After the deaths of her parents, Najika is walking in their footsteps to become a pastry chef. After a mystery boy saves her from falling to her death, she tells him she wanted to go to heaven to be reunited with her parents. He gives her his flan to make her feel better and leaves his silver spoon behind.

She’s determined to find her “Flan Prince” and bake something for him in return.

Hoping to find him, she enrolls in Seika Academy. Her fellow students bully her because they don’t believe she belongs there. Two popular brothers, who can’t stand each other, come to her defense. She’s determined to be the connection to bring these brothers closer to each other.

This is one of the sweetest stories. It’s focused on high schoolers at a cooking school. It couldn’t be more basic than that, but it still manages to bring all the feels while dealing with death and a student with an eating disorder. Najika is a positive ray of sunshine. She reminds me so much of Tohru from Fruits Basket. I enjoyed this. I got this recommendation from Laura A. Grace’s YouTube channel.

TRIGGER WARNING: In Vol. 2, Akane has Bulimia. In one panel, she’s seen shoving a finger down her throat to induce vomiting. This might be triggering for some readers.

ACTION: Kitchen Princess fits well in the slice-of-life category. We get to follow Najika as she leaves the orphanage for the first time to Seika Academy, a cooking school. She struggles to fit in with her classmates and form friendships with the other students, especially the girls who feel she doesn’t belong there! If you’re someone who’s never felt like they fit in, you’ll relate to Najika, and be rooting for her to succeed!

ADVENTURE: You’ll find no heart-pounding action here unless you can’t take the heat of reading about cooking competitions! The adventure in this story comes from Najika leaving the familiar behind for something new. The transition from orphanage to cooking school is an adventure in its own right! She has to learn who her friends are, and how to respond to people who won’t like her no matter what she does. But thankfully, she’ll find a couple of true friends along the way.

ROMANCE: There’s not much in the way of romance in these first two volumes. The mangaka may be setting up a potential romance, possibly even a love triangle between Najika, Sora, and Daichi. Akane gets jealous over the possibility of something more brewing between Najika and Daichi. For now, there doesn’t appear to be more than friendship between our main trio with hints of a possible romance in the future. Readers will have a hard time deciding whose team they’re on!

FINAL THOUGHTS: I’ve read this first omnibus twice now, and I enjoyed it both times. This is the first time I’ve read anything from Natsumi Ando, and I want to continue reading the series. It’s cute and sweet. The art is super cute! Reading about all the delicious food will leave you feeling hungry. Luckily all the recipes can be found at the back of each volume so that you can try Najika’s tasty food for yourself! Kitchen Princess is perfect for fans of Fruits Basket. I highly recommend it.