Gohan Shiyo![2] - Sei Takano

Review for both the volumes.

I was looking for a new manga, and I stumbled upon this one. The covers reminded me a bit of Food Wars, and when I started reading it the content at times also reminded me of that.

 



Of course this manga is totally different from Food Wars, but the amount of food, and how much food is valued in this manga made me think back to that manga quite a few times. I just couldn’t help it, especially with the whole the cook is so magical with food, and everyone loves him, blababa.

At first I didn’t like Natsumi that much. She was whiny, bratty, cold, ice queeny. I can imagine why, with her parents going through a divorce, and them shipping her to that boarding school + her uncle. But still, I was just annoyed so much. Later though, I saw there was a different Natsumi. One who could laugh, be happy and have fun. Slowly, with each chapter, with each part, we saw more and more Natsumi. And in the end? I really liked the Natsumi that shined there. She still wasn’t always happy, but that is logical, with parents acting like that.

We have a varied cast of characters, but one thing that stuck to me was that they all had tragical pasts. And I am sorry, but I just found it over the top and silly. I can imagine 1 or 2 characters having a background that wasn’t really good, but all of them? Instead of feeling sorry, I was just shaking my head and I felt like laughing (I know, inappropriate, but come on, does anyone in this manga have a good story?). But I forgot the best part of all of it. Our cook? Our second girl? They barely got any spotlight. We only see glimpses of a rotten past from them, but nothing deeper than that. No, it was all about Natsumi, Hinata and Kengo. And I frankly got a bit tired of it. I kept hoping the others would get a spotlight but as the pages flew by, my hope slowly disappeared to only turn to nothing at the end. :(

There is a fair amount of food talk, and I loved the blog Natsumi had and what she posted there. :)

All the food talk made me hungry though, my stomach was rumbling quite a few times while reading. Sooooo much good food!

What more? Ah yes, the really crappy ending. What conclusion? What will happen to the dorm? What will happen to the characters? What will happen to Natsumi? The manga was just over. Done. Nothing concluded, so many threads still needing connection. Like the mangaka didn’t have time to end the manga. It loses quite a few points on that part. The manga had so much potential, and while it was still good, I just hate open endings, or actually unfinished endings, and also underdeveloped (but hinted at) characters.

The art was really good, I really liked how the characters were drawn, and there was quite a bit of attention to details.

All in all, this manga is pretty good, but I want to warn people that you might feel unsatisfied/unhappy at the ending.

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/