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(4.54/5)Short & Sweet
(Note: I read the free version of this book; the original 11 chapters are represented, but not the bonus stories or recipes.)
These short stories were surprisingly melancholy; each chapter is a self-contained story about someone visiting a mysterious shop run by a tuna and a bear and eating the food of the day, some kind of dessert. These people often have worries and stress from their everyday life wearing them down, and each dish's history, preparation, or previous encounter with the diner end up speaking to that person in a meaningful way, allowing them to take a different perspective on their worries.
Each story offers a small slice of, if not hope, perspective in a sea of everyday concerns, and while I didn't necessarily feel refreshed after finishing them all, they led to some good thoughtful moments.
The language is extremely easy, everyday, and low density; the most difficult terms for a new learner will likely be the specific names of foods. The art is sketchy but has a good amount of personality and fits the atmosphere well, I think.
Something wholesome with lots of feels...
This is a collection of manga short stories. You get short glimpses into the life of various people from various view points. I read it in 1 sitting. Absolutely loved it.
No furigana but doable for N4 and up, imo.
A moving and beautiful little volume of manga. Each chapter sees someone who has some kind of problem wander into a little strange café run by a Bear and a Fish, and whatever food they receive has some kind of metaphor for the problem they're dealing with. It might be the history of the dish itself, or the way it's made, but each food is the little spark that helps the various characters come to grips with what their dealing with. It almost feels like a melancholy, bittersweet version of Shirokuma Café, especially since the animal duo is quite goofy in their manner, but the café itself is really only there for a page or two and the focus really is on the characters and their stories.
There's really a lot to love about each chapter. The problems the characters deal with are all common, relatable issues, and unlike a lot of stories with a magical realism bent, the problems aren't solved by the magic aspects, and really they're rarely solved at all. That little bit of magic in how each dish happens to line up with each person's problem is really more a nudge that gives them a fresh perspective, but the actual personal work each person needs to put in has to come from their own efforts to change themselves. The stories can deal with some fairly heavy themes of doubt and loss, but it's sort of a "light-heavy" where it never really gets depressing and the whole point of each story is the characters finding some kind of hope or silver lining.
Language-wise this was basically perfect for my level. After I'd gotten a few chapters in and gotten used to the manga's style, I really didn't find myself looking up many words at all aside from some food-specific words. Speaking of food, they give you a recipe for each chapter's meal and even if you don't plan on making them I highly recommend at least reading the recipes because it's a great way to pick up some specific food vocab which I know will likely come up again later because let's face it, manga authors love writing about food in extreme detail.