The list, however, can be slightly underwhelming. Many people I know have already grown bored of Kamikaze Girls and Paradise Kiss. so I set out at my local library section to find a series that may hold some interest for lolitas, and here is the first result of my search: Kitchen Princess by Natsumi Ando and Miyuki Kobayashi!
In my reviews, I will judge by three criteria: art, story, and why a lolita would like it.
Art: I'm not a huge fan of the styling of the character's facial features, howevever, I love the art in the hair, clothing, and especially the food. It is very visually pleasing. The style is like many sojo manga, with sparkly and flowery backgrounds adorning every page, especally those focusing upon romance (we'll get to that in a moment). Overall, the art is not a hinderance to enjoying the story.
Story: The story may seem somewhat cliche to the jaded otaku, a plucky, determined protagonist must overcome the odds and succeed at what she is doing, while stuck between two boys vying for her romantic attention. However cliche, the story is engaging and very endearing,. The story so far is mainly episodic, the main character overcoming a different "challenge" in each chapter. Overall, the story isn't anything revolutionary, but it isn't boring you enough to set it down.
Why a lolita would like it: I can find three main reasons why this manga appeals to me as a loli. The first is the cutesy story and nature of the characters, which is definitely a weak spot for me. Second is the main character's outfits, which range from a bland jeans and t-shirts to all-out loli inspired (as seen on the cover). I find that the clothing in manga is very interesting, and I find myself frequently flipping through pages simply to look at the designs. The third, and by far my favorite, is the focus on cooking. Our protagonist strives to become a world-redound pastry chef, and this leads to her cooking an adorably delicious dessert in every chapter. The dishes she chooses, spanning the entire world of dessert, include many lolita favorites, like strawberry cake and rainbow jelly. As an extra bonus, the recipe for each item is included in the back of the volume! I'd love to try one of the recipes, and definetly expect to hear about the results here on this blog.
As a whole, I really enjoy this manga, and I would reccomend it to anyone that has a soft spot for a good ol' classic sojo manga tale.
Thank you for reading <3
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