Seiyou Kottou Yougashiten: Antique

What we have here is a delicate anime series based on the award-winning manga by Fumi Yoshinaga.
The animation style is very unusual for a shounen-ai type of anime, because it merges together 2D characters and (mainly) 3D backgrounds, which often occurs in mecha and sci-fi. In my opinion it takes some time to get used to it, especially if you don't favor 3D in general...

Compared to other shounen-ai anime, antique bakery has a storyline that is not as overused as it could have been and it holds an unique flare that makes you almost nostalgic. A solid and continuing plot shows us enough without ... getting overly confusing and reveals necessary background information bit by bit, in order to make the viewer curious as well as avoiding repetition ... even though it moves along at it's own pace.

And well... the characters... it's hard to tell weather they are exaggerated drama-queens, or just a bunch of winsome eccentrics. On first sight they seem to be relatively uncomplicated personalities, Or at least they're acting pretty predictable. As for the second sight... I have yet to find out if there is more going on in their heads... but together they make an interesting group of people, that will quite likely make you raise a smile.
The character-design itself is, if nothing else, rather unique. Beautiful would be too demanding... like they say: Different strokes for different folks.

All in all Antique Bakery is a likable shounen-ai anime... despite the lack of actual boy's love and other odd behavior. And if the series fails to satisfy your expectations, the opening and closing are special enough to make it up to you.

In which a man still has traumatizing memories of being kidnapped and forced to eat cake, so he opens up a cake shop in hopes of catching his long-ago tormenter. ...Seriously.

STORY - The absurdity of the above summary still surprises me sometimes, but if nothing else, I have to give Antique Bakery props for being unique. The bakery element is pretty original in itself, but I was more impressed to see an easygoing comedy/slice of life-ish series involving mostly-ordinary, adult characters in their thirties. That Tachibana has reoccurring nightmares involving cake is very, very laughable to me, but thankfully, even though that could be considered ... the main plot of the series, it usually takes a backseat to the everyday shenanigans around the bakery, which I find infinitely more entertaining. I don't really think the series would have lost much if the kidnapping cake trauma had been left out, honestly, but I suppose that's one of the few things that makes this series stand out a little, and Tachibana needed some weird kind of reason to quit his well-paying job to start a bakery.

A lot of people label this series shounen-ai, but I really don't think it is. I mean, yeah, there's a gay character, but there is no romantic center to the story at all. Ono just happens to be gay -- he's a "magical gay," but whatever; he has a few one-episode subplots (including, unfortunately, the first episode), but it's nothing consequential to the rest of the story. Tachibana is insistently straight, so it's really not that important at all. Antique Bakery wouldn't be all that different if Ono was closeted or hetereosexual instead. I guess that's another thing that makes the series unique though -- a gay character without a gay subplot.

Beyond the cake, the shenanigans themselves aren't all that original or of a particularly high quality. They're passable, but that's about it.

CHARACTERS - Tachibana is the only vaguely interesting character in the entire series. Though I'll probably always find the source of his nightmares hilarious, the personality that results is entertaining enough. As a privileged son, Tachibana can pretty much do whatever he wants. He gives no reason for wanting to start a bakery, but those around him accept it. Really, even he doesn't think much about the half-hearted desire to catch the man who kidnapped him; it stems from his frustration at the gaps in his memory more than any want of vengeance or retribution. I think that lack of hatred towards his tormenter and his general easy come, easy go attitude is what makes Tachibana attractive as a character. Then again, his tormenter tormented him by endlessly feeding him cake.

The rest of the cast is pretty stereotypical. Ono is a flamboyant gay man who has the retardedly cheesy talent of making other men fall for him. Eiji is a simple-minded, ex-boxing champion who really, really loves cake. Chikage is the village idiot. All of them have backstory that's tossed around to spice up a few episodes, but none of it really interested me since they seemed more like excuses for the characters to be situated in the bakery than anything else. None of them have much in the way of lasting conflict, and none of them change, so at the end of the day, I just don't care.

ARTSTYLE & ANIMATION - The art style's pretty generic, and I found the occasional transitions to chibi forms rather jarring. There are also random bursts of flowers and other weird shoujo backdrops, but you kind of get used to it after a while.

The opening animation is pretty original and cute, though I wouldn't think that "cute" really suits Antique Bakery. The ending animation is much more generic and rather unimpressive. The animation in the series itself surprisingly disappointing. All of the cake and fancy desserts and baked goods in the series are gorgeous, which is appropriate, but that's about all that's worth praising, sadly. From afar, the backgrounds don't look so bad, but closer inspection reveals many of them to be computer-generated and very clunky-looking. The character animation is cheap and flat and the shading is absolutely terrible -- I shouldn't be able to see all the Photoshop brush strokes, seriously. It's not clean at all. The characters and background don't integrate at all and the whole thing is just a visual mess. The cakes are pretty, but when they don't look like they belong in the same scene as everything else, something's wrong.

MUSIC - I'm not particularly fond of the opening theme. The bouncing, upbeat sound is appropriate for the silliness that encompasses much of the series, but I didn't really feel as if it fit with the accompanying animation for the opening. The end theme is a bit better though and provides a decent, thoughtful tone for the end of each episode. Despite this though, neither songs are very memorable. Maybe I'm just not a fan of CHEMISTRY? The score for the series is comprised mostly of piano and classical music. As a pianist, I suppose I'm biased, but I really loved the piano tracks in Antique Bakery -- for the calmer scenes, they're very soothing, relaxing and just all around nice to listen to; for the more dramatic scenes, they're loud and accompanied by urgent violins. Everything fits well.

VOICE ACTING - Pretty average, though I was surprised to find yet another credit to Mamoru Miyano, who does the voice of Eiji. The man has quite the impressive range and portrays his character well without invoking thoughts of the other (rather prominent) roles he's voiced. I was also pretty fond of Keiji Fujiwara as Tachibana, though it's easier to spot the similarities in the voice to his other roles.

OVERALL - Antique Bakery is not a great series, and it certainly isn't for everyone, but it isn't a complete waste of time either. Really, I don't think there's much to say beyond that.

Gay anime [shounen-ai & yaoi] in general get no real respect from the industry do they? That's the thing that has always irked me in the back of my mind when watching shounen-ai anime. The fact that they are either cheaply made or that they lacked any real story beyond being “gay gay gay and GAY!” From Gravitation right up to Junjou Romantica, it's always the same no matter what [All EXCEPT Loveless, perhaps, but that was incomplete]. Antique Bakery is probably the only gay anime in existence that has a significant story beyond the standard-stereotypical gay plot, For this reason alone Antique Bakery has ... my utmost respect.

~Art
Just the OP sequence alone gets a 10! Because watching this series, it's pretty obvious they were on a tight budget but that didn't stop them from putting out what has got to be one of the most original and stylish opening credits I've ever seen for an anime. Using little “cardboard cut-outs” of the characters and placing them in a tiny rotating model of the Antique Bakery Shop...is just downright innovative and pretty fucking fierce you gotta admit! Watching it always puts me in a good mood. The ED sequence was also pretty good, I love how they played with the various character images, deconstructing and reconstructing them into little jigsaw puzzle pieces. It all matched the music 100%!
But one thing with the art I do have an issue with, and that's the choice of colors and the shading style. As much as I appreciate how much they have preserved the original character designs from the manga, I truly felt the coloring was a little too subtle and understated, and also, I wasn't too impressed with the shading which they seem to rely too heavily on smudging the colors. Artistically, you shouldn't really use smudging as your primary way for blending colors/shadows because if you use it for everything then aesthetically the work looks “smudgy” dirty or untidy. The smudging technique works great for some shadows or “tan-lines” but that's about it. Besides that, though I though was awesome was that the backgrounds were all CGI. But I'm still giving the art high marks...because I know they did not have the same budget as....say, Naruto or Inuyasha!

~Sound
The music is great, I love both the OP and the ED theme songs, it could be because it's the same song, and the same band but sung differently [I thought that was very cool] It also be because of the art sequences used for each of them, I'm not sure, but I liked the music very much. I watched the show in Japanese audio, which was good.

~Story
This is one of the few gay anime series [if not, THE ONLY ONE that I've seen] out there that actually offers a good story that's not entirely about just being a gay man and/or dealing with the stereotypical gay issues. Yes, Oro is an openly gay person [I doubt I'd consider him "flamboyant" as he isn't walking around in stilettos and butt-less chaps or anything...but he's a little effeminate] and a few of the episodes do deal with the personal aspects of his life but the entire series was not exclusively dedicated to him and his issues. If you have ever watched Gravitation [which I also liked] then you will understand what I meant. Gravitation was very much about just being gay, at least a good chunk of the story is only about Suuichi and Yuki and them being gay men or whatever...and I found it tiresome sometimes. Yuki's story, about him killing someone when he was a kid [seemed a lot more interesting] and even Suuichi's singing career all seemed secondary and incidental compared to the OVERWHELIMINGLY gay theme.
With Antique Bakery, the gayness is not the main story,...it's actually one side story, the main story is revolves around Keichiro Tachibana, his insistence in opening up a pastry shoppe and the surrounding traumas behind his mysterious kidnapping over 23 years ago.
This is a wonderful story that's being told really well with a lot of humor, the time flies by and you're never left wondering what is the point of the show...and “why are you watching it?” Which is the way I've been feeling about a lot of anime shows lately.

~Characters
I love a small cast! I love the intimacy between the characters. I like being able to fully appreciate each person that's introduced to me and you can only get that with a small cast. Especially if it's a 13 episode series, you can't afford to have a large cast because you won't fully develop the characters into believable personalities. Baccano! was a great anime with a very LARGE cast, however each character demonstrated only one side to their personality as if each character represented a particular emotion [and somehow it worked for that anime] but on the average a large cast in a 13 episode series usually spells disaster as far as character development is concerned. With Antique Bakery we get to fully enjoy all for main characters and their histories. With a small 4 person cast like this I can't pick a favorite because they all held a special importance and they each have something I like very much. The only gripe I have, as I have said in the Art-Section is that I think the designs were fabulous but the color and shading choices were not right. With a cake shoppe you want colors to be vivid [which the did for the desserts and the background] but the characters were washed out looking.

~Verdict
I first came across this title from the movie of the same title...and it was a great movie! Very funny and romantic with very nice F/X. The series is just as funny and endearing and I do like how they play with the backgrounds to convey a character's emotions. I recommend everyone to check out the movie if they love the anime...the move is awesome!
This, in my opinion, is the best shounen-ai anime title out there by far! It's two closest competitors "Gravitation" is kinda childish and "Loveless" which seems to have an awesome story but is incomplete. every other shounen-ai title I've seen is just very silly and not worth mentioning. Which is sad because there are some pretty good shounen-ai mangas out there.

Honestly I have no idea how anyone could give this show a score above a 5. Typically I do not even finish shows that I deem a 5 or lower, but for some reason I kept on hoping it would get better.

Nope.

TDLR: Please do not waste your time watching this anime. It is mediocre at BEST.

Story: 3
Lets be honest: The premise is stupid. A guy decides to drop everything to open a cake shop in order to one day catch the man who kidnapped him because the man made him eat cake every day. However, even with such a dumb premise, ... there can often be other good qualities or even side stories that make up for this (like romance!). However nothing saved the story. There were no romance stories, no resolution at the end of the 12 dull episodes, nothing. Just terrible all around.

Art: 3
Most of the time if an anime has really terrible art, I won't watch. But often yaoi or shonen ai stories get shafted with an animation budget, so I will give them a break. But this turned out not to even be that. One of the characters is gay, another is bi (maybe?), but there are no romance stories, so nothing to justify the terrible art. The characters often do that thing where they bubble out into cartoon versions of themselves for comedy effect, but it does it way to often and is obviously just a way to use less detailed animation for a majority of the series. Also the backgrounds???? So horrible.

Sound:3
Just okay. Honestly I can't even remember what the music was like, thats how boring it was. The voice actors did a decent job I guess, but again, nothing memorable. I certainly wasn't looking them up afterwards to see the other work they have done.

Character: 5
They did a decent job of outlining each main character and providing some background. But overall I failed to connect or really care about any of them. Again, poor art did not help.

Enjoyment: 4
I was struggling to finish all 12 episodes. I thought about quitting on ep 3, but then I thought wait maybe at least there will be a resolution to the kidnapping story. NOPE.

Overall: 4
And I am being generous with the 4. Awful anime. Don't waste your time.

It was a really enjoyable anime. For first, art. It was average, nothing special but you can watch without harm. Music seemed a little weird for the first time, but when you get used to it, it gets better and begins to perfectly fit the anime. Plot is kind of lazy and slow. Four guys running a bakery, light shonen-ai from time to time, some boxing- and kidnapping-thingy and lots of yummy cakes. There is no fast action or heart stopping moments - if u're looking for them, u can already give up on watching this. But the thing is, that anime has really specific ... mood. It gave me some nostalgic, calm feeling. Altough there were funny moments, too (especially when Chikage was involved). I liked it because of the ballance and the moment of tranquility in the busy, daily life that it gave me. I'm sure you won't regret watching Antique Bakery.

I greatly enjoyed Antique Bakery. It was very refreshing to find a "light" comedy without the use of annoying, overreacting characters. The series started out very light-hearted and relaxing, and the darkness creeps up on you, hovering just a little while until the end of the series ends, and it takes off with a sigh. Nothing big, no major climax - save for the "fake" climax near the end.

Art:
I noticed some figure poses were drawn awkwardly - noticed in the first scene with the boy running. The series uses CGI background juxtaposed against the drawn characters. At first, this contrast seemed strange, but I ... got used to it. The CGI itself reminds me of playing a point-and-click game that tries to make itself appear realistic; those end up being quite beautiful. The actual character art appears to be unpolished shoujo art style. The drawings give the impression of a casual webcomic - the lines are not thick or dark-coloured. The shading (especially on characters' hair) seems very rough and quick. It almost looks like original art found on a social media website (DeviantArt, Tumblr). I was surprised when I found out the show was made in 2008, as the art style seemed very old with its unpolishedness. The comedy "chibi" characters are amusing.

Music:
The OP is great. I never skip it. It's so upbeat and happy, although some might not appreciate the use of autotune. I, however, think it's awesome.
The background music is soothing. I was surprised to learn it was variations of classical pieces! The first time, it distracted me from the scene, as I was trying to figure out if it was actually the classical piece or not!

Story:
I enjoyed the humour. "I have powerful connections [to help you get a job]. Ramen shop, ramen shop, or ramen shop!"
Antique Bakery is one of those anime where they don't fully close with the final episodes. It's subtle and not jarring, just like the characters in the series, just like the episodes and the stories of each. This is okay, because as the theme song says, life goes on.

Four hot guys, some of whom are questioning their sexuality, decide to band together and run a bakery in this low-budget anime. While this one is pretty lighthearted, some of the characters' backstories are quite creepy; these guys have been through a lot.

I didn't really like Ono, the kind of stereotypically gay pastry chef, but I loved Kanda, the boxer, and Tachibana, the owner. And Tachibana's psuedo-bodyguard, Chikage, has a backstory that is really sweet. This anime won't change your life or anything, but it's short and sweet with some unexpectedly meaningful parts.

I usually don't write anime reviews. However, I had to with Antique Bakery. It gives off a slice of life feeling. It's realistic, with its anime points. The real scenery and objects are not what I'm talking about. That threw me for a loop, it's been a while since I've seen an anime where everything is not animated. Antique Bakery conveys that a face to face confrontation with one's past are not options for some. In most anime the person that hurt the protagonist always shows his head in the series. Really, though, what are the chances of that happening. Even if you past them ... in the street if it happened like 10 years ago, would you really know it's them. Antique Bakery is funny and tragic(don't worry not enough to cry, a hint,). It's entertaining while getting you to know all four characters. It could have gone more into detail for some, but I not sure it would turn out as good with a longer duration. Overall it had to be good to make me write a review when I'm so lazy. Seriously, I haven't even added half the anime I've watched to myanimelist. I won't even mention manga.

I was pleasantly suprised by this anime, as it was not what I expected. There is a beautiful and real story interwoven into the overriding plot-line. Though the gender and sexual orientation of the characters comes into play and drives the plot, these issues serve as support for a more complex set of interactions. In many ways this anime manages to escape the mold cast for most other anime I have seen. The feeling that the characters are real and struggle in a real world allows the viewer to quickly and easily connect with them.

The biggest con to the ... show was the artwork, which had a strange combination of computer generated background with flat animated characters. I have seen this style incorporated in other anime, but I don't prefer it myself. Though the CG background can be more detailed this way, it is in turns too fake and too real. Blending the CG background and the anime characters requries a fine balance that is lacking in this particualar piece.

First time I ever watched this, I had to stop at episode 3 go to the nearest shop and by buns and cakes :/ but that totally off the point. I really did love the art work on this anime and alongside the characters I found this anime to be enjoyable, addictive and something I just finding myself going back to - just like cakes :) totally worth the watch but make sure to have something sweet on hand throughout (This totally has to become a written warning at the beginning of the anime)
^_^

I thought I'd try to actually finish it this time, after dropping it for a while. Now I remember why. And I just saw I got to exactly the same point and couldn't take it anymore.

The art is sub par at best. The backgrounds are weird badly done CG with the terrible washed out characters moving about on it. The music is distracting. Classical music that has no business in the scene or makes the already embarrassingly dumb scene even worse.

The concept is what kept me on at first and made me want to continue. Not because it was ... especially awesome, but at least it made a shounen-ai slightly more than just, "omg, you're cute, I love you." To be perfectly honest, the background stories of the characters and concept sound like a typical fanfic (which I enjoy reading).

But the dialogue and character interactions were just poorly done and left a bad taste in my mouth. I regret spending more of my life attempting to rewatch this

So, I liked this anime quite a bit. It wasn't anything overly extraordinary, but it did execute a number of concepts very well with other anime struggle with.

One of the main things I'd like to mention is how they treated homosexuality in the series. The thing is, with anime there's usually a strong dividing line between "Gay Anime" and "Straight Anime". If anime is "gay-centric" it'll be a romance either centered around gay men or gay women exclusively. But this anime does something different, where it introduces gay and bi characters, but makes them and their romantic situations incidental to the ... overall plotline. In every other anime I've seen featuring gay men, either it's a Shounen Ai in which the romance IS the plot, or the gay character is just some comedic side character. This show manages to introduce gay and bisexual characters in more than a superficial or comedic manner, but humanize them with issues and concerns related to things other than their romances.

I don't have too much to say except that I really liked the way they executed everything. I doubt they'll make any more but I would enjoy that.

If you are looking for some yaoi action or BL (boys love) unfortunately this anime is not really the case. Even though we have a character who is gay, the story doesn't focus a lot on it.

This anime has kind of a dark storie that happend to one of the main characters when he was a kid and how his life changed after it.
Some episodes made me laugh a lot and some were pretty cute. Chigake is a sweetheart, one of my favorite in this anime.
It was not a great anime, but I still enjoyed watching it.

If you want to know more about how their ... lives goes after the anime, I really recommend the manga called "Seiyou Kottou Yougashiten dj", there, we DO have some action LOL.

I stumbled upon this bad boy one night while searching for shonen-ai.
Now don't get me wrong- it's KIND OF shonen-ai but definitely not enough for it to be classed as that. I don't know if it's different in the manga but- well, I was kind of disappointed.
Nevertheless I actually found this a pretty interesting anime. The premise was kind of nice, the animation wasn't awful to look at (unlike most shonen-ai) and the opening was a bit of techno bop that I did not expect. The character designs were also quite refreshing. There was no seme/uke bull and the characters actually seemed like more ... than just the tropes of the genre.
The whole dramatic backstory/ sideplot thing was ridiculous and I hated it but I also lowkey loved it but literally nothing happens with it.

Likes; the opening, the characters, the cute premise, bakeries
Dislikes; essentially being baited, the mild homophobia, the lack of fleshing out the story

Anyway, I'd say give this a go if you're into this sort of thing- it was an entertaining watch that I wasn't entirely mad at