Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan

[Kraco]

"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.

[Buffalobiian]

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...)

[Archangel]

Genres: Fantasy, RPG, Baking

...eh?

[Ryllharu]

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.

[Kraco]

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.

[Buffalobiian]

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.

[Kraco]

-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.

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.

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

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.

-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?

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

- 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.

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.

[Buffalobiian]

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?

[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.

[Buffalobiian]

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.

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.

[Buffalobiian]

Hadena - Episode 04

[Kraco]

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.

[Buffalobiian]

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

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.

[Buffalobiian]

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.

[Kraco]

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?

[Buffalobiian]

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?

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.

[Kraco]

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.

[Buffalobiian]

Hadena - Episode 06

[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.

[Buffalobiian]

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.

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.