Yakitate!! Japan

Yakitate!! Japan (Japanese: 焼きたて!! ジャぱん, meaning "Freshly Baked!! Ja-pan") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takashi Hashiguchi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday from December 2001 to January 2007, with its chapters collected into 26 tankōbon volumes. The manga was adapted into a 69-episode anime television series by Sunrise, which aired on TV Tokyo from October 2004 to March 2006. The story revolves around Kazuma Azuma, a boy with the dream of creating "Ja-pan," a national bread for Japan. He possesses the legendary "Solar Hands," which allow dough to ferment faster, but his greatest strength lies in his innovative baking skills. Working at the prestigious Pantasia bakery chain, he competes and collaborates with other talented bakers. While baking is central to the plot, the series is also known for its over-the-top humor, particularly the exaggerated reactions to tasting the bread and parodies of shōnen manga tropes. Yakitate!! Japan received the 2004 Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen manga. A sequel, Yakitate!! Japan Super Real, was also created.