When one hears the word shōnen, one of the first things that comes to mind is action. While other stuff like comedy, romance, and adventure come to mind as well, with very few exceptions, such as School Rumble, action is a given. In Yakitate!! Japan there really is no action, at least in the traditional sense. While there is competition, it is not about racing, sports or fighting; it is about food preperation.

In one of the most unusual premises for a manga -especially a shōnen manga- Yakitate!! Japan tells the story of Kazuma Azuma, a teenage boy who's dream is to create “Ja-pan,” a national bread for Japan. Cooking lessons, bake offs and taste-testing, something many would expect more in a shōjo title, is instead brought out by Takashi Hashiguchi with detailed descriptions of unusual baking methods, special powers like Kazuma's Solar Hands, and commentators going out of their way to make puns about the bread they just ate.

Highlights:
Yakitate!! Japan  revolves around the use of puns to the point it has become one of the main driving forces for the narrative. Every chapter has at least one pun in it and in the chapters included in Volume 20, many times those puns became real for even more weirdness. In addition, the series is known for making fun of the way shōnen series go overboard and make mundane tasks extraordinary accomplishments.

The basic premise, cooking, is the most obvious example. In this volume we see a former competitor who lost early on to Kazuma return having trained in the mountains of Japan with a pig as his guide to become a master pork chef. Indeed, compared to his last show, he is praised for his quality cooking (though his looks continue to be ridiculed as he looks even more like a pig); he is considered on his own to be a better chef than Kazuma and his teammates, but when they combine their talents, they can create a more exquisite pork sandwich.

Overview:
Yakitate!! Japan  is different enough that it may turn off some typical shōnen readers. The premise of cooking is definitely as far out there as Magic Touch is for a shōjo title and by its nature it is unlikely to pick up many female readers who would normally not read shōnen titles due to the way it sets up the “action” sequences. However, it does have the ability to appeal to those who want something unusual.
Unfortunately for those reading it, they almost have to have some level of Japanese knowledge already. The series relies heavily on puns, sometimes obscure, to a point that even titles like School Rumble do not seek to go, and all of them are pretty much Japanese puns with no easy equivalent, which means unlike the latter title, it has no natural international appeal. This further narrows the readership of the series, since these items need to be explained, although in several cases they also need to be explained to the Japanese audience.

With all that said, for those who can get into the series, it is quite fun. It took me while to get into the series, but by the end I was starting to enjoy the expectation for their next competition: pancakes. The series gives a lot of background info and the like so that while your reading it, you're also learning. It's not quite an educational manga, but it certainly is a manga with a lot of real-world knowledge and sometimes practical knowledge. For example, they explained how bread and pancakes are alike and why they aren't served at bakeries.

Yakitate!! Japan  is definitely a manga that is for someone looking for something a bit different. While it may be a bit difficult understanding some of the puns, the sheer absurdity in the way they're handled can partly make up for that. Anyone who likes Japanese puns of course should definitely like this series.

ComicsOnline gives Yakitate!! Japan volume 20 3.5 out of 5 Japanese puns.