5 nothing much had changed and it’s starting to get a bit boring.
I love this series, but geez it doesn't have to be this long. It's 6 more volumes. However it is getting better in being less repetive. There's alot of wholesome moments, some pretty good illustration, and some nice themes. There's nothing totally bad in this volume, besides maybe some missing charm from the previous volumes.
Art: The art I feel like in this volume, was plain, unlike the other volumes. It's still expressive. However since the cooking scenes are shorter (I think) we don't get enough those trademark Tsumugi reactions. A nitpick I noticed is the illustration is a little fugly looking and rough looking in alot of panels. They look too bare or empty.
Character: The characters are improving again. Strangely Kotori and Kohei seem to get more spotlight, while Tsumugi seems to have less. It's kinda strange as she usually adds some variety to the cooking scenes with her antics. But I do like that they're fleshing out the characters. There's been some sweet moments with the Inuzuka family coping with their loss in the last few volumes and this one. It makes the story feel more connected.
Story: Nothing too special. There's some good themes about loss, parenting, growing up as usual. But they are more expanded on here. The slice of life chapters are pretty fun and tie well into these themes. Anyways the chapters. Chapter 21- A really cute chapter that ties into the intro of a new character, one of Tsumugi's classmates. It's filled with sweet moments and again uses it's pre-established themes. This is the kind of ideal chapter I enjoy. Chapter 22- Probably my least favorite chapter in this volume. (SPOILER) comes to see Kotori. It just feels out of nowhere and shoehorned in. It really doesn't make sense at least to me, besides adding in a theme at the end, and fleshing out Kotori's childhood. While I had some problems with the first few volumes making the cooking scenes too long, this chapter makes the cooking way too fast paced. It makes the cooking portion of the chapter just feel unimportant, so basically this entire chapter feels kinda crappy. Chapter 23- Tsumugi's birthday! This chapter deals with more themes of parenting and growing up. Tsumugi and Kohei's father-daughter bond is just so well written, this chapter is proof. There's also a sweet page of Kohei thinking about Tae. Nothing else really to say about the chapter. Chapter 24- Another Tsumugi focused chapter. This chapter proves another thing in it's ability to write a believable child character. Here she gets upset because she lied. I like that the series focuses on the growth of Tsumugi and the lessons she learns. It makes her feel way more like a character. Chapter 25- Tsumugi runs an errand by herself. There's some classic slice of life and then the routine cooking bit. I think this cooking bit at the end shows why I love this series. It's themes, I love how they add them in. It's what makes slice of life unique. Anyways the cooking and lesson transitions well together in this. Plus the shot of them eating on the roof is very pretty.
It was one of those storys that you just have finish its so cute . Now for the few things I thought was wrong ,The ending last couple of chapters looked like they where wrote by someone else and it seemed rushed it could have had 2 if not 4 more chapters to show how all the characters move on with their lives ,also to see if two of the characters can finally can show their feelings to each other or if they drift apart without the one their that brought them togather to begin with. I think it should have a book wrote just to finish it properly . I would say adults and teens would enjoy it even as it is now .
Sweetness & Lightning was a reading challenge pickup. I had no expectation going into this.
I don't read a ton of manga or slice of life. I found this story absolutely heartfelt and so cute. Family oriented father who is taking care of his daughter, while they are grieving the loss of mother/wife.
I thought the story was well told and enjoyable. Loved all the talk of cooking and how the father was working so hard to learn to cook for his daughter. I love the insert of recipes.
We see more of Kitori, student of the father. This dynamic seemed innocent enough but made me feel bad.
This book had a different tone, I won't be continuing on.
I especially loved when they are putting on their aprons and Tsumagi says “TRANSFORM!” (p. 13), when Kohei’s nightmare conjures Tsumagi & Suguru on the tricycle (p. 38), when Kohei is super stressing in the top right frame “Gotta Hurry! Gotta Hurry!” (p. 83), Tsumagi’s meltdown about lying about the Parmesan (p. 120), & how Tsumagi decides being a demon is preferable to trying hard to be a good girl (p. 154).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I didn't really know what to expect going into this manga. It's a cute story about a widower single father learning to cook for his daughter. The meals sound very tasty and I've definitely jotted down a couple recipes to try for myself.
It's a little one note but it's cute for what it is and enjoyable. I plan on watching the anime as well
This one is pretty emotional. Tsumugi has become more open talking about her mother and helps comfort a classmate who is worried about their own. Tsumugi also learns more responsibility and to take care of herself. It was a cute read and deeper than expected.
A cut story about a single father and his little daughter and how they find balance in their lives through the (food and) relationships they build around themselves.