It's 'The Prince and the Dressmaker', but the crossdressing party is genderbent, and there is more aristocracy and monarchy, and while it appears to be historical fiction, it isn't; it is actually set in an alternate world from ours, that has both historical and contemporary elements and features. And there are grilled cheese sandwiches.
Seriously, I officially, humbly, legitimately, regally declare 'The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich' to have the greatest title ever in a graphic novel. I mean, how could I not want to read it after seeing that? Oh yeah, you will want to eat a grilled cheese sandwich after reading it. I'd somehow forgotten until now that that was one of my favourite foods. Though in England we call them toasted cheese sandwiches, or toasties.'The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich' - I will never get tired of that title! - is a very funny, colourful, sparkly, expressive, anime-esque, so darn rosy (I swear there are more roses here than in 'Revolutionary Girl Utena'!), and overall lovely and charismatic graphic novel. It is about Lady Camembert, who wants independence and fun away from living in a world and system where she'll have to marry a man in order to own her own money, and any money, and any vestige of freedom. The effed-upness of that aside, she just doesn't like men. So before he dies, her count father suggests she disguise herself as a man and move far away to a place where no one knows her, and she'll have to keep a low profile. She does just that after his death.
Well, except for the low profile part.
A social butterfly by nature, Cam can never help herself, and she can't stand being a shut-in and a hermit (unless she's in the mood for it), much to the chagrin of her long-suffering but well-intentioned and forever loyal servant, Feta. Attending an activist ball and making a spectacle of herself is how "Count" Camembert meets and gets mixed up with Princess Brie, of the Fromage nobility, and her company; her friends Lady Ricotta and Lady Gorgonzola.
Leaving aside how practically every character is named after a cheese, along with other foods (how very 'Cucumber Quest'), this is ultimately a high society love story between Camembert and Brie, where Brie thinks Camembert is a man at first (how very Shakespearean dramady), and no matter what, no matter how hard they try, neither of them can get away from or get over the other.
They inhabit a backwards patriarchal system which leaves women with so few less-than-terrible options in life. Maybe grilled cheese sandwiches are the key to bringing this couple together. Maybe a single grilled cheese will do...
'The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich' is set in a weird world that could be set in the 1800s, or any time period that makes you think of the word bourgeoisie, and of Jane Austen and 'Bridgerton', but there exist fridges, modern-style cardboard moving boxes, video games (specifically the Nintendo Switch console is shown), movie theaters, crisps, high tech showers, cameras, and CD boomboxes. Also, people say "gods" in the form of expletives, rather than a single "god".
As well as cheeses, the comic contains a cute puppy; Brie's pet, Gouda. Adorable and funny thing.
There's lots of fashion. Including Vintage Cheddior! Pretty dresses, roses, cheese, a puppy, LBGTQ rep - this piece has a slice of everything!
All the characters are funny and likeable in their own way, but I especially love the childlike, bored, ditzy, sensitive and impulsive gamer girl Camembert and her relationship with the fed-up but motherly, caregiving Feta. The more serious and stoic Gorgonzola is very complex, multilayered and smart, and I love her, too.
The comedic/dramatic/passionate slow burn romance between Cam and Brie is loosely based on author Deya Muniz's relationship with their wife, and it shows.
What a cute, pretty, delightful and hilarious prize! It has all the cheeses! And cheesiness! I want to thank whoever invented cheese, too, Deya! In addition, the artwork is great.
I cannot undersell and understate the w/w nobility rep, seeking to change society and give the less fortunate and privileged hope, either (though admittedly nobody who ranks underneath the middle class is actually represented here).
'The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich' is a positive, colourful, shiny wish fulfilment fantasy, and I can't get enough of it, even though I'm trying to exercise restraint and be more critical nowadays when it comes to liking, indulging in, and guilty-pleasuring princessey media, and any media with the word princess in its title. On the other side of the coin is the grilled cheese! Recommended at once!
"What do you say we have grilled cheese sandwiches with a side of tomato soup?"
Yep. Recommended.
Final Score: 4/5
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