Well it's been years since I finished the 'Kitchen Princess' manga series. It's still one of my favourites, but I've put off reading the prose book/light novel, 'Search for the Angel Cake', for ages as it sat on my shelf, collecting dust. I had so many other things to do and read, I guess.
Now in one afternoon of free time, I finally bothered to remember that it exists, and I got into it.
It's good. Not great or as touching and sweet as the manga - Najika can be bizarrely rude sometimes, and Daichi is a jokey smartarse, to name a few out-of-character traits - but it's nice enough. It is told from the point of view of Najika Kazami, a girl who dreams of being the world's best pastry chef. Her quest to find her "flan prince" - the main plot of the manga - is never mentioned, which is for the best since it has nothing to do with this particular story. We are treated to Najika's thoughts and emotions, which can be hugely, sagely optimistic (she's a shoujo heroine, after all) and incredibly sad depending on the situation. Her relationship with her late parents and how she misses them is expanded upon, as well.
There is still plenty of food and dessert porn to relish, with added recipes at the end of each section, themed around the seasons of a year. Yet we never actually see Najika cook her recipes. We don't know the process of how she does it; the cooking itself isn't described, we just cut to the food already made every time. Also, I've never really read a light novel before, but I think that a few manga illustrations occasionally appearing on pages is usual for the format.
There is drama, silly juvenile stuff, romantic touches, and tragedy - a mixture the original manga has. I am a little bothered by how the tragic elements are handled, particularly at the abrupt end.
Spoiler:
Sora, who died in the manga, is only mentioned sparingly, and is used in relation to Najika's grief, not Daichi's, and Sora was his brother!
Spoiler end.
It just seems too contrived to me.
'Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake' - Starts out and continues to be a simple plot of 150 pages, ending in melancholy - a reflection of life and filling it with food; in the company of those you love. It is sweetly sad - bittersweet, as it were - and hopeful. I liked revisiting Najika and her friends again - including a new one in the form of a classmate: the shy, girly and rich bookworm, Anju. All they seem to do is eat sweets, and they never gain weight. But that's anime and manga for you.
Creamy, puffy, light-hearted love.
Final Score: 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment