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キッチンのお姫さま [Kitchen no Ohime-sama]
Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake
RECIPE FOR LOVE?
Najika faces a new challenge, and it may be her toughest one yet. Before their tragic accident, her parents, both famous pastry chefs, made a promise to the grandmother of a classmate of Najika’s: to duplicate a white cake the elderly woman once tasted abroad as a teenager. Now Najika hopes to re-create the cake herself.
With so few clues (it’s fluffy and heavenly) and so many possibilities, the trial and error might just go on forever. But Najika refuses to give up–-for one reason: She knows that all great masterpieces contain a distinct magic: a secret ingredient called love.
Najika will need lots of it to make the wishes of Anju’s grandmother–-and certain other classmates–-come true. And who knows? With so much amour in the air, Najika might just find a little left over for herself!
Najika faces a new challenge, and it may be her toughest one yet. Before their tragic accident, her parents, both famous pastry chefs, made a promise to the grandmother of a classmate of Najika’s: to duplicate a white cake the elderly woman once tasted abroad as a teenager. Now Najika hopes to re-create the cake herself.
With so few clues (it’s fluffy and heavenly) and so many possibilities, the trial and error might just go on forever. But Najika refuses to give up–-for one reason: She knows that all great masterpieces contain a distinct magic: a secret ingredient called love.
Najika will need lots of it to make the wishes of Anju’s grandmother–-and certain other classmates–-come true. And who knows? With so much amour in the air, Najika might just find a little left over for herself!
162 pages, Paperback
First published March 18, 2008
12 people are currently reading
503 people want to read
About the author
Natsumi Andō
74 books349 followers安藤なつみ, Andō Natsumi is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known for Zodiac P.I. as well as Kitchen Princess, for which she won the Kodansha Manga Award for children's manga in 2006.
Favorites: Donald Duck
Favourite manga: Ossu! Ichijin and Kimagure Orange Road
Favourites: meats and fruits
Hobbies: shopping, reading and watching TV
Favorites: Donald Duck
Favourite manga: Ossu! Ichijin and Kimagure Orange Road
Favourites: meats and fruits
Hobbies: shopping, reading and watching TV
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 15, 2012
I loved Kitchen Princess, so I just had to read sweet little novel by the author of the manga series. It feels like the manga series, with first person narration by Najika. The title conflict (helping a classmate's grandmother rediscover a cake she'd enjoyed as a young woman) is sweet and nicely done, even if the ending is a little abrupt . I didn't like it quite as much as I had the manga series, but it was still a fun, quick read.
June 4, 2019
[3.5]
August 3, 2023
Companion novel to the Kitchen Princess manga series. The plot is rather weak, but it captures the same magic the manga does.
May 2, 2020
Well it's been years since I finished the 'Kitchen Princess' manga series. It's still one of my favourites, but I've put off reading the prose book/light novel, 'Search for the Angel Cake', for ages as it sat on my shelf, collecting dust. I had so many other things to do and read, I guess.
Now in one afternoon of free time, I finally bothered to remember that it exists, and I got into it.
It's good. Not great or as touching and sweet as the manga - Najika can be bizarrely rude sometimes, and Daichi is a jokey smartarse, to name a few out-of-character traits - but it's nice enough. It is told from the point of view of Najika Kazami, a girl who dreams of being the world's best pastry chef. Her quest to find her "flan prince" - the main plot of the manga - is never mentioned, which is for the best since it has nothing to do with this particular story. We are treated to Najika's thoughts and emotions, which can be hugely, sagely optimistic (she's a shoujo heroine, after all) and incredibly sad depending on the situation. Her relationship with her late parents and how she misses them is expanded upon, as well.
There is still plenty of food and dessert porn to relish, with added recipes at the end of each section, themed around the seasons of a year. Yet we never actually see Najika cook her recipes. We don't know the process of how she does it; the cooking itself isn't described, we just cut to the food already made every time. Also, I've never really read a light novel before, but I think that a few manga illustrations occasionally appearing on pages is usual for the format.
There is drama, silly juvenile stuff, romantic touches, and tragedy - a mixture the original manga has. I am a little bothered by how the tragic elements are handled, particularly at the abrupt end It just seems too contrived to me.
'Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake' - Starts out and continues to be a simple plot of 150 pages, ending in melancholy - a reflection of life and filling it with food; in the company of those you love. It is sweetly sad - bittersweet, as it were - and hopeful. I liked revisiting Najika and her friends again - including a new one in the form of a classmate: the shy, girly and rich bookworm, Anju. All they seem to do is eat sweets, and they never gain weight. But that's anime and manga for you.
Creamy, puffy, light-hearted love.
Final Score: 3/5
Now in one afternoon of free time, I finally bothered to remember that it exists, and I got into it.
It's good. Not great or as touching and sweet as the manga - Najika can be bizarrely rude sometimes, and Daichi is a jokey smartarse, to name a few out-of-character traits - but it's nice enough. It is told from the point of view of Najika Kazami, a girl who dreams of being the world's best pastry chef. Her quest to find her "flan prince" - the main plot of the manga - is never mentioned, which is for the best since it has nothing to do with this particular story. We are treated to Najika's thoughts and emotions, which can be hugely, sagely optimistic (she's a shoujo heroine, after all) and incredibly sad depending on the situation. Her relationship with her late parents and how she misses them is expanded upon, as well.
There is still plenty of food and dessert porn to relish, with added recipes at the end of each section, themed around the seasons of a year. Yet we never actually see Najika cook her recipes. We don't know the process of how she does it; the cooking itself isn't described, we just cut to the food already made every time. Also, I've never really read a light novel before, but I think that a few manga illustrations occasionally appearing on pages is usual for the format.
There is drama, silly juvenile stuff, romantic touches, and tragedy - a mixture the original manga has. I am a little bothered by how the tragic elements are handled, particularly at the abrupt end It just seems too contrived to me.
'Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake' - Starts out and continues to be a simple plot of 150 pages, ending in melancholy - a reflection of life and filling it with food; in the company of those you love. It is sweetly sad - bittersweet, as it were - and hopeful. I liked revisiting Najika and her friends again - including a new one in the form of a classmate: the shy, girly and rich bookworm, Anju. All they seem to do is eat sweets, and they never gain weight. But that's anime and manga for you.
Creamy, puffy, light-hearted love.
Final Score: 3/5
December 4, 2014
I will get the one downfall of this book out of the way immediately: the format. Writing-wise, it read like beginner's fanfiction. It was weak and made me appreciate the manga even more, as I think this would have worked better as an OVA volume of manga rather than a light novel.
That said, I read this book in one sitting and felt SO warm and fuzzy inside after! It captures the spirit of its preceding series beautifully - the characters are the same friends we readers got to know previously, with the addition of a family that Najika helps out. The book is divided up into four sections, one for each season, with different aspects of the plot applying to each season. It made for a very nice, warm read. The story was original with the same vibe as the manga, and as such, makes a very nice supplement to the series!
What really made me love it, though, was how I felt after reading it. I'm not a foodie, and I have a fairly minimal interest in cooking and baking. But this book captured the joy of sharing what you love to do with others and how much better life is when you use your talents and passion to make the people you care about smile. For me, this comes with my crafting - scrapbooking, making ornaments, etc. And that was what I thought about when I read this book. Even though it's a sweet, charming story, it also reminds you to take pleasure in the small things you can do to enrich the lives of the people around you!
That said, I read this book in one sitting and felt SO warm and fuzzy inside after! It captures the spirit of its preceding series beautifully - the characters are the same friends we readers got to know previously, with the addition of a family that Najika helps out. The book is divided up into four sections, one for each season, with different aspects of the plot applying to each season. It made for a very nice, warm read. The story was original with the same vibe as the manga, and as such, makes a very nice supplement to the series!
What really made me love it, though, was how I felt after reading it. I'm not a foodie, and I have a fairly minimal interest in cooking and baking. But this book captured the joy of sharing what you love to do with others and how much better life is when you use your talents and passion to make the people you care about smile. For me, this comes with my crafting - scrapbooking, making ornaments, etc. And that was what I thought about when I read this book. Even though it's a sweet, charming story, it also reminds you to take pleasure in the small things you can do to enrich the lives of the people around you!
March 14, 2015
Loved it! This is a really good book from the series. I'm definitely going to read more of her works.
January 11, 2021
Dominque gave this book the Arely before she moved back home. I thought it would be a silly, girly book but was pleasantly surprised. It was an endearing story about being kind to each other and what connects us, humans, to each other. SPOILER: The last page has a line: "The food you love and the person you love. As long as you have those two things, you can go on living. Even without anything else." That line may have brought a small trickle to my eye.
August 23, 2022
A light novel that compliments the manga series, KITCHEN PRINCESS. This can be considered a companion novel to the series and you don't have to read it before diving into KITCHEN PRINCESS; I'd actually wait till after you finish reading the series because it refers to the death of a certain character :'( This was cute but the writing felt a little awkward and there were some OOC moments but I enjoyed this quick read nonetheless.
December 31, 2020
4 STARS. I liked this book. It still had the FLAVOR (get it? Okay, I’ll stop) of the manga series. It had some cute moments, and some funny ones. It was simple, yet had its profound and serious bits as well. Better than I expected and great for any person who loves the manga series of Kitchen Princess!
February 21, 2019
This was the last book I had to read to complete the Kitchen Princess series and what a great series it was! I loved every book and enjoyed Najika's (main character) upbeat outlook on life despite things not being the best for her.
Review for Search for the Angel Cake: Once again the story here was sweet and fun with a dash of reality to make it more impactful. I say well done to both author and illustrator they did a great job. And made me hungry!
Review for Search for the Angel Cake: Once again the story here was sweet and fun with a dash of reality to make it more impactful. I say well done to both author and illustrator they did a great job. And made me hungry!
January 4, 2023
I cried waaay too much
October 16, 2024
I like how her French toast saved a marriage. Najika deserves more credit
January 12, 2013
11 January 2013
Rating: * * * 1/2
Sighhh... it was so nice to be in the world of yummy food alongside Najika and friends again. After finishing the Kitchen Princess series, I was left wishing there was an anime series to complement the manga because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to these fun characters. If it were up to me, I'd never leave Najika's world. So believe you me, I was ecstatic when I stumbled across this little treasure.
Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake is a spin-off book-book. Yup. It's mostly words with just a few pictures. Although I missed the cute artwork, this was a fun way to satisfy my Kitchen Princess craving. There are recipes included too!
Like the manga series, the storyline here nicely blends the feel-good sweetness with the drama. I really hope that the author decides to create more manga. The writing plus the sweet drawings were perfection. Maybe we should petition her to start an anime?
Great fun! Need more!
Rating: * * * 1/2
Sighhh... it was so nice to be in the world of yummy food alongside Najika and friends again. After finishing the Kitchen Princess series, I was left wishing there was an anime series to complement the manga because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to these fun characters. If it were up to me, I'd never leave Najika's world. So believe you me, I was ecstatic when I stumbled across this little treasure.
Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake is a spin-off book-book. Yup. It's mostly words with just a few pictures. Although I missed the cute artwork, this was a fun way to satisfy my Kitchen Princess craving. There are recipes included too!
Like the manga series, the storyline here nicely blends the feel-good sweetness with the drama. I really hope that the author decides to create more manga. The writing plus the sweet drawings were perfection. Maybe we should petition her to start an anime?
Great fun! Need more!
December 11, 2013
Najika’s search for a mysterious, vaguely defined cake didn’t impress me. When I read that the cake was white, fluffy and sweet, I immediately knew what it was and was irked that it took her a whole year to figure out the answer. But that just showed my lack of experience; it turns out that a lot of cakes fit that description and Najika has fun showing them all.
Where this story fails is in its unrelentingly puerile writing, with awkward, repetitive phrases and thought patterns displayed with the most simplistic dialogue. This book would have been better off in the manga style that started “Kitchen Princess” instead of translating it to print form. The book includes recipes and drawings of the main characters and food enhance the plotline, somewhat redeeming the limp story.
Where this story fails is in its unrelentingly puerile writing, with awkward, repetitive phrases and thought patterns displayed with the most simplistic dialogue. This book would have been better off in the manga style that started “Kitchen Princess” instead of translating it to print form. The book includes recipes and drawings of the main characters and food enhance the plotline, somewhat redeeming the limp story.
July 21, 2014
Underhyped Readathon book #2. This is one of the first light novels I have ever read. A light novel is a full length novel based off of a manga. It usually tells a side story that was not in the manga. Kitchen Princess is one of my favorite mangas. Due to that, I had very high expectations for this. Those expectations led to me being disappointed. This was very cliche. The writing was bad, and filled with errors. The author made Najika seem a little bit like a jerk in the beginning, and very self-centered. For everyone that's read the manga, you know that's not how she is. Thankfully, the longer the novel went on, the more that began to fade. In the end, this was just okay. However, I will probably try another light novel again in a different series.
October 9, 2010
This is truly an inspiring story.
I enjoyed reading this book, even if I only read it today.
This book made me smile and somehow made me appreciate life more.
And I love the recipes given by the author, maybe I'll try these.
I only had one problem and it would be the confusion of who is talking. The dialogue confused me and made me mistake who's currently talking.
Other than that though, I LOVED IT.!
I enjoyed reading this book, even if I only read it today.
This book made me smile and somehow made me appreciate life more.
And I love the recipes given by the author, maybe I'll try these.
I only had one problem and it would be the confusion of who is talking. The dialogue confused me and made me mistake who's currently talking.
Other than that though, I LOVED IT.!
December 29, 2009
A teen novel adapted from the popular Kitchen Princess manga series - a charming story about trying to find the right recipe for a white cake that an ailing grandmother is wishing to taste again before she dies.
December 27, 2011
i'm so glad there are stories that continue the manga! I miss the illustrations on each page, but there are enough throughout the book that you know it really is the same series and the same feel. I hope more are published in America soon.
January 13, 2013
I can't get enough of Najika and her world- it's full of food, love and optimism. I also like that Miyuki Kobayashi adds a bit of sorrow in her stories so that it balances everything out. I want more!
Read
January 18, 2017I thought it was really cute! I didn't plan on reading it all in one evening but ended up doing exactly that haha. The book just felt like a nice little quick read which is awesome every now and then.
March 26, 2010
it fitted into the story although it was an extra.
Want to read
June 18, 2010one of the best mangas i have ever read!
October 21, 2011
It wasn't as good as the manga, but I still liked it. The ending was a bit sudden but over all it was alright :P
April 21, 2011
I think the writing could have been a little better, but I love the series so much that it hardly mattered.
November 14, 2011
I LOVED ALL THE BOOKS IN THE SERIES SO MUCH!!!! But this book was a bit different, it wasn't a manga. Bleh.
February 1, 2013
I love this book!
December 20, 2013
its a pretty good book..not much manga in it...but thats alright
February 1, 2016
its was ok but compared to the manga series not really good.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews