Father's Day is tomorrow, so I thought I'd read something in line with that (and get myself through what is typically a difficult day of the year for me). BACKGROUND:
I read the synopsis for this a while back and decided to save it as a Father's Day read, but that's about the extent of my knowledge. SUMMARY: Kohei Inuzuka is a schoolteacher who's also a single dad raising his young daughter Tsumugi after his wife's passing, and it's clear that he's facing some struggles doing things on his own. Atop the list of things Kohei wants to work on for his daughter's sake is to learn how to cook so she can eat better meals, but he doesn't even know where to start. The opportunity presents itself purely by chance when Kohei and Tsumugi meet Kotori Iida, a student whose mother runs a restaurant. As of late, Kotori has been spending her time alone due to her mom having important work, leaving her quite lonely as a result. Kohei insists on meeting Kotori at her restaurant to give his beloved daughter a lovely meal, who accepts and works on fixing something for them. Though a struggle at first (as Kotori is not as versed in cooking as her mom), the results were spectacular, as Tsumugi absolutely loved the meal. Seeing the joy in his daughter's face, Kohei now knows for sure that learning to cook is something he must strive to do. Kotori, bereft of company, proposes that Kohei and Tsumugi come in and eat together with her regularly. Kohei is understandably hesitant to hang around with a female student from his school, but seeing how excited Tsumugi was about their first encounter, he gives it a shot and they make another meal together. Kotori and Kohei work together to figure out the whole cooking thing, and after another success, Kohei decides to continue to work together with Kotori to continue learning. With the formula set, the rest of the volume sees Kotori, Kohei, and Tsumugi hang out and make food together for different situations. Two chapters revolve around Tsumugi, with one centered around her being upset after a confrontation with another kid at her daycare, and another when she ended up with a fever. The other chapter saw the trio work on picnic lunches for Golden Week, which saw everyone's plans for the holidays change by the end. Kohei is unquestionably a loving father to Tsumugi, and while he feels the struggle of having to raise her by himself, he's determined to give her the best life he can and learn everything he can in service of that goal (seeing him tear up when he sees his daughter happy hit me pretty hard). While he does want to prove that he can do it all on his own, he's not ashamed to admit when he's in over his head and knows to ask for help when he needs it. He's definitely someone to aspire to be, I'd say. Tsumugi is a little bundle of joy with a good heart. Her excitement over food and joy at the thought of sharing meals with her dad and her new friend Kotori is infectious, and the one chapter where she was upset was due to her having a kind heart and wanting to do the right thing. Seeing her be so positive despite her tragic loss was heartwarming, though with my personal experience, I also couldn't help but feel a bit envious that she was able to stay that way. As for Kotori, I feel that she's the most interesting character of the main cast. I felt for her as circumstances led to her not seeing her mom all that much (if at all), and that's made more heartbreaking when it's made clear that she and her mom have a very close relationship (despite the distance, the two still very much show their love for each other via their letters to each other). I totally get why she jumped at the chance to spend time with Kohei and Tsumugi, and seeing her find joy in this other family left me emotional. Probably the only thing in this book that causes me to raise my eyebrows a little bit is the nonzero chance that they add a romantic element to the story. I found the found family dynamic of two novice cooks persevering and successfully making things to make a little kid (who excitedly helps with the cooking) happy really lovely and wholesome, and I really don't want that to get weird. Every end of the chapter also features a recipe to follow if you want to make the dishes Kohei and Kotori work on during that chapter. Cooking is not my strong suit, but I love these segments nonetheless, because it's like an encouragement to go out and try making the thing you just saw get made alongside the main characters. The art is light in many senses, from the linework mostly sticking to thin lines, the sparing use of darker shades (stuff like the hair of the main characters really stand out as jet-black next to most other things), and finer details not really being commonplace for most panels (making their use stand out more). The visual highlight for me is Tsumugi, who is drawn in pretty much every panel to be the most adorable little girl you've ever seen with her over-the-top facial expressions and how she almost always looks like she has unlimited energy. VERDICT: Sweetness & Lightning lives up to the first word of its title with all the main characters coming together to make each other happy by bonding through cooking. Kohei and Kotori's struggles left me feeling all sorts of emotions, but seeing them find joy in learning to cook and making an already happy little girl even happier is up there as some of the most heartwarming things I've read in my time exploring manga titles. This was a delightful read (and is another argument in favor of the power of food as a way to connect with others), and I'd definitely read more. This is as warm and fuzzy as wholesome slice of life stories can get, in my opinion. If you're into that, definitely give this book a shot. Bonus points if you can cook; the recipes here may be worth trying out if you have the means. - end -
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