Kitchen Princess
Kitchen Princess | |
キッチンのお姫さま (Kitchen no Ohime-sama) | |
---|---|
Genre | Cooking, Drama, Romance |
Manga | |
Written by | Natsumi Andō |
Published by | Kodansha |
English publisher |
|
Magazine | Nakayoshi |
Demographic | Shōjo |
Original run | September 2004 – October 2008 |
Volumes | 10 |
Light novel | |
Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake | |
Written by | Miyuki Kobayashi |
Illustrated by | Natsumi Ando |
Published by | Kodansha |
English publisher |
|
Demographic | Shōjo |
Published | March 19, 2008 |
Volumes | 1 |
Kitchen Princess (
In 2006, Del Rey Manga licensed the series for an English-language translation in North America. It published the ten volumes from January 2007 to July 2009. Following Kodansha's decision to publish in North America through an imprint, Kodansha USA released a four-volume omnibus edition from June 2012 to June 2013. The series has been well received by English-language readers, with the appearance of three volumes and one omnibus on various bestseller lists and the series appearing twice on ICv2's annual list of the top twenty-five manga properties. Critical reception ranged from positive to lukewarm, and the series won the 2006 Kodansha Manga Award for children's manga.
Plot
Set in modern-day Japan, the plot centers on Najika Kazami (風見 七虹香, Kazami Najika), a cheerful thirteen-year-old with an excellent sense of taste who hopes to become a chef. In her
Najika falls in love with Sora, after he tells her that he is her flan prince. However, he soon dies after being struck by a truck while on a journey to deliver some ingredients to Najika, and, in his final moments, admits that he lied about being her flan prince, having fallen in love with her. She loses her sense of taste out of sorrow, although she quickly recovers it. After Sora's death, Daichi is unable to bring himself to act on his love for her, though he gives in to his father's demands to protect Najika from being kicked out of the school and becomes the student body president to replace Sora. Wealthy and conceited junior pastry chef Seiya Mizuno (水野 星夜, Mizuno Seiya) also begins to attend the school, where he clashes with Najika, whom he had watched bake as a young girl at the orphanage. Seiya eventually falls in love with her, and tries to romantically pursue her, although he gives up when he realizes that she loves Daichi. After Daichi recovers a repressed memory of his mother's death during a family trip to Hokkaidō—which Sora attempted to protect him from by lying about being Najika's flan prince—he remembers that he is actually her flan prince, having given her a flan made by Seiya, and accepts her feelings for him. Joyful, she fulfills her promise to him by making him a crème brûlée.
Development
The writer of Kitchen Princess,
Media
Manga
Written by Miyuki Kobayashi and illustrated by Natsumi Ando, the forty-seven chapters appeared as a serial in the shōjo (targeted towards girls) manga magazine Nakayoshi from the September 2004 issue to the October 2008 issue.[5][6] Kodansha collected the chapters into ten bound volumes, and published them from February 4, 2005, to November 6, 2008.[7][8]
At the 2006
Light novel
On March 19, 2008, Kodansha published a light novel written by Kobayashi and illustrated by Ando, Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake (なかよし文庫 小説 キッチンのお姫さま 天使のケーキを探せ!, Nakayoshi Bunko Shōsetsu Kitchin no Ohime-sama Tenshi no Kēki o Sagase!).[17] Comprising four story arcs named after the seasons, the novel follows Najika's quest to duplicate a white cake recipe for a classmate's grandmother.[18] Del Rey published an English-language translation on November 10, 2009.[18]
Reception
Kitchen Princess was well received by English-language readers, with three original volumes and one omnibus volume placing on either BookScan's list of the top twenty bestselling graphic novels, or The New York Times manga bestseller list. The sixth volume placed eighteenth on BookScan's list for May 2008.[19] The seventh volume appeared at the fifteenth spot for BookScan's list for August 2008.[20] In 2009, the tenth volume debuted at the seventh place on The New York Times manga bestseller list for the week of July 5 to 11;[21] during the following week, it dropped to the eighth place and remained there for another week.[22][23] In 2012, the second volume of the omnibus edition appeared at the ninth place for the week of October 14–20.[24] The series placed nineteenth on ICv2's top twenty-five manga properties for 2008,[25] dropping to the twentieth spot a year later.[26] The series also placed seventh on ICv2's list of the top ten shōjo properties for 2009,[27] and appeared at the eighth spot of the ten bestselling shōjo series for the first quarter of 2010.[28]
Kitchen Princess won the
Reviews of the light novel varied. Draper Carlsen wrote that the characters and premise lacked the strength to make the novel compelling, though she felt that the response of others may differ.[43] Grading the novel a B, Eries wrote that the novel would appeal to fans of the manga, although she found the story arcs varying in quality and content, from junior-high school romance to philosophy on death.[18]
References
- ^ OCLC 80151975.
- OCLC 123763287.
- ^ OCLC 80151975.
- OCLC 423409004.
- OCLC 671296941.
- ^ "なかよし". Kodansha. Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ "キッチンのお姫さま 1" (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
- ^ "キッチンのお姫さま 10" (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
- ^ "Comic-Con: Mushishi and More from Del Rey". Anime News Network. July 20, 2006. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ "Kitchen Princess 1". Random House. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
- ^ "Kitchen Princess 10". Random House. Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
- ^ "Kodansha USA to Take Over Del Rey Manga Titles (Update 3)". Anime News Network. October 4, 2010. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ "North American Anime, Manga Releases, June 3–9". Anime News Network. June 5, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ "North American Anime, Manga Releases, June 16–22". Anime News Network. June 18, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ "Kodansha Ebooks Available on UK Sites". Anime News Network. July 17, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- OCLC 423409004.
- ^ なかよし文庫 小説 キッチンのお姫さま 天使のケーキを探せ! (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ a b c Eries, Sakura (February 5, 2010). "Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake Novel". Mania Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ "BookScan's Top Twenty Graphic Novels for May". ICv2. June 6, 2008. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ^ "BookScan's Top 20 Graphic Novels for August 2008". ICv2. September 4, 2008. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ "New York Times Manga Best Seller List, July 5–11". Anime News Network. July 17, 2009. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ "New York Times Manga Best Seller List, July 12–18 (Updated)". Anime News Network. July 27, 2009. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ "New York Times Manga Best Seller List, July 19–25 (Updated)". Anime News Network. August 1, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
- ^ "New York Times Manga Best Seller List, October 14–20". Anime News Network. October 18, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ "ICv2 Insider's Guide: Top 25 Manga Properties of 2008". ICv2. February 6, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ "Top 25 Manga Properties -- 2009". ICv2. March 18, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ "Top 10 Shojo Properties -- 2009". ICv2. March 18, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ "Top 10 Shojo Properties -- Q1 2010". ICv2. March 18, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ 過去の受賞者一覧 : 講談社漫画賞 : 講談社「おもしろくて、ためになる」出版を (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on May 31, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ISSN 0000-0019.
- ISSN 0362-8930.
- About.com. Archived from the originalon September 21, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ Thompson, Jason (January 25, 2010). "365 Days of Manga, Day 132: Kitchen Princess". Suvudu. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ Draper Carlsen, Johanna (May 21, 2007). "Kitchen Princess Book 1". Comics Worth Reading. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ Draper Carlsen, Johanna (May 22, 2007). "Kitchen Princess Book 2". Comics Worth Reading. Archived from the original on August 18, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
- ^ Eries, Sakura (March 1, 2007). "Kitchen Princess Vol. #01". Mania Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 15, 2013. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
- ^ Eries, Sakura (May 16, 2007). "Kitchen Princess Vol. #02". Mania Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 21, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ Eries, Sakura (August 29, 2007). "Kitchen Princess Vol. #03". Mania Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ Santos, Carlo (February 6, 2007). "Kitchen Avenger". Right Turn Only. Anime News Network. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
- ^ Santos, Carlo (January 22, 2008). "Kitchen Princess GN 4". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
- ^ Santos, Carlo (April 21, 2008). "Kitchen Princess GN 5". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
- ^ Santos, Carlo (October 12, 2008). "Kitchen Princess GN 7". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
- ^ Draper Carlsen, Johanna (November 16, 2009). "Del Rey Chibis: Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei 4, Gakuen Prince 3, Kitchen Princess novel". Comics Worth Reading. Archived from the original on August 17, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
External links
- Kitchen Princess at Random House's official website
- Kitchen Princess (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia