Silver Spoon, Vol. 10

銀の匙 Silver Spoon [Gin no Saji Silver Spoon] #10

by Hiromu Arakawa

Year’s end is traditionally the time when students return home to ring in the new year with their families―the very last thing Hachiken wants to do! He’ll be the only one staying in the dorms, but after all, on a farm, someone always has to stick around to care for the animals. Little does he know that when the students are away, the teachers have their own holiday tradition: a year-end feast of the bounties of Ezo Ag! Happy New Year, indeed!!

Genres: Manga, Slice Of Life, Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Shonen

198 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Hiromu Arakawa (author: 荒川弘) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師 Hagane no renkinjutsushi).
Her real name is Hiromi Arakawa (荒川弘美).

Arakawa was born and raised on a dairy farm in Hokkaidō.
She thought of being a manga artist since she was little. After graduating high school, she took oil painting classes while working on her family's farm. During that time, she also created dōjinshi manga with her friends and drew yonkoma for a magazine. After eight years she moved to Tōkyō and started out as assistant writer for Hiroyuki Etō.
Her debut as manga artist is in 1999 with STRAY DOG. In 2001 she started working on her famous and award winning series Fullmetal Alchemist, that soon gets a successful anime adaptation.
Other works include Silver Spoon (銀の匙 Silver Spoon, Gin no saji Silver Spoon).

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another strong entry in one of my current favorite series. Deep in winter, the students of the Japanese agricultural school take a break for New Year's and later attend a winter festival. In between they launch a business to make and sell bacon and sausage, giving readers a step-by-step breakdown of how the sausage is made. And while this is an educational series at heart, the relationships are what drive the book. The students reach out to a former classmate who has dropped out, and the protagonist has a chance to meet his new sister-in-law.

[Dubzor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It doesn't feel like a whole lot happens in this volume. Sure we meet the Russian wife and Ichaan makes his return, but aside from that there really isn't a whole lot in terms of plot or character significance. A filler volume for sure, but that's by no means a criticism. A Silver Spoon filler volume is still much better than one from any other series. Just don't expect anything big to happen in these pages.

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty great agriculture and farming manga, great art and really good story!😁👌❤️

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this volume so much! Hachiken is always growing and learning. I love the way he connects with his friends, and they always make me laugh.

[Emilija · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this installment in the Silver Spoon series! It covers the students creating a business, and walking you through exactly how to make bacon and sausage - while reading, I debated whether the writer actually wants you to think about becoming a vegetarian - but it also covers relationships and friendships and it gave me a warm fuzzy just reading it.

[Aprilia Pramesti · Rating 4 out of 5]

baca silver spoon selalu bikin lapar...

"Tapi aku... ingin diriku sendiri yang dilihat, tanpa merek dan label." - hal. 160
cool :)

[Eressea · Rating 4 out of 5]

20250817 2nd read
--
20200905 1st read

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hachiken accidentally discovers that the faculty at his school has a secret New Year's Eve feast they keep quiet from the students when he stays there over the holiday. When students return, the pork they have invested in is ready for processing so they have to learn how to make sausages and then figure out pricing (which is a bigger job than they thought). And then Hachiken meets his new sister in law.

It is interesting to learn some of the Japanese New Year's traditions. The faculty were so funny about Hachiken learning about their secret feast, but I can see the staff at our school doing something similar. :) Hiromu Arakawa does a great job of working humor into even everyday situations. Another very fun read. Recommended to those who want to learn about Japanese culture, Japanese agriculture, the farm to food process, or just looking for a moderately humorous contemporary fiction.

Notes on content: 4 minor swear words. No sexual content. One of the boys develops an ad for the sausages that's a little suggestive; Hachiken quickly tears it up. No violence. Sausage making is described. One calf being born shown.

[Mauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year ends and Hachiken dodges his parents, brother, and new sister-in-law by staying at school. The pork from the Pork Fund is ready and the first-years do some literal learning of "how the sausage gets made." Komaba's family farm going bankrupt has sobered many of them: they can't help Komaba (and he wouldn't let them), but reducing the burden and risks on individual farming family is influencing their plans for the future and even how they price their product to sell at the school market.

Besides the Pork Fund work, this volume moves pretty slowly despite the end of the school year coming up fast in March. There's a lot of eating (with delicious food everywhere) and a side plot of petty revenge. Hachiken does meet his new Russian sister-in-law and there's a fair amount of, "wow, foreigners aren't that bad!" Which...you know what, whatever.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hachiken and his Pork Club decide to take on the responsibility of buying three pigs and following them from slaughter through the making of bacon and sausage.

These volumes never fail to impress me with the grittiness of their topic. While Hachiken loves the pigs themselves, he also now understands that they will eventually become food. They learn about the total process including the marketing and accounting portions and sell their food at the Ezo Ag farmers' market. Different characters have different strengths (Tamako gets very excited about pricing) and they all work together to succeed.

I also learn something each time - who knew there was a specific oven to melt raclette cheese! I wish I could join in these feasts.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

A New Year filled with snow shoveling, a sudden wedding, sausage making, and a surprise visitor! What more can you ask for. I loved the sausage making chapters. This series doesn’t shy away from all the steps required to get food from the farm to your table. Real representations of costs, labor, and a multitude of external factors (time of year, product quality and appearance, label design, reputation,etc.). It’s a story about high school that isn’t afraid to offer education with entertainment along the way. Now I need some hot dogs... Fantastic art abounds. The winter scenes that dominate the pages are gorgeous. Read this series!

[Christine]

We get to see more of Mikage riding horses! Yay! The gang makes sausage and debates how to best sell it.

Swearing/profanity: One instance of "Oh, hell no!" two instances of taking the Lord's name in vain, 1 instance of damn

Sexual References: Nishikawa creates a label for the sausages they make. It's a manga girl riding a sausage saying "Eat me", when Hachiken meets his sister-in-law she hugs him and smushes his face into her breasts (not on purpose)

Religious elements: The group writes down wishes at a temple so that they come true

LGBTQ + rep: Not specified

[Miguel Esteban · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una mujer rusa diciendo que no le preocupan los ingresos inestables de su marido porque no podrían comprarse a la inestabilidad de la caída de la Unión Soviética es el epítome de la comedia. Este volumen fue un cague de risa y aún así se las arregla para ser serio cuando debe serlo. El final de este volumen es de lo más lindo que tiene esta serie.

[Anthony Wendel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume is more amusing than it is dramatic. After exploring what to do with the pork they got as a group investment Hachiken is introduced to his new sister in law. She is a charming character and really finds ways to poke fun at other members of the cast.

[Coke Fernández · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10
Me lo paso pipa leyendo Silver Spoon :).

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series never disappoints, I always feel like I'm learning more and more about what agriculture school in Japan is like.

[Jessi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Komaba! 😭

[Nell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how much they talk about food in this managa

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I said I wanted 🥓 in the last volume. I made myself a BLT today ☺️.

I've grown tired of Hachiken freaking out anytime he is given some sort of responsibility or put in charge.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a fondness to this manga that I'm quite intrigued by. I just hope my library can get the last 5 volumes soon so I can finish up this series! I'm eager to see how it ends!

[scarlettraces · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say, I love this series, it can do no wrong in my eyes

[Atiqer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a great decision to read this when you're hungry 🤤

[Lou]

legit got emotional at the ending of this volume, not gonna lie

[🧸♡뀨♡🐣 · Rating 4 out of 5]

內容真的非常的有教育意義，可以學習到正常無法觸及的領域的知識

[Celebrilomiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-researched series about farming in Hokkaido. Doesn't pull punches about the difficulties and the economic hardship farms and farm workers go through.

[Lisandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 estrelas

[-moonprismpower- · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice seeing Komaba again…


Also, there’s always LOTS of food in these volumes. Don’t read when hungry LOL.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me the biggest part of this volume is we see the return of a character that exit in an earlier volume! I also really like the ending page, because it shows that this character is not going to give up anymore.

Verdict: I do like this series!

[The Book Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this volume about New Years...on New Years...then woke up early to see the sunrise because this book said it was good luck... WORTH IT!

They also go through the process of making sausage (since we did bacon earlier) and we get another pizza party type scene where everyone gets to eat good food together. It's heartwarming. We even have a couple unexpected visitors and laughs.

But I nearly cried reading this one because of Komaba...dude needs a break. But I can also understand the author wanting to keep the story as true as possible. Farm life is hard and so many little things can put it under: debt, disease, old age... It's not fair and life doesn't always give you the happy ending.

This series has 15 volumes.