As we say goodbye to the first season of Junjou Romantica, here comes a new BL anime that you shouldn’t miss :) Antique Bakery アンティーク～西洋骨董洋菓子店～!
This series, depicting the lives of four men who work in a small bakery, is based on manga by Yoshinaga Fumi よしながふみ, the mangaka who gave us memorable and touching BL stories such as Gerard & Jacques ジェラールとジャック that has engaging plot and well-fleshed out characters. It won the 2002 Kodansha Manga Award for the shojo manga category. Slated for 12 episodes and featuring some of my favourite seiyuus, such as Miki Shinichirou and Miyano Mamoru as the leads… I’m a happy girl ^^
Official site: http://www.antique-anime.com/
Quick Summary (edited from ANN & Wiki)
The story revolves around four men who maintain a small yet elegant cafe known as “Antique”: Tachibana Keisuke/Keiichiro (橘 圭一郎), Ono Yuusuke (小野 裕介), Kanda Eiji (神田 えいじ) and Kobayakawa Chikage (小早川 千影).
Tachibana is the grandson of a rich businessman and has just resigned from a top firm to manage his own bakery. Ono is a famous pastry chef and an infamous “devilish homosexual” who is irresistibly attractive to all men except Tachibana. He had confessed his love for Tachibana when they were in high school but was harshly rejected. Eiji is a retired young boxer who loves pastries. He becomes Ono’s apprentice and kitchen helper. Chikage is Tachibana’s childhood friend who is sent by Tachibana’s family to watch over him.
Comments:
The first episode was broadcast on 03 July 2008 and whee~ the subs are out! XD It is VERY entertaining. The anime has a good balance of human drama and humour, thanks to the good plot. Great performances by the seiyuus. Mikishin is wonderful as the gay pastry chef! Good chemistry with the totally straight Tachibana (Fujiwara Keiji). I laughed out loud at certain points and the “chibis” true to Yoshinaga-sensei’s unique style are really different and refreshing.
Realistic looking pastries that gave me sweet cravings. It has a pretty good soundtrack too. The opening and ending songs are performed by Chemistry ^^ The animation wasn’t too bad cos the people actually moved lol~ and facial expressions are nicely done too. So yeah. ^^)b
The only gripe I had is with the environment. They used 3D to create all the surroundings and it was quite jarring to my eyes. Well, cos everything look too perfect and clean. Corners of doors and buildings too sharp, sofas that don’t dent or sink in when you sit on them *sweatdrop* Like toy blocks rather than a living space but I guess most people wouldn’t be bothered by it. Fortunately it doesn’t affect the enjoyment of the anime too much. o_O”
Overall, a very enjoyable start and good introduction to all the main characters in episode one. Looking forward to more! :D
Director: Yoshiaki Okumura
Main Cast:
Fujiwara Keiji 藤原 啓治 as Tachibana Keiichiro
Miki Shinichiro 三木 眞一郎 as Ono Yuusuke
Eiji Hanawa 英司花輪 as Kobayakawa Chikage
Miyano Mamoru 宮野真守 as Kanda Eiji
Music: Takefumi Haketa
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Can you tell me the OP and ED name?
I love the realistic-looking pastries.
After watching 1 eps, it’s not boombastic but i like it, thanks to the story.
Also i dunno if it’s the right word or not, but i found it relaxing. Weird, isn’t it?
The OP and ED are Life goes on by Chemistry (just 2 diff versions)
Yea~ delicious looking huh? XD This anime has the best of both worlds, delectable dessert and men lol~ Keep watching okie! So far its been really entertaining and funny.
Ah~ I think you hit the nail on the head when you described the atmosphere as relaxing, just like being in a cafe right? Having a lovely cup of coffee and yummy cake. I think the soundtrack fits the environment nicely.
Btw, my 18+ Cafe Lindbergh PC game arrived just now XD I was quite pleasantly surprised that it came with 5 tokuten mini coasters :P Anyway the soundtrack is also what made Cafe Lindbergh enjoyable too.
I browsed the official site, they have lovely pics of the pastries. Berry cute.
Some of my friends also like this anime although they’re not familiar wif BL. Apparently the cute-looking pastries/mini cakes are strong magnet for female anime fans.
I think girls are prone to something tht looks cute. XD
Since Veoh n/a for indo, i have to look for other source.
Meanwhile, i’ll wait patiently for the DVD. Must get first press.^^
Hope you have the time to play cafe Lindbergh…
Congrats! Does it mean you’re getting the first press edition?
Every week they intro a pastry! Very interesting tidbit ^^ I think part of the appeal of this anime is that there are a variety of characters and the story is not typical BL universe where all the men are immediately gay lol~ And it also gives deep insight to human relations.
Yea, aren’t we all suckers for cute things XD I’m starting to eye those Rement pastries x_x OMG…
Oo~ icic… I didn’t know that veoh is country-restricted :O I’ll provide other links next time. Usually you should be able to find it on Youtube too.
I’m also thinking of getting the DVDs too! I’m been watching out for the update on the official site but so far no news yet.
I think the Cafe Lindbergh disk I bought probably is first press? Not sure…. No time to play at all. (T_T) A lot of work, babysitting and my messy work room has finally done me in. Couldn’t take it anymore. I had to do a mini (well actually not THAT mini) spring-cleaning. It was a back-breaking 2 days and I probably need 2 more days to finish up, now that work week has started.
Thx, but since i thinking of getting the DVD maybe i really should wait.
The word ‘promising’ tht you’ve put is enough for me to save some money for the first press DVD.
Yea, i think it’s one of those BL anime (rare thing) which tries to dig deeper in humanrelationship instead of scratching the surface.
I know this anime isn’t perfect (nothing is perfect) but so far im liking it and don’t wanna complain much, like i usually do. XD
I have no idea about the state of popularity of this anime in Japan but lets hope there will be AB merchandises in ANIMATE (will let you know incase you want some too)
I’m doing pre-order for CHEMISTRY-life goes on CD single not because AB itself but i’m quite their fan.