Yumeiro Patissiere

Yumeiro Patissiere (夢色パティシエール) is an ongoing Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Natsumi Matsumoto. It began serialization in the October 2008 issue of Ribon. The individual chapters have been collected into six tankōbon volumes by Shueisha as of May 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
Amano Ichigo is incredibly clumsy and can't seem to do anything right except 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 three Sweets Princes, their Sweets Spirit, and Vanilla, her own Sweets Spirit, she gains the confidence and skill to work towards becoming a pâtissière.

Main Characters

 * Ichigo Amano (天野いちご)
 * The series' main character, Ichigo is a 14 year-old girl who loves sweets. Her birthday is January 5th. Ichigo's mother ignored her for many years for having no special talent compared to her younger sister, Natsume, who plays the piano very well. Because she has an incredible palate, one that is able to immediately tell what ingredients are used in different sweets and who made the ingredients, she is spotted by Henri Lucas, a genius pâtissière, during a Sweets Festa. She therefore transfers to St. Marie Academy in order to train to become a pâtissière, like her grandmother. Ichigo is also known for her huge appetite for cakes; she believes that people have a second stomach specifically for cakes. She has also stated that she won several cake-eating contests in the past. Her dream is to make sweets that make people smile.
 * The series' main character, Ichigo is a 14 year-old girl who loves sweets. Her birthday is January 5th. Ichigo's mother ignored her for many years for having no special talent compared to her younger sister, Natsume, who plays the piano very well. Because she has an incredible palate, one that is able to immediately tell what ingredients are used in different sweets and who made the ingredients, she is spotted by Henri Lucas, a genius pâtissière, during a Sweets Festa. She therefore transfers to St. Marie Academy in order to train to become a pâtissière, like her grandmother. Ichigo is also known for her huge appetite for cakes; she believes that people have a second stomach specifically for cakes. She has also stated that she won several cake-eating contests in the past. Her dream is to make sweets that make people smile.


 * Makoto Kashino (樫野 真)
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the school, who specializes in chocolate sweets. His dream is to become a pâtissier and make chocolate just like his uncle. His birthday is April 18th, and he is 160 cm tall, making him the shortest out of the Sweets Princes. His parents come from a very prestigious family of doctors who actually head their very own Kashino hospital. Because Kashino does not want to become a doctor, his parents disprove of his pâtissier studies. In order for him to stay at St. Marie Academy, he has to make the highest grades in his class. Kashino is unsociable, straightforward, and can be prickly at times. He is extremely self-condifent, and he often rejects people, appearing cold to everyone (except for his childhood friend Andou). He works with Chocolat, a Sweets Spirit. It is mentioned in the anime that Kashino is very talented at drawing, but he has terrible handwriting. As the story progresses, Kashino develops "feelings" toward Ichigo, despite their constant bickering. He often shows jealousy whenever other characters express interest in Ichigo or vice versa.
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the school, who specializes in chocolate sweets. His dream is to become a pâtissier and make chocolate just like his uncle. His birthday is April 18th, and he is 160 cm tall, making him the shortest out of the Sweets Princes. His parents come from a very prestigious family of doctors who actually head their very own Kashino hospital. Because Kashino does not want to become a doctor, his parents disprove of his pâtissier studies. In order for him to stay at St. Marie Academy, he has to make the highest grades in his class. Kashino is unsociable, straightforward, and can be prickly at times. He is extremely self-condifent, and he often rejects people, appearing cold to everyone (except for his childhood friend Andou). He works with Chocolat, a Sweets Spirit. It is mentioned in the anime that Kashino is very talented at drawing, but he has terrible handwriting. As the story progresses, Kashino develops "feelings" toward Ichigo, despite their constant bickering. He often shows jealousy whenever other characters express interest in Ichigo or vice versa.


 * Satsuki Hanabusa (花房五月)
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the school, Hanabusa specializes in candy sculptures and flower-based cakes. His birthday is October 2nd. His dream is to work together with his mother, a master of Japanese flower arrangement, who is also a 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, he is always centered on roses, and he is extremely nice to all females (to the point of being a borderline perpetual flirt). He also seems to be a narcissist and is heavily concerned for his appearance; for example, Café, his Sweets Spirit, has stated that Hanabusa needs more than an hour to get ready for school in the mornings. He has shown interest in Ichigo.
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the school, Hanabusa specializes in candy sculptures and flower-based cakes. His birthday is October 2nd. His dream is to work together with his mother, a master of Japanese flower arrangement, who is also a 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, he is always centered on roses, and he is extremely nice to all females (to the point of being a borderline perpetual flirt). He also seems to be a narcissist and is heavily concerned for his appearance; for example, Café, his Sweets Spirit, has stated that Hanabusa needs more than an hour to get ready for school in the mornings. He has shown interest in Ichigo.


 * Sennosuke Andou (安堂千乃介)
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the school who specializes in Japanese sweets. His birthday is February 25th. His dream is to open his own shop next to his family's Yumetsuki confectionery, selling a blend of Japanese and Western sweets. Andou is the eldest of five siblings, and he often goes to help at his family shop during holidays or on weekends. He is a childhood friend of Kashino, calling him "Ma-chan" in the manga and "Ma-kun" in the anime. Andou is always calm and reliable, and he tries to reason with everyone, acting as somewhat of an older brother to Team Ichigo. Andou cares about Caramel, his Sweets Spirit, like a little sister, and he is always overjoyed whenever Caramel does something nice for him.
 * One of the "Sweets Princes" of the school who specializes in Japanese sweets. His birthday is February 25th. His dream is to open his own shop next to his family's Yumetsuki confectionery, selling a blend of Japanese and Western sweets. Andou is the eldest of five siblings, and he often goes to help at his family shop during holidays or on weekends. He is a childhood friend of Kashino, calling him "Ma-chan" in the manga and "Ma-kun" in the anime. Andou is always calm and reliable, and he tries to reason with everyone, acting as somewhat of an older brother to Team Ichigo. Andou cares about Caramel, his Sweets Spirit, like a little sister, and he is always overjoyed whenever Caramel does something nice for him.

Supporting Characters

 * Vanilla (バニラ)
 * Ichigo's sweets spirit, who specializes in vanilla. She has a fiery attitude and generally fights with Chocolat, though they don't seem to actually dislike each other. Ichigo and Chocolat tend to call her pudgy.
 * Ichigo's sweets spirit, who specializes in vanilla. She has a fiery attitude and generally fights with Chocolat, though they don't seem to actually dislike each other. Ichigo and Chocolat tend to call her pudgy.


 * Chocolat (ショコラ)
 * Kashino's sweets spirit, who is skilled with chocolate. Chocolat has a competitive spirit but is easily frightened. She is a classic example of tsundere character.
 * Kashino's sweets spirit, who is skilled with chocolate. Chocolat has a competitive spirit but is easily frightened. She is a classic example of tsundere character.


 * Caramel (キャラメル)
 * Andou's sweets spirit, who is useful with caramel. Being a klutz like Ichigo, she cries a lot and tends to end her sentences with desu as seen in the anime.
 * Andou's sweets spirit, who is useful with caramel. Being a klutz like Ichigo, she cries a lot and tends to end her sentences with desu as seen in the anime.


 * Café (カフェ)
 * Hanabusa's sweets spirit who is good with coffee. He is polite, smart, and very calm, and he often looks up to Hanabusa.
 * Hanabusa's sweets spirit who is good with coffee. He is polite, smart, and very calm, and he often looks up to Hanabusa.


 * Henri Lucas (アンリ・リュカス)
 * A teacher at St. Marie Academy who asked Ichigo to become a pâtissière at St. Marie Academy. Because of unknown circumstances, he transferred to Paris to teach at the academy there, before Ichigo transfers to St. Marie Academy in Japan. He is called a genius pâtissier. Henri has an unknown Sweets Spirit.
 * A teacher at St. Marie Academy who asked Ichigo to become a pâtissière at St. Marie Academy. Because of unknown circumstances, he transferred to Paris to teach at the academy there, before Ichigo transfers to St. Marie Academy in Japan. He is called a genius pâtissier. Henri has an unknown Sweets Spirit.


 * Mari Tennouji (天王寺麻里)
 * Henri Lucas' favorite student. She is the Student Council President of the school. Tennouji is known as a genius when it comes to pastry and has been given many awards for her excellent work. She seems to have feelings for Henri Lucas.
 * Henri Lucas' favorite student. She is the Student Council President of the school. Tennouji is known as a genius when it comes to pastry and has been given many awards for her excellent work. She seems to have feelings for Henri Lucas.


 * Honey (ハニー)
 * Mari Tennouji's Sweet Spirit, who specializes with Honey. She is called "Lady Honey" (ハニーさま) by other Sweets Spirits.
 * Mari Tennouji's Sweet Spirit, who specializes with Honey. She is called "Lady Honey" (ハニーさま) by other Sweets Spirits.


 * Miya Koshiro (小城美夜)
 * Called "Heiress" by other students because she is the daughter of the president of the famed Château sweets company. She is a grade above Ichigo. Miya has a crush on Kashino and will do anything to be with him. She is partners with the Sweets Spirit Marron. Later, on she joins the team from Andorra in the World Cake Grand Prix, after she loses to Team Tennouji in the first round.
 * Called "Heiress" by other students because she is the daughter of the president of the famed Château sweets company. She is a grade above Ichigo. Miya has a crush on Kashino and will do anything to be with him. She is partners with the Sweets Spirit Marron. Later, on she joins the team from Andorra in the World Cake Grand Prix, after she loses to Team Tennouji in the first round.


 * Marron (マロン)
 * Miya Koshiro's Sweets Spirit whose speciality is chestnuts. Chocolat and the other Sweets Spirits note that their personalities are similar.
 * Miya Koshiro's Sweets Spirit whose speciality is chestnuts. Chocolat and the other Sweets Spirits note that their personalities are similar.


 * Rumi Kato (加藤留美)
 * Ichigo's roommate and best friend at St. Marie Academy. Rumi always sticks up for Ichigo when she is bullied by other students and often cheers Ichigo's team on in the Cake Grand Prix. She speaks in an Osaka dialect.
 * Ichigo's roommate and best friend at St. Marie Academy. Rumi always sticks up for Ichigo when she is bullied by other students and often cheers Ichigo's team on in the Cake Grand Prix. She speaks in an Osaka 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 May 2010, the series is still being serialized and six 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!) will be shown at the "Natsu Doki– Ribon–kko Party 5" event for Ribon magazine in the summer of 2010.

As of episode 33, there have been 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 was released based on the series 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 Mook 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 shojo 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.