Oishii Kankei - A Delicious Relationship

Listening to: "Walking On A Dream" - Empire of the Sun


     Oishii Kankei is a josei manga I stumbled upon by chance -- or rather, by pure curiosity. It seemed so different from what was out there on onemanga.com, under the category of romance... that I could not help but want to check it out. 

Oishii Kankei tells the story of Fujiwara Momoe, known dearly as Momoe-chan, who lived a life of luxury and affection. She grew up going to eat at the best restaurants with her parents and eating the best food. Momoe always loved to eat the delicious food!


But one day her father dies of a heart disease (most likely because of all the over-eating) and Momoe is heart broken. When she starts to live on her own, while in attempts to support her mother and herself, she can't bare the taste of her own cooking -- for the she never had to cook before. 


One day she walks into a local French restaurant and finds no problem in recognizing the dish with just a taste, for she has had it several years ago, and is immediately swept away by it.  Momoe decides to take a job there as an apprentice under the guidance of the chef, Oda-san, for she is now determined to become one herself.


Feelings of love blossom in Momoe, as she falls for Oda Keiji . But her feelings are not answered, as the chef only considers her as an apprentice-- and an annoying one at that! 


This is a story about Momoe and what she goes through, not only in love, but also in becoming a chef, and in many other aspects of life.

THE STORY: Being a josei manga (manga for women), the story has a more realistic approach, which makes it more interesting to see where it will go. 

Oishii Kankei has a nice, steady pace. It doesn't rush its way into things. And in every romance, there's drama, there's laughter, there's tears-- a good amount emotion for a decent story. Although there are some who may find the pace dull-- I did not. Plus the story really isn't that predictable. All the cards are up for grabs, truly. Just like life in many ways!

THE CHARACTERS: For some reason, I find the characters to be very endearing in this series.
Every character in Oishii Kankei has their own personality and quirks -- pretty much all of them are nicely fleshed out, which makes them pretty human. What I liked about these characters is that they weren't entirely predictable and thank god one-dimensional. They surprise you, and show you new sides of them as the story progresses. Yet they aren't too complex to the point where you find a hard time relating to them. 


THE ARTWORK: Oishii Kankei has a very feminine art style that not everybody will like. But I think it has its charm.
Yes, it's girly. I even thought that it reminded me a bit of Sailor Moon (just a tad), but this is the first very feminine art style that I have found that can make the men still look like real men and not totally sissy looking. I personally find the artwork very sweet, charming and pretty. The lines are very thin and delicate. They flow easily, creating a light, fleeting feeling to the whole thing. And, well... I honestly found myself drooling at the detail of the hair sometimes, because it just had so much flow and paid attention to every strand of hair! 


GOURMET CUISINE, COSTUMERS AND FOOD FOR THE HEART:
Despite being mainly a drama, Oishii Kankei focuses on cuisine as well.
I can't think of much else to address, other than the fact that there is the theme of cuisine. But not to the point of over-kill. The story manages to balance it out fairly well, and hey!-- you get to know about a dish or two.


OVERALL: Oishii Kankei was a great find for me. It just has the right pinch of romance and it's not overly indulgent about it. 
It's a story that has a good balance between romance, humor and drama. A great set of characters and decent artwork as well. This isn't a manga for everyone, once again -- but for those romantics at heart, I think this will serve as a home-run. 


Oishii Kankei is written and drawn by Makimura Satoru and can be found to read online at OneManga.com. It currently has 24 chapters available and is still ongoing. Happy reading!


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