Komura. Volume 8 Cover Art Cropped, Mixed Vegetables, Viz Media.
Mixed Vegetables- Information
Author of Story: Ayumi Komura
Chapter Count: 8 volumes, 54 chapters
Status: Completed
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below, only the literary work itself.
- Loss of loved ones
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.
Mixed Vegetables – Plot Summary
Today’s recommendation is a fun high school romance with a theme of cooking! This cute shoujo manga from the 2000s follows 15-year old Hanayu Ashitaba, the daughter of a pastry chef. Along with many other classmates, Hanayu attends a culinary arts program at her school to improve her skills and jumpstart her career in the food industry.
Hanayu’s dream is to become a sushi chef, but can’t seem to tell this to her family—especially her dad, who wants her to take over their patisserie. Instead, she creates a plan to marry her classmate, Hayato Hyuga, who is the son of a sushi chef.
By marrying him, she’ll have a good excuse to run a sushi shop without hurting her father’s feelings. However, Hanayu can’t help but be jealous of Hyuga’s future sushi shop inheritance and his impressive skills in the kitchen.
Will her jealousy ruin her chances of marrying Hyuga and achieving her dream? Or… will her one-track mind get in the way of a youthful romance? The plot of this series may seem pretty simple or even a bit silly, but it actually turns out to be very wholesome and sweet—so don’t miss out!
Komura. Volume 5 Cover Art, Mixed Vegetables, Viz Media.
Why You Should Read Mixed Vegetables
Plot:
The Mixed Vegetables manga series is a cute romance shoujo with two main characters who both work in the food industry and have food-related dreams. Because of this, I almost expected the story to be like Kitchen Princess, but this manga turned out to be much less crazy or melodramatic.
Although it was less wild than Kitchen Princess, this manga took me for an unexpectedly emotional ride. Mixed Vegetables starts off with a classic romcom feel where the characters are all kind of goofy, but are still cute and lovable.
The premise seems quite simple, but the story quickly becomes more involved, unfolding new sides to the characters we had yet to see before, as well as new challenges for them to overcome.
I was pleasantly surprised by the shift this manga takes, especially after the initial impression which made me think this series would be very unserious. If you begin to read it and think it will just be a silly nonsensical romcom, you’d be mistaken!
So, let’s dive into my favorite topic: the romance! At first I thought this story would portray a more lighthearted and primarily comedic romance. However, with the shift mentioned above, both the plot and romance change for the better. With this shift, you’ll get to enjoy some drama and many different character developments that make the romance feel even more special and worth it.
The romance technically starts early in the series, but sort of takes its time to get somewhere officially, often featuring cute and natural developments as the plot progresses.
These slow developments are cute, but the romance feels especially rewarding towards the end! I will admit the romance in this manga may also be a little cheesy, but I absolutely love cheesy, so this romance was perfect for me, haha.
Next I’d like to discuss the comedy! The style of comedy in Mixed Vegetables feels a bit old school, with a bit of slapstick and a lot of focus on character personality.
A lot of the characters in this series are pretty eccentric, and so they all sort of contribute to the manga’s comedy. For example, the main character is sushi-obsessed, and so a lot of jokes originate from her passion for fish.
Although it may not sound very unique or particularly impressive, I actually really enjoyed the comedy in this series. It was always timed well, appropriate for the plot, and effective. To be honest, I don’t always like slapstick, but this series does it just fine.
The character-focused jokes were what really got me (especially poor Aoi being invisible). I was a little surprised that the comedy in this manga still holds up—often when I read an older series, the comedy can feel a little dated in terms of subject matter and style.
Outside of the romance and comedy, this manga has a surprisingly wholesome plot about chasing your dreams and overcoming different obstacles to achieve those dreams. I thought this story would just be a goofy romcom, but it had a more meaningful plot than I had expected and turned out to be very sweet.
Additionally, there aren’t many typical shoujo tropes to interrupt the main story. There’s drama, but without annoying love rivals (technically), miscommunication tropes, or anything super unnecessary. Therefore, I’d say this is a great manga for anyone who needs a wholesome read.
To summarize, this manga has a great blend of humor, romance, and more serious plot points. If you’d enjoy a youthful story with a meaningful plot, good character growth, and a sweet romance, Mixed Vegetables is worth a try!
Characters:
There is a pretty set cast of characters in this manga, many of whom play important roles and have regular appearances, but if I’m being honest the stars of the show are truly the main two—so I’ll be focusing on them below.
Starting with the female lead, Hanayu is actually a much better main character than I first thought she’d be. The first impression makes her seem like a goofy lead who is kind of dense and immature. To be honest, I was worried she’d be a frustrating character.
However, Hanayu actually has a lot of character growth and deals with a variety of different challenges. She experiences heartbreak, guilt, envy, and many more difficult emotions that make her character much more mature, relatable, and capable than at first glance.
Her growth is realistic and I liked her character much more than I thought I would; especially her personality—she’s a strong, hardworking young lady who really loves creating sushi, haha!
Then there’s the male lead, Hayato. Hayato is probably my favorite character of this series. I feel like a lot of shoujo manga skimp out on the male lead’s personality, growth, and emotional development, but the Mixed Vegetables manga series does a really great job at creating a male lead with actual depth to his character.
Hayato always has certain intentions (good or bad) behind everything he does, and shows a lot of emotion in this story. He’s kind, protective, and strong-willed.
It’s quite the contrast to the usual aloof tsunderes I often read, so this was a nice change. I also liked that he was a kind character without being too perfect—he got angry, made mistakes, and had his own struggles to overcome, too.
I was really impressed with these two characters and the immense growth they experience not just in their respective careers or romantic relationship, but also just as individuals.
Art:
The art style of this manga series is that classic 2000s style with the more detailed and sort of “spiky” hair, with ahoge to top things off (especially at the beginning).
There’s even that trend with characters having very long shirt sleeves that completely cover their hands, haha! To be honest, these recognizable styles may have played a part in why my first impression of the series was that it was more silly and unserious.
Regardless, these character designs felt pretty nostalgic when I first began reading this manga, but I do think it slightly rounds out a bit more as you read on. It’s not a drastic change, so the art still feels consistent while also having a slight shift in overall style.
I do want to mention that the mangaka does a fantastic job at pretty much all their illustrations. For example, the characters are seen in all sorts of different outfits and uniforms that look amazing, and there’s often food-related illustrations that look very beautiful!
There isn’t a ton of background art in Mixed Vegetables, but overall I think all of the artistic elements came together nicely to create this fun series.
Komura. Volume 3 Cover Art, Mixed Vegetables, Viz Media.
Any Cons?
This shoujo manga has a very cute romance and plot, but can be a little predictable in how the story plays out.
Predictability isn’t necessarily bad as it can create an uncomplicated and non-stressful reading experience, but for readers looking for something unique or surprising, this manga may not fulfill that desire.
Other than that, I can’t think of any cons for this series!
Final Thoughts
The Mixed Vegetables manga series is a really cute and underrated read. While I was a little unsure at the beginning, this story quickly becomes really engaging and meaningful.
I really loved the natural progression of the romance, and the impressive amount of character growth we get to see as the main characters fight to reach their dreams. It’s a lovely and wholesome read that I’d recommend to any shoujo enjoyer!
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: Komura, Ayumi. Mixed Vegetables, Viz Media, 2013.
