This is a manga series cute enough to eat, like a creamy Ricotta cheesecake. It is the sweetest, snuggliest, loveliest, most delicious shoujo manga I've ever read - purely to be read to take the place of eating comfort food. By the moon and the stars I feel stupid just typing up those words, but I can't think of a more fitting description of 'Kitchen Princess', even if each chapter of all 10 volumes really did offer up a dessert - like a strawberry truffle or a creme caramel. The artwork fits the cooking-story perfectly, with each dish looking good enough to taste. Natsumi Ando-san practically compels her readers to want to try cooking or baking her protagonist's multiple recipes themselves. Scrumptious!
Is there much need to add anything else? If my opening paragraph has made you hungry enough to at least be curious about 'Kitchen Princess', then chances are you may love it if you try a slice. It is, in my opinion, also one of the most underrated manga I've read.
On the surface, aside from the academy setting and talent competition side dish of things, the story is fairly, typically shoujo. There's a saintly female orphan protagonist, a love triangle with a brooding, dark-haired boy vs a more open and understanding blonde-haired boy, a mean girl and her cronies, and a mystery surrounding the heroine encountering a faceless boy in her childhood and so she dedicates her entire life to finding him.
Sounds standard, and it is. But no cliche in 'Kitchen Princess' is portrayed badly, and none of them are annoying there. Mainly because of the endearing and charismatic cast.
The heroine, Najika, is impossible not to love and admire - for her adorable personality and her endurance to be a top cook and to help those she loves and those she feels needs it. She does not want to find her childhood prince at the Seika Academy just for "true love", but for him to try her goal of a perfect dish. Not only is Najika a talented chef like her late famous parents (but not without effort and hard work), she's a wonderful person; whose flaws stem from her naivety, but she refuses to let her shortcomings get in the way of her dreams. She is a friend to all, and if her friendship is magical, so is her cooking!
The two love triangle boys, Sora and Daichi, are brothers. And there is a dark, deep-rooted reason for their differences in personality and their conflict with one another. The mean girl, Akane, is a Defrosting Ice Queen who grows a heart through her eventual friendship with Najika, and even she becomes likeable.
Plus, halfway through the series, 'Kitchen Princess' takes a surprisingly dark turn for a shoujo manga aimed at young girls. At its emotional storytelling heart is a warmth and comfort that proceeds from suffering and loss.
But aside from its moments of melancholy and tragedy, it is so cute! The artwork, man. The artwork! Desserts truly can look as good as they do in 'Kitchen Princess'!
Well that's all, my friends. Consider 'Kitchen Princess' highly recommended. It's all kinds of flavoursome, and contains just the right amount of sugary-sweetness without being too saccharine. It has its layers of dark chocolate too; but with no sticky sourness or bitterness. A fine cuisine.
(Okay Artemis, enough of the food and cooking metaphors now.)
Hmmmmm, writing this lame-menu-disguised-as-a-review has made me peckish. I crave yummy cake. Time to Ready-Steady-Cook-it into the kitchen, take out a Delia Smith recipe book (or reread 'Kitchen Princess' - either works), and see what puddings I can make for my family and moi.
(Seriously Art, stop it.)
(Alright, temptation wins. Here's one more cooking reference.)
Err, Bon appétit.
Final Score: 5/5
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