The Kodansha Award-winning Kitchen Princess is a standard high school romantic drama, replete with rivalries, mixed signals, lost loves, and a happy ending. Najika, the princess of the title, isn’t really royalty, but proves noble in the humble restaurant kitchen she uses to create food to please both patrons of the restaurant and her friends. Yes, it’s cute and somewhat predictable, but there is something special about Kitchen Princess that makes the ten volume series stand out from others of the genre. This addictive tale of loves and dreams lost and found is a treat for the hopeless – and hopeful – romantic.
Orphaned from childhood, Najika has fond memories of her parents, both of whom were well-respected culinary artists, and is driven by her desire to follow in their footsteps with her own cooking skills. She is thrilled to be accepted into a prestigious high school academy, but sad when she leaves the orphanage where she grew up, and does her best to maintain contact with the old woman who raised her and the children still left in her care. Her dreams go beyond the pursuit of baking happiness; once upon a time, a mysterious boy saved her from drowning, and she intends to find that boy, her “Flan Prince,” and live happily ever after with him.
Najika’s dreams involve making others happy with the food she creates, and this desire to please sets her apart during competitions. She pays close attention to the needs and tastes of those she serves and makes the extra effort to individualize her dishes to suit them. Her parents taught her to cook from the heart, and while she takes their advice as a tribute to their memories and her love for them, she is naturally considerate and enjoys thinking of others while she cooks. For Najika, there is no higher purpose to culinary arts than to make those who eat her food happy.
Four men play important roles in her adventure, including the academy director, his two sons, and later, as the story progresses and one of the director’s sons is no longer part of the picture, Seiya, an egotistical, obnoxious baking prodigy, who steps in to rival Najika’s culinary skills. His competitive nature and fierce upbringing make him a worthy opponent, but Najika isn’t interested in winning; she only wants to please. Seiya pushes her to fight back, and ends up learning that winning isn’t just about being the best, it’s also about the pleasure brought to those who benefit from his abilities and efforts.
There is more to the story than competition, however; the brothers, Daichi and Sora, along with Seiya, all vie for Najika’s affections, while her female classmates, most of whom are more sophisticated than she, wonder at her appeal. Romance is in the air and stifling at times, at least to the innocent Najika, who has a full plate of concerns to keep her busy without men to worry over. Her search for the Flan Prince is ongoing, though, and while Sora seems to be the one, then Seiya, her true love comes as a surprise both to Najika and the Flan Prince himself as the story comes to an end.
Drama might be the name of the game, but the kitchen princess likes to take a break now and then to engage in a most unladylike endeavor – eating contests. This small teenage girl can eat like a horse, or a herd of them. She happily moves from one contest to another, even in the same day, gorging on remarkable amounts of food. She loves eating, which only makes sense, except that she doesn’t seem to have any discernment as to the quality of contest food like she has for the dishes she creates for others. The contests seem to be her way of blowing off steam and, in one case, raising money for the orphanage. She loves her life and the opportunities she has, although the stress is almost overwhelming at times, and spending time enjoying food and succeeding without effort in the eating contests sets her back on her feet and ready for whatever comes next.
Kitchen Princess is well-written and -drawn, but not necessarily more so than other manga – what makes this story so addictive is the characterization. Writer Miyuki Kobayashi makes Najika believable as a simple, easygoing girl with a difficult past who wants to bring happiness to others while pursuing her dreams. No one is immune to her influence, even if they first appear to disdain her charm. She doesn’t give up, but there are times that she comes dangerously close, which keeps the general sweetness of the story from becoming saccharine. Kobayashi includes several recipes at the end of each volume that are important to the events in the story, so readers can make their own attempts at culinary success. Several chapters of Kitchen Princess are available online at One Manga.
