Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan

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"Rick lives on the island of Windaria, inhabited by various races such as elves and beast-people. Amnesiac, he is rescued by three young ladies and taken to work in their bakery. But when a red moon rises and a deathly wind blows, they'll all be engulfed in strange events." -ANN

Genres: Fantasy, RPG, Baking
Links: AniDB, ANN, Official
Download: Episode 1v2 - WhyNot






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I reckon I should say first that this show isn't for anybody who doesn't like generic RPG anime adaptations or bread. I'm not sure I enjoy anything generic that much, but RPG typically means adventure, which happens to be my favourite genre. And since I dabble in baking myself, seeing baking in anime is right down my alley. Although I needed to make a sandwich for myself while watching the ep due to all the fresh bread on the screen.

Anyway, this screamed generic as much as it screamed Tony Taka from the first moments (which go well in sync, to boot, as anybody knowing Tony's designs ought to be aware of). But then again, I doubt this ever intended to be anything else. It's still a bit different with all the baking, at least. I don't foresee any major surprises in the future, but who knows.

I was glad to hear Ryou Hirohashi voicing Rana (or Lana) with perfect Kyou Fujibayashi voice. It feels like it has been a while. The main dude, who doesn't appear to be a loser, fortunately, is voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya (Yuzuru Otonashi of Angel Beats, Arararagi of Bake/Nisemono). The three happy girls are brough to life by Kanae Itou (Sena of Haganai, Sanae of Ika Musume), Mai Aizawa (Minene Uryuu of Mirai Nikki), and Shiori Mikami (Masumi Nishino of Kämpfer).

I'll keep watching, though I expect absolutely nothing fancy from this show.

I have to say that I'm slightly disappointed since I was really looking forward to this show. The only previous experiences with Shining Hearts I had were pictures of their figures by Kotobukiya, which have been pretty awesome. I've also liked Tony Taka's designs from static images, but it seems that it doesn't translate to moving pictures very well (that, or it's the studio's fault). The girls are cute, but they're not very dynamic in expression or across persons. I didn't get that impression when I watched Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro, but that piece of work had a different focus anyway.

I might decide to keep watching just as a time-filler, but if I'm short on time (as I predict I likely will be) I doubt I'll even remember that I dropped this.

(PS: the only thing I've ever baked are frozen pies, quiches and sausage roles. The only things that were edible anyway...)

Genres: Fantasy, RPG, Baking

...eh?

I was under the impression this was a Baking adaptation of Shining Hearts. Not an anime version of the game. It's not going to shift into an adventure series, it's like a parody of the game.

Episode 2 - WhyNot





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Mostly baking and talking to people still, but the preview promises things. It even looked like Rick had a sword in hand in the preview. Nothing wrong with baking bread'n'buns, but a little blood and cracked skulls every now and then wouldn't be bad. I hope the anti-social elf dude will get a bit bigger role since it looks like the female folk will only keep increasing. Forced to wake up so early every morning Rick is in no condition to take care of all of them, I'm sure.

Considering what a porn artist Tony Taka is, I'd have expected more blatant fanservice from this show. But it feels like it has next to none.

I found the episode really entertaining... for various reasons..

-Getting woken up like that every morning.. maybe even I won't mind being a baker.

-It's kind of weird how the girls wake Rick up, then proceed to go to bed. I mean, how do the girls know when to wake up to.. do the waking up? I doubt they sleep for 3 hours a day. Not with those looks.

-The townsfolk are so nice. Makes you wonder why they even need guards.. or if Airy ever runs into any trouble on her deliveries.

-Curtains hung around an orchid? Does that really work? I would have thought they'd act more like a sail and get damaged in a storm anyway...

-Talking about the storm, it seems "big" merely meant some overnight waterworks. Why did Rick have to wake up early to bake more bread? Do people only eat bread if they're stuck indoors? Do they not each much bread if they're allowed out at night?

- Rick should just live with the girls. Cutting down commute time means he'll get more time for various forms of entertainment, however 1 guy and 3 chicks keep themselves entertained in a bakery. His drop in baking prowess might earn him a smack from Madara though.

- Bread in the shape of the girl's mother. What's going on there? Forced symbolic cannibalism? xD

- The crew cetainly don't do much other than bake (at least as far as this episode went). I lolled at how far it strays from Kraco's hopes of seeing some adventure.

-Influx of more character designs is nice. Some less signature-Tony-Taka than others. The bar lady for example.. doesn't mean she's not hot tho.

-They had the town gate last week, but it was only with this week's Castle announcement that I became fully aware that there's indeed a castle in this place - and with it I presume a ruling body. Doesn't reek of tyranny or filthy corruption much though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

-It's kind of weird how the girls wake Rick up, then proceed to go to bed. I mean, how do the girls know when to wake up to.. do the waking up? I doubt they sleep for 3 hours a day. Not with those looks.

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That's indeed a good question. I assume Rick starts to work at around 4AM, so considering the commute, he probably is waken at half past three, or something. The girls have to sleep before that as well, not only after they have dragged Rick to the store. Maybe they sleep in turns, since somebody has to heat the oven for a couple of hours, perhaps, before it's ready for baking.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

-The townsfolk are so nice. Makes you wonder why they even need guards.. or if Airy ever runs into any trouble on her deliveries.

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According to the first ep, the forest is infested by monsters. According to the preview, pirates or other hostiles sail the sea. Besides, no matter how nice the townsfolk seem now, who knows how willingly they'd pay their taxes if there was no threat of enforcement in the background.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

-Talking about the storm, it seems "big" merely meant some overnight waterworks. Why did Rick have to wake up early to bake more bread? Do people only eat bread if they're stuck indoors? Do they not each much bread if they're allowed out at night?

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Yeah, I was also expecting it to last at the very least a couple of days so that people would have needed to stockpile.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

- Rick should just live with the girls. Cutting down commute time means he'll get more time for various forms of entertainment, however 1 guy and 3 chicks keep themselves entertained in a bakery. His drop in baking prowess might earn him a smack from Madara though.

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It wouldn't likely be socially appropriate. All the more so due to Rick's background. He's just an alien of an unknown origin who washed ashore.

Hadena - Episode 03
Whynot - Episode 03

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The pirates were short lived. In fact, we didn't even get to see if they were pirates. Those large balls of explosions could have been some weak/mis-aimed ordinances, or just really aggressive flares.

I had come to the conclusion last time that nothing will remove Rick from his baking duties - and not even a broken furnance it seems. The sword seemed to catalyse his memory recovery, so he should pick them up more often.

A "beach episode" with Neris is all cool.. but with pirates gone, what the hell is Rick doing with a cannon?

Those soldiers with their swords looked all obsolete when the bloody ironclad ship with cannons worth a battleship was shown. Although otherwise the island surely seems tidy and nice enough to indeed belong to later times than those medieval looking swordsmen.

It does look like there's going to be more than just baking in this show. I also hope Rick will be reunited with his shiny sword and will put it to some use. I'd actually prefer if by the end of the story he'd go back to baking, but now in the middle he should try some butchering on the side as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

Those soldiers with their swords looked all obsolete when the bloody ironclad ship with cannons worth a battleship was shown. Although otherwise the island surely seems tidy and nice enough to indeed belong to later times than those medieval looking swordsmen.

It does look like there's going to be more than just baking in this show. I also hope Rick will be reunited with his shiny sword and will put it to some use. I'd actually prefer if by the end of the story he'd go back to baking, but now in the middle he should try some butchering on the side as well.

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I see his reuninion with his sword as only the means to reunite himself with his culinary hobby. Bread of Happiness, after all.

I'm not sure I like the new girl who appears to be his potential, ex- or most-likely-to-be-yet-will-never-happen love interest. I actually rather enjoy the bantering of the pre-existing three.

Hadena - Episode 04

Haha. The blessings of an autocracy were made evident quickly enough. The soldiers seemed obsolete compared to the battleship, but now that it was shown they are mainly meant to keep the population in check, it makes much more sense. Maybe they could add the price of a new oven to the bill sent to the castle to cover the damage to the boat. It would be only fair.

I thought Hank removed the small piece from the box before handing it over, but it seems he wasn't crafty enough.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

I thought Hank removed the small piece from the box before handing it over, but it seems he wasn't crafty enough.

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Yeah. Had Xao Mei been handling that, I bet you she'd have kept the piece without being noticed. I've seen a figure of her some at least a year now, and the title of that figure suggests that her skills don't solely lie in store-keeping.

Hadena - Episode 05




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Bakery of Happiness just levelled up.


Kinda unexpected that something as trivial(ish) as perfecting icecream can turn out well. Sorbet is the best.

Out of the trio, I'd pick Amil and Neris as waifu material. And out of the two, I'd say Amil has the more interesting personality.

I hope they manage to tie all the loose threads before the end with episodes like this that seem to serve no purpose (I'm not saying I'd have especially disliked this ep, though). After all, this show has presented more story material than I really expected in the beginning, so it would be a pity if it's left open. Hopefully the preview suggested something concrete is going to happen again.

Are those four doing anything at all to get their own bakery back up and running? They seemed to have so many customers that surely they could get a loan to rebuild the oven even if they have got no cash. Or are they already in so deep debt (perhaps after purchasing the bakery building itself) that they can't get more loan money?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

Are those four doing anything at all to get their own bakery back up and running? They seemed to have so many customers that surely they could get a loan to rebuild the oven even if they have got no cash. Or are they already in so deep debt (perhaps after purchasing the bakery building itself) that they can't get more loan money?

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I get the feeling people aren't that wealthy on this island. They sure live good enough lives, so perhaps I have simply just never seen them hand over cash for their bread. I'd say even the dirtiest capitalist pig wouldn't be able to squeeze much out of such a small town for their own wealth.

Hard to say. If you look at how nice and tidy the buildings, the people (they have very good clothes and don't suffer from malnutrition), and the town are at large, I'd say they are pretty prosperous, especially considering the setting is historical.

Hadena - Episode 06

Xiao-Mei turned out to be a dorobou neko, utterly unsurprisingly. The baker girls all fell for the prince and princess after a smile, some harp playing and tea, but I'm satisfied Rick had a bit more dignity, based on the fact he said nothing about seeing the face of the thief. A sound choice, considering how rude the soldiers are, how condescending the royals, and how they even took Rick's sword. I'm surprised Rich himself isn't rotting in the castle dungeon, after all, he's from the sea as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

Xiao-Mei turned out to be a dorobou neko, utterly unsurprisingly. The baker girls all fell for the prince and princess after a smile, some harp playing and tea, but I'm satisfied Rick had a bit more dignity, based on the fact he said nothing about seeing the face of the thief. A sound choice, considering how rude the soldiers are, how condescending the royals, and how they even took Rick's sword. I'm surprised Rich himself isn't rotting in the castle dungeon, after all, he's from the sea as well.

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Yeah. As far as I know, Neris was supposed to be on the delivery in order to see if the royals were really understanding common people's circumstances or not, and that had not been confirmed before she smiled at everything.

"Yeah, we took shit to see if they belong to someone or if it's lost etc etc"

"Okay... so, how will you deal with it afterwards?" <- c'mon Neris, I actually wanted to hear that you had a just side of you that wasn't afraid of conflict if it's for a right cause.

Hadena - Episode 07

So, all the three girls are also wreckage washed ashore (seriously, just how much of that can one island gather?). That explains their lack of funds - and why their wardrobes seem so extremely limited. Kaguya ought to be no better but still she does nothing but sleep, at a hospital of all places, and eat. Unless she has her pockets full of gold, she won't be facing a remarkably shining future. But then again, her people might fetch her back before she has a chance to worry about her financial situation.

I wish Xiao-Mei really had bared her all to Rick... She's certainly hot enough not to let down a knight-baker.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

So, all the three girls are also wreckage washed ashore (seriously, just how much of that can one island gather?). That explains their lack of funds - and why their wardrobes seem so extremely limited. Kaguya ought to be no better but still she does nothing but sleep, at a hospital of all places, and eat. Unless she has her pockets full of gold, she won't be facing a remarkably shining future. But then again, her people might fetch her back before she has a chance to worry about her financial situation.

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I always wondered if people wake up from comas with large medical bills. Kaguya seems to wake up enough but I doubt she's been told anything other than "Bread's here!". People eat bread on that island to the point of malnutrition I reckon.

As for Kaguya being in financial trouble, the cafe that opened up should fix that problem. Until you mentioned Kaguya's employment status in your post, I was wondering what the girls would do about needing workers since everyone on the island seems to have their own role already.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

I wish Xiao-Mei really had bared her all to Rick... She's certainly hot enough not to let down a knight-baker.

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The Knight and the Thief has enough of a taboo ring with it to make it tasty. Funny how they said that Fiola's shop caters for a lot of pirates, but I thought they shut the entire island down into stealth mode whenever someone approaches (and meet them with pikemen when they do)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

Funny how they said that Fiola's shop caters for a lot of pirates, but I thought they shut the entire island down into stealth mode whenever someone approaches (and meet them with pikemen when they do)

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Maybe they make an exception with local pirates. Maybe the local pirates thus also make an exception and only pirate elsewhere, leaving their own island in peace. Considering the royals we saw, I wouldn't put employing privateers beyond their moral code, either.

Hadena - Episode 08

So many people washed ashore without memories. Suspicious? Yes.

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Originally Posted by NeoCybercoin

So many people washed ashore without memories. Suspicious? Yes.

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Yeah, it got ridiculous a long time ago. There has to be something behind it, although I don't really expect it to be revealed in this show.

Looks like Hank got tired of waiting and made a decision. Just like a real technocrat dwarf should!

Kind of a gloomy episode all in all. Too bad it didn't result in Rick starting sword practice on his spare time.

Oh, why did I not recognise a milf when I saw one?

I wonder if that kid's father's the pirate.

While it's strange that everyone and their bar-tender seems to have no memories of being washed ashore, I took it more as being a "feature" of this whole thing rather than some underlying menace brewing..

But who knows. Given what the pirate told us, maybe they're all escaped prisoners from the iron warship who jumped or something..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kraco

Looks like Hank got tired of waiting and made a decision. Just like a real technocrat dwarf should!

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I would have thought Hank'd be too slow to help Xao Mei out in any meaningful way other than getting her some nice gadgets. The preview suggests they're going to take a not-so-sneaky approach next time, but that doesn't seem to be a very smart move.

They know where you live.

Hadena - Episode 09

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Xao Mei making kitty noises... Xaoi Mei looking good.... Xao Mei sleeping nude....

:3

Hank totally could be a thief. I thought his stockiness would have been a burden to Xao Mei, but his dimensions probably would have made him a better thief since you won't see him at eye level (xD). I'm guessing he didn't build the palace himself since he still asked Xao Mei for directions, so he must have just had a general idea of the architecture.

I was already thinking the place folks must have pretty wooden eyes for not recognizing them, but fortunately, in that sense, they pinpointed the culprits exactly. Seems like Hank still managed to do what he wanted, even if he didn't take the last step by himself anymore and the doll claimed its duracell by itself.

Now I'm only waiting for Rick to get his shiny sword back. Surely he needs to defend the island against something.

And yeah, Xiao-Mei was especially cute in this episode.

Then his sword will become round like a rolling pin, which he will use to bake holy magical bread that will appease the berserk angel.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

Then his sword will become round like a rolling pin, which he will use to bake ...

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I thought that was going to be a Lusty Argonian Maid reference for a while there...

Hadena - Episode 10

This episode had a strange atmosphere created by the prince playing his harp and philosophising right after being told a massive military fleet is approaching. I couldn't think of anything but fatalistic when I saw that, but on the other hand it also gave the impression he knew something and that was the reason why he wasn't overly worried. However, then later we saw him tell the thieving cat and technocrating dwarf to explain what's going on, invalidating that notion.

Another thing making the atmosphere strange is Rick being so out of everything. I can't help but feel he should be a bit more asskicking action hero, yet he's impressively faithfully sticking to his role as a baker, even if the recent events have made his bread turn sour. I hope the effete prince releases Rick's sword and he puts the shining blade to some proper use.

When red moon rises, blood will be spilled!

The prince doesn't know exact what's happened (what world came, why they're here), but that shit happens.

Here's hoping that the battle will be a bit more spread out in however many episodes we have left and won't be too much of "clean-up" battle just to conclude things in 5 minutes.

Two episodes left, and the preview did suggest things are in motion already in the next episode, considering the episode title is The Decisive Battle. Since we are talking about a baking anime, I wouldn't be surpised if everything was solved already next time and the last episode was fluffy baking again. Rick getting his memories back but still deciding to stick to baking wouldn't dissatisfy me. I mean, whatever his previous occupation was, I'm sure it didn't include being surrounded by bishoujo all wanting to be kneaded and stuffed by his baker's hands and rolling pin...

Hadena - Episode 11


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Hmmm, I don't know. Watching this episode made me think that all the good stuff in this series is over already, and we're just watching things wrap up so we can call say this story had a point..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

Hmmm, I don't know. Watching this episode made me think that all the good stuff in this series is over already, and we're just watching things wrap up so we can call say this story had a point..

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That ought not to be altogether surprising. Baking bread obviously wasn't enough, to be realistic, since this isn't any Yakitate, where bread was serious business, so some flimsy adventure was in order. Not that I'd mind at all because I waited the whole goddam series for Rick to get back his shining blade. I wouldn't call his skills disappointing, either.

What is funny is that the elves still seem to be playing no part. What was their deal anyway? The antisocial elf dude looked like he had some big secret and responsibility, but we never saw him ever since.

Hadena - Episode 12

All I could think of during this episode was: Don't leave the sword standing in sea water. It will rust.

This felt quite empty for a final episode. Lots of talk that hardly added anything to what we have heard half a dozen times already. But then again, I suppose there wasn't overly much the show could have done about it, with no romance present or anything, and the last enemy boss being some lizardman. So, we got a reset to the beginning state, with Rick still wondering what is going on.

Baked that bitch some bread. Bitches love bread.

Rick, why didn't you let them wake you up instead? You fool.

And Kaguya's still a glutton.

If you're gonna surprise them, you give them surprise sex.

Popping out with a candle is so stupid.

I've got to say that this show doesn't give me anything other than the desire for some Tony Taka porn.

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Originally Posted by KrayZ33

I've got to say that this show doesn't give me anything other than the desire for some Tony Taka porn.

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Really?

I'm the opposite.. the show makes me all fuwa fuwa instead of the "I need to bone something to rid this tension" that some other shows could elicit.