Yumeiro Patissiere

Yumeiro Patissiere (夢色パティシエール) is a shōjo manga and anime series by Natsumi Matsumoto. It began serialization on September 3, 2008, in the October 2008 issue of Ribon. The individual chapters have been collected into eight tankōbon volumes by Shueisha as of December 2010.

The series is currently being adapted into a TV anime by Studio Pierrot and Studio Hibari. The series is licensed by Crunchyroll for online streaming with English subtitles.

Plot
14-year-old Ichigo Amano is incredibly clumsy and can't seem to do anything right besides eating cakes. When she stumbles upon a Sweets Festival, she meets Henri-sensei who acknowledges her ability of taste and invites her to transfer to St. Marie Academy to become a pâtissière. Ichigo has trouble adjusting initially, but with the help of the 3 Sweets Princes and the Sweets Spirits, she gains the confidence and skill to work towards becoming a pâtissière.

Two years after studying in Paris, the 16-year-old Ichigo now returns to Japan as a professional pâtissière. But as soon as she returns, Ichigo finds Team Ichigo breaking up. The Sweets Princes, Hanabusa and Andou, take long absences from school to work for their dreams, leaving only Ichigo and Kashino - who has skipped a grade, having the top grades. But soon, a 'new' Team Ichigo is formed by Henri-"sensei" for the project. The team includes, Lemon, Johnny, Kashino and Ichigo. They are now working as professionals for the project and their dreams.

Main Characters

 * Ichigo Amano (天野いちご)
 * An optimistic, lively and clumsy 14-year-old middle school student who loves sweets. Her mother ignored her for many years for having no talent (comparing to her younger sister, Natsume, who plays the piano very well). Due to her incredible palate, that allows her to immediately tell what ingredients are used in different sweets and who made the ingredients, she is spotted by Henri Lucas, a genius pâtissier, during a Sweets Festival. On his suggestion, she transfers to St. Marie Academy in order to train to become a pâtissiere like her grandmother. Ichigo is also known for her huge appetite for cakes; she believes that people actually have a second stomach specifically made for them. She has also stated that she won several cake-eating contests in the past. As the story progresses, Ichigo improves her talent as a pâtissiere and gains new friends and rivals along the way. Ichigo wins the hearts of almost everyone with her hard work and love for pastries. Her dream is to create sweets that makes people smile.
 * At the end of the last episode of the first season of the anime, Ichigo and Kashino tell each other that they'll tell each other about their feelings when they're accomplished patissiers. During the second season, she is 16 years old and in a new Group A, consisting of herself, Lemon, Rumi, and Johnny McBeal. She is also a part of the Henri-sensei's project, Marie's Garden, which includes Kashino, Lemon, and Johnny.
 * At the end of the last episode of the first season of the anime, Ichigo and Kashino tell each other that they'll tell each other about their feelings when they're accomplished patissiers. During the second season, she is 16 years old and in a new Group A, consisting of herself, Lemon, Rumi, and Johnny McBeal. She is also a part of the Henri-sensei's project, Marie's Garden, which includes Kashino, Lemon, and Johnny.


 * Makoto Kashino (樫野 真)
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the St. Marie's Academy who specializes in chocolate. He and Andou were childhood friends and decided to study in St. Marie where they met Hanabusa for the first time and learn about the sweet spirits. Kashino is sometimes teased or misjudged due to his height, for he is the shortest out of the Sweets Princes. Kashino comes from a prestigious family of doctors who do not approve of his career choice. Due to the fact that his family gave him one condition to attend St. Marie, he always tries to be at the top of his class. Kashino is cold, unsociable, straightforward, easily angered and prickly, however, his skills in chocolate cannot be questioned. He greatly admires his uncle (who is a chocolatier) and spent a lot of time in his shop when he was little (which inspired him to become a pâtissier). Even though he is hard on Ichigo's klutzy personality, he warms up to her to the point of being teammates,and then later on falls in love with her. In the second season, Kashino skipped a year in school because of his excellent grades during Team Ichigo's study abroad in Paris. He is 16, but still conscious about his height, as Johnny regularly teases him for it. Whenever he sees Johnny holding Ichigo doing his so called "hello", he gets jealous and sometimes hits him on the head. As the story progress Kashino's feelings for Ichigo shines through and Hanabusa and Andou lets Kashino have her.
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the St. Marie's Academy who specializes in chocolate. He and Andou were childhood friends and decided to study in St. Marie where they met Hanabusa for the first time and learn about the sweet spirits. Kashino is sometimes teased or misjudged due to his height, for he is the shortest out of the Sweets Princes. Kashino comes from a prestigious family of doctors who do not approve of his career choice. Due to the fact that his family gave him one condition to attend St. Marie, he always tries to be at the top of his class. Kashino is cold, unsociable, straightforward, easily angered and prickly, however, his skills in chocolate cannot be questioned. He greatly admires his uncle (who is a chocolatier) and spent a lot of time in his shop when he was little (which inspired him to become a pâtissier). Even though he is hard on Ichigo's klutzy personality, he warms up to her to the point of being teammates,and then later on falls in love with her. In the second season, Kashino skipped a year in school because of his excellent grades during Team Ichigo's study abroad in Paris. He is 16, but still conscious about his height, as Johnny regularly teases him for it. Whenever he sees Johnny holding Ichigo doing his so called "hello", he gets jealous and sometimes hits him on the head. As the story progress Kashino's feelings for Ichigo shines through and Hanabusa and Andou lets Kashino have her.


 * Satsuki Hanabusa (花房五月)
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the school who specializes in candy sculptures and flower-based cakes. Hanabusa's dream is to work with his mother, who excels at Japanese flower arrangement and is the flower arranging teacher at St. Marie Academy. His father was a horticulturist who specialized in roses and died in a car accident several years before the story takes place. The bottle of rose water Hanabusa keeps is a memento of his father. Ever since his father died, Hanabusa felt that he should be kind to his mother and women. As a result, Hanabusa always centered on roses, and is extremely nice to all females (to the point of being a borderline perpetual flirt). He also seems to be narcissistic and heavily concerns about his appearance; for example, Café, his Sweets Spirit, stated that Hanabusa needs more than an hour to get ready for school in the mornings. In Yumeiro Patissiere SP Professional, Hanabusa starts to work on his dream with his mother and takes an indefinite leave of absence from school. He is also in love with Ichigo, although he prioritize his dream more. He also warned Kashino that if he would lose Ichigo, he would not hesitate to attack (her).
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the school who specializes in candy sculptures and flower-based cakes. Hanabusa's dream is to work with his mother, who excels at Japanese flower arrangement and is the flower arranging teacher at St. Marie Academy. His father was a horticulturist who specialized in roses and died in a car accident several years before the story takes place. The bottle of rose water Hanabusa keeps is a memento of his father. Ever since his father died, Hanabusa felt that he should be kind to his mother and women. As a result, Hanabusa always centered on roses, and is extremely nice to all females (to the point of being a borderline perpetual flirt). He also seems to be narcissistic and heavily concerns about his appearance; for example, Café, his Sweets Spirit, stated that Hanabusa needs more than an hour to get ready for school in the mornings. In Yumeiro Patissiere SP Professional, Hanabusa starts to work on his dream with his mother and takes an indefinite leave of absence from school. He is also in love with Ichigo, although he prioritize his dream more. He also warned Kashino that if he would lose Ichigo, he would not hesitate to attack (her).


 * Sennosuke Andou (安堂千乃介)
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the school who specializes in Japanese sweets. Andou's dream is to open his own shop that sells a blend of Eastern and Western sweets. Andou is the eldest of five siblings, and he often goes to help at his family's shop during holidays and weekends. He is a childhood friend of Kashino and calls him "Ma-chan" in the manga and "Ma-kun" in the anime. Andou is always calm, reliable, and tries to reason with everyone, acting somewhat like an older brother to Team Ichigo. Andou cares about Caramel like a little sister, and he is always overjoyed whenever Caramel does something nice for him. He looks out for Ichigo, almost as an older brother, and tends to worry about her a lot. In the second season Andou is working on his dream and takes a leave of absence from school, opening a Japanese store on the international street of Henri-sensei's project. In Episode 11, of the season two, he admits that he's in love with Ichigo but he gives her up for Kashino. It is also stated by Hanabusa that the reason behind it was because he already found a girlfriend; which is Kana.
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the school who specializes in Japanese sweets. Andou's dream is to open his own shop that sells a blend of Eastern and Western sweets. Andou is the eldest of five siblings, and he often goes to help at his family's shop during holidays and weekends. He is a childhood friend of Kashino and calls him "Ma-chan" in the manga and "Ma-kun" in the anime. Andou is always calm, reliable, and tries to reason with everyone, acting somewhat like an older brother to Team Ichigo. Andou cares about Caramel like a little sister, and he is always overjoyed whenever Caramel does something nice for him. He looks out for Ichigo, almost as an older brother, and tends to worry about her a lot. In the second season Andou is working on his dream and takes a leave of absence from school, opening a Japanese store on the international street of Henri-sensei's project. In Episode 11, of the season two, he admits that he's in love with Ichigo but he gives her up for Kashino. It is also stated by Hanabusa that the reason behind it was because he already found a girlfriend; which is Kana.

Sweets Spirits

 * Vanilla (バニラ)
 * Ichigo's sweets spirit who specializes in vanilla. Often labeled a Spartan, Vanilla's attitude is quite fiery. She generally fights with Chocolat, though they don't seem to actually hate each other. She is often called pudgy. Ichigo and Vanilla consider each other to be best friends, and are extremely loyal to each other. Vanilla often plays a big part in cheering Ichigo up whenever she feels discouraged. Her sweets magic can decorate plates, make people shrink to the size of a Sweets Spirit, or fill the entire room with a pastry's scent. She can also translate sweets spirit language into Japanese.
 * Ichigo's sweets spirit who specializes in vanilla. Often labeled a Spartan, Vanilla's attitude is quite fiery. She generally fights with Chocolat, though they don't seem to actually hate each other. She is often called pudgy. Ichigo and Vanilla consider each other to be best friends, and are extremely loyal to each other. Vanilla often plays a big part in cheering Ichigo up whenever she feels discouraged. Her sweets magic can decorate plates, make people shrink to the size of a Sweets Spirit, or fill the entire room with a pastry's scent. She can also translate sweets spirit language into Japanese.


 * Chocolat (ショコラ)
 * Kashino's sweets spirit who is skilled in chocolate. Chocolat has a competitive spirit but is easily frightened. She is a classic example of a tsundere character, though she seems to loose this trait somewhat as the series progresses. Although she appears to dislike Ichigo, she actually cares for her and helps her whenever needed. In season two, it shows that she cares deeply about Kasshi (A sweet spirit who looks like Kashino and is one of "The Jerks".) and may have feelings for him.
 * Kashino's sweets spirit who is skilled in chocolate. Chocolat has a competitive spirit but is easily frightened. She is a classic example of a tsundere character, though she seems to loose this trait somewhat as the series progresses. Although she appears to dislike Ichigo, she actually cares for her and helps her whenever needed. In season two, it shows that she cares deeply about Kasshi (A sweet spirit who looks like Kashino and is one of "The Jerks".) and may have feelings for him.


 * Caramel (キャラメル)
 * Andou's sweets spirit who is useful with caramel. Although Caramel is the eldest out of Team Ichigo's Sweets Spirits, she is clumsy like Ichigo and tends to cry a lot. She commonly ends her sentences with desu. Café states that she has a terrible sense of direction. She considers Andou to be her big brother. Her sweets magic allows her to make pastry pictures show someone how the sweets look like.
 * Andou's sweets spirit who is useful with caramel. Although Caramel is the eldest out of Team Ichigo's Sweets Spirits, she is clumsy like Ichigo and tends to cry a lot. She commonly ends her sentences with desu. Café states that she has a terrible sense of direction. She considers Andou to be her big brother. Her sweets magic allows her to make pastry pictures show someone how the sweets look like.


 * Café (カフェ)
 * Hanabusa's sweets spirit who is good with coffee. Café is polite, smart, and very calm. He looks up to Hanabusa and sees him as his senpai. Café can make extremely bitter coffee as a potent way of making Team Ichigo more awake.
 * Hanabusa's sweets spirit who is good with coffee. Café is polite, smart, and very calm. He looks up to Hanabusa and sees him as his senpai. Café can make extremely bitter coffee as a potent way of making Team Ichigo more awake.


 * Honey (ハニー)
 * Mari Tennouji's Sweet Spirit, who specializes with honey. She is mature, cool, and calm. Even though her expression is always serious, she is very friendly and kind to everyone. The Jerks call her Honey-Pig, much to her disgust. She is very well respected among the Sweets Spirits to the point of calling her Honey-sama. She looks like, and has the same personalty as, Mari.
 * Mari Tennouji's Sweet Spirit, who specializes with honey. She is mature, cool, and calm. Even though her expression is always serious, she is very friendly and kind to everyone. The Jerks call her Honey-Pig, much to her disgust. She is very well respected among the Sweets Spirits to the point of calling her Honey-sama. She looks like, and has the same personalty as, Mari.


 * Marron (マロン)
 * Miya's Sweets Spirit who likes to use chestnuts. Although people note that Marron and Miya have similar personalities, they deny that fact.
 * Miya's Sweets Spirit who likes to use chestnuts. Although people note that Marron and Miya have similar personalities, they deny that fact.


 * Mint (?)
 * Lemon's Sweets Spirit who specializes in mint.
 * Lemon's Sweets Spirit who specializes in mint.

Supporting Characters

 * Henri Lucas (アンリ・リュカス)
 * The grandchild of Marie Lucas who created St. Marie Academy to raise patissiers. Due to unknown circumstances, he transferred to Paris to teach at the main campus right before Ichigo moved to the Japanese St. Marie campus. He is known as both a "master of sweets," but also a "master of dance." Henri is characterized as calm, collected, and a handsome gentleman. He shows great interest in Ichigo and Tennouji as pâtissieres and seems to favor both of them among all his students. Henri's grandfather trained Ichigo's grandma and Henri wants to do the same thing, by training Ichigo. He has an unknown Sweets Spirit.
 * The grandchild of Marie Lucas who created St. Marie Academy to raise patissiers. Due to unknown circumstances, he transferred to Paris to teach at the main campus right before Ichigo moved to the Japanese St. Marie campus. He is known as both a "master of sweets," but also a "master of dance." Henri is characterized as calm, collected, and a handsome gentleman. He shows great interest in Ichigo and Tennouji as pâtissieres and seems to favor both of them among all his students. Henri's grandfather trained Ichigo's grandma and Henri wants to do the same thing, by training Ichigo. He has an unknown Sweets Spirit.


 * Mari Tennouji (天王寺麻里)
 * One of Henri Lucas' favorite students. She is the daughter of a hotel owner and the Student Council President of the Japanese St. Marie campus. Mari is often referred as the "Princess" of St. Marie Academy. She is known as a genius when it comes to pastry. Though she has been given many awards for her excellent work, she has stated that all of her medals and trophies are meaningless compared to the attention she wants from Henri Lucas. Mari constantly works very hard to improve her skills, regardless of her being the St. Marie Academy's top student. In the semi-finals of the Cake Grand Prix, she lost to Team Francois. In Yumeiro Patissiere SP Professional, she has cut her hair and currently lives in New York to help in Henri-sensei's new project. Her Sweets Spirit is Honey.
 * One of Henri Lucas' favorite students. She is the daughter of a hotel owner and the Student Council President of the Japanese St. Marie campus. Mari is often referred as the "Princess" of St. Marie Academy. She is known as a genius when it comes to pastry. Though she has been given many awards for her excellent work, she has stated that all of her medals and trophies are meaningless compared to the attention she wants from Henri Lucas. Mari constantly works very hard to improve her skills, regardless of her being the St. Marie Academy's top student. In the semi-finals of the Cake Grand Prix, she lost to Team Francois. In Yumeiro Patissiere SP Professional, she has cut her hair and currently lives in New York to help in Henri-sensei's new project. Her Sweets Spirit is Honey.


 * Miya Koshiro (小城美夜)
 * Known as "Heiress" by other students, Miya is the daughter of the president of the famed "Château Seika" company which specializes in creating and delivering chocolates and other sweets. She is very determined to get whatever she desires and as such, whenever she is in a pinch she relies heavily on her family's power and wealth to get what she wants (e.g. she bought the Andorra campus of St. Marie in order to compete in the World Cake Grand Prix). She has a habit of ordering the highest quality ingredients in order to get an edge on her competition. She has an obsessive crush on Kashino, to the point where she has memorabilia of him. Her sweet spirit is Marron.
 * Known as "Heiress" by other students, Miya is the daughter of the president of the famed "Château Seika" company which specializes in creating and delivering chocolates and other sweets. She is very determined to get whatever she desires and as such, whenever she is in a pinch she relies heavily on her family's power and wealth to get what she wants (e.g. she bought the Andorra campus of St. Marie in order to compete in the World Cake Grand Prix). She has a habit of ordering the highest quality ingredients in order to get an edge on her competition. She has an obsessive crush on Kashino, to the point where she has memorabilia of him. Her sweet spirit is Marron.


 * Rumi Kato (加藤留美)
 * One of the members of Group C and Ichigo's roommate/best friend at St. Marie Academy. Rumi speaks in an Osaka dialect and has a long distance boyfriend named Takuya. She always sticks up for Ichigo when she is bullied and cheers Ichigo's team on in the Cake Grand Prix. In the second season, Rumi is in the A group together with Ichigo, Lemon, and Johnny.
 * One of the members of Group C and Ichigo's roommate/best friend at St. Marie Academy. Rumi speaks in an Osaka dialect and has a long distance boyfriend named Takuya. She always sticks up for Ichigo when she is bullied and cheers Ichigo's team on in the Cake Grand Prix. In the second season, Rumi is in the A group together with Ichigo, Lemon, and Johnny.


 * Lemon Yamagishi (山岸レモン)
 * A student from the main St. Marie campus in Paris who challenges Team Ichigo early on in the Cake Grand Prix. She later learns to be humble from Ichigo and returns to Paris. In the second season, she transfers to Japan and joins the new Team Ichigo to work on Henri-sensei's project.
 * A student from the main St. Marie campus in Paris who challenges Team Ichigo early on in the Cake Grand Prix. She later learns to be humble from Ichigo and returns to Paris. In the second season, she transfers to Japan and joins the new Team Ichigo to work on Henri-sensei's project.

Yumeiro Patissiere SP Professional

 * Johnny McBeal (ジョニーマクビール)
 * Johnny is one of the members in group A with Ichigo. He is a transfer student from America and Miya Koshiro's cousin. His dream is to create a sweet that originates from America, since there are few that actually originate from the country. Johnny prefers to work independently as opposed to working with a group. He is part of Henri-sensei's project, working with Lemon, Ichigo, and Kashino. He shows interest in Ichigo and commented that he wishes she "talked about him with sparkling eyes, in the same way she does when talking of Kashino." In Episode 11, of the season two, he gets scouted by Miya and is now the rival of Ichigo and her team. He and Miya proposes a deal to Ichigo and Kashino that if they won, Miya would "marry" Kashino while Johnny would "date then marry" Ichigo.
 * Johnny is one of the members in group A with Ichigo. He is a transfer student from America and Miya Koshiro's cousin. His dream is to create a sweet that originates from America, since there are few that actually originate from the country. Johnny prefers to work independently as opposed to working with a group. He is part of Henri-sensei's project, working with Lemon, Ichigo, and Kashino. He shows interest in Ichigo and commented that he wishes she "talked about him with sparkling eyes, in the same way she does when talking of Kashino." In Episode 11, of the season two, he gets scouted by Miya and is now the rival of Ichigo and her team. He and Miya proposes a deal to Ichigo and Kashino that if they won, Miya would "marry" Kashino while Johnny would "date then marry" Ichigo.


 * Maize (メイズ)
 * Maize is Johnny's Sweets Spirit who is strong-willed enough to have him and Kashino bow to her. She is specialized in deep fried sweets. Maize is very polite, but can also be very strict. She has enough power to burn people to a crisp. She also doesn't speak Japanese very good and often says the wrong thing in her dialect.
 * Maize is Johnny's Sweets Spirit who is strong-willed enough to have him and Kashino bow to her. She is specialized in deep fried sweets. Maize is very polite, but can also be very strict. She has enough power to burn people to a crisp. She also doesn't speak Japanese very good and often says the wrong thing in her dialect.

Manga
Written and drawn by Natsumi Matsumoto, the Yumeiro Patissiere manga began serialization in the shōjo manga magazine Ribon on September 3, 2008 in the October issue of the magazine. Each chapter is called a "recette" (French for recipe); As of December 2010, the series is still being serialized and eight volumes have been released. The series is licensed by Sharp Point Press in Taiwan.

Anime
The anime adaptation was accidentally announced in June 2009 by a listing from one of the card game series based on the manga. The series began airing on October 4, 2009 on Yomiuri TV. The series currently simulcasts on Crunchyroll with English subtitles. The sweets in the series were all created by the Paris-based patissier Aoki Sadaharu. A one episode side story, title Yumeiro Pâtissière Mune Kyun Tropical Island! (夢色パティシエール 胸キュントロピカルアイランド!) was shown at the "Natsu Doki– Ribon–kko Party 5" event for Ribon magazine in the summer of 2010. The episode was included on a DVD with the November issue of Ribon. A second series, taking place two years later than the first, began airing on October 3, 2010. The second season is entitled Yumeiro Pâtissière SP Professional and introduces new characters.

Music
The first season of the anime series uses two pieces of theme music, one opening and one closing. The opening is Yume ni Yell! Patissiere (夢にエール!パティシエール♪) and the ending is Ichigo no Mirakurūru (いちごのミラクルール). The CD single for the two was released by the Columbia Music Entertainment on January 20, 2010 in a regular and limited edition. The limited edition comes with extra charms and costs ¥1,365, but is otherwise the same as the regular edition, which costs ¥1,050. A soundtrack for the series was released on April 21, 2010, entitled Yumeiro Patissiere KiraKira ☆ Myūjikku (夢色パティシエール きらきら☆ミュージック).

Video Game
A Nintendo DS game based on the series was released on May 27, 2010. The game is entitled Yumeiro Patissiere: My Sweet Cooking (夢色パティシエールマイスイーツクッキング) and was released by Konami.

Card Game
A trading card game based on the manga was released in Japan by Konami during the serialization of the series. There are two different series, Sweets Deco Cards and My Sweets Cards.

Cookbook
A cookbook for the series entitled "Yumeiro Patissiere Special Recipe Book: Oyako de Tsukuru Hajimete no Sweets" (夢色パティシエール スペシャルレシピブック 親子で作るはじめてのスイーツ) (ISBN 978-4-08-102082-9) was released by Shueisha on December 1, 2009 for ¥1200.

Reception
Carlos Santos of Anime News Network calls the anime "a baking-themed series so rife with clichés that it's hard to tell where the plagiarism stops and the actual show begins." Other reviewers on the same site had slightly better opinions of the series though. Carl Kimlinger calls it "pure shōjo fluff" and says that it is a "sugary little distraction that won't harm any sensibilities." Theron Martin suggests either eating before or during viewing as the series is "undoubtedly one of the tastiest-looking series to come along in quite some time." Martin critiqued the art of the series however, saying "The dessert designs are unquestionably the visual highlight, as otherwise the artistry and technical merits are rather bland." Summer Mullins also notes that the sweets are the best part of the animation, saying, "those detailed shots [of the sweets] highlight the fact that some of the animation is only so-so".

As of May 11, 2010 Crunchyroll's website listed Yumeiro Patissiere with an overall ranking of 4.8 out of 5 stars, with a total of 1761 votes.