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Najika
Kazami's attends the Seika Academy in Tokyo. Her two friends Daichi and
Sora, who are brothers, support her in all she does because they realize what a
great cook she is. Having passed the first round of the National Western
Confectionary Competition, Najika is looking forward to the next round.
But she is still bothered by the kiss that Daichi recently planted on
her lips. She is confused as to why he kissed her in the first place.
Daichi admits to Najika that it meant nothing to him. She is greatly
affected by this comment because it was her first kiss and now it meant
nothing to the boy who kissed her. How terrible is that? Daichi hates
himself for hurting Najika's feeling and swears to himself that he will
never do so again. Sora tells Najika that the next thing she must bake
in the competition is a dessert that stimulates the five senses. At the
competition, Sora introduces Najika to his father, the Director of Seika
Academy. He informs Najika that her parents were famous pastry chefs and
he scoured the land looking for her so she could go to his academy.
Najika soon finds out that he is using her and wants her to be the
spokesperson for the academy and to help promote the new school he is
helping to build. Najika also leans that Sora is working for his father
and that hurts her feelings too. With all that it going on, she wonders
how well she is going to do in the competition. And to make things even
worse, Najika seems to have developed tendonitis in her stirring arm and
cannot hold the utensils properly for stirring.
Kitchen
Princess: Volume 5 is a manga
book drawn by Natsumi Ando and written by Miyuki Kobayashi. This book
was translated by Satsuki Yamashito, adapted by Nunzio DeFilippis &
Christina Weir, and Lettered by North Market Street Graphics. This book
contains the following Recipes (chapters):
-
Recipe 20: Najika and the Strawberry Tart
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Recipe 21: Najika and the Castella
-
Recipe 22: Najika and the Crepes
-
Recipe 23: Najika and the Soufflé Ice
Cream
-
Kitchen Princess Spring Break Special
-
Kitchen Palace
There is
also some special extras in the following sections: A) Honorifics
Explained, B) Recipes, C) From the Writer, D) About the Creator, E) Translation Notes, and a
F) Preview of Volume 6, although the preview is in Japanese. The book reads
from right to left and back to front, just like a book from Japan. This
manga book is intended for readers ages 13 and up.
Kitchen
Princess: Volume 5 continues with
the emotional issues set up in the previous books and with the
completion she is in. With Daichi having kissed her and admitting it was
nothing to him, it hurt Najika's feeling greatly. Besides, Sora is the
one she really wants a kiss from, but she has her feelings hurt when she
finds out he is working for his father and using her. All of this makes
Najika feel totally used, and not in a good way. This story continues
the emotional roller coaster that Najika is riding. Miyuki Kobayashi has
done a nice job in creating a story that young girls will really enjoy.
The artwork by Natsumi Ando is quite nice and she does an fantastic job
at drawing all of the food that Najika's whips up. And as for the
ending, all I can say is, "Wow!" Color me quite shocked. With an ending
like this, I will have a hard time waiting the few months for the next
book to come out. I do enjoy that the National Western Confectionary
Competition storyline is being told over a couple of books. To have done
it all in one book would have made it seemed rushed. Overall, Kitchen
Princess: Volume 5 is a nice
addition to a fun manga series that girls will love, like my 12-year old
daughter does. Readers will be shocked to find out what Najika tells
Sora in this book. With all the exciting events that occurred in this
book, I cannot wait to see what happens next in
Kitchen
Princess: Volume 6. Don't miss it. I know I won't.
I rated
this book an 8½ out of 10. |
