The main aspect of the story that made Mixed Vegetables stand out from your typical shoujo fare was its messages about working towards your dreams and fulfilling your goals, while also balancing family life and romance. I started reading this towards the end of my senior year when I was deciding between colleges, and even though the main characters' career paths are vastly different from mine, I could sort of understand their frustrations and confusions during that period in their lives. Although it read like a typical shoujo manga in some ways, Mixed Vegetables did a great job of incorporating the idea of choosing a career and following one's dreams vs. doing what your family wants. It also stayed away from too much of the usual romantic drama between the main couple, by keeping the story to relatively few characters and focusing on them achieving their goals rather than creating various misunderstandings.
The characters were definitely the most interesting part of Mixed Vegetables. The lead female, Hanayu, acts nothing like a stereotypical damsel-in-distress seen in many shoujo stories. She's physically as well as mentally strong, and has her eyes set on becoming a sushi chef even if it means sacrificing other things in her life. Hanayu was just so focused and driven, even while juggling family conflicts, relationship issues, and her own lack of experience and skill. Although she made stupid decisions sometimes, it was still easy to relate to her throughout the course of the manga. Hayato, on the other hand, was more of a typical bishounen towards the beginning of the manga. But gradually, we see different sides of him that really go against the norm. He's selfish and headstrong, but like Hanayu, he's focused on his goals and is willing to make sacrifices for them. Hayato is also a bit angsty towards the end, but overall he was a likable character and had great chemistry with the lead female. I also liked the involvement of adult characters in Mixed Vegetables, since so often in manga you just have teenagers running around with no parents to be seen anywhere. The amount of parental involvement in this manga was quite realistic, and fit the context of the story nicely. Plus, the parents were all really likable so that was nice too.
Mixed Vegetables had decent art for the most part. It was nothing incredible, but I did enjoy the detailed illustrations of food and the little tidbits and recipes before and after the chapters. There were a few scenes in which Hayato and Maezawa, another male character, looked very similar, and this could also be seen with Hayato and his father. This was a little confusing, but it's a small detail that can be overlooked.
Overall, I did enjoy Mixed Vegetables quite a bit, despite the long time it took for me to finish it. I found it to be funny when it needed to be, while still offering enough drama to keep things interesting. People who aren't usually fans of shoujo manga may not necessarily find this manga as entertaining, but if you at least tolerate the genre then you should definitely give this a try. Mixed Vegetables uses some cliches and tropes, but also gets rid of a lot of them. It's not perfect, but it's a fun read with relatable characters and an inspiring message.
