Kitchen Princess Vol. 2 by Natsumi Ando, Miyuki Kobayashi: review

Kitchen Princess Vol. 2 by Natsumi Ando, Miyuki Kobayashi

Series: Kitchen Princess #2

My rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Genre: Shojo, Slice-of-Life, Romance

Publisher: Del Ray

Synopsis: Najika has a special gift. She’s a marvelous cook whose food awakens people’s fondest memories and feelings of affection. Now she’s attending the prestigious Seika Academy, where she hopes to find her “prince,” the boy who saved her when she was a little girl. One big problem: It seems that nobody wants her at the college–except two cute brothers, Sora and Daichi, who befriend her right away. But the super-popular teen model Akane will do anything to drive Najika out of the school, even if it means staging a cooking contest with an award-winning chef as Najika’s opponent. Will Najika’s magical food warm Akane’s cold heart?

*Beware of spoilers

My thoughts: I was very surprised with this volume. Although the volume is still pretty cute it is revealed that Akane the mean girl has an eating disorder. I  think that it was handled well. Najika is able to help the girl by making her eat a food that she has a strong emotional attachment to. I don’t think that it was very realistic but it fits in with the manga’s theme: something made lovingly is good for the soul. Seeing as this manga is about cooking I think that putting in pictures and gifs of food in this review will be very fitting.

I thought that it was really nice that the authors of the manga decided to give Akane some personality and depth to her character. Although she is not being completely nice to Najika she is at least being civil towards her now. I believe that if Akane puts aside her jealousy of Najika that the two girls would become good friends.

I really like Akane’s ability. She has an absolute sense of taste which means that she can tell how a food was made by the taste of it and never forget the taste. I thought it was really clever and was a refreshing trait after reading about all those girls who are either “average” or have a strong superpower in manga and books.

There is a cooking contest involved in this volume and I enjoyed reading about the event. It was not what I would call suspensful as it is obvious who is going to win but it was fun.

I still love the cute art. I expecially love how Akane and Sora are drawn. The second volume of this manga is great and I am still loving the Kitchen Princess series. Seeing as Najika means rainbow I think a picture of a rainbow cake will be very fitting for the ending of this review.

Kitchen Princess by Natsumi Ando, Miyuki Kobayashi: review

Kitchen Princess by Natsumi Ando(manga), Miyuki Kobayashi(story)

Series: Kitchen Princess #1

My rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Genre: Shojo, Slice-of-Life, Romance

Publisher: Del Ray

Synopsis: Najika is a great cook and likes to make meals for the people she loves. But something is missing from her life. When she was a child, she met a boy who touched her heart–and now Najika is determined to find him. The only clue she has is a silver spoon that leads her to the prestigious Seika Academy.

Attending Seika will be a challenge. Every kid at the school has a special talent, and the girls in Najika’s class think she doesn’t deserve to be there. But Sora and Daichi, two popular brothers who barely speak to each other, recognize Najika’s cooking for what it is–magical. Is either boy Najika’s mysterious prince

My thoughts: This manga was so cute! I love how the manga includes cooking. I got this manga because the cover seemed so cute and the synopsis made the story seem pretty cute also. This manga just screams out cuteness! There are also recipes at the end of every volume of the foods that Najika makes!

I loved Najika! She reminded me a lot of Tohru Honda from the manga, Fruits Basket. She shares almost the exact same personality. She is sweet, always wants to help, selfless, and never gives up. She does have her moments where you can tell that things are tough for her. Her passion for cooking is very admirable. Sora and Daichi are the two boys that Najika thinks might be her prince. I can’t guess which one it is. Both of the boys have their redeeming qualities although I am leaning towards Sora. I wonder what made the two brothers dislike each other so much. There is a mean girl, named Akane in this manga but I think there is something we don’t know about her.

The story is very sweet and simple. Najika goes to a special academy to find her prince. There is a whole lot of cooking involved to! This story is about all the characters and I do like it so far. All the characters are likeable…well except for Akane and her two annoying and hateful followers(another similarity to Fruits Basket).

The art is really pretty and cute! I loved the all the characters were drawn and the backgrounds were good to. I absolutely hate it when a manga has next to no backgrounds. I always drop manga like that. The art is good to look at and I flipped through the pages after reading it just to stare at the pretty pictures.

Kitchen Princess is a really cute story and I enjoyed it a lot! I found the story to be a very sweet one and I will definitely read the next volume.