I didn't really know what I was jumping into when I started to read this. I chose it because it was written by Fumi Yoshinaga, who did Ooku (which won the Tiptree), and because I could borrow it through ILL. I guess I expected some interesting gender stuff, and I did get that.So far, this series is about a new kid in high school. He's a year older than everyone else because he had leukemia. He has some weird teachers and some weird classmates. He joins the manga club, knowing not very much about how to draw manga. Except that he does, because he's very very good. He just doesn't know all the things like what tools to use and techniques and things.At the very beginning, I had a little trouble understanding what was going on and who the characters were, but as I got into it, it was easier to understand. I will definitely read the next two volumes to see where the story is going. Especially as I have them right here already.One thing I just realized is that there were no endnotes to explain some of the Japanese words or culture things. I really appreciate them when they're included. I only have a vague sense of what 'moeh' is, for example, and it would've been nice for the translator to tell me. ( )

I feel like a bad manga fan. I didn't find particular interest in the first volume of Antique Bakery I read, and now I'm once again befuddled at the attraction of yet another of the famous Fumi Yoshinaga's well-loved series. The main character gets to a new school, makes friends, bickers with his sister, joins the manga club, clashes with classmates, learns things about his teacher, etc. It's a little sweet and slightly quirky and to me really just generally dull. I can see this sort of thing being interesting. In fact *have* seen this sort of thing be interesting in other stories. But here, I'm just can't figure why this is too much terribly more engaging than following around some high schooler to watch his slightly-interesting-but-not-really-as-a-viewer exploits through the day. It's not flawed or bad, but it seems like there are better things to do and read. With how well loved Yoshinaga seems, I guess there's just something here that doesn't click with me personally. I'll test myself out on a Yoshinaga yaoi for one last try, but I think I'll be giving up on anything else from this mangaka unless I'm given serious reason to believe something will be different. ( )