When the whole point is to be cheesy, of course you lean into it fully.
The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich is as cheesy as can be. It was inspired by the real-life courtship between the writer/artist Deya Muniz and their now wife, Emily.
With it being so cheesy, it’s no spoiler to say that the main characters end up together. As usual, it’s the journey that makes it interesting. The theme naming used reminds me of the old Asterix books: every name is a cheese or cheese related, including place names, with one exception, and even that name is a food.
Our first hero, Lady Camembert, disguises herself as a man, rather than be forced to marry a man to inherit her father’s estate. To distance herself from people who might recognize her in Gougère, she moves to Fondue, the capital of Fromage, with her most trusted servant, Feta.
Our second hero, Princess Brie, has long been an advocate for changing the antiquated laws of her kingdom. Her friends, Gorgonzola and Ricotta, figure out that Camembert and Brie are in love with each other, as well as recognize that neither Cam nor Brie realizes it of the other.
Thus, the comedy of errors proceeds along somewhat predictable grounds. Cam has to protect her secret or risk imprisonment, and Brie—still accepting the traditional role of the askee and not the asker—waits in vain for Cam to court her. Brie’s friends are having none of that, and do their best to help things along. Unlike a lot of stories where misunderstandings are a major part of the plot, I didn’t want to scream at the characters; Gorgonzola, Ricotta, and even Feta took care of that for me.
The story has a point, but it doesn’t feel like it’s using a club to say it. While important topics are discussed, they arise naturally from the premise and setting, rather than forcing you to read a long-winded diatribe. The point is, naturally enough, anti-patriarchy.
The art is wonderful. Every character, even minor ones, are easy to distinguish. The colors used are vibrant, and themed around the characters. So Cam is usually surrounded by blues and purples, while Brie is surrounded by pinks and reds. The depictions using deformation are not quite chibi, but look inspired by it to me. The cross-popping veins are the most obvious manga-inspired art convention.
Given the whole nature of the story, it would be absurd to knock it for the anachronisms. The story seems to take place in a pre-industrial world, yet has modern kitchens, advanced printing technology, and Nintendo Switches. These may be safely ignored. Do we really want to put up with real-world accuracy for this story? Absolutely not. While I don’t think being accurate would detract from the story, the juxtaposition provides additional humor. Be sure to note the t-shirts Cam wears.
Ratings:
Art — 9 A tad cartoony at times, but overall excellent.
Story — 10 I laughed through most of it, and when I didn’t, I teared up along with the characters.
Characters — 10 Gorgonzola and Feta are standouts as secondary characters.
Service — 2 Lots of plunging necklines.
LGBTQ+ — 10 We have lesbian, agender, and questioning covered.
Overall — I’m going to go ahead and give this a 10. I’ve read it three times already, and not just because I’m reviewing it.
