It's been a while since I read a yuri manga - or a light, slow burn yuri manga - and the newest, most popular one, 'She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat', turns out to be worthy of its praise.
In my opinion, it is not as heart-smashingly adorable and precious as other josei/adult-led yuri titles like 'Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon' and 'Goodbye, My Rose Garden' - and comparatively there is not much in the way of content in its first volume - but it is a cute little manga to own. Foodies of every kind, and people who just like cooking, will definitely love it, or at least identify with it. Food and cooking - food and cooking tips - are everywhere in this manga.'She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat' - the title tells you everything you need to know about the premise. Ordinary working class office woman Nomoto's passion is cooking, and mostly she will end up making big dishes that she can never eat all by herself, and she has no one to share her meals, ambitious masterpieces and skills with. That is, until she comes across her neighbour, a brewery company delivery woman, Kasuga, properly for the first time. It just so happens that Kasuga loves to eat; she has a big enough appetite for any portion of food. From there, a relationship built upon cooking and feeding is developed. Nomoto and Kasuga grow closer as they share culinary and cuisine advice (plus money-saving advice for women living on a budget), and something more than a new friendship heats up and shines like the best-prepared dish...
It's tasty, well-drawn stuff. The art is excellent. The food, and the two women, always look wonderful. I have to give a special shoutout to Kasuga's design: there are almost no female characters like her in manga and anime. She's not really fat; she's very tall and broad. Neither homely nor "butch" (ugh!), she's simply normal; her own natural self. She's physically strong, and voracious, but that's not her entire character. She's a stoic person of few words, with a hidden sensitive side that yearns for love, affection and understanding, which the eager Nomoto (who thankfully is written realistically and is not annoying and painfully naïve like so many josei and shojo heroines are) will help to bring out.
Two lonely women, sharing a love for food. What a basis for a beautiful romance. A foundation for a
Nomoto and Kasuga are the only characters that exist in this volume. Seriously. Nearly everyone else on the side, but especially the men, are literally and deliberately faceless. Nomoto's mother is hinted to be a key player in her life, and she makes a phone call near the end, but that's it. It's the female duo and the food only, and as simple as it is, it adds to its charm. It's a personal slice-of-
Feminist issues are explicitly mentioned, such as the unequal gender pay gap, and men making women's business their business and talking over them (Nomoto's line, "They always take my hobby, which I do out of passion... And frame it as something I could be doing for a man. Gross...', hits on so many universal truths it hurts), often for the patronising man's own amusement. Periods play a key part in the couple's relationship - it's as much a bonding point for them as food is.
So I recommend 'She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 1' for nice, light, lovely, foodie fun. It is *ahem* sweet and tender. It is "mature", I suppose, despite there being no content in it that would elicit an "older teen" rating. It also holds the novelty of being a cute manga and comic that does not contain any animals whatsoever (outside of a couple of animal mascots).
Ordinary working class women living and growing romantically together FTW!
It is, to pardon the expression, *chef's kiss*.
Final Score: 4/5
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