Mixed Vegetables 2

I’ve got a few volumes of this in my pile, so I’m embarking on a bit of a marathon over the next couple days.  Hopefully this won’t wind up being like my I”s marathon, where I remember to read a volume once every couple weeks, but there are far less volumes of Mixed Vegetables than there are I”s.

I was initially quite surprised by the dark mood of this series.  I didn’t pick up the first volume, but the plot explanation lets you know the premise, that Hanayu is a baker’s daughter that wants to be a sushi chef and Hayato is a sushi chef’s son that wants to be a baker, both go to a kind of specialty cooking high school.  The two begin going out, hoping for the mutual benefit, but hiding the facts from one another.  Apparently Hanayu felt bad and admitted that she was only dating Hayato in hopes of getting in on his family’s sushi restaurant, and even though Hayato’s motives were the same (he just wanted in on her family’s bakery), he coldly rejected her, and things are pretty awkward and hostile between the two for the first quarter volume.  It’s not at all what you’d expect in a shoujo manga like this.

It mellows out after a little while, and it turns out Hayato’s horrible attitude was (apparently) to spare Hanayu’s feelings.  Even more surprising, although there is very generous subtext, the two are also not an item, and not even really close to being a couple as of the end of volume two.  I’m sure that will change in the very near future, but again, usually shoujo manga are a little more flirtatious than this.  In fact, Hayato and Hanayu are downright abusive to one another in the friendly, comedic kind of way.

Otherwise, most of the other shoujo manga plot devices are in effect.  There’s a best friend that stands up for Hanayu, a cute little brother, lots of parental expectations pinned on both Hayato and Hanayu, lots of awkward misunderstandings, and lots of sparkly friendship moments, mostly involving cooking, which is kind of the theme to this series.  Surprisingly, given the title, not many vegetables are used.  Honestly, not all that much sushi is prepared in this volume either, given Hanayu’s dream of becoming a sushi chef, but there is lots of baking taking place.

It’s pretty cute, and has enough twists going on to be interesting, but one volume wasn’t quite enough for me to get a feel for it.  I should have more on it tomorrow.

This was a review copy provided by Viz.