Yume-iro Pâtissière

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Yumeiro Patissiere is arguably one of my favorite manga. This is a manga I would recommend to those who enjoy romance, shoujo, or baking/food themes. When reading this manga you will see delicious looking edible creations and lovely costumes.
Story: 10
I gave Yumeiro Patissiere a 10 because the storyline was well developed and always kept me entertained. The story is filled with dreams, obstacles, and over all many inspirational moments.
Art: 9
Art is a definite 9 to me. The art is impressive and detailed, definitely cute and pleasing on the eyes. Although sometimes I felt as if something was missing. If you like typical shoujo ... art styles, then this is a good choice.
Character: 10
The characters in Yumeiro Patissiere enchanted me. I fell in love with each character within the first 7 chapters. Even the more irritating characters eventually grew on me. They each have their own persona which add to the overall lovely flavor off the story. The main character is clumsy yet ingenious, which makes her so entertaining. The male leads are each different types of characters, you have the pretty boy, the gentle boy, and the somewhat aggressive, sadist boy, which provides a variety of love interests for many people to grow on.
Enjoyment: 10
I truly enjoyed Yumeiro Patissiere because I adore food themed Manga/Anime. It also pleased me with the extensive plot and adorable art. I would love to read this manga over and over again.
Overall: 10
Definite 10. Without a doubt. This manga deserves a 10 because it hits you with the competitions, romance, obstacles, and lovable characters.
I would highly recommend this to any shoujo loving person.

The Yumeiro Patissiere anime is what led me to read the ongoing (at least, awaiting English translation) Yumeiro Patissiere manga. And I have to admit, I find the manga to be quite better.

Story: 9/10

I think that the story of the manga is much more directed in the manga than the anime. This is mostly because the plot seems so much more realistic, while the anime pushed what was possible and basically allowed main character Amano Ichigo anything she wanted.

Not so much in the manga. Ichigo must actually strive to reach what she wants, and sometimes it results in failure, which is only normal. This gives ... the manga the feeling of realism, which allows you to relate to it better. After all, Amano Ichigo of the anime seems to be able to do anything. And quite frankly, it disheartens me a bit because I know I could never be like that.

Manga Amano Ichigo is easier to relate to.

Likewise, the romantic themes of the series shine through more prominently and importantly in the manga than in the anime, which is obviously an added bonus.

Art: 8/10

There's not much to say about the art besides the fact that it is very clean and well done. The manga art differs greatly from the anime, which is perfectly fine. If anything, the manga pays more attention to little details and character quirks than the anime does, because the more little details, the harder it is to animate. For that reason, I think the addition of these little details and clean, easy to look at, art gives it a deserving rating of 8/10.

Character: 9/10

Like I said in the story section of the review, Ichigo and a lot of the other characters are a lot more realistic in the manga than the anime, which makes them easier to relate to. They are also given more character development, which leads to further ability to attach to them.

Enjoyment: 10/10

There's nothing better than a supernatural themed manga (the idea of sweets spirits counts as supernatural, doesn't it?) that centers around the fluffy idea of sweets making, hard work, dedication, and lots of romance to go around. Definitely something worth waiting for as the chapter continue to be released in English. I personally love it very much!

Overall: 9/10

Averaging all the scores together gives me the score of 9/10, which I deem appropriate for the Yumeiro Patissiere manga. Sweet and fluffy, just like a baking manga should be!

Please note that this review only encompasses the translated portion of the manga, which is up to roughly Chapter 35, Volume 10. The other thing to note here is that despite the presence of mascots, this is not a magical girl series.

Yume-Iro Patisserie is exactly what it looks like: a manga about a young girl named Ichigo who enters the Japan's St. Marie Academy to become a Patisserie, which means making lots of desserts and winning her way through various sorts of challenges. Along the way, she develops friendships with three gifted patissiers-in-training who the series sends mixed signals as to whether these are platonic ... or romantic. Not that this is a bad thing, as a romantic subplot does add something to keep the story going, though it is not its main focus.

The main focus of the series is its illustrated and descriptively evocative desserts, which feature new types of sweets (mainly cakes) in all issues. These are vivid and the characters describe them in painstaking detail, which extends to all four main characters and each of their enemies. While this is nice and provides a fair amount of eye candy (no pun intended), there are some elements which bog down the story or detract from the overall experience, depending on what you were hoping to see.

For instance, many characters (especially rivals) are one-note: frequently, they only appear once and seem to fade from existence in future chapters. However, some characters will reappear later, trying to give the story an extra layer of tension. The issue with this is that the characters tend to be written in stereotypical form (for instance, the psychotic Miya who's in love with Kashino, the main love interest) or some bullies who plagiarized Ichigo's cake design.

Unfortunately, the series also comes off as quite directionless at times, frequently getting itself distracted from the main events and preferring to focus on "bonus" chapters. There is also a considerable degree of filler here, as many chapters mark unimportant events, though the main problem with the story is its reliance on the status quo.

The series relies on the status quo to a fault, to the point it becomes formulaic. As an example, Ichigo typically wins most of the battles she faces, with a chapter typically dedicated to preparing for the event and the next chapter actually having it occur. While this is formulaic in itself, the tension is gone when you realize that Ichigo (as a character) will automatically win as a default because of the status quo. An example of this is around Chapter 33, where an enormous gambit is on stake that will determine whether the Sweets Spirits stay on Earth. Simply by mentioning this (ignoring the fact it's resolved less than a few chapters later), it's fairly obvious that if the manga intends to keep running, this turn wouldn't really seem plausible based on the direction the series appears to be going.

While I acknowledge its faults, I also acknowledge its strengths and realize that while it may not appeal to me personally, I'm sure many readers will be left with fond memories of it should they pick it up. So long as you are alright with beautifully drawn cakes at the cost of a more defined or evocative story, this may be a manga series that you should pick up. As mentioned, however, do be aware that, at the time of writing this, the last two volumes appear to be only available in Japanese. 7/10.