What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Vol. 01

I have been a fan of Fumi Yoshinaga and her work for quite some time now. English-language readers have been fortunate in that so many of her manga have been translated. I and many others were very excited when Vertical announced the license of her series What Did You Eat Yesterday?, a series that I have been hoping would be picked up for years. The first volume was one of the manga releases that I was most looking forward to seeing in 2014. What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 1 was originally published in Japan in 2007; I am thrilled that it is now available in English. There were several reasons why I was particularly interested in reading What Did You Eat Yesterday?. It's by Yoshinaga, from whom I've come to expect great stories and show more complex characters. The series is also a food manga, a niche that I am known to enjoy. (Actually, food often plays an important role in Yoshinaga's manga.) And I was especially interested in the incorporation of contemporary Japanese gay life in What Did You Eat Yesterday?--the two main characters are boyfriends in their forties who live together.

Shiro Kakei is a successful lawyer at a small firm, but his real passion is food. He's a great cook, and an extremely frugal one, too. Kakei simply enjoys a good meal. The palate of his boyfriend Kenji Yabuki, a flamboyant hairstylist, isn't nearly as refined as Shiro's but he certainly appreciates his partner's creativity in the kitchen. The two of them have been dating for three years, so their relationship is well established, but they still face some challenges. Although both of their families know that they are gay, Shiro prefers to be much more discreet about his homosexuality when dealing with his coworkers and strangers. Kenji, on the other hand, is happy to have a chance to brag about his boyfriend. And just because they've been together for so long doesn't mean that they don't have to deal with old flames and jealousy. But at least they can always depend on delicious cuisine to help smooth over the bumps in their relationship.

The food in What Did You Eat Yesterday?, both the description of the meals and the care that Yoshinaga has put into drawing them, can be mouth-watering. Even the most simple dishes are beautifully portrayed, in part because food is so important to Shiro and he puts time and effort into its preparation, but also because Yoshinaga shares that same passion. There is enough instruction in What Did You Eat Yesterday? that adventurous readers could easily duplicate the featured recipes. However, the food in What Did You Eat Yesterday? works best when it is directly tied into the manga's plot and story. Occasionally that ideal balance is missing in the first volume. The meals, while lovely, can from time to time feel tangential, almost as if there are two different manga sharing the same series--one focusing on food and one focusing on people.

I do enjoy the food and the important role that it plays in What Did You Eat Yesterday?, but in the end I'm even more interested in the characters, their relationships, and their lives. Shiro and Kenji make an intriguing couple. Out of the two of them, Shiro is the least secure with who he is and is very concerned with keeping up appearances. He comes across as very brusque and some find him unlikeable as a result, but it's a defense mechanism. Kenji seems to be much more comfortable with himself. The two of them aren't frequently affectionate, at least not overtly so, but they do care about each other. It can be seen in the little things that they do--such as simply offering to carry a heavy bag--and in their more subtle interactions. Shiro often tries to smooth over arguments and hurt feelings the best way he can: through cooking. And that's one of the things What Did You Eat Yesterday? does best--showing how people connect and communicate through food.

Experiments in Manga show less

I've had this on my “To Buy” list ever since I saw it was by Fumi Yoshinaga. The price was a bit steep considering the thinness of the volume, but I've learned that Yoshinaga's stuff is usually worth it for me.

Shiro Kakei is a lawyer who loves to cook. Every day, he leaves work as soon as he can, so he can hunt down the best grocery bargains and make good meals for himself and his boyfriend, Kenji Yabuki. He and Kenji seem like complete opposites. Whereas Shiro is a saver, Kenji's a spender. Everyone at the salon Kenji works at knows he's gay and has a boyfriend. Shiro's still in the closet at his workplace.

This volume has eight chapters showing aspects of and events in Shiro and Kenji's daily lives. In every chapter, Shiro makes show more something delicious, thinking about the process and the ingredients as he does so. The chapters each end with a bit of cooking-related advice or a recipe. The translator converted all the temperatures and measurements so that they'd be even easier for Americans to follow. Part of me wished that I had easy access to all the ingredients Shiro mentioned, but I suspect I'd be too chicken to try making any of the meals included in this book. I'm primarily a baker for a reason – I don't do “add a dash of this and a pinch of that, and then let it simmer until X has happened.” I need exact instructions, at least the first few times around, or I'm a nervous wreck.

For the most part, it was nice getting a peek into these characters' lives. If I had to state an overarching theme for this volume, it'd be “The process of cooking a good meal lets you emotionally reset yourself.” Or at least that's the case for Shiro and, to a certain extent, Kenji, as the recipient of those meals. Some of the chapters showed stressful moments in their lives, but Shiro's daily cooking ritual managed to calm things down.

I was on board with this for the most part, but it bothered me in one particular chapter. Shiro learned that Kenji had talked about him at work. What if this sort of openness led to Shiro's coworkers or clients finding out that he's gay? He yelled at Kenji until Kenji, in tears, complained that his boss could talk about his wife at work, so why couldn't he talk about his boyfriend? That stopped Shiro cold, but he didn't say anything. He just got up and started making dinner like usual. On the one hand, he made things peaceful between the two of them again. Kenji gradually calmed down and stopped crying during the cooking process, and the two of them happily ate dinner together. On the other hand, nothing was resolved. I have a feeling this issue will come up again, unless Shiro somehow manages to stop caring if his coworkers find out.

I felt like this volume took a slightly closer look at Shiro's life than at Kenji's, although Yoshinaga covered the same sort of stuff for both of them. There were chapters showing both of them at work (Kenji dealing with a difficult client, and Shiro working on a divorce case for a male domestic violence victim), there was a little about both their past relationships, and both of them talked about their parents. Kenji's parents didn't seem to be a part of his life anymore, but Shiro's were. At first, I thought Shiro's parents were more supportive (overly and incorrectly so, in his mom's case), and he just resisted being around them because they were exhausting about it. That was...not really the case. I suppose I should have gotten the hint from Shiro's earlier phone conversation with his mother.

All in all, I felt this volume had a good mix of serious stuff, humor, and calming cooking moments. The way some things were handled didn't always feel quite right to me or felt like a bit too much (please stop worrying about whether you look gay or manly, Shiro), but I enjoyed the volume overall and look forward to reading more about the characters and their lives.

My favorite quote: “And thus began Kayoko Tominaga and Shiro Kakei's relationship. As partners who go halfsies on cheap edible goods.” (42)

(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

The food aspect is the best. The 43 year old lawyer Shiro Kakei displays little pleasure in anything but planning, shopping for, preparing, and eating food. He has a live in boyfriend Kenji, but is not openly out except to his parents and seems closed in and angry.

Mostly enjoyable fluff. Don't come expecting too much of a story, as the cooking scenes take up significant chunks of each chapter. I would recommend it for the recipes and the (mostly) realistic take on an older gay couple. But the lack of a real storyline (so far, maybe it develops more in later volumes) and some clumsy handling of the LGBT storyline keeps it as closer to 3/5 than anything higher. The latter issue particularly bothered me a bit, not because I think the author is homophobic or anything, but (as a queer person myself) there are some clumsy moments that remind you this is being written by a (probably) straight woman whose knowledge of gay men is somewhat limited. The painful exchanges where the gay couple accept the show more ignorant premise that gay relationships have a man and a woman were particularly bad. There is a definite undercurrent I picked up on that being the bottom/"woman" is slightly comical, and it gets played for laughs a bit. But still, it's more sensitive than not, and I've mostly enjoyed it. show less

I picked this up today because it was about a "cute gay couple". it turns out it's also a great set of recipes and i'm gonna have to try cooking them all soon. i'm not sure if that's truly a good thing lol... anyway it made me hungry.

the translation left a little to be desired - especially converting the measurements to imperial - so if i get the next volume i might try to find it in japanese. but it's nice to have the prices in yen of things i'm likely to find in shops here in japan, even if the prices are a decade out of date.

I received a digital copy from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Since this is a slice of life manga I didn't expect much, the couple was only ok and I couldn't care enough to read the next volumes. It's interesting having a plot around the food, but it was poorly executed.

I read this and vol. 2 years and years ago but it must've slipped through the book-logging cracks. Re-read because I'm restarting the series now that there's a billion volumes. I love Fumi Yoshinaga.