Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Slice-of-Life, Shoujo

Cooking with a Side-Order of Adventure!

The third review of the week is a long overdue review of a Cross Infinite World title involving lots and lots of cooking!

Expedition Cooking follows Mel’s journey as she joins the second expeditionary squadron of the Enoch Royal Knights. Whilst officially joining up as a combat medic, it seems that this band of four is in dire need of a cook and after trying their horrible rations, Mel jumps at the chance. Now able to show off her elf culinary skills, the expeditions’ lives will be full of stews, sweet treats and adventures.

Having read the first volume, I can say that this is a series for someone looking for a fun, light read. A mixture of Cooking with Wild Game and Killing Slimes, the series presents a light-hearted view of its world full of off-the-cuff cooking as each new expedition has Mel come up with a new recipe depending on what’s available during their quest.

Mel’s point of view makes this story. Her humorous descriptions of people and events never fail to put a smile on my face. I especially enjoy her interactions with the expedition unit’s leader, Ludtnik. Constantly mistaking him for a bandit, the volume does well in slowly dispelling Mel’s rather rude view, opening him up to being quite chivalrous.

Looking at the unit beyond its bandit-like leader, the squadron has quite the cast of characters. There’s Valery, the kind vice-captain and Garr the silent wolfman, as well as Zara and Ulgus. The latter two have more of a presence throughout the first volume.

Zara’s the expeditions’ axeman. He enjoys cute things and cooking, meaning he’s often helping out Mel by searching for new dishes. From his introduction, it’s clear he has feelings for Mel, although I’m not sure it’s mutual yet. As for Ulgus, he plays more of a little brother role for Mel. They’re often paired off together due to their inexperience and become fast friends because of it.

Overall, Expeditions’ first volume starts off on the right foot as a sweet, fun adventure cooking series. With Mel’s humorous perspective and a good cast of characters, this series is sure to satisfy anyone looking for their next fluffy series to read.