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Neko Ramen Vol. 1 (2013)

by Kenji Sonishi(Favorite Author)

3.92 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

SecondWind

series

Neko Ramen

review 1: Stuff I Read – Neko Ramen Vol 1I think this is the first manga series that I have picked up that has been classified as strictly comedy. Most of the time manga tends towards battling or horror or high school drama or all of the above. But this manga acts more as a newspaper comic strip than a traditional manga, and that is all right by me. Indeed, the strip format, broken up now and again by slightly longer mini-comic books, is quite refreshing and makes returning to the manga easy. Which is nice, seeing as how I was reading this volume typically for about five to ten minutes at a time. I rarely had to stop right in the middle of things, as would have been the case for most other manga series. Instead, I just finished the strip and put the book down. Being able to... more put the book down is nice, giving the volume a lighter feel but still with the comic strip mentality, that each strip must delivery with the funny.And it is not to say that the volume doesn’t have more long term appeal. There are threads and characters that recur over the course of the manga, and it is interesting to see the characters evolve more from the very simple first strips to the larger stories. While this might not be the volume to pick up if you are wanting epic storylines and giant battles, it is funny and cute and deliveries on what it promises, which is that it has a cat that makes ramen. That really is the point. For those that make peace with the fact that they are reading a manga whose premise is a cat makes ramen, this delivers with gusto. Because the humor is solid and the pacing great. The characters are all solid. Perhaps the greatest thing about this manga is that the cat in question really doesn’t act like a cat despite every other cat in the manga being completely normal. But his history and personality just work. As the editor says, a lot of humor arrives because this ramen-cooking cat does not acknowledge that he is a cat at all.And so the manga just ends up working because the expectations of the reader is constantly being challenged in hilarious ways. Especially true in this is the short comic that deals with his first love. We, who tend to occupy the space of the human character in the series, assume what is happening and what is going on, but are turned around at the end, and it is funny and works because it is true to the character. We forget, along with the human character, that even though he acts human, he is a cat, and even though he is a cat, he has human traits. Finding the boundaries between the cat and human aspects of the character is where a lot of humor comes from. The volume also has some stuff at the back, from the author and translators and editor, and it all works nicely together to be a very neat volume. And while I am not on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next, I am interested to see what will happen to the characters, and so I will definitely pick up the other volumes sometime. So over all I give this volume a 7.75/10.
review 2: Review:There isn’t really a plot to this. There kind of is. But there’s not much to it. The cat on the front, Taisho, runs a ramen(noodle) shop. Tanaka, a man who to me looks like a young-middle aged man but could be any age due to the drawing style, is his only regular customer. The book is mainly four panel strips documenting their conversations regarding new ramen (dessert ramen with milk and strawberries, jumbo ramen with two giant fishcakes that is free if eating within the half hour, ad diet ramen, half the size of a normal portion and yet the same price), and occasionally other things such as Taisho’s ramen making history.Neko Ramen is pure comedy. The plot doesn’t really progress, unless you count hiring staff our gaining random customers plot development. The real thing, aside from the comedy, is the characters.Taisho and Tanaka are both very likeable. The enjoyment of Tanaka was slightly spoiled for me by the fact that the intro sheet at the front had a sticker over his name, and he doesn’t tell us in the strips until halfway through, but that’s not Kenji Sonishi or Tokyopop’s fault.Taisho never stops coming up with outlandish ideas, no matter what’s going on with his business. My favourite ramen idea is the zero calories one. Which is a bowl of hot water. Even minor setbacks don’t seem to stop him. He’s an amazing cat.Overall: Strength 4 tea to a fun little collection of strips that won’t fail to make you laugh somewhere along the line. less

Download links for: Neko Ramen Vol. 1

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