is a Japanese

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 ...

series written and illustrated by

Takashi Hashiguchi is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his manga series ''Yakitate!! Japan'', for which he won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 2004. Hashiguchi won a newcomer's award in 1987 (published in a magazine), and ''Combat Teacher'' ...

. It was 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 ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, ...

'' from December 2001 to January 2007, with its chapters collected in 26 ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

'' volumes. A sixty-nine episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaptation by

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

was broadcast on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...

from October 2004 to March 2006. In North America, the manga was licensed in English by

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

in 2005 and

Nozomi Entertainment Right Stuf Inc. (formerly known as The Right Stuf International Inc.) is an American video publisher and distributor of video programming that specializes in Asian entertainment (anime and live action films). The company since 2022 is owned by ...

licensed the anime series in 2014. In 2004, ''Yakitate!! Japan'' won the 49th

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by 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 given since ...

for the '' shōnen'' category.

Plot

Kazuma Azuma is a boy on a quest to create ''"Ja-pan"'', a national bread for Japan, as many other countries have their own signature breads. He heads to Tokyo with the intention of working at the famous bread-making chain Pantasia. Along the way, he meets other bakers, both learning from and competing against them. The characters bake their bread using their burning passion and even anger, similar to the legendary cooking style of Hokkaido. Besides a desire to create Ja-pan, Azuma also possesses legendary : hands that are warmer than typical, prompting dough to ferment faster. While this gives him an advantage early on, his innovation is his greater talent.

Media

Manga

''Yakitate!! Japan'', written and illustrated by

, was serialized in

's ''

'' from December 26, 2001, to January 10, 2007. Shogakukan collected its chapters chapters into twenty-six ''

'' volumes, published from March 18, 2002, to April 18, 2007. In North America,

licensed the manga in late 2005. The twenty-six volumes were released from September 12, 2006, to April 12, 2011. Hashiguchi began a new series titled , serialized on LINE Manga app since August 16, 2019. The manga is written by Kenzo Irie and illustrated by Hashiguchi. Its chapters were collected in five ''tankōbon'' volumes, released from April 17, 2020, to December 17, 2021.

Volume list

=''Yakitate!! Japan''

=''Yakitate!! Japan Super Real''

Anime

''Yakitate!! Japan'' was adapted into a 69-episode anime television series. It aired on

from October 12, 2004, to March 14, 2006.

Aniplex is a Japanese anime, music production and anime licensee company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Established in September 1995, Aniplex has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime series, such as both '' Fullm ...

collected the individual episodes on DVD. The first arc, ''Pantasia Newcomers Battle arc'', was compiled on seven DVDs released from March 25 to September 28, 2005. The second arc, ''Monaco Cup arc'' was compiled on six DVDs released from October 26, 2005, to March 29, 2006. The third arc, ''Yakitate! 9 arc'', was released on five DVDs from April 26 to August 23, 2006. In North America, the series was licensed by

in July 2014. Nozomi released the series on three DVD sets on March 3, May 5, and July 7, 2015.

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and t ...

started streaming the series in November 2015. In July 2019,

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

announced the streaming rights to the series on its FunimationNow platform.

Music

The music from the anime series was composed by Taku Iwasaki. Two original soundtracks albums were released on March 24 and November 23, 2005. The first opening theme for episodes 1 to 29 is by Rythem. The second opening theme for episodes 30 to 53 is "Promise" by TiA. The third opening theme for episodes 54 to 69 is by Maria. The first ending theme for episodes 1 to 12 is "Sunday" by

The Babystars was a Japanese rock band. The band is signed onto Sony Music Japan's Ki/oon Records is a Japanese record label, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Artists Their artists include L'Arc-en-Ciel, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Ho ...

. The second ending theme for episodes 13 to 29 is "To All Tha Dreamers" by

Soul'd Out Soul'd Out (usually styled as SOUL'd OUT) was a Japanese hip-hop trio, consisting of Diggy-MO' (MC), Bro.Hi (MC/Human Beat Box), and Shinnosuke (DJ). Their name is a portmanteau of "soul" and "sold out", and the group is sometimes referred to by ...

. The third ending theme for episodes 30 to 42 is by Little by Little. The fourth ending theme for episodes 43 to 53 is "Re: START" by Surface. The fifth ending theme for episodes 54 to 62 is "Merry Go Round" by

Mai Hoshimura is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter and pianist. On May 31, 2009, her contract with Sony ended. Biography Mai Hoshimura was born on April 18, 1981, in Matsue, Shimane. Hoshimura began to learn to play the piano at the age of four. Her mother ...

. The sixth ending theme for episodes 63 to 68 is . The first opening theme "Houki Gumo" is used as the final ending theme for episode 69.

Video games

A video game, titled , published by

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine ...

, was released for the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in t ...

on January 12, 2006. Characters also appeared in the crossover , also for Nintendo DS in 2009.

Reception

Along with '' Fullmetal Alchemist'', ''Yakitate!! Japan'' won the 49th

for the ''shōnen'' category in 2004.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{Sunrise 2001 manga 2004 anime television series debuts Aniplex Comedy anime and manga Cooking in anime and manga Muse Communication Shogakukan manga Shōnen manga Sunrise (company) TV Tokyo original programming Viz Media manga Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen manga