Tag Archives: fumi yoshinaga

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

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What Did You Eat Yesterday?

A food manga about a middle-aged gay couple and the meals they eat together.

This is the manga that introduced me to Fumi Yoshinaga and it’s still one of her best series. I absolutely love the relationship between the more serious and closeted lawyer and his effeminate hair dresser partner. As you read the series the lawyer starts to open up about his sexuality slowly to his family and friends and it’s just a wonderful character progression. Also Yoshinaga does not skim over any details of the food and the recipes are covered thoroughly.

A fantastic LGBTQ+ couple and food manga combo. Highly recommended and available in English from Vertical Publishing! I’m looking forward to the live-action drama this year!

~dakazu

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers

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Ōoku: The Inner Chambers

A manga about an alternate history of the Edo period of Japan where a disease wipes out 90% of the male population and the government is ruled by female shoguns who make use of a special male harem to produce offspring.

I love Fumi Yoshinaga’s work but when I started reading Ōoku I felt I had to take notes because there were SO MANY characters spanning various timelines of different rulers. The alternate history aspect was also fascinating but hard to follow because I’m so ignorant of Japanese history. The use of early modern English in the translation also didn’t help.

I recently read the newest volume and was reminded of how beautifully crafted this series was. Despite my ignorance with the historical references, I couldn’t help but be invested in the characters and their motives within the Japanese court.

The series is phenomenal and available in English from VIZ. I highly recommended it.

~dakazu

Antique Bakery

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Antique Bakery

Found this older manga by Fumi Yoshinaga. I really enjoy her work and this is no exception. This one follows a bakery run by a genius playboy pastry chef, his high school crush with a dark past, and the former boxer who is his disciple.

While Yoshinaga often writes yaoi/BL manga, I appreciate that she doesn’t focus on sex but instead focuses on relationships and the emotional weight they carry. I want to track down the anime version and watch it as well.

~dakazu