ゆかりちゃん by 綱本将也 and 結布

So, when I opened the latest shipment of stuff from Japan (my first order with Mandarake, and it was... interesting. Will retell the whole story with the next review) I realized I made I mistake I managed to skirt around up to that point - I bought two non-dōjin works thinking they were dōjinshi. To be fair, they were catalogued as such on doujinshi.org, so it's not entirely my fault.
So, two one-off manga tankōbon: one is a crappy softcore thing from the early 2000 that looks like it was made in the 80s, probably not going to review it. The other one is far more interesting, and a mistaken purchase I actually didn't regret.

ゆかりちゃん (serialized on Jump Live, 2015) falls fully into that bizarre line of... I'm not even sure there's a name for it? 'strangely special interest food manga' perhaps? And the foodstuff, this time around, is furikake, a seasoning that I didn't try when I was over in Japan, but that apparently is washoku to the max. The manga's protagonist, Yukari, happens to share her name with a brand of furikake, which she also happens to be a huge fan of - mostly because her late mother loved it, and her father cries in joy at the mere taste of furikake, be it sprinked on rice or lining a glass tequila-style.

So yes, 100% slice-of-life territory: in each chapter, Yukari prepares a new furikake featuring recipe (which is also fully explained at the end, in case you want to replicate it), while getting closer / getting to know better one of her classmates, people whom her mother cared about, and so on. Story-wise, it's not bad, but it's nothing never seen before either. People get closer, they care for each other, heartwarming moments and all that. Some cringe around this brand of over-the-top heartfelt emotional soft drama - I don't, but be warned that mileage may vary.

The real reason why I bought this in the first place (thinking it was a dōjinshi) is the artwork. The artist is Yuu, an artist I've been following for a while. Their art, especially when it comes to the human figure, is nothing short of amazing, with a distinctively semi-realistic, 'not-too-moe' style I really dig. Being a manga, the designs and tract are of course slightly simplified compared to illustration work, but this doesn't detract any from Yuu's craftsmanship and command of layout.

So, a good 'accident', though next time I'll be on the lookout for an actual Yuu dōjinshi to read up and review.

P.S: Yes, you can buy Yukari furikake. According to the insert, there was even a Yukari packaging featuring the manga's heroine, but 2015 is a long time ago, and I couldn't find a link. Shame...