It must have started really revolutionary to the time it was published, and comparing it to some recent shoujo it still is, but especially the end may put people off.
I felt that some characters were just undeveloped and had little exposure time, while some new characters just stayed there and I couldn't help but wish they'd go away faster. Though all of them had a strong background that justified their actions and way of thinking.
Even though I'm not really into cooking, I liked the theme and how it was worked with the story. It was interesting to see the main character working hard, though I really wouldn't mind if she had achieved more. At least in the career aspect I hoped for more. Maybe is just my shounen manga mindset.
As some have already mentioned, "love" as romance is not the core of this story. There won't be ionate confessions, or amazing dates, really, if you came for this, don't even continue. Its focus is on the career, and sometimes they even drift of that.
Seriously, there was a point in the story that I just couldn’t care less with whom the main character would end up with. I just hoped she would achieve something… I sort of wanted her to end up with someone new and totally different from the ‘candidates’ the author put out for her, after all, she idealized they way too much. But, I guess that I have to consider the time the story was published.
I really liked the Oda Kanako pairing and how smooth the author made the progression of their relationship in a credible way. Seriously, most times I just plainly hate the rival, but not only this time I didn’t hate her, as I understood her, kind of wished her the best, though I believe her arc could have ended a few chapters earlier.
Nonetheless, I kinda of liked it, it was refreshing and definitely grabbed my attention. I don’t know if I will read it again, but the character were so well written that they will be forever with me.
