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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

January 19, 2010 by Katherine Dacey

Happy Cafe, Vol. 1

HappyCafe01_cvr.inddTwo Guys, a Girl, and a Pastry Shop might be a better title for this rom-com about a teen who waits tables at the neighborhood bakery, as the characters are so nondescript I had trouble remembering their names. The girl, Uru, is as generic as shojo heroines come: she’s a spunky, klutzy high school student who blushes and stammers around hot guys, bemoans her flat chest, and wins people over with her intense sincerity. The two guys — Shindo, a moody jerk whose boorishness masks a kind nature, and Ichiro, a cheerful slacker — are just as forgettable, despite the manga-ka’s efforts to assign them novel tics and traits. Shindo, for example, turns out to be a genius who finished high school at fifteen, while Ichiro suffers from hunger-induced narcolepsy, keeling over any time his blood sugar drops.

The plot, like the characters, has a similarly generic quality. At the beginning of volume one, Uru walks past Cafe Bonheur, overhearing a conversation between two giggling, satisfied customers. She then resolves to land a gig at the “Happy Cafe,” as she calls it, but is nearly defeated by the job interview: she accidentally breaks the front door, endures rude comments from Shindo about her youthful appearance (she looks ten), and nearly falls over Ichiro, who’s sprawled, unconscious, on the kitchen floor. (Shindo administers first aid in the form of a bun, reviving his co-worker.) Undeterred, Uru pleads with Shindo for a job, eventually persuading him to hire her on a trial basis. Broken dishes and spilled coffee notwithstanding, Uru quickly insinuates herself into Shindo and Ichiro’s lives.

Happy Cafe aims for a mixture of wacky comedy and heartfelt drama, but doesn’t quite succeed on either count. The humor is mild but not very funny; the few good gags — Uru’s super-strength, Ichiro’s ability to nap anywhere, anytime — are repeated with little variation until they cease to register as jokes. The drama, too, is tepid and predictable; every conflict is resolved so neatly and sweetly that a strong whiff of pointlessness hangs over the whole enterprise. Early in the volume, for example, we learn that Uru is living on her own, thanks to her mother’s decision to marry a younger man. Uru misses her mom terribly, but worries that her presence interferes with mom’s new relationship. So far, so good: the idea of a mother allowing her sixteen-year-old to live alone is a little ridiculous, but the set-up could yield some juicy, emotional scenes. Matsuzuki squanders that potential by resolving the conflict in a matter of three pages: mom and stepdad beg Uru to return, Uru asserts her desire to visit but maintain her independence, and her parents shower her with affection. The end.

Matsuzuki’s artwork is serviceable, if not memorable. Her characters are virtually indistinguishable from the cast of Me & My Brothers, right down to their perfectly messy hair, rail-thin frames, and noseless faces. Matsuzuki struggles with more ambitious perspective drawings; some of her attempts to place characters on different levels in the picture plane result in unnaturally foreshortened bodies. Where Matsuzuki’s art shines is in her characters’ nuanced facial expressions. Uru’s round, open visage registers a convincing range of emotions, from embarrassment to loneliness to indignation. On those occasions when Uru smiles — sweetly or with mischievous intent — it’s easy to grasp why the terminally grouchy Shindo keeps her around, as the character radiates joy.

If I were to compare Happy Cafe with baked goods, I’d say it reminds me of a Duncan Hines cake mix: it’s easy to follow, yields predictable results, and, while sweet, is curiously bland. Readers in search of manga comfort food could certainly do worse than this sugary dramedy, though I’d steer more adventurous souls towards The Antique Bakery or Cafe Kichijoji de, both of which are funnier, tastier, and sexier than this by-the-book shojo title.

HAPPY CAFE, VOL. 1 • BY KOU MATSUZUKI • TOKYOPOP • 192 pp. • RATING: TEEN

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Filed Under: Manga Critic Tagged With: shojo, Tokyopop

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rob McMonigal says

    January 19, 2010 at 6:57 pm

    A shame you didn’t like this better, as at the glance of the cover I was interested. But I don’t like reading bland comics of any kind that don’t really do any one thing particularly well. :(

    Very helpful review, as per usual! :)

  2. Katherine Dacey says

    January 19, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    That’s why I picked it up, too — I thought the cover art was appealing, and I’m such a carb monster I’ll read anything set in a bakery! It’s not awful by any means, just very familiar. I had a terrible sense of deja vu the entire time I read it.

    Thanks for the feedback, Rob!

  3. Laura says

    January 19, 2010 at 9:39 pm

    I’ll have to check this one out. Thanks for the review, as always!

  4. Katherine Dacey says

    January 19, 2010 at 10:19 pm

    I must sound horribly grouchy, Laura! I do like shojo — Scout’s honor! I just didn’t love this one.

    On another note, your review of Shinobi Life has convinced me that I need to add that title to my to-read pile STAT.

  5. Anna says

    January 19, 2010 at 11:32 pm

    Shinobi Life is very good. I was hoping Happy Cafe would be better since I love manga that deals with food. Since it is such a long series, I’m hoping it gets more interesting in volume 2.

  6. Katherine Dacey says

    January 19, 2010 at 11:58 pm

    Thanks for the recommendation, Anna! I just checked out your review of Happy Cafe and wished I’d waited to buy it, or waited until you’d had a chance to assess the second volume as well. I confess I have terrible ADD when it comes to manga; if it doesn’t grab me after the first 200 pages, I usually don’t continue with a series.

Trackbacks

  1. Tweets that mention The Manga Critic » Blog Archive » Happy Cafe, Vol. 1 — Topsy.com says:
    January 20, 2010 at 8:57 am

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Manga Critic, The Manga Critic. The Manga Critic said: New blog post: Happy Cafe, Vol. 1 http://mangacritic.com/?p=2987 […]

  2. Lots of links « The Manga Curmudgeon says:
    January 20, 2010 at 10:23 am

    […] Kate Dacey on Kou Matsuzuki’s Happy Café, because Kate’s writing is always a pleasure to read and because she gives a shout-out to the underrated Cafe Kichijoji de […]

  3. Late report « MangaBlog says:
    January 21, 2010 at 10:13 pm

    […] Cafe and vol. 2 of Princess Ai: Prism of Midnight Dawn (Sci-Fi from the Nerdy Guy) Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Happy Cafe (The Manga Critic) Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Ludwig II (The Comic Book Bin) Courtney Kraft on […]

  4. Reading over Shoulders | Extremely Graphic says:
    January 22, 2010 at 4:32 pm

    […] Dacey says Happy Cafe vol. 1 is “about as filling as a Little Debbie Snack” which lured me to the review because I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or […]



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