Story 6: Christ just know that it is slow as molasses. Honestly with 41 volumes a lot eventually changes but to say it gradual would be an understatement. The course of the manga spans about 6 or so years of the Chef Sota's career as a Japanese chef in the top class restaurant of Tomikyu. The first 3rd is him steadily moving up the kitchen ranks from just a griller to a head chef. Imma be honest the manga is very slow, comforting but slow, we literally see characters constantly progress through their lives (and thus) usually get written out of the story. After 20 or so volumes you'll get the gist and when it finally comes down to the main cast it becomes so slow moving that essentially nothing really changes from chapter to chapter.
Art 8: Its a food manga and the food looks fantastic, they give us lots of panels showing knife cuts and stunning plates though I will say if you don't like fish heads most of the fancy sashimi plates will not be for you. The character faces are serviceable and expressive though I never loved the crying booger humor which happens a lot in the first few chapters. But the manga hosts some fantastic panels throughout and only gets better as it goes on.
Character 6: Honestly the weakest part of the manga for me. NONE OF THE CHARACTERS PROGRESS AND THE ONES THAT DUE ARE ESSENTIALLY WRITTEN OUT. Its honestly a bit infuriating to read, most of the characters by the end of 41 chapters are still 'in the process of learning' and idk somehow that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It shows the journey is never over but also makes it feel like the characters never really have gotten to a point of solid improvement. I also really can't stand the love triangle stuff that is HEAVILY emphasized for the first half of the volumes. Literally every time something even slightly love related comes up the in first half every char becomes instantly depressed and uncomfortable its pretty dumb. Also Hannoi had the best storyline just to get written out, man got done dirty.
Enjoyment 7
Overall 6: Honestly its a great long running manga that has a ton of flaws and is far from a masterpiece but if your looking for something long to read and pass the time while looking at gorgeous and tasty sounding seafood (that admittedly is always essentially high class Japanese food so not much variety) then is a great manga to pickup and read. Its not perfect and can definitely drag but the few developments that do happen in the story are always interesting and honestly the everyday cooking chapters never get old. For a manga that started in 2003 it really lets you feel how time is passing by in the characters lives. By the end you will feel like 6 real years have passed since the start of the story, I just wish the characters other then where they ended up could feel more emotionally developed.

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Cooking, slice of life in a very relaxed and casual pace.
That is how I would describe the entire series.

If you are curious, just pick it up! Binging it will only take 10-12 hours :p

Souta's career from the beginning to the end (of the manga) is followed and his relations with all characters is just too lovely and wholesome.
The cooking makes want to try real washoku style food and I definitely will when I travel the Japan again.

The romance is quite present, as he gets more love candidates but makes it very addicting to follow.
I am glad the girl he ended up with was my favourite, even though they could have made it more official.
The other girls were very aggressive in their ways and it almost makes me think the mangaka designed them that way to cut off the romance a bit cleaner.

The last 2-3 chapters felt rushed, but I think the length is quite good enough. Any longer might have made the series too much of a drag, as the newer characters were not interesting enough and the return of the older one became too overused.

I do wish it was prolonged a bit more, with the pure focus on Souta and not just Tomikyu and the side character back stories.
I guess I will reread this at least 5 times, as I do with more memorable ones.

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