Yakitate!! Japan

Yakitate!! Japan (焼きたて!! ジャぱん) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takashi Hashiguchi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from December 2001 to January 2007, with its chapters collected in 26  volumes. A 69-episode anime television series adaptation by Sunrise was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 2004 to March 2006. In North America, the manga was licensed in English by Viz Media in 2005 and Nozomi Entertainment licensed the anime series in 2014.

In 2004, ''Yakitate!! Japan'' won the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award for the category.

Plot
Kazuma Azuma is a boy on a quest to create "Ja-pan", a national bread for Japan, as many other countries have their own signature breads. He heads to Tokyo with the intention of working at the famous bread-making chain Pantasia. Along the way, he meets other bakers, both learning from and competing against them. The characters bake their bread using their burning passion and even anger, similar to the legendary Kanjitake (河内 恭) cooking style of Hokkaido. Besides a desire to create Ja-pan, Azuma also possesses legendary Hands of the Sun (太陽の手): hands that are warmer than typical, prompting dough to ferment faster. While this gives him an advantage early on, his innovation is his greater talent.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Takashi Hashiguchi, ''Yakitate!! Japan was serialized in Shogakukan's manga Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from December 26, 2001,  to January 10, 2007. Shogakukan collected its chapters into twenty-six volumes, published from March 18, 2002, to April 18, 2007.

In North America, Viz Media licensed the manga in late 2005. The twenty-six volumes were released from September 12, 2006, to April 12, 2011.

Hashiguchi started another series, titled Yakitate!! Japan Super Real (焼きたて！！ジャぱん～超現実～), on Line Manga app on August 16, 2019. The manga is written by Kenzo Irie and illustrated by Hashiguchi. Its chapters were collected in five volumes, released from April 17, 2020, to December 17, 2021.

Anime
''Yakitate!! Japan'' was adapted into a 69-episode anime television series. It aired on TV Tokyo from October 12, 2004, to March 14, 2006. Aniplex collected the individual episodes on DVD. The first arc, Pantasia Newcomers Battle arc, was compiled on seven DVDs released from March 25 to September 28, 2005. The second arc, Monaco Cup arc was compiled on six DVDs released from October 26, 2005, to March 29, 2006. The third arc, ''Yakitate! 9 arc'', was released on five DVDs from April 26 to August 23, 2006.

In North America, the series was licensed by Nozomi Entertainment in July 2014. Nozomi released the series on three DVD sets on March 3, May 5, and July 7, 2015. Crunchyroll started streaming the series in November 2015. In July 2019, Funimation announced the streaming rights to the series on its FunimationNow platform. In Southeast Asia, Muse Communication licensed the series and streamed it on their Muse Asia YouTube channel.

Music
The music from the anime series was composed by Taku Iwasaki. Two original soundtracks albums were released on March 24 and November 23, 2005.

The first opening theme for episodes 1 to 29 is "Houki Gumo" (ホウキ雲) by Rythem. The second opening theme for episodes 30 to 53 is "Promise" by TiA. The third opening theme for episodes 54 to 69 is Chiisana Uta (小さな歌) by Maria.

The first ending theme for episodes 1 to 12 is "Sunday" by The Babystars. The second ending theme for episodes 13 to 29 is "To All Tha Dreamers" by Soul'd Out. The third ending theme for episodes 30 to 42 is "Hummingbird" (ハミングバード) by Little by Little. The fourth ending theme for episodes 43 to 53 is "Re: START" by Surface. The fifth ending theme for episodes 54 to 62 is "Merry Go Round" by Mai Hoshimura. The sixth ending theme for episodes 63 to 68 is "Kokoro Bīdama" (ココロビーダマ). The first opening theme "Houki Gumo" is used as the final ending theme for episode 69.

Video games
A video game, titled Yakitate!! Japan: Game 1 – Gō Chōjō Kessen!! Pantasic Grand Prix! (焼きたて!!ジャぱん　ゲーム１号　頂上決戦!!パンタジック・グランプリ！), published by Bandai, was released for the Nintendo DS on January 12, 2006. Characters also appeared in the crossover Shonen Sunday & Shonen Magazine White Comic (少年サンデー＆少年マガジン WHITE COMIC), also for Nintendo DS in 2009.

Reception
Along with Fullmetal Alchemist, ''Yakitate!! Japan'' won the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen manga category in 2004.