Danica Davidson
July 20, 2011 
Warning: Antique Bakery is bound to make you hungry. If you’re like me, you’ll need sugar after watching. Based on a popular manga written by Fumi Yoshinaga and published by Digital Manga, Antique Bakery is easygoing, simple and yummy. It’s only twelve episodes, and they’re all contained in this box set from Right Stuf.
Tachibana quits his society-approved job at a top-rated firm in order to open a cake shop. It’s not as random as it may sound. As a child Tachibana was kidnapped, and while the kidnapper hasn’t been found, Tachibana has memories of the man feeding him cake.
So Tachibana hires his first person there, a pâtissier named Ono. The awkwardness of this situation is the fact that, years ago, Ono admitted his love to Tachibana, and Tachibana turned him down harshly. Well, Ono seems to be doing okay these days. He calls himself “the Gay of Demonic Charm” and men fall in love with him wherever he goes. In fact, he’s had trouble with work before because so many men fall in love with him. Oh, yes, we now have the BL flavor in this series.
Ono has to work with the only guy who’s ever turned him down, but he likes this because he thinks it means he won’t have any trouble at work. It doesn’t take long before more workers arrive. Eiji loves boxing, yet a detached retina spells trouble for his dreams. He gets a job at the bakery, since we all know cake makes everything better.
And then Chikage tracks Tachibana down. They’ve known each other since childhood because Chikage’s mother was the housekeeper for Tachibana’s family, and to this day Chikage calls the other man “Master.” His sunglasses make him look cool and serious, but if you think he’s above everything else, you’re mistaken.
Art-wise, the colors tend to be muted and pastel, giving a certain classy and light mood. Then we have computer animated things show up, which, while feeling a little out of place at times, also looks pretty neat. Characters repeatedly have the shape of their faces change to express the mood they’re in, adding a more comical flair to the proceedings.
Antique Bakery works through its characters, and each one is unique and entertaining. There are a good amount of funny moments as they interact, and if I knew of a bakery like theirs in real life, I’d be a customer. Not just for the food, but also for the company.
Distributor: Right Stuf
Available: Now
