What did you eat yesterday? Vol. 14 by Yoshinaga Fumi (a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Manga Review)

“What did you eat yesterday?” is an entertaining slice-of-life manga series combining relationship angst with cooking that makes this series unique and entertaining. Recommended!

MANGA TITLE: What did you eat yesterday? vol. 14

BY Fumi Yoshinaga (よしながふみ)

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Weekly Morning

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Vertical, Inc.

RELEASE DATE: December 31, 2019

Shino and Shuhei deal with busybodies worried about their health. Tabuchi figures out how make his latest girlfriend try new things in the kitchen. Shiro and Kenji meet up with Kohinata and Wataru to ring in the new year…but as the quartet of friends get older they learn to be more practical in their celebrations. And Kenji’s boss makes a surprising decision for the future of the salon…!

It’s New Year and what dishes does Shiro have planned with the ingredients he comes across?

And what delicious dishes will be featured? Find out in vol. 14 of Yoshinaga Fumi’s “What did you eat yesterday?” from Vertical Inc.

What is “What did you eat yesterday?”

Mangaka Fumi Yoshinaga is one of the well-known Shojo artists in Japan.

Having had written seven manga series including the popular “Seiyo Kotto Yogashiten” (Antique Bakery), her seventh series titled “Kino Nani Tabeta?” (What did you eat yesterday?) is now being released in the U.S. courtesy of Vertical, Inc.

The series is currently serialized in the manga magazine “Weekly Morning” and was nominated for the first Manga Taisho (an annual Japanese manga award for a series that has less than eight collected volumes).

“What did you eat yesterday?” revolves around Shiro, an accomplished home chef (and corporate lawyer) and his relationship and doing what he loves the most…cooking and spending time with his boyfriend Kenji.

The manga series features cooking with recipes and how the food is prepared in combination with a storyline involving Shiro, Kenji and friends.

This is the first time I have read Fumi Yoshinaga’s “What did you eat yesterday?”.

It’s a fresh spin compared to other cooking manga that I have read in the fact that while you have a story, you also read through the actual cooking recipes as Shiro makes his dish.

Many other manga focus on the food, the taste of the food and what ingredients were utilized. Sometimes, you get a recipe at the end or at the beginning of the manga but the actual cooking is integrated into the storyline.

But it’s not all about cooking as the manga also explores life of a gay couple.

Kakei Shiro’s friend offers him tsukudani (simmered seaweed). What will he make for Kenji?

What happens when Shiro is accused of going to girl clubs at work?

Who is Tabuchi’s girlfriend Chinami? And what does he like about her?

It’s a New Year and Shiro and Kenji go to meet with Kohinata and Wataru. And what will Kenji eat when Shiro is out on business?

For the most part, I found “What did you eat yesterday?” to be a charming manga about love, life and cooking. It’s definitely a fresh and unique take on the cooking genre as Yoshinaga does a great job of balancing the cooking and story, but also a different perspective as it deals with Shiro, a gay professional trying to maintain his relationship with Kenji and exploring his life with other random characters which is fun and interesting. And how food and its preparation plays a big part of each storyline.

The artwork has a blend of shojo style but instead of making everyone look glamorous, Yoshinaga Fumi doesn’t do that. It’s more of a natural and realistic take which I enjoyed and her artwork is not too busy!

Overall, “What did you eat yesterday?” is an entertaining slice-of-life manga series combining relationship angst with cooking that makes this series unique and entertaining.

Recommended!

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