The reference to battling “on equal footing with the nations of Europea” probably refers to the Russo-Japanese war. This is obviously referring to the Meiji Restoration of 1868 (and since this happened approximately fifty years ago in the story’s timeline, the World War I setting checks out). Up until half a century ago, this nation didn’t even trade with the rest of the world, but after opening itself up, it immediately modernized with tremendous vigor, and was able to battle on equal footing with the nations of Europea. The volume 2 bonus story, however, amps up the self-Orientalism considerably. Japanese bread and martial arts were mentioned in volume 1 as exotic things that came from “the East”. The presence of Not-Japan in this Not-European setting did not come out of nowhere. However, I did raise a few eyebrows when I read the bonus short story that came with volume 2, which mostly concerned itself with The Combat Baker’s analogue for Japan. This is represented through the sympathetic character of Milly. Secondly, Wiltia as a nation-state is not portrayed in a positive light. People have justifiable reasons to be angry at Wiltia’s war atrocities and colonialism. Firstly, this appears to be a post-World War I setting, or at least there’s no Nazi-coded imagery or anything. I wasn’t too bothered by this scenario for a few reasons. So, obviously, fantasy Germany won the war and annexed an entire continent. The victor of this fictional war is a country named Wiltia, whose citizens have Germanic names and whose physical appearances are defined by their blonde hair and blue eyes. Thanks to the presence of fantasy technology, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact time period it’s based off, but the general “mood” of the story makes me think it’s around World War I. I quickly found myself sucked into this world that SOW had created.Īs cute and fluffy as the cover images make it look, there are some disquieting elements to the setting of The Combat Baker beneath the surface. The Combat Baker also puts a heavy focus on the political backdrop of its postwar setting, as well as how that affects people in a rural town. I guess in that broad sense it is like Violet Evergarden, although the tone of the story is very, very different. Put simply, I’m a fan of the setting of The Combat Baker. It is a postwar story about a former soldier who takes on a mundane-sounding job in a fantasy European setting. I mentioned in my The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done! blog post that I liked Bookwalker Global’s other exclusive light novel release: The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress. Now that I’ve finally gotten around to reading volume 2, I figure I should write a post explaining why I like it.
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