Natsumi Ando

Man, this shoujo knows how to be cheesy and charming with just a pinch of melancholy. Najika goes back to the orphanage/foster home, and it’s very heartwarming. Akane’s still annoying as ever, but her motivation makes sense. She even gets some character development.

Also, shoutout to Fujita the teacher. In any other manga, he would've been a lecherous pervert trying to hit on Najika. But here he's professional and just wants the best for her as a student.

This is the first love triangle show more I’ve seen where I honestly don’t know who will win.

SN: That bonus story with Komugi … ;__;

4.5 show less

Now that I’ve reached the conclusion of the main series, my original assessment remains unchanged: this is not a romantic thriller. While the story offers high-stakes drama, the "romance" is sidelined until the final volume and epilogues, and the "thrill" is largely absent.

My primary issue was the narrative focus. The introduction of so many side characters with conflicting motivations caused the original mystery—the very reason Nao returned to Kogetsuan—to fade into the background. show more Instead of a driving force, the murder investigation felt like a secondary footnote to the present-day melodrama.

Furthermore, I found it difficult to invest in the central romance. Nao’s emotional double standards were jarring; she treated Tsubaki as a villain for a crime he didn't commit, yet showed zero guilt while stringing along Takigawa, whose lies she forgave with a surprising amount of ease. For a series built on the weight of truth, the protagonist's own lack of transparency makes the "Happy Ever After" feel unearned. If you are looking for a soap opera about traditional sweets, this is for you—but if you want a tight psychological mystery, look elsewhere. show less

I'm halfway through this 19-volume series, and I feel compelled to share a reality check for readers who, like me, were lured in for the Romantic Thriller and Psychological Mystery tags.

Let me preface this by saying that as an avid reader of psychological suspense, mystery, and romance, my bar for these genres might be higher than most. I went into this expecting forbidden love, family secrets, and the high-stakes revenge that would expose it all. The lure was perfect: a years-old murder show more mystery, a mother falsely accused, and a daughter returning to the very traditional confectionery (wagashi) shop that destroyed her family to uncover the truth.

That truly sounds thrilling! However, after ten volumes, I've noticed a significant absence of the very elements that lured me in. While the series does offer a plethora of villains and the drama easily hits 110%, the psychological mystery and romantic thrill are MIA. Much of the focus remains on the competitive world of wagashi-making and internal family politics. I finished each volume thinking, "Okay, it's really going to take off here!", only to find it didn't.

I would say this series brings the drama, but the intrigue has yet to manifest for me. show less

Oh snap! This series is getting so good. I love that Najika is cheerful, but that’s not her sole trait. She goes through grief and insecurities too. I’ve said it before but tropes aren’t bad; it depends on how you use them. Kitchen Princess takes old tropes but uses them in a refreshing way. I have had French fries and chicken tenders a 100x, but they still taste good, y’know.

Akane’s feelings also reach a resolution, and I think it was handled well.

Something I love in the city of show more my soul is that Daichi is doing his father’s business, but his personality hasn’t changed. Any other manga would’ve had him lose his way and have to remember to be kind again. I’m also so amazed that a shoujo had the guts to kill a character off.

New character alert! -3 point deduction for his character design. Lazy much? But eeee, I think he’s the Flan Prince show less