Oishinbo - Vol. 34 Ch. 311 - Freedom of the Soul

[MangaDex]

 

[TakesatoKeita]

Historical inaccuracy aside, I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is probably one of the more enjoyable one-time chapters in Oishinbo simply because this chapter actually made me laugh for once, considering I've never actually ever laughed at something from the manga as the manga's humor often doesn't click with me.

I think it's simply because Iwamoto is such a serious person, he automatically makes everyone in Tozai actually saner and doesn't act like assholes for once. And the usual groan-inducing slapstick only happens once here.

Or maybe it's because I, too, like the trope of having people like Iwamoto being completely dunked on by reality, which makes this chapter surprisingly enjoyable for me.

 

[tlst9999]

Deep fried dough and curry is a great combination.

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

Historical inaccuracy aside, I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is probably one of the more enjoyable one-time chapters in Oishinbo simply because this chapter actually made me laugh for once, considering I've never actually ever laughed at something from the manga as the manga's humor often doesn't click with me.

I think it's simply because Iwamoto is such a serious person, he automatically makes everyone in Tozai actually saner and doesn't act like assholes for once. And the usual groan-inducing slapstick only happens once here.

Or maybe it's because I, too, like the trope of having people like Iwamoto being completely dunked on by reality, which makes this chapter surprisingly enjoyable for me.

I felt it was important to point out that doughnuts are actually older than anpan only because it was food related. I know the manga wants to handwave it and say how this is something the Japanese had done for centuries, but then, you could always make the claim that the earliest recipe for doughnuts was written by Cato the Elder in De Agri Cultura (he had several recipes for deep fried dough balls that had fillings like cheese, honey, and poppy seeds). However, I felt that the truest and fairest reading is that doughnuts are about a century older than anpan.

I also really enjoyed this particular chapter, too. I actually don't mind slapstick humor at all (I love the Three Stooges, for example), so I'm not as put off by Oishinbo's humor as much, but I was very entertained by that little dork driving everyone nuts, too. This chapter was a pleasure to do.

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

Deep fried dough and curry is a great combination.

Honestly, fried dough and most anything are a great combination.

 

[d_a_renoir]

In today's day and age, people would say that kid is on a spectrum. Like, I know the author just wanted him to be quirky, but the way he acts do sound like some of the OCD-ish tendency people on a spectrum has. But hey. Some people do love listening to trivias, so as long as he doesn't order her around with all his need for everything to be perfect, he'll manage I guess.

@BippidiBoppetyBoob I think you misunderstood the author there about the doughnuts. Yamaoka isn't talking about doughnuts in general, but specifically an-doughnuts, which is doughnuts filled with an (red bean paste). He isn't wrong in that, because the idea to put red bean paste in doughnuts seems to be a fairly modern thing (as far as anyone could tell, maybe only just made in the 1970s-80s).
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General comment:

The historical inaccuracy is what the author said about the invention of anpan. Saying "there is a theory" that it was invented a very long time ago is show of ignorance, because the invention of anpan was well documented as being from bakery Kimura-ya. Did the author really not know this? It was the whole reason there is an "Anpan Day" in Japan, are there not anyone he could've asked? Like, no, Japanese people didn't invent anpan right after they learned to make bread. They originally considered bread "Western food" that is totally separate from traditional Japanese stuff like Manjuu, so they didn't think of mixing in the anko until later.

The bakery's website says it was invented in 1874, because the owners of Kimura-ya feels that the bread made with original Western recipes makes it too tough for Japanese palate and needed to do something to increase customer base. They experimented with the yeast intended for brewing sake, creating a softer bun that people liked better. They then also thought to insert red bean paste in this bun, creating anpan.

The idea of adding the cherry blossom came when an official made an order for anpan to be gifted to the emperor himself. The bakery then worked to upgrade their anpan, and since the emperor was having a flower viewing event, they ended up with a version that included cherry blossoms. Because the emperor and empress loved it, the bakery was given imperial appointment and they supposedly often received orders from the imperial family. Thanks to the emperor, the anpan quickly became widespread.

Also interestingly the official in question was supposedly named Yamaoka (this guy, to be precise). It is quite unfortunate that the author didn't seem to know this. Like, it's one thing if you don't believe the story because it seemed sensationalistic. Or you might think maybe between manjuu and Kimura-ya's anpan there might be other bread variations that are lost to history, and Kimura-ya was just hogging all the credit. Going "uhh I dunno LOL" altogether just again shows that the author don't know his stuff.

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

In today's day and age, people would say that kid is on a spectrum. Like, I know the author just wanted him to be quirky, but the way he acts do sound like some of the OCD-ish tendency people on a spectrum has. But hey. Some people do love listening to trivias, so as long as he doesn't order her around with all his need for everything to be perfect, he'll manage I guess.

@BippidiBoppetyBoob I think you misunderstood the author there about the doughnuts. Yamaoka isn't talking about doughnuts in general, but specifically an-doughnuts, which is doughnuts filled with an (red bean paste). He isn't wrong in that, because the idea to put red bean paste in doughnuts seems to be a fairly modern thing (as far as anyone could tell, maybe only just made in the 1970s-80s).
------
General comment:

The historical inaccuracy is what the author said about the invention of anpan. Saying "there is a theory" that it was invented a very long time ago is show of ignorance, because the invention of anpan was well documented as being from bakery Kimura-ya. Did the author really not know this? It was the whole reason there is an "Anpan Day" in Japan, are there not anyone he could've asked? Like, no, Japanese people didn't invent anpan right after they learned to make bread. They originally considered bread "Western food" that is totally separate from traditional Japanese stuff like Manjuu, so they didn't think of mixing in the anko until later.

The bakery's website says it was invented in 1874, because the owners of Kimura-ya feels that the bread made with original Western recipes makes it too tough for Japanese palate and needed to do something to increase customer base. They experimented with the yeast intended for brewing sake, creating a softer bun that people liked better. They then also thought to insert red bean paste in this bun, creating anpan.

The idea of adding the cherry blossom came when an official made an order for anpan to be gifted to the emperor himself. The bakery then worked to upgrade their anpan, and since the emperor was having a flower viewing event, they ended up with a version that included cherry blossoms. Because the emperor and empress loved it, the bakery was given imperial appointment and they supposedly often received orders from the imperial family. Thanks to the emperor, the anpan quickly became widespread.

Also interestingly the official in question was supposedly named Yamaoka (this guy, to be precise). It is quite unfortunate that the author didn't seem to know this. Like, it's one thing if you don't believe the story because it seemed sensationalistic. Or you might think maybe between manjuu and Kimura-ya's anpan there might be other bread variations that are lost to history, and Kimura-ya was just hogging all the credit. Going "uhh I dunno LOL" altogether just again shows that the author don't know his stuff.

I see. I just assumed that doughnuts meant doughnuts, not a specific type of doughnut. Either way, I only ended up looking because I was curious about how far anpan dated back to and was surprised it was only 1874.

It’s quite likely Kariya didn’t know, either, since he’s stated that he’s not particularly knowledgeable about food.

 

[d_a_renoir]

I see. I just assumed that doughnuts meant doughnuts, not a specific type of doughnut. Either way, I only ended up looking because I was curious about how far anpan dated back to and was surprised it was only 1874.

In the dialogue they had specified "an(ko)-doughnuts", which is written even in the MTL output. The "an" part is probably just easily missed because it just looks like a particle to English readers (like in/on/at etc)

 

[BippidiBoppetyBoob]

In the dialogue they had specified "an(ko)-doughnuts", which is written even in the MTL output. The "an" part is probably just easily missed because it just looks like a particle to English readers (like in/on/at etc)

Yeah, I must’ve missed it when I was checking over it. It happens.