Manga Maniac Cafe For the Geek in all of us

Title:  Kitchen Princess Vol 3

Manga by: Natsumi Ando

Story by:  Miyuki Kobayashi

Publisher: Del Rey

ISBN:   9780345496607

May Contain Spoilers

Najika is still searching for her elusive Flan Prince, and she’ll never give up her search.  Things have starting looking up for her at Seika Academy, and her frosty relationship with Akane seems to have thawed.  When some jealous classmates try to close Fujita Diner, Najika’s new friends search for a way to keep it open.  Will they be able to convince the PTA director to give the restaurant another chance?

Najika just seems to have a way of attracting other girls’ animosity.  When she’s glimpsed getting a little too cozy with Sora, Akane’s cronies decide that it’s time to do something about her.  With a little help from her PTA director daddy, one of the girls persuades him to close Fujita Diner.  Najika is devastated by the news.  Cooking is her way to de-stress, and now her precious place of refuge is going to be permanently closed!   

Najika is surrounded by some very petty classmates.  Jealous of the bond she’s made with the two hottest guys at school, they try their best to make her so miserable that she’s leave school and go back home.  It didn’t work the last time, so I don’t understand why they think it will work this time, but they do manage to get her extremely upset.  If she can’t make her wonderful food for everyone to enjoy, she doesn’t know what she’s going to do!  It’s great to have a hobby, and Najika really does derive a lot of satisfaction preparing delicious things to eat.   She was ready to throw in the towel a little too quickly, but when even Fujita doesn’t put up much of a fight, I can’t really blame her for feeling helpless.  There are only so many things that a school girl can accomplish on her own, and with the PTA again her, Najika must have felt like she was attempting to scale Mt Fuji all by herself.  Then she gets some help from a surprising source and regains the will to fight for the diner.

When Hagio falls ill, Najika must rush back home, with Daichi and Sora in tow.  A stolen moment by the river has her thinking that Daichi might be her Flan Prince, and yields up some attractive illustrations of Najika and Daichi.  The story is occasionally insipid, but Natsumi Ando’s artwork is bright and detailed, barring some cluttered backgrounds.  I really like the art, and it’s probably what keeps me reading the series.

After their trip to Hokkaido, Daichi and Najika are even closer than before.  Akane picks up on that in about two seconds flat, and the realization doesn’t sit well with her.  In fact, she hates it!  Her competitive nature kicks back into overdrive, and she’s all riled up to keep Daichi all to herself.  I think she should have learned something after the events in the previous volume, but no, she’s back up to her old tricks.  Though not outwardly nasty to Najika, she reverts to her sneaky, conniving old self.  Some much for some character growth! Daichi is partially to blame for her relapse, and if he had just been honest with Akane and himself, perhaps Najika wouldn’t have to endure Akane’s shenanigans.   And by not being honest, he’s not being fair to either Najika or Akane.  I am wondering how all of that is going to pan out.

Also included are some recipes of food featured in the story.  Wish I had the ambition to try to make a few.

Grade: B-