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The Fall 2022 Manga Guide
She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat

What's It About? 

Cooking is how Nomoto de-stresses, but one day, she finds herself making way more than she can eat by herself. And so, she invites her neighbor Kasuga, who also lives alone. What will come out of this impromptu dinner invitation...?

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat has story and art by Sakaomi Yuzaki, with English translation by Caleb David Cook, and Yen Press will release its first volume both digitally and physically on October 18.






Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

Nomoto loves to cook, but she doesn't have a huge appetite. She yearns for someone to cook for, and wouldn't you know it, her neighbor Kasuga turns out to be a big eater! If you want to talk about matches made in heaven, this would be a prime example, and it's made even better by the way that the entire story is told in a grounded, low-key style that allows us to see the two women growing closer without spelling everything out. This is yuri for the adult crowd, not because it's sexy or because it's more realistic (because let's face it, that means something different for everyone), but because it isn't about the short-term payoff – this is a story about two women who are just letting their relationship grow naturally.

While that could make it too slow for some readers, the other, probably bigger issue is that you need to really like watching Kasuga put food in her mouth. Many of her panels are devoted to just that, and while that's not something I'm typically squeamish about, it was a bit much even for me. The point is clear – for Nomoto most of the thrill of cooking is watching someone eat what she's made, so seeing Kasuga ingest her food is a major factor in her feelings for the other woman. It can still feel a little fetishy, though, and that won't work for everyone, especially if open mouths are something that you don't particularly love staring at.

But if you can get past both of those potential barriers, this book has a lot going for it. One of those things is the way it frames the life of a woman who's not interested in attracting male attention. When Nomoto talks about her love of cooking, men typically say something along the lines of “you'd be a great wife.” Early on in the volume, she thinks, “They always take my hobby, which I do out of passion, and frame it as something I could be doing for a man,” which she follows up with, “Gross.” Later she gripes about how she makes less than her male coworkers and that she can't find any articles about dressing to be attractive to other women. These are all real things that women deal with, and to see them show up in a manga like this feels very validating; not to mention it's also grounding the story in a closer approximation of reality than we often see, particularly in yuri stories where the conceit is to pretend men don't exist in the world. Add in some very low-key and frank discussions of periods – including Kasuga telling Nomoto that if she's debilitated and in pain during hers, she really ought to go see a GYN and not just write her experience off – and this is just a more accurate depiction of certain parts of life than we typically see. Whether you're looking for yuri, a new foodie title, or just want to read a deceptively calm story, She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat is worth it.


Christopher Farris

Rating:

As someone else who admittedly loves to eat, I felt pretty comfortably in the target audience heading into this one. As indicated by its title, She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat is founded on the appreciation for food – both the effort that goes into creating it and the rewards of getting to experience that creation. There are an astounding amount of foods and dishes lovingly portrayed just in this first volume, including a frankly astonishing amount of back pages dedicated to defining and describing everything featured therein, for the curious who might not be fully up on their Japanese cuisine. But while that interested engagement in both cooking and eating as a hobby are central to this book, the kindred connections we see between our two leads is the always-driving factor. Or to put it another way: Unlike most cooking manga, this one actually focuses on the characters!

Seriously though, the 'plot' of She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat is effectively a slow-roll of seasons as we watch leading ladies Nomoto and Kasuga get to know each other over their initially-spontaneous dinner date arrangements. And it's frankly adorable, as we catch snippets of their circumstances, learning more about them as we do each other. The cooking/eating segments provide a strong framework, but can initially feel a little repetitive in their cycles; it's that sense of peering in on people, getting an idea of what they deal with that drives them to this place, that becomes compelling. For one thing, this manga has no qualms addressing the everyday aggravations of sexism. Whether it's Nomoto having her passionate cooking hobby dismissed as a domestic dalliance, or people in restaurants passive-aggressively reacting to Kasuga's body type and portion preferences, the writing makes all too clear what kind of haven the pair's empathetic understanding of each other could provide.

Exploring these details of their lives growing together means She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat can come off denser than one might expect, especially once the food aspects become intertwined in increasingly complex ways. Part of me might have preferred more detailed descriptions of the tastes and textures assessed in the dishes, but then the series seems quite content in having Kasuga's enthusiastic eating, and Nomoto's reactions to that, carry the communication of that quality. It's a commitment I can respect, since artist Sakaomi Yuzaki is dedicated to Kasuga's more understated facial expressions, and her actions still sell how much she enjoys the food; it's also fun to see Nomoto play off that and eventually, adorably, realize how down bad she actually is for Kasuga. Even with the societal stressors powering the background of it, She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat still largely comes off as comfort food. Its pacing and points aren't going to be to everyone's tastes, but it's definitely the sort of unique flavor I know plenty of other people out there have been looking for.

…dang was this the wrong manga to read and review while hungry.


MrAJCosplay

Rating:

There's something about reading a series about people that enjoy cooking and eating that always makes me hungry. She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat can best be described as wholesome. What happens when a woman who loves to cook meets her neighbor who also loves to eat large quantities of food? The answer should be incredibly obvious, but that doesn't make the material any less enriching. While there are moments of social commentary about sexism in society and how women with a penchant for cooking are usually viewed, this series is largely about the slowly progressing relationship between these two women who were brought together by their usual love of food. The character designs and layout is incredibly simple, but I do commend the author for depicting a variety of body types without being overt or exaggerated. If anything, the artwork strikes a very nice middle ground between some more typical stylistic conventions and a more realistic approach. There isn't much in the way of recipes, but there's just something nice about watching other people enjoy something nice amongst good company. If you're a fan of cooking or are interested in the emotions that food elicits, then this could make for the perfect snack to enjoy between heavier meals.


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