is a Japanese cooking

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

written and illustrated by Tetsuji Sekiya. The manga has been serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

's seinen magazine (aimed at older men) ''

Big Comic Spirits is a weekly Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan. The first issue was published on October 14, 1980. Food, sports, romance and business are recurring themes in the magazine, and the stories often question conventional va ...

''. As of February 2009,

has published 14 ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' of the manga. It received the 2008

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan, Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being ...

for

seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like ''Weekly Ma ...

/general manga along with Takeshi Natsuhara's and Kuromaru's ''

Kurosagi is a Japanese manga written by Takeshi Natsuhara and illustrated by Kuromaru. The series is about a boy named Kurosaki who swindles only other professional swindlers known as . The series was adapted as an 11-episode TV drama that was a ...

''.

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

broadcast the live-action

TV drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...

from April 18, 2007 to June 27, 2007. It was broadcast in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico by TV Japan, an affiliate of

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

, from January to March 2008.

Media

Manga

''Bambino!'' is written and illustrated by Tetsuji Sekiya. It was serialized in

's seinen magazine (aimed at older men) ''

''. As of March 2009,

has published 14 '' bound volumes'' of the manga between March 30, 2005 and December 26, 2008.

Volume listing

Drama

We Can Make It! "We Can Make It!" is the nineteenth single by Japanese boy band Arashi. The single was released on May 2, 2007 through J Storm. It was included in the band's seventh studio album ''Time'' (2007). "We Can Make It" is a cover of "Love Is All Around" ...

" by

Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 1999 ...

is the series' opening

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

Cast

Jun Matsumoto Jun or JUN may refer to: People and anthroponymy * Jun (given name), a common Japanese given name * Jun (singer), a member of South Korean boy band U-KISS * Tomáš Jun, Czech footballer * A spelling of common Korean family name Jeon (Korean surn ...

as Shogo Ban *

Masachika Ichimura is a Japanese actor and voice actor. He was born in Kawagoe, Saitama and studied at the Theater Art College in Tokyo after graduating high school. He is best known to anime fans as the voice of Mewtwo. Ichimura is also the ex-husband of actress ...

as Tekkan Shishido (

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

and the owner of Trattoria Baccanale) *

Yuki Uchida (born November 16, 1975) is a Japanese actress, and a popular 1990s idol, model and singer. Biography Uchida was born in Tokyo. She practiced fencing in high school, and ranked 3rd in a tournament in Tokyo in 1991. She began her career as a mod ...

as Miyuki Shishido (manager and a daughter of Tekkan) *

Kuranosuke Sasaki is a Japanese actor, known primary for his roles in Japanese television drama. Biography He was born into a family of a sake brewery in Kyoto, Japan. After graduating from Kobe University and resigning from an advertising agency, he played an ...

as Atsushi Kuwahara (souschef) *

Ryuta Sato is a Japanese actor and ''tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable ...

as Nozomi Katori (

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, are som ...

chef) * Karina as Asuka Hibino (chef for

antipasto Antipasto (plural antipasti) is the traditional first course of a formal Italian meal. Usually made of bite-size small portions and served on a platter from which everyone serves themselves, the purpose of antipasti is to stimulate the appeti ...

s) *

Osamu Mukai is a Japanese actor. He was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. He graduated from Meiji University. Early life He was born in Isogo-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture and went to Hama Junior high school (浜中学校) and Hitorizawa High scho ...

as Masashi Senoo (apprentice chef) *Hosshan as Toshio Oda (

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...

) *

Kazuki Kitamura is a Japanese film and television actor who won the award for best supporting actor at the 21st Yokohama Film Festival for '' Minazuki'', ''Kyohansha'' and ''Kanzen-naru shiiku'' as well as the CUT ABOVE Award for Excellence in Film at JAPAN CUTS ...

as Tsukasa Yonamine/ Yona-san (chief of waiters) *

Ayaka Komatsu Ayaka Komatsu ( ja, 小松彩夏 ''Komatsu Ayaka''; born 23 July 1986) is a Japanese model, gravure idol and actress. She was born in Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture. Biography Modeling career Her modeling agency is Amuse inc. She was a regular ...

as Kozue Minagawa (waitress, became an assistant chef later) *Sasaki Takao as Nagai Hirokazu (waiter & sommelier) * Sato Yusuke as Takanashi Hiroshi (waiter) *Aso Kosuke as Shibata Kenichiro (waiter) *

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as Susumu Shindō (chef and the owner of Trattoria San Marzano, which Shogo used to work for in

Hakata, Fukuoka is a ward of the city of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Many of Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City's principal government, commercial, retail and entertainment establishments are located in the district. Hakata-ku is also the location o ...

) *

Kazue Fukiishi is a Japanese actress and former gravure idol. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 28th Yokohama Film Festival for ''What the Snow Brings'', ''Tegami'', and ''Memories of Tomorrow''. Career Fukiishi starred in Takuji Suzuki's '' ...

as Eri Takahashi (Shogo's girlfriend) *

Kimiko Yo is a Japanese actress. She was given Best Supporting Actress awards at the 2004 and the 2009 Yokohama Film Festival ceremonies. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 32nd and at the 33rd Japan Academy Prize (film), Japan Academy ...

as Satoko Ban (mother of Shogo) *

Keiko Toda is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and narrator from Nagoya, Aichi. Her most famous role is the voice of the children's hero Anpanman on the long running anime ''Soreike! Anpanman''. She was also the voice of Thomas the Tank Engine in th ...

as Kyōko Nogami (one of steady patrons for Baccanale) *

Hiroyuki Ikeuchi is a Japanese actor. Ikeuchi's mother is Salvadoran and his father is Japanese. He is an avid martial artist, notably holding a black belt in judo, and is also a keen fisherman. Career Ikeuchi played a supporting role as General Miura in Wilson ...

as Yasuhide Hayama (former chef of Baccanale and Asuka's boyfriend)

Title listing

Soundtrack CD

On March 30, 2007, wint released a soundtrack CD for the ''Bambino!''

Reception

The ''Bambino!'' manga received the 2008

for

/general manga along with Takeshi Natsuhara's and Kuromaru's ''

''. At the 53rd Television Drama Academy Awards, the ''Bambino!''

television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms t ...

was awarded four prizes. They were: Best Actor (

), Supporting Actor (

Kitamura Kazuki is a Japanese film and television actor who won the award for best supporting actor at the 21st Yokohama Film Festival for '' Minazuki'', ''Kyohansha'' and ''Kanzen-naru shiiku'' as well as the CUT ABOVE Award for Excellence in Film at JAPAN CUTS ...

), Best Director and Special Award.

References

{{Shogakukan Manga Award - General 2005 manga 2007 Japanese television series debuts 2007 Japanese television series endings 2009 manga 2012 comics endings Cooking in anime and manga Japanese television dramas based on manga Manga adapted into television series Nippon TV dramas Television shows written by Yoshikazu Okada Seinen manga Shogakukan manga Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga