bunnyjadwiga (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bunnyjadwiga) wrote2010-10-04 12:01 pm
bunnyjadwiga) wrote2010-10-04 12:01 pm
Entry tags:
Book review: Kitchen Princess series (Manga)
Someone I read complained about how unliberated the concept of this manga series was: a young girl wants to find the 'prince' who saved her life and cook him the best dessert in the world. I was intrigued, especially when I looked into it an discovered that the heroine also wants to be a world-class pastry chef like her parents.
All the females in our house plowed happily through all 10 cream-puff volumes of this series. The plot is frothy and with the usually girl manga elements-- which guy will she chose? How can she get along with the mean girls? How can she (and other characters) balance family, personal, and friend ties? What will she do with her life? On the other hand, there are serious touches (someone dies, for instance), and the heroine makes (good) life choices and uses food to bring folks together. MeMe Roth would disapprove of Kitchen Princess' comfort food focus, but her desire to teach others is a plus in my book.
Graphically presented recipes for the main dish in each episode appear at the end of the books. Dessert making isn't my thing, but I did like the presentation.
I don't feel the need to own this series, but it did get me started reading manga, and I thoroughly enjoyed these. And no, I didn't feel it was particularly unliberated, except in the usually tween-fluff way.
All the females in our house plowed happily through all 10 cream-puff volumes of this series. The plot is frothy and with the usually girl manga elements-- which guy will she chose? How can she get along with the mean girls? How can she (and other characters) balance family, personal, and friend ties? What will she do with her life? On the other hand, there are serious touches (someone dies, for instance), and the heroine makes (good) life choices and uses food to bring folks together. MeMe Roth would disapprove of Kitchen Princess' comfort food focus, but her desire to teach others is a plus in my book.
Graphically presented recipes for the main dish in each episode appear at the end of the books. Dessert making isn't my thing, but I did like the presentation.
I don't feel the need to own this series, but it did get me started reading manga, and I thoroughly enjoyed these. And no, I didn't feel it was particularly unliberated, except in the usually tween-fluff way.