Ando Natsumi and Kobayashi Miyuki - Kitchen Princess, vol. 01 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

Kazami Najika is a poor orphan who has nevertheless lived happily in Hokkaido with Hagio-sensei, who taught her to cook. But she's determined to find her Flan Prince! Apparently the day she learned her parents had died, a mysterious young boy gave her delicious flan and a silver spoon, and Najika has vowed to repay his kindness by finding him and making him the tastiest dessert ever!

As one does...

The silver spoon bears the logo of the prestigious Seika Academy in Tokyo, and so, Najika is off to Tokyo to seek her prince. Unfortunately, she's been placed in Class A, which is the class for special people, and quite a few of those special people are disgruntled by a seemingly talentless orphan in their midst. But soon, Najika's gotten the attention of the Kitazawa brothers, who are also enemies for reasons no one knows. Kind and aristocratic Sora helps her out, and grumpy Daichi scowls at her but also helps her out sneakily. (All bets on Daichi winning out after a brotherly reconciliation! I am sure this comes as a surprise to no one, as the best way to win your love interest's interest in shoujo is to be surly yet quietly adorable when you think no one is looking so they cannot take advantage of your soft marshmallow heart.)

This is light, fluffy, and nearly substance-less. The art is very young shoujo, with ponytails and ginormous sparkling eyes and huge smiles. You have the rivalry between two boys, the beautiful girl who hates Najika, and of course, Najika herself—brilliant cook, klutzy girl, adorable and hard-working orphan. There are many scenes in which Najika espouses the importance of cooking to make someone feel loved, and of course, her food is sure to win everyone over.

Still, I think this might appeal to younger audiences or people looking for manga for younger audiences, and I like reading just for kitchen wackiness.

Comments

[the_rck]

When I read this volume, I kept having Antique Bakery flashes, not from any stylistic commonality, just from the food. The food was enough to make me read more.

There is a plot twist around about volume five or six that will put off some younger readers (and some older ones). It surprised me and is not sexual. That's all I'll say unless asked because it's a massive spoiler, to the extent that I spoiler coded my discussion of it in my book log entry, something I've never done before.

[oyceter]

Oh, that's interesting! I might keep reading just to find out what it could be...

[readsalot.livejournal.com]

This is one of my comfort reads, because it's so very fluffy and sweet. That said, the plot twist that therck mentioned did kind of throw me for a loop, but I'm still reading and enjoying this.

[oyceter]

Now I am super curious about the plot twist (though don't spoil me)! I can totally see how this would be a comfort read; I picked it up specifically because it looked like it would be candy-colored and fluffy.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Wow. A kitchen-based Utena parody? All they need is the Crepe Bride for people to kitchen-duel over...

[oyceter]

I can't believe I didn't think of the Utena analogue before! They should totally have a Crepe Bride.