Welcome to another Guest Review Wednesday on Okazu! Today we have the pleasure of you another new Guest Reviewer, frequent Okazu commenter, and talented 3D comics conversionist, Christian LeBlanc I expect you will all give Christian a warm Okazu welcome! 

“I want ramen…ramen…ramen…I want ramen.”

These are the first words that open slice-of-life gourmet comedy Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles  and quickly sum up the main character’s raison d’être. Koizumi-san (we never learn her full name) is a new transfer student at Yuu Ohsawa’s high school, and is henceforth the object of Yuu’s affections, despite never returning those feelings. In fact, Koizumi never expresses any emotion outside of eating ramen, where she is shown displaying extremes of determination and pleasure.

“My only family is ramen.”

Based on the manga Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san (ラーメン大好き小泉さん) by Naru Narumi, each episode is made of several shorts, and the show focuses on two obsessions: Koizumi’s obsession with ramen, and Yuu’s obsession with Koizumi. Koizumi’s obsession with ramen results in her talking matter-of-factly at great lengths about different aspects of ramen, flavors, methods of preparation, restaurants etc. with whoever she’s with at the time. Even though Koizumi prefers to enjoy ramen alone, she often ends up eating with Yuu, or with one of Yuu’s best friends: Jun Takahashi (the anxious brainy one) or Misa Nakamura (the fashionable one). These interactions allow the viewer to hear the Wikipedia-like info-dumps of ramen knowledge that Koizumi shares.

“Koizumi’s only lover is ramen.”

Yuu’s obsession with Koizumi, however, is another matter, and one that will divide viewers. The tone of the show is light and comedic, so Yuu’s constant badgering and stalking of Koizumi is played for laughs. Based on a lot of reviews I’ve read and comment sections I’ve lurked in, many people are annoyed by Yuu, and not amused. As someone privileged to have not been on the receiving end of unwanted attention very often, I found the series amusing watching it one episode a week: drawing pictures of Koizumi in her notebook, laughing goofily at the thoughts of their spending time together, blushing while gazing at her, making up cute little songs about her while she’s getting groceries, all this endeared me towards Yuu.

Watching it again all at once for this review, Yuu’s behaviour is harder for me to laugh off. Yuu calls Koizumi cold for rejecting her, “stingy” for not wanting to go on a beach outing and let Yuu see her in a bathing suit, and is constantly shown lurking behind bushes and signs as she follows Koizumi around after being told she wants to be alone. She’s jealous that her friends have gotten Koizumi’s contact info before she has, and her eyes will sometimes go blank as the background warps and her voice distorts as she chants obsessively to herself about Koizumi. (It’s worth noting that my wife sympathized with Koizumi right from the start.)

“Why did you want to climb that mountain?” “Because there’s ramen there.”

Overlooking problematic behavior to enjoy media is rarely a choice for me – I either buy in and gloss over the negative, or, something is ruined because of what I’m not able to look past. For viewers able to stomach Yuu’s behaviour, there’s a fair bit of comedy on offer (Yuu’s voice actor, Ayane Sakura, impressively delivers plaintive shrieks, shattered ranting, and aggressive bellows of relief). There’s also lots of knowledge about ramen, beautiful background scenery, and a travelogue-like presentation of restaurants (most, if not all, of the restaurants visited in the show are based on real-life ramen restaurants). The background music is unobtrusive, but unmemorable (in contrast, the opening and closing theme songs are very catchy and upbeat). You will learn about ramen with extra fat added (with a bizarre visual metaphor of sakura leaves falling onto the water), pineapple ramen, international variations of ramen, euglena (a bug-like type of algae) in ramen, cold ramen, a ramen with a blue broth that turns pink with the addition of vinegar, cocoa ramen, and more.

I recommend a couple of episodes to give this series a try, starting with episode 3 “Third Bowl: Saimin / Flavor Concentration Booth / Instant Noodles” (Yuu is actually appreciated this episode by Koizumi, who she finds passed out on the street after she forgets that the restaurant she wanted to go to was closed that day). Episode 6 “Sixth Bowl: Morning Ramen / Hiyashi / The Museum” allows Koizumi some time alone in a nice quiet episode, that also has the funniest line in the series. The browns and yellows in the background scenery of an evening festival are also beautiful to look at. After these two, you’ll know if you’re up to watching episode 10 “Tenth Bowl: An Unfamiliar Dish / Spinning Ramen / Rise to the Challenge!!” which is undoubtedly the funniest episode (but also features Yuu at her most unhinged…there are observation journals, a disturbing bulletin board full of photos torn and pasted together, etc).

“What do I have to do to become ramen?”

As for Yuri, it’s undeniable, but still never stated in as many words. Every bit of Yuri in the show comes from Yuu’s one-sided crush on Koizumi: she’s portrayed with hearts in her eyes during the opening theme song, her friends tell her “You’ve always loved cute girls, Yuu” after noticing her crush, and she fantasizes about the two of them in wedding dresses cutting a cake together. This last fantasy comes from asking Koizumi to help her cut apart a giant gyoza, which she sees as their “first cooperative activity.” The visuals, as well as Yuu’s behavior in general, make it obvious that she’s interested in having a romantic relationship with Koizumi, but the language itself is in denial, just as when Yuu basically confesses her feelings to Koizumi in the 12th and final episode: “I’m just obsessed with Koizumi-san, the girl who’s obsessed with ramen! I-I’ve never felt anything like that before. Which is why I was hoping we could maybe become better friends.” It’s obvious that what’s unspoken is “And maybe something more,” but it IS still unspoken, and I wouldn’t blame anyone who feels disappointed by this.

The ending theme “Love Men Holic,” sung by Shiena Nishizawa, reflects this discrepancy. At first glance, the title suggests someone addicted to loving men; on closer inspection, the ‘men’ is actually the same ‘men’ as in ‘ramen,’ while the word ‘love’ resembles the ‘ra’ in ‘ramen’ in an awkward portmanteau.

Ratings:

Art – 8 The background scenery is gorgeous, and the restaurants make you feel like you’re there. The characters themselves are drawn quite well (although Koizumi’s red eyes make me worry about all the sodium she’s consuming in her ramen-only diet).
Story – 4 The story is just a frame on which to hang lots of knowledge about ramen, and one girl crushing on another.
Characters – 3 (see Story, with a point taken away for bad behavior)
Yuri – 3 (It’s one-sided, and it’s not healthy, and it takes a back seat to the ramen. I believe it’s meant to be the ‘heart’ of the show, but I don’t feel that it succeeds well in that role)
Ramen – 11
Service – 3 or 10. There’s an occasional male-gazey pan over one of the girls in their bathing suit, and Jun does tongue an egg for a split second. I have to offer a 10 even though I don’t understand it or feel it: as Koizumi and friends chow down on noodles, male observers are sometimes shown with shocked expressions, gulping nervously, and even blushing sometimes, which indicates they’re getting something out of this that I’m not. Comments I’ve read online take for granted that the dining scenes are obviously service-y, but again, I’m stymied. Euphoric sighs at the end of a bowl are the closest I get to understanding it.

Overall – 7

BONUS RECIPE!

Episode 2 features a visit to a restaurant based on Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Pine in Tokyo, where every item on the menu contains pineapple. After watching the episode I was insanely curious to try it, so I watched a few YouTube videos with the owner and parsed together my own home-made, easy-to-follow attempt at it. Please enjoy a bowl of this while you give the show a try. (My wife insists I make this for us once a week, and a few people I’ve shared this with online told me they really liked it)

Serves: 1 (just double the ingredients and use two packs of instant ramen noodles when cooking for two)

Note: this recipe is vegan, however, one person I shared it with reported success using kippers instead of tofu. You may also want to boil an egg to have with yours, as my wife does.

Boil 1 ½ cups of water.

While the water’s heating up, add:
¼ tsp pepper (but use 3/8 tsp if cooking for two)
1/8 tsp Sriracha sauce (use less or more depending on your preferences for heat)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
½ packet of beef flavouring from instant ramen
11 or 12 cubes of tofu

Shred about half a carrot while you’re waiting, too.

Once boiling, add a ½ cup of the pineapple juice from a can of crushed pineapple, as well as the ramen noodles. Let boil for about 2 minutes (or according to package directions), remove from heat, and throw in some spinach. (If you prefer bok choy over spinach, add that to the broth 1st thing, as it takes longer to cook)

Pour into a bowl with some nori (dried seaweed) strips, 2/3 cup crushed pineapple, sliced green onion, top with shredded carrot, and enjoy!

(Note: the real recipe uses Korean chili threads, but I haven’t been able to find this in my area)

Erica here: Seriously, euglena?!? Holy crap. Bruce loved ramen and and travelogue stories and Yuri and euglena, which was his “favorite single-cel organism” . Stupid Bruce going and dying, he would have loved this series.  Grr…..

Anyway, fabulous review and I take what I said on Twitter back back, this recipe actually sounds pretty good. Thanks so much for sharing!