Yuichiro Sueda (author) and Kei Honjo (artist), Sota's Knife, Volume 1. Japan:
Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha, Ltd, 2017. (Link to Amazon as WorldCat does not have a record on this at time of post.)
Genre: manga
Subgenre: Foodie
Format: e-book galley
Source: NetGalley
Young Sota wishes to be a chef one day, and like many chefs he is starting at the bottom of the line. As the story starts, he has been working at Tomikyu, a fine dining restaurant, as a kitchen hand. He mostly does menial tasks like peeling vegetables and washing dishes. He is a hard worker, and he does his best to learn the cooking craft by observing the chef and practicing some skills, such as knife work after hours. He is an eager learner and has a generous heart.
This volume collects the first 11 episodes (stories) of the series.
This is a nice and entertaining series that really is a pleasure to read. Sota goes from one situation to the next and keeps his good humor and optimism. The stories are interesting and easy to read. The art complements the stories well. The food drawings are realistic and can look appetizing. Through the stories we also get a glimpse at Japanese food culture.
Overall, this is a good and entertaining series with a likeable protagonist. Foodies will likely enjoy this, but you do not need to be a foodie to enjoy this often warm story. If you like mangas like Oishinbo, you'll probably like this. I definitely enjoyed it and highly recommend it. Libraries that collect comics and graphic novels would do well in adding this to their holdings. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
5 out of 5 stars.
This book qualifies for the following 2021 Reading Challenges:
(Manga Reading Challenge)
No comments:
Post a Comment