Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope that everyone is stuffing their faces with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and all sorts of wonderful Thanksgiving treats like pumpkin pie. Take a moment to reflect on all the wonderful things that have happened through the year, and get fueled up for tomorrow’s shopping extravaganza (Black Friday is scary!). Since food is going to be on everyone’s mind and in everyone’s belly, I thought today would be a good day to celebrate manga… that celebrates food.

Warning: Some of these manga are not yet published in English (but most have been liscenced).

1) Yakitate!! Japan – Viz Media:

Yakitate!! Japan is an odd series: a fish out of water meets cooking meets shonen parody manga that focuses on a young man’s desire to bake the perfect bread. While the main character Kazuma learns, competes, and bakes, the reader is introduced to different bread styles. Over the top humor is the name of the game here, and Yakitate does that well.

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2) Antique Bakery – Digital Manga Publishing

Some very interesting yaoi manga have been published that center around food, and Antique Bakery is probably one of the most notable. Focusing on the pastry chef Ono and his crew of pastry making men (one of which is a champion boxer??) and their amazing products, this slice of life manga is sure to leave you craving sweets.

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3) Café Kichijoji de – Digital Manga Publishing

Another yaoi manga, this one deals in the antics of 5 cafe workers who have interesting powers and a whole bunch of attitude. Based off of a best-selling live drama program, you can be assured of quite a few laughs when your subject matter is demonic scone batter, gangs with grudges against the cafe, and sports competitions against other cafe employees.

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4) Iron Wok Jan – DrMaster Productions

In the same style as the popular TV show Iron Chef, Iron Wok Jan is a book that makes cooking look hard core. Jan, the main character, uses his cooking skills to compete with other chefs. One of the coolest things about this series is that it relays information and dish origins throughout the commentary on the battles between chefs. Yum!

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5) Drops of God – Kodansha

I’ll admit that I’m a huge fan of wine, and that I’m also fairly surprised that none of the major publishers has picked up this manga yet. It’s become a huge international hit in China, Korea, and France, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Drops of God features the son of a famous sommelier (wine critic) who has to race against his adopted brother to fulfill his father’s bizarre final wishes and find 12 wines which he compares to the 12 disciples of Jesus. Whoever finds the 12 first will inherit their father’s wine collection. An intense journey with some crazy wine descriptions, Drops of God is on my wishlist for Christmas! (Please someone license it!!)

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6) Oishinbo, a la Carte– Viz Media

A classic food manga, Oishinbo features a man on a quest to create the “Ultimate Menu” of dishes to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the newspaper he works for. Viz Media’s Oishinbo a la Carte will feature some of the select chapters in the manga’s long-running history. It’d be almost impossible to translate them all, as the manga has been running since 1983, and is compiled in over 95 tankobon!

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7) Kitchen Princess – Del Rey

On to the shojo! Kitchen Princess is a saccharine-sweet tale of an amazing cook who goes to culinary school to find her prince of flan, a boy who saved her day and gave her some of the sweet dessert shortly after her parents passed away. In her quest to beat the odds and become a culinary master, will Najika be able to find her prince and live happily ever after?
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8 ) Otomen – Viz Media

While not specifically all about cooking, Otomen is another shojo manga that focuses on cooking, cleaning, sewing, and stuffed animals; the thing is, the main character who loves all these things is the manliest man on campus! As Asuka falls for the new girl in school, this manga chronicles his journey to fall in love and be true to himself.

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9) Mixed Vegetables – Viz Media

Another shojo manga similar to Kitchen Princess, Mixed Vegetables introduces us to Hanayu, the daughter of a baking family who wants to become a sushi chef. Her counterpart, Hayato, happens to be the heir to a sushi restaurant and wants to become a pastry chef. Convenient, I would think! This story isn’t your typical shojo romance, and it’s a good change of pace.

Oh man, all this talk about food, and I’m getting hungry again! Leftovers, anyone?