Birdland no Sara - Vol. 1 Ch. 2 - No. 2
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Not too difficult dishes...
Japanese with a middlename the wonder he hates his life lol
Japanese with a middlename the wonder he hates his life lol
I think I'd probably give the cooking a bit of "benefit of the doubt" in a number of ways; this is a manga aimed at a young-ish Japanese audience to whom French food (stereotypically) is exotic and refined; the dishes being made are quite retro by modern standards even in the West (crepes suzette was a fancy dessert we ate on special occasions in the 1990s at home, for instance, but would never think to cook now; foie gras is now seen as inhumane in many parts of the world, etc.); it's not entirely clear how Sara became a cook/chef at this point in the manga but I suspect formal culinary training wasn't part of it.
The cooking here is a backdrop, rather than a focus. This is no What Did You Eat Yesterday...
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I think it's so interesting how the two characters both come from wealth. Sara's mom is an active celebrity with a seaside manse, and her dad was a cook at a fine french restaurant. But meanwhile her grandpa on her dad's side was an auto mechanic with a home above his business- working class. Likewise Akio's parents are wealthy from their successful business, but his grandma on his dad's side said they grew up poor and only occasionally were able to go out to the french restaurant.
Sara and Akio are in an interesting position where their parents' wealth is what insulates them against the negative aspects of homelessness and unemployment, but they reject their parents and are instead choosing to inherit the mantle of their working-class grandparents-- Akio focusing on food on the behalf of his grandma, and Sara maintaining and using her grandpa's Celica.
This really doesn't seem like a story that will address societal topics like wealth and class, so it makes me wonder why the author chose these backgrounds for the characters instead of any other backgrounds. Maybe because removing financial concerns gives them the freedom to do whimsical stuff? Or maybe because the author likes the idea of the prestige that comes with such pedigrees. I'm very curious to see how the author expands on this in future chapters.
Setting those thoughts aside, one of my favorite parts of this chapter was that Sara was new to these dishes so she took the time to study them before trying them. It did make the passage of time seem confusing since there was a slight timeskip/flashback in the middle of the chapter, buuut since we already knew the narrative would let her succeed at cooking, her needing to study the dishes gave the challenge a more grounded feel.
My other favorite part was the equivalencies the author created through association. Sara thought the grandma was talking about food, but suddenly she was talking about her son and grandson. The proximity of those two topics entwines them; for Akio, we can think of food and family as the same idea. Similarly, Sara's dad only appears in the Celica because of his close ties to it; we can think of the Celica AS her dad, in a metaphorical sense. These types of associations create layers and depth in the narrative, but they're executed very playfully, so it makes for a very fun read.
Thanks for the chapter ✌️✌️ I'm looking forward to the next!
Sara and Akio are in an interesting position where their parents' wealth is what insulates them against the negative aspects of homelessness and unemployment, but they reject their parents and are instead choosing to inherit the mantle of their working-class grandparents-- Akio focusing on food on the behalf of his grandma, and Sara maintaining and using her grandpa's Celica.
This really doesn't seem like a story that will address societal topics like wealth and class, so it makes me wonder why the author chose these backgrounds for the characters instead of any other backgrounds. Maybe because removing financial concerns gives them the freedom to do whimsical stuff? Or maybe because the author likes the idea of the prestige that comes with such pedigrees. I'm very curious to see how the author expands on this in future chapters.
Setting those thoughts aside, one of my favorite parts of this chapter was that Sara was new to these dishes so she took the time to study them before trying them. It did make the passage of time seem confusing since there was a slight timeskip/flashback in the middle of the chapter, buuut since we already knew the narrative would let her succeed at cooking, her needing to study the dishes gave the challenge a more grounded feel.
My other favorite part was the equivalencies the author created through association. Sara thought the grandma was talking about food, but suddenly she was talking about her son and grandson. The proximity of those two topics entwines them; for Akio, we can think of food and family as the same idea. Similarly, Sara's dad only appears in the Celica because of his close ties to it; we can think of the Celica AS her dad, in a metaphorical sense. These types of associations create layers and depth in the narrative, but they're executed very playfully, so it makes for a very fun read.
Thanks for the chapter ✌️✌️ I'm looking forward to the next!
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