Banana Bread no Pudding

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Banana Bread no Pudding is one of those manga that you can say you read it and be proud of it. Because if you want to act smart, this one is perfect for you. By tackling themes such as philosophy or repressed sexuality, you can totally see it as a piece of artistic literature.

It tells the story of Ira, a strange young woman who keep on acting like a little girl. To avoid being alone after the marriage of her sister, she must marry someone. After confessing to Saeko, her best friend, that her ideal husband is a gay man wanting to hide from society, ... she decides to make her believe that her brother is gay. So they get married, and here start the troubles.

The story is rather interesting. But it's especially an excuse for the author to make a psychological study of her own characters. They are all different and each have their own set of issues. First there is Ira, the protagonist, who is more than weird. She has the mind of a little girl and doesn't know how to live by herself. Either one is fascinated by her, or one finds her more than annoying. Because yes, Ira is a very interesting psychology case, but the way everyone around her is destroying their own life for her can be pretty frustrating.

The character of Saeko is particularly touching. You pity her throughout the story, seeing her struggling for her friend or sinking into depression after she learns that she can never be loved by the man she fell in love with. It's a pity that there was no real conclusion for her, she really deserved to know more about her feelings.

Now for Saeko's brother and Ira's husband, I have to be honest: I don't like him. He spends his time lying to Ira not to protect her like Saeko, but for his own interests. So I struggled to get with it when the author suddenly decided that he would have a sincere love for Ira.
To summarize; each of these characters deserve a session at the local psychiatrist.

Regarding the art style, the artist has a very interesting aesthetic. This is typical of the usual 70s shoujo, with the glittery eyes, slender legs and screentone effects. However, there is a rather mystical atmosphere that mixes both dream and reality. The scenes from Ira's imagination are particularly pretty. However, I am a little disappointed by the sets that are mostly composed of white backgrounds, which makes it difficult to locate the characters.

Now I don't want to spoil, but the end was quite disappointing. I was expecting a real conclusion, but instead, I had even more questions. I would have loved to know what will happen to the characters, but I guess the author kept it to herself. Well, who doesn't love some mystery?

BBNP was a real surprise. At first you think that you're reading a romance manga and then you discover that it's actually a psychology essay. It subtly addresses polemics who are still relevant, such as homophobia or mental illnesses, which was something very innovative and unusual for the 70s. Sadly, it's not perfect : Some characters or situations make sometimes the reading a little less enjoyable and you get lost easily between what's real or not. But I don't think BBNP should be considered as an ordinary manga. No, it has to be seen as a work of art : beautiful, yet complex and deeply intellectual.


Story : 7
Art : 8
Character : 8
Enjoyment : 7
Overall : 8

i really thoroughly enjoyed this manga

this review will have spoilers ? sorry . i try to be as vague as i can but the manga is only 5 chapters so its hard to not talk about what happens lol

though i beleive that i should add these trigger warnings in case anyone wanting to read this is triggered by these things : there is domestic abuse , and mentions of ( but no actual ) incest

art : 7 out of 10 . i really like the old ... shoujo look , and some pictures were really detailed and flowy and pretty . you can tell they put effort into the drawings , they actually had backgrounds and crowds and atmospheric additives , not just characters floating in blank space or lazy shortcuts ( not that all shortcuts are lazy / necessarily bad , they have a time and place ) . that being said , a couple faces were wonky , and a few proportions were off ( i remember thinking sara was impossibly tall in that one shot of her in her wedding dress lol )

characters : 10 / 10 . i seriously love ira . to me ( someone who is psychotic / has pyschosis and ocd ) she is a good representation of a mentally ill protagonist , i would go as far as to say shes good psychotic representation . she reminds me of myself with her thinking that seems disordered to everyone else , and how she has delusions ( example : looking in the mirror and seeing that her eyes were upturned and glowing , and changing her hairstyle to hide it . while we the viewer can see that its all in her head )

i thought ougami would be a throwaway character that we only see once in the beginning , but im happy to see that he got some good screentime ( page time ? lol ) . i love that this manga has an out gay character , and that ira / the protagonist agrees that he should be allowed to be himself in public , instead of it being treated like a gag or having him as a punching bag or punchline . i really felt for him , i wish he had gotten a happier or at least more conclusive ending

i wasnt expecting much of togue , but i was surprised by him . he was actually pretty mature about everything , and caring in hiw own way . even when he saw an opportunity to get out of his arrangement , he thought " she needs me , i should stick around for her " . he was so patient and understanding . he certainly thought ira was strange , but never berated her or called her stupid or weird , he never made her feel bad about herself , he tried his best with everything and even in the end i just thought " wow , that was the perfect thing to say "

as for saeko , i liked her too but out of the main four she was probably my least favourite . not that i dislike her , just that i like the others more ? her friendship with ira was cute , one moment that sticks out to me was when they were going KYAAAA all excited about how they would be sister in laws . she was generous and tried her best to help . but she also did some things that even she acknowledged werent great ( though its not like she did anything super terrible / unforgivable , and everybody makes mistakes )

story : 8 /10 . what got me to read this manga was the wacky description , and it wasnt clickbait -- you get whats on the tin lol . but you also get more . theres a lot of introspection on the part of the characters , just thinking about their own thoughts and actions , about what they should do . theres also serious topics like being evaluated for mental health reasons , being in an abusive relationship , and things involving a delusion of becoming a monster , but the tone manages to stay pretty light throughout . it handles things with a good amount of respect / seriousness but its also not some super stifling heavy dramatic atmosphere . one thing i really liked about this manga is how proactive the characters are -- theres no waiting around hemming and hawing , they think for a bit about what to do bit then go " okay , ill do that " and do it ajfmcmkvkca . if youve complained about other shoujos for being too drawn out or slow paced , this will purrobably win some points with you in that department

i didnt really like how at the end , that philosophy major suggested that saeko being in love with a gay man was really a manifestion of the fact that she had incestuous feelings for her brother and she should distance herself from him -- this probably would have dropped my score for the story a lot more had the manga not made it clear that this was ridiculous . in the end shes even talking with him as theyre getting drunk and shes like what ??? what are you talking about ???? lol , i take it as kind if a cheeky knock on freudism / psychology majors that are quick to diagnose you with this that and the other

all in all , i really liked this manga , i had an awesome time reading it and i will recommend it to friends as well !! :o)