This is an interesting manga comic about a gay couple and the meals they eat. Shiro, a lawyer, lives with his partner Kenji who is a hairdresser. While Kenji is happy to tell people he is gay Shiro is still in the closet, especially at work. Throughout their time together the couple sit down to some delicious meals, which Shiro loves to cook. And as the couple work out their many relationship ups and downs, the meals they eat are shown and explained in detail so we can make them too.

This is the first manga style comic I have tried and I have to say I have mixed feelings about this one. This comic/book is filled with eight smaller stories about the couple’s time together with different scenarios occurring in each short tale. Each of the stories is different with Shiro and Kenji showing off their personalities, wishes and insecurities through each tale. I like what happens to the couple in general although it did take me some time to really get into enjoying this book as I just didn’t find Shiro and some of the other characters that likeable at first.

Each page of the book is filled with comic style squares and typical manga art which I did like. I love the expressions the characters take on and the some of this really adds to the humour of the book. There are images of food and cooking and these felt almost photo-like in style compared to the rest of the book and I like how the food all looks, some of it making me hungry while reading it, especially the mentioned strawberries and strawberry jam! There are recipes mentioned throughout the book, eight recipes for each of the eight stories told. I like how these recipes aren’t just at the back of the book but are included as part of the story with Shiro often explaining the recipe while he is seen making it. While this was interesting to read and I love the added illustrations for the recipe I don’t know if this slows down the story or not as so much emphasis was on the food rather than the story between the couple.

The stories in this book are all good and funny in parts, but unfortunately for me, there’s something too off about the characters. I picked this up on NetGalley for the fact that I thought it would be a lovely light romance about a gay couple and the food they eat. But after reading this I still don’t really like Shiro very much especially the way he treats Kenji, and the two characters, to me, feel like they reinforce some gay stereotypes. Also the fact that near the beginning Shrio uses in a sentence the line ‘us gays...’ felt like it was trying to make a point (in case you didn’t know from the first pages that they were gay) rather than show us the subtle and lovely romance between the couple.

I don’t know if the translation is off or the actual original Japanese version sounds like this but either way this just wasn’t as enjoyable as I had hoped. The idea of mixing a story with cooking is one that I’m not sure works quite well, though I did like learning how to make strawberry jam, and there are some good and very funny moments, but overall I just don’t know if this works for English audiences and so I’m rating this 3 as it just wasn’t as good as I had hoped.

So I was hoping to like this one more than I did. You get a lot of indepth in the recipes he is making throughout which I usually like when it appears. But there just seems to be something missing for me.

Their relationship also feels more like roommates but it could change later on. I did enjoy the parts where Shiro meets up with the lady he meets at the store and splits a watermelon. His mom calls him on almost like a schedule and she is trying to show her support even though at times you can see she is having a hard time. Shiro also is not as open as Kenji.

This was...annoying? This LGBT slice of life manga centers two gay men, Shiro and Kenji. I enjoyed the art and food but found the actual plot mediocre at best. I was bored multiple times while reading which says something with how short it is. The main couple didn't have any chemistry and I hated how Shiro treated Kenji.

There were some comedic moments but overall were overpowered with the uncomfortable ones. The scene that featured a victim of domestic abuse just made me mad. This is quite an old manga and you can really tell by how outdated it is.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This really wasn't for me. I loved the idea of a slice-of-life manga centered around a gay couple and food (like, that sounds wonderful still), but the characters in this were aggressively unlikeable, and the reliance on stereotypes and basic tropes made it cringey at times.

Rating: 2 out of 5
-Characters: 2/5
-Cover: 2/5
-Story: 2/5
-Writing: 2/5
Genre: SoL/Romance/LGTBQ
Type: Manga
Worth?: For me? No.

First want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this in exchange for my honest review. I wanted to love this manga, I really did. The art was okay but the story is what really didn't sit well with me. It started out dull and kept that tone for most of the manga until the older lady came into play and that bit was kind of funny but I don't know if everyone thought it would be funny to freaking call straight people breeders, but it is tacky and disgusting. As someone apart of the LGTBQ+ this is toxicity at best. Especially when the main guy literally treats his boyfriend as... just another ordinary thing.

Also WHAT ROMANCE? Just because you put two damn gay men together doesn't mean there is romance out of the bumhole. This damn man has more of a romance with food than his actual boyfriend. This whole manga was a headache.

Thank you Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the opportunity to read and review this.

"What Did You Eat Yesterday?" is a slice of life manga, that centres around lawyer Shiro Kakei and the meals he cooks and his Boyfriend Kenji, who is a hairstylist.

This is a story that shows you an ordinary life of a couple, showing the people they meet, as well as family (of which Shiro's family still don't understand LGBT). For foreign readers, we are shown a very ordinary way of life of a queer couple in Japan, as they continue their every day of life, from going to work, shopping and housework.

I really enjoyed this and look forward to reading the next volume!

This manga makes me miss shopping in Japan! The food is so lovingly described that I can't help but want to eat it.

This manga is important because while it features two gay men, the story isn't catered to a female (fujoshi) audience. I would liken it to "My Brother's Husband," in that way. "What Did You Eat Yesterday" portrays a realistic relationship, filled with every day trials (and some squabbles.)

It's a relaxing read with distinct characters. The art isn't the rounded cute style you see often, but more sharp. It lends itself well to our two leads.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in Japanese cooking, daily life and LGBT life in Japan.

I had heard about this book featuring a gay couple and was curious to read it. I found the translation to be somewhat awkward and the content pretty stereotypical. It is, perhaps, dated, at this point. It’s a cute idea to have a gay couple featured and who doesn’t love a manga with food and recipes? Maybe it was “educational” for Japanese readership back in the day, but for present times it feels too focused on gay tropes.. Still, though, I’d be interested in seeing how this evolves in forthcoming volumes, if they are also translated.

What Did You Eat Yesterday? is a charming series about two middle-aged boyfriends living together in central Tokyo. All the characters' interactions feel fresh, and even when situations seem larger-than-life, they still make sense within the story.

I really enjoyed What Did You Eat Yesterday?, especially how Fumi Yoshinaga highlights the small joys in life through character interaction, and I'd recommend this series to people looking for a mellow yet entertaining queer slice-of-life story.

Story and Art: Fumi Yoshinaga
Translation: Maya Rosewood
Production: Risa Cho, Tomoe Tsutsumi

What Did You Eat Yesterday? is a slice of life manga that centres around lawyer Shiro Kakei and the meals he cooks. The art style is quite classic but really expressive. The drawings and descriptions of the food made me hungry. They are so detailed that you could use them as a recipe yourself, so if anything sounds particularly good it is possible to literally eat the characters food which is fun! I know I've always wanted to experience exactly what the character is while reading.

Despite liking the art style and the structure of this manga, I didn't love it. Although it was nice reading a book about older characters for once, the main relationship between Kakei and Yabuki lacked romance and love. The characters weren't tender or even nice towards each other and both had very little respect for each others feelings.

My biggest issue with this was the victim blaming/shaming elements. I am aware this may be due to culture, but I didn't enjoy reading about the main characters biphobia, fatphobia and internal monologue about male domestic abuse. I had to look past a lot of comments related to these to enjoy it, so expect that going in.

Overall, give this a try if you like food and slice of life writing, but be aware if any of those things are triggering for you!

TW: fatphobia, homophobia, biphobia, Domestic violence.

Thank you to net galley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What Did You Eat Yesterday is about two queer men Shiro and Kenji. Shiro is a Lawyer who cooks means for His Boyfriend Kenji, who is a hairstylist. The food Shiro makes has instructions but the recipes aren't the only point of the book. You see both men at their jobs and with others. Overall it was pretty good! The characters aren't perfect but they're realistic and the plot was interesting enough.

As a long time fan of Fumi Yoshinaga, I was so delighted to see this ARC up on NetGalley. She seems to specialize in two things: Sensitive and empathetic queer fiction, and tasty-looking food-related series.

This manga combines both. It stars a couple of middle-aged gay men (a lawyer and a hairdresser)'s daily lives, as they enjoy simple joys, spend time with their friends, and cook and eat delicious food. It also involves issues about them handling microaggressions from their families or associates, issues with one of them choosing to be out and the other choosing to be closeted, some of the appearance-obsession of queer subcultures and how that intersects with the changes that come with age, the lawyer handling a case of woman-on-man domestic violence (in a way that's written with sympathy) and more. The characters aren't flawless -- one is egotistical, and the other is jealous -- but they're very real and very relatable. These vignettes are all bookended with delicious meals, the cooking shown and described on page so you can follow along, and with additional specific recipes at the end of chapters. And they look delicious! As always, the art is lovely all around.

Very much looking forward to reading vol 2!