Yakitate! Japan is an anime all about — baking bread!

This might not seem like the most compelling storyline for a tv show, but I finished watching the first couple of episodes, and found it charming. The hero of the show, Azuma Kazuma, comes from a family of rice farmers. His life is changed forever when his older sister literally drags him to a bakery and makes him eat some bread. He decides to devote his life to the dream of inventing a bread that is uniquely Japanese. He is aided in this quest by his “solar hands” which are the perfect temperature for kneading dough. The reactions of people who taste his bread are hilarious, as only one bite will transport someone into a dramatic musical montage. The first episode shows Kazuma’s origin, and the second episode shows him traveling to Toyko to try out for an apprenticeship at one of the most prestigious bakeries in Japan. It’s a good anime to watch if you sometimes like watching the food channel. Or if you just like bread.