Natsumi, Volume 2 Omnibus Cover Art, Kitchen Princess, Kodansha.
Kitchen Princess – Information
Author of Story: Natsumi Ando
Chapter Count: 10 Volumes, 47 Chapters
Status: Completed
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Bullying
- Loss of loved ones, death, grief
- Food, extreme dieting, body image, ED
- Blood, injury, hospitalization, homicide
- Trauma
- Mention of SH, SI
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
Kitchen Princess – Plot Summary
Kitchen Princess is a food-related shoujo manga that follows the main character, Najika Kazami, and her quest to find her “flan prince.” Najika has a special talent for cooking and even identifying ingredients in any dish she eats. Najika’s parents, who were dessert chefs, passed when she was very young.
One day as she was crying alone near her orphanage, she fell into a pond and was saved by a young boy. This boy gave her words of encouragement and gifted her a flan, with a spoon that had an emblem engraved on it; the same emblem from a school called Seika Academy.
So, once she reaches the age of 15, Najika decides to enroll in Seika Academy to hopefully find her flan prince and achieve her dream of becoming a pastry/dessert chef like her parents. At the school, she meets two unique boys: Daichi and Sora, who make the start of her school life very interesting!
Don’t be fooled by the cute premise or cover art, this manga is full of drama and plot twists; trust me, it gets messy. However, there are also a lot of heartfelt moments, so it’s a blend of emotions!
Why I Enjoyed Kitchen Princess
This manga is a bit on the older side (originally published in Japan in 2005), so the story is very predictable in many ways, but it is still very enjoyable.
There’s a good bit of drama throughout this school story, so things stay interesting! The food-focused plots are pretty fun and unique, and overall the story does have a lot of touching moments.
The romance of Kitchen Princess feels very soap opera-like. It’s dramatic, with a fateful encounter pushing the FL to go search for her destined person. There are multiple love interests, and their relationships with Najika are both coincidental and meant to be.
There’s both a prince-like love interest and a more tsundere, aloof love interest. The plot twists when it came to the romance in this story are what had me especially engaged while reading!
Natsumi, Volume 1 Omnibus Cover Art, Kitchen Princess, Kodansha.
One cute aspect of this series that sort of helps balance the drama is that the main character is very kind and doesn’t give up on others.
She endures a lot in her own life, but still has an admirable goal of making others happy through food. We get to see this in a couple of different ways throughout the manga! She is also very in love with cooking, her memories of cooking with her parents, and serving food to others.
There are even pages throughout the Kitchen Princess series featuring recipes, with instructions and even measurements. I haven’t personally tried these recipes, but it’s such a cute and thoughtful addition to a food-themed manga.
The vibe of this story is very much that of a classic shoujo:
A bright-eyed, kind, and naive heroine with big dreams falls in love… and experiences the typical manga tropes (love triangle, jealous side characters, misunderstandings, drama, damsel in distress, multiple male leads, etc). It’s all tropes we’ve seen before, but as a seasoned manga reader, I feel like it’s fun to read these original styles sometimes!
Although there is drama, the romance in this shoujo is still very sweet, slow, and flowery; the heroine meets a couple different male leads and falls in love here and there while searching for her fated “flan prince.”
However, although Kitchen Princess seems like a cute and innocent shoujo, I will warn that it does take you on an emotional roller coaster. Prepare for drama and many plot twists in this story. There are some dark and sad themes within this cute and fluffy-seeming shoujo. (Be sure to check the content warnings listed at the beginning of this post!)
So although this story does have its soft and sweet moments… maybe don’t read this if you hate plot twists or dramatic events, haha. If you prefer shoujo that is only innocence and fluff, check out Takane no Ran San instead!
I, on the other hand, love to read a variety of shoujos and don’t mind the whiplash that this manga gives you. I think crazy, dramatic plots in manga is so fun and sort of hilarious!
I will also say that Kitchen Princess also does a good job of having a variety of characters and even developing side characters. Even characters that you’ll come to absolutely despise get a redemption arc; it keeps things very interesting for sure.
These characters and the entire story are both very engaging, so this manga is a wild yet enjoyable read!
Any Cons?
There’s a tiny bit of fan-service in Kitchen Princess, which is really weird considering how young the students are. It’s not very often (in fact, it only happens like 1-2 times at the very beginning and it isn’t anything extreme), so it can be ignored. The manga would obviously be much better off without it, though.
Also, the art style is a bit dated, which may or may not be an actual con for this manga depending on the reader. I don’t mind much, but I know some readers might not enjoy it. (Yes, in some panels, the heroine’s eyes are rather large).
Natsumi, Volume 3 Omnibus Cover Art, Kitchen Princess, Kodansha.
As mentioned earlier, this shoujo contains a ton of the original shoujo tropes. I know some readers get tired of reading similar tropes over and over again, so just know what you’re getting into. If you prefer more modern shoujo, this one might not be a good fit for you (try Tonari no Stella instead; it has drama, too)!
There is also one adult character in this manga who acts as a main antagonist for some weird reason. I don’t understand why this grown adult is hating on a group of kids but somebody had to be the bad guy, I guess! They get a bit of a redemption arc, but it was still a bit questionable to begin with.
Lastly, none of the male leads understand personal space. They were a bit too touchy without consent. Poor Najika.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this genre of shoujo isn’t my absolute favorite; but, this manga had such a crazy, dramatic, and memorable plot that it was still pretty enjoyable regardless.
This manga had lots of ups and downs; so if you enjoy messy dramas, Kitchen Princess is a good choice! And although it’s surrounded by unexpected twists and backstories, there is still a cute connection between food and happiness in this story.
Reading this manga was a lot of fun; there is a lot that happens in only a few volumes so the story stays very engaging. Regardless of the common shoujo tropes found in this series, it is extremely entertaining and has a satisfying ending. Check out this story, and share your thoughts below!
Disclaimer: Any images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Ando, Natsumi. Kitchen Princess, Kodansha, 2012. Kitchen no Ohime-sama, Kodansha, 2005.
