Kazuma!
Grandpa?
Grandpa!
Huh? Isn’t this Kazuma?
Kazuma is on television!
Kazuma has...
My Kazuma has returned...
It’s the television. Television.
Kazuma!
There’s English bread, German bread, and French bread,
but Japan’s bread, Japan, does not exist.
In that case, there’s no choice but to create it.
This story is a serious, biographical ballad of a boy who possesses Solar Hands,
Azuma Kazuma, who will create a Japanese bread made by and for the Japanese people,
which can be presented to the world proudly.
Somewhere far away, there are people listening carefully.
dokoka tooku de mimi wo sumashiteru hito ga iru
Yakitate!! Japan
Translated by: Anime-Empire
In every place, there are people looking up at the sky.
arayuru basho de sora wo miageteru hito ga iru
Under the night sky, we, who are whistling...
yozora no shita de kuchibue fuiteru bokutachi wa
without words, are just tracing constellations with our fingers.
kotoba mo nai mama yubi de tada seiza wo nazotteru
The dreams of the cold-sensitive... Your cold hands...
samugariya no yume tsumetai kimi no te
The warming magic is to believe in one path.
atatameru mahou wa hitotsu no michi wo shinjiru koto
The single star found on the other side of the comet cloud...
houkigumo no mukou ni mitsuketa hitotsubu no hoshi wa
whether it be a shining or a faint star...
kagayaku hoshi demo kasukana hoshi demo
is the light of only you.
kimi dake no hikari
On the other side of the cloud in your heart,
mune no kumo no mukou ni mienai mama no michishirube
is a sign post that remains unseen.
Now, opening these hands, what will you believe in today?
saa kono te wo hiraite ima nani wo shinjimasuka?
Kawachi Kai!!
The Solar Gauntlet!
Kawachi Kai!!
The Solar Gauntlet!
But why were you on television?
There was a bit of this and that and such...
And we got onto a program that was to air about two weeks ago.
Huh? You’ve become quite the famous one, too, haven’t you?
I’m happy...
But aside from that, is Grandpa okay?
Kazuma...
Huh?
Kazuma.
He’s twitchy and jerky, so it seems that he’s slowly coming back...
I think we’ve leapt this hurdle for now. It’s all right.
That’s a relief.
Yeah. Yeah.
Later, then...
How old is your grandpa, Kazuma?
He’s eighty-nine... Next year he’ll be exactly ninety.
Then, he’s ten years younger than my grandfather.
Our victory!
Of what, I wonder?
That very grandfather has sent over
this for the recent employees.
Oh! The red papers!
It’s already that time?
What’s that?
It’s the draft notice for all of Pantasia’s newcomers.
For the newcomers?
Yeah.
For the Pantasia group...
It’s a challenge that brings together the new- comers from all 128 stores around the country.
The objective is to battle it out seriously, and to measure how your skills compare to each other.
By the way, I was the winner eleven years ago!
Champion
Winner
Champion
Winner
Champion
Winner
Champion
Winner
Note: Miyakouchi means having to flee the capital. Due to alternative pronunciations of the characters, 東京支店 normally is read as Tokyo branch, but can also be read as Miyakouchi
But you were forced out of the capital.
Winner
Manager of the southern Tokyo branch
Winner
Forced out of the capital
Manager of the southern Tokyo branch
Forced out of the capital
Manager of the southern Tokyo branch
Forced out of the capital
Manager of the southern Tokyo branch
Forced out of the capital
Manager of the southern Tokyo branch
Tsukino, I believe that eight years ago, you were among the best three, weren’t you?
Yes.
It was really amazing to see someone still carrying her school backpack
on the winner’s podium.
You all are amazing, aren’t you?
By the way...
I caught a bit of rudeness that needs to be put down!
The two of you really are amazing, aren’t you?
All right, so I flunked the preliminaries.
For the newcomers, huh?
By the way...
Do you gain any privileges if you win?
The winner gets an award of one million yen.
You also get a sabbatical in France.
In addition, you get the special treatment of possible placement at the main store.
Is that true?
All right then!
I’m going to win.
And you’ll be... number two.
Good luck!
Okay! I’m number two!
Number two?
This may be like throwing cold water over your plans, but...
If appears that, compared to previous years, we have a lot more newcomers this year.
The total number of newcomers from all 128 stores is...
an incredible 512!
It’s about three times the number we usually have.
Since the group as a whole is promising,
they must have drastically reduced the numbers.
But for the two of you, this is quite unfortunate, isn’t it?
Frankly, you probably won’t make it through the preliminaries.
512!
Is that a large number?
Didn’t he just say that it’s three times the usual number?
Then, it’ll be all right if we work three times harder than normal, right?
Man... when it comes to his optimism...
He doesn’t seem to feel any pressure at all...
So, what do we have to do for the preliminaries?
It’s different each year.
So, let’s see here... This year’s theme is...
Din... din...
It’s dinner bread! Bread! Bread!
What? What’s with the exaggerated reaction?
It’s just dinner bread, isn’t it?
“Within the regular conditions of a room:”
“Room temperature of 23 degrees, and humidity of 55%...”
“make a bread that will not grow mold for three weeks!”
“You get one week for the test.”
“And it goes without saying that you cannot use artificial ingredients like preservatives!”
This is what’s written. Can you call this “mere dinner bread?”
Mere dinner bread...
Long lasting dinner bread, is it?
Mold exists naturally all across the Earth, in all kinds of places.
A temperature above 20°C is sufficient to allow it to germinate.
Not only food, but glass and metal could be used as a source of nutrients, as well.
If we were to put it into the fridge, that’s one thing...
Can you really make a bread that’d remain good for three weeks under normal room conditions?
Weeks
Days
Hours
And asking us not to use preservatives is crazy!
You can definitely call it a crazy theme.
But...
Poor students living on their own, or manga artists...
There are plenty of customers in the world who’d eat
2-3 weeks leftover bread without a second thought.
Good children should not do such things
Amongst the molds that grow on bread,
Good children should not do such things
Note: Mucotoxins, better known as mycotoxins, refer to toxins produced by fungi, ie: mold
there are also those that can release deadly poisons, called mucotoxins.
Mucotoxins
Good children should not do such things
And these toxins are not nullified upon heating!
Good children should not do such things
Being unaware of such things,
Good children should not do such things
people think it’s all right to just take off the mold...
Good children should not do such things
And end up eating it...
Good children should not do such things
That’s why...
We have to work hard to make a bread that’s just little more delicious, and a little more safe.
Well, I see what the reasoning behind the theme is,
but the question’s whether or not you can really make such a bread.
Right, Azuma?
Yeah, you can...
It’s Japan #32.
What’s with that outfit?
I’m going to get it.
I’m going to search for Japan #32’s ingredients.
I’ll get Kawachi’s share, as well...
Hey!
Wait up, will you, Azuma?
It’s still working hours for the store...
That idiot... Where does he plan to go?
Azuma seems to have thought of something, hasn’t he?
That seems to be so, but...
It probably isn’t anything that could be of any use...
Oh, you don’t think so?
But, I’m all excited that he might do something wonderful again.
I know!
He’ll do something amazing again.
And he probably plans to share that with me, as well...
With that, the two of us may even be able to pass the preliminaries.
However, I want to be able to win with my own abilities.
And I want to be chosen to go to the main store for my skill.
I don’t want to go through something like that time with the croissants again.
For that, I have to be able to win against Azuma.
But... what can I do?
I don’t know.
I neither have an idea to surpass him,
nor Solar Hands.
Kawachi-san...
We have a customer who’s troubled...
because she can’t get through.
I’ll come later...
There, there...
Do you want Solar Hands?
I know a way...
of attaining Solar Hands...
Wha...? What?
Don’t mess with me!
Solar Hands are a hereditary trait.
There’s no way to get them, aside from being reborn.
Then... wouldn’t it be best to be reborn?
As Kawachi Kai.
Note: “Kai” means “to alter” or “to reform.”
Kawachi
Me? Kai?!
Kai
If the Solar Hands were to become mine...
If I could really get them...
I might...
I might be able to fight it out with him...
Hmm... it seems you have decided to believe in it...
In what I told you...
It’s for real, isn’t it?
Yeah...
Somewhat...
However... please, do not run off in the middle at all.
If so, Solar Hands will not come to you.
Asuzakawa Sports Club
What?
What in the world is this?
If you go to a pool, you swim.
From today onward, please swim about 10km twice a day, in the morning and at night.
Don’t mess with me.
I want Solar Hands!
I don’t want a swimming medal.
I’m not telling you to improve your swimming.
But, then...
You talk too much.
Hey!
What’s with pushing me–
What’s with this float?
The float is sinking me...
It’s heavy.
And I can’t use my legs at all either.
That may look like a float, but...
It’s designed to get heavier as it absorbs more moisture.
Do you know about koshikeihou?
The Sengoku Period (Sengoku jidai), or “warring states” period, is a period of long civil war in the history of Japan that spans from the middle 15th to the early 17th centuries.
In the age of civil war,
they were soldiers who would swim while wearing heavy armor and holding a spear.
If you want Solar Hands,
then we must have you strengthen up enough to be able to swim with the fake float.
I don’t know about civil war soldiers needing to be strong or anything...
I’m a baker.
I’m drowning!
In order not to sink, you have no choice but to keep swimming, right?
Hang in there.
Oh, that’s right.
A scary SV person will be keeping watch over you, so...
There’s no giving up until you’ve done the 10km.
Well...
I think he’d probably save you if you looked like you were really going to die.
Later!
What are you doing?
What a horrible pose!
pose
Horrible
I get it! It’s okay if I swim, right?
What’s doing something like this going to get me?
That woman! I’m going to get her.
Manager, you were here as well, were you?
That was pretty nice of you, wasn’t it?
Well, that’s to be expected.
Why do you say that?
The branch to which the champion belongs will get...
one million yen in reward money.
You were also aiming for that money, weren’t you?
Well, since the budget does not allocate much to our store,
if one million was to come our way, then... in addition to the latest style ovens,
we could remodel the entire store!
That... and this... and that...
If, for some reason, Azuma-san were to lose,
we’d have to get Kawachi-san to do it in his place...
And in order to do that...
How can you make me say things like this?
I won’t say that I don’t want the money.
But having Kawachi-san help us out isn’t something I thought of yesterday, or today.
On the last day of the employment exam for the main store...
I’m a country boy, too...
I want to believe in the tears I saw that day.
No more...
I guess it’s impossible.
In the end... someone like me...
Are you going to give up, Kyousuke?
This voice...
Listen here, Kyousuke.
Your father is going to get hired into the Pantasia store for sure this time.
And the main store, at that!
I think it’ll be impossible again, though.
That’s right.
Don’t always be seeking unattainable dreams.
Look at reality.
Stop talking nonsense.
The new item this time is really amazing!
The people of Pantasia group are also going to be surprised!
Amongst the many young and talented examinees,
that middle-aged man would continue trying for his dreams again and again,
and he’d stand and face it...
Sorry, Kyousuke.
But you know what?
Next year, however, I really will become an employee of the Pantasia main store.
I’ll be able to make life easy for us all.
It’s all right.
If doesn’t matter whether or not you become an employee of Pantasia...
Don’t talk stupid.
Listen up, Kyousuke.
You can’t ever give up.
Even if you mess up and are always in muddy waters...
If you don’t give up till the very end, then...
Someday, you’ll reach the end, and be able to smile.
Father.
Okay?
You can’t ever give up.
Don’t ever forget this.
Do you understand?
He failed, and then failed again.
But, my old man never gave up.
And then, one day...
The flames of his passion...
changed shape, and attacked our family.
Father!
Father is still inside.
It’s dangerous, so stand back.
No!!!
The cause of the fire was the old oven’s air chamber that he’d bought at his own expense.
And the old man was inside when...
The hard work that the old man put in every day, like an idiot, into the dead of the night..
That old man’s effort was all in vain because of a stupid accident.
After that, our family went to our mother’s home to live.
Give up being a baker. I will not forgive it.
But I have to do something about our dead father’s final regret.
He wasn’t much of a father, but...
I loved him!
So, I’m going to carry out his will.
I’m going to become a baker.
The best baker of Pantasia’s main store.
And then, I’ll save money and
bring you, Kyouei, and Hiromi the share of happiness that Dad would have brought you.
For sure!
I acted all cool, said a lot, and studied desperately.
And what I gained was only knowledge.
Kawachi-san said this, as well.
Maybe, in the end, I am my dumb father’s son after all, and don’t have any talent.
I did a bad thing to Azuma, as well.
But I...
wanted to win, to the point of death.
For my family’s sake, for my sake, and for my father’s sake.
During that exam, what Kawachi-san did was definitely wrong.
If he had no feelings of remorse,
and tried to get employed at the main store, then...
I would have worked towards making sure that he didn’t get employed.
But he withdrew on his own.
He suppressed his passion and tenacity towards working at the main store.
He gave in to the pangs of his conscience.
And that time, I decided within my heart that I would invite him
to the Tokyo southern branch.
It’s because I decided that, if his passion towards
getting into the main store were to be guided in the right direction,
he’d become a great baker.
This is another chance for him.
I’m beginning to space out.
If I were to close my eyes like this...
it would surely be easier...
Kyousuke.
You can’t give up.
Old man.
That’s right.
I can’t give up.
My arms and my legs still...
can move, somehow.
I have to keep going until the end.
Wait, won’t you... Azuma!
If Kawachi-san were to apply to the main store once again based on his skill,
I would happily cooperate with him.
I understand what you’re thinking, Tsukino.
However, to create the solar hands... is not an easy thing.
If you were to increase the muscle mass all over the body,
then it would increase your basic metabolism, as well as your body temperature.
You would have warm hands,
produced due to the insulation of the armor that your muscles provide.
The blood coming from the heart would reach your extremities without cooling.
If you do that, then, while you still wouldn’t have Kazuma’s natural Solar Hands...
you’d have warm hands produced due to the insulation of your muscles.
You would have a Solar Gauntlet, so to speak.
Gauntlet
Solar
Well, that’s the theory of it, but...
No regular workout could create that much muscle in a short time.
Mokuyama and I both worked hard to get if, but...
We had the time for it.
Whether or not a sudden surge of exercise will be able to pull that off...
depends on whether that passion and tenacity of his is something that you can truly depend on.
10km...
If I am to continue this, I’m going to die.
That woman.
Does she plan on killing me?
No, but...
My being able to stay in the Southern branch is all thanks to Tsukino.
I don’t think she’d be making me do this as a joke.
I’m sure... I’m sure that it’s there.
The signpost towards Solar Hands...
hidden somewhere in this swimming exercise.
Definitely.
Wait up, everyone. Old man.
Kawachi Kyousuke’s going to get stronger.
Kawachi
As Kawachi Kai.
Kai
Hey... wait a minute.
Isn’t there some better name than that?
There isn’t, is there?
Yeah, there isn’t.
I have no doubts about Kawachi-san’s passion.
For the one month before the competition, I’m going to take care of Kawachi-san.
In order to maximize his muscle development by monitoring his food intake...
With this, Azuma can’t let his guard down either, can he?
I’m sure Azuma-san will be all right.
Moreover, I’m looking forward to Japan #32.
I’m looking forward to that, too.
Hey, you. Stop.
What is it?
You’re underage, aren’t you?
It’s past two in the morning. Get back home quickly.
No way. I’ve got somewhere to go.
Somewhere to go?
To Izu!
Note: A train from Yokohama to Izu can take anywhere between 3-5 hours depending on the line you take.
What do you mean Izu? This is Yokohama.
There are no trains or anything running at this time.
Hey, wait up.
Mr. Policeman, is Izu this way?
Mr. Policeman, are you okay? Hang in there!
If I think of you, and even utter the clichéd phrase “I love you,”
tsukaifurusareta “aishiteru” mo kimi wo omotte kuchi ni sureba
it makes such a nice sound, and you continue talking.
konna ni suteki na hibiki ni naru soshite kimi wa shaberi tsuzukeru
The hopeless tears your bold self sometimes shows me form flag of truce.
tsuyogari na kimi ga tokodoki miseru hakanage na namida nya shirohata desu
If nothing is said, then all the more,
nani mo iwanakerya iwanai dake ni
I just can’t look away. Things like sadness and pain...
yosomi nante dekinaindayo kanashimi dano kurushimi dano
Well, that happens a lot in life, after all.
sorya ikiterya yappari iroiro aru kedo
When you casually say, “Do your best,” it gives me strength.
nanigenaku kimi ga iu “ganbatte” ni chikara moratteruyo
Whenever your small back trembles, I will embrace you right away.
moshimo chiisana senaka furueru toki ni wa boku ga sugu dakishimeru kara
Even if the scenery outside my window changes...
mado kara mieru keshiki kawatte ittemo
Stay with me as you are, bad sleeping habits and all.
neguse no hidoi kimi no mama de soba ni ite
If you sulk, and utter
tsukaifurusareta “daikirai” mo
Even the clichéd “I hate you,” it comes across as the opposite.
kimi ga fukurete kuchi ni sureba hantai no imi ni kikoeruno sa
I will love you, no matter what. It’s just another Sunday to me.
donna toki datte aishiteru itsumo to onaji sunday
Next Episode
This isn’t good. I’m all beat up.
Will I really be able to make a bread that
doesn’t grow mold by having Solar Gauntlets?
Don’t be so irresolute!
Pun: “Uji,” 蛆, is a maggot. “Ujiuji,” うじうじ, becomes irresolute. In addition to mold, if you leave bread out for 3 weeks, you’d have a few maggots on it.
Next episode, Yakitate!! Japan.
I Won’t Lose!!
I Challenge You With My Osaka Bread!
I won’t lose!! I challenge you with my Osaka bread!
Be sure to see it!
Yakitate!! Seed of knowledge.
Amongst the molds, while we have ones that make toxins,
mold
are ones that are not all bad!
Note: Miso is a soy bean paste.
There are varieties that help in making Japanese rice wine, miso, and cheese!
Yeah, yeah!