If you’re looking for a funny, cute, and unusual anime series, you should give Ramen Akaneko a try.
This sleeper hit is quickly becoming one of my favorite series of summer 2024. The world could use more genuinely funny and silly slice-of-life series.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you may be wondering, “what is Ramen Akaneko?” And also, “what’s the deal with those cats?”
History
Ramen Akaneko (a.k.a. Red Cat Ramen) started out as an online manga by Angyaman in 2022. The manga continues to run on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ app. Eight tankobon volumes have been published so far (as of the beginning of August 2024).
Ramen Akaneko is Angyaman’s second manga series. The first was an obscure shonen fantasy series called Yoru wo Higashi Ni, (translated into English as East, Into the Night).
The anime adaptation began in July 2024. According to reports, the first season will have 12 episodes. So far, each episode has been divided up into two or three separate stories.
Basics
Ramen Akaneko features a ramen restaurant that is run by cats. A cat is the cute waitress, cats are the head chef and sous-chef, and a cat balances the books and generally manages the business side of things. Oh, and a tiger makes the ramen noodles.
For the sake of this admittedly silly premise, all of these cats are more than just normal, real-life felines.
For example, they are able to talk — and their customers don’t question how or why, which suggests a world where some cats are like that. And they are somehow able to use their paws to cook, use a computer, and wait tables. But they are not anthropomorphic cat people.
The only non-cat member of the Ramen Akaneko crew is Tamako Yashiro, a human woman who is hired in the first episode. It seems that there are certain things that cats can’t do without human help — primarily, brush themselves (to avoid cat hair in food).
Since the restaurant is busy and understaffed, Yashiro also ends up doing various odd jobs around the place.
Plot
At the time that I wrote this, only seven out of 12 episodes had been released. But the series shows no signs of suddenly turning from silly cat restaurant antics to more serious plots – and that’s good.
For the most part, the series doesn’t really need an overarching story arc. In fact, many episodes are self-contained (with a little post-script gag at the end of the episode).
Once the basic premise is explained, most episodes deal with some aspect of cats running a ramen restaurant — how do they attract customers, can they cook foods which cats can’t eat, how do they deal with difficult customers, etc.
There are some running gags. One episode features an annoying and rude livestreaming social media influencer who refuses to turn his camera off. (This parodies a real problem that exists in Japan.)
This becomes a topic of discussion in later episodes. The cats have to admit that the incident might have generated new business — but they still want to take down the videos.
Another episode introduces the idea that one of the cats is interested in video game tournaments. Hopefully we’ll see more gaming cats in future episodes.
Episode 7 introduces a potential business rival. He’s quickly thwarted, but he may return in the future.
Characters
Naturally, you would expect a show about a cat restaurant to be very character-driven. And fortunately, Ramen Akaneko does not disappoint, with interesting, unique, and relatable characters.
For example, main protagonist Yashiro is the ultimate outsider. Not only is she a new employee, but she’s the only human in a business run by cats.
And to top it off, she says she’s more of a dog person than a cat person in the first episode — although this claim is largely unsubstantiated. If she has any negative feelings towards cats, she doesn’t show it. Instead, she’s an extremely sweet, kind, and innocent young woman.
(Another episode explains that the cats prefer a non-cat person, as a previous cat lover was too weird and clingy.)
Voice Acting
It takes a talented group of voice actors to make a cat restaurant sound realistic.
Kurumi Orihara plays Yashiro, the newbie employee. Orihara is also a newcomer to voice acting, but hopefully we’ll hear more of her in the future.
Kenjiro Tsuda is great as Bunzo, the gruff but philosophical ramen chef. He previously played a cat in My Roommate is a Cat.
Rie Kugiyama is also quite good as Hana, the waitress. Hana is somewhat tsundere, or possibly yandere. Like a lot of real cats, she can switch quickly from sweet and adorable to grumpy and demanding. (Generally speaking, she puts on her best face for the customers.)
Kugiyama was Happy the blue cat in Fairy Tail, as well as Alphonse in Fullmetal Alchemist, Karin in Bleach, and many others.
Noriaki Sugiyama (using a different voice than his Sasuke in Naruto) plays Sasaki, the business manager. It’s hard to tell if Sasaki has some shady dealings going on behind the scenes, or if he’s just extremely clever. The fact that he hired a man who looks like a yakuza tough guy to be the restaurant’s lawyer just adds to the suspicion.
Michiyo Murase, who plays Sabu the young black cat sous-chef, was also Sucy on Little Witch Academia.
Last but not least, Saori Hayami is brilliant as Krishna, the scary-looking but shy tiger. Her other voices include Yor Forger on Spy x Family, Shinobu on Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and Himawari on Boruto. Here, her cute and easily-embarassed voice contrasts with the giant, dangerous-looking tiger.
Graphics/ Soundtrack
The artwork is simple and cartoony, but surprisingly effective. All of the cats (and the human, for that matter) are cute, without being excessively so.
The series somehow takes the absurd concept of cats making ramen, and makes it acceptably believable.
Of course, it helps that the humor is strong enough that you don’t stop to wonder about it. The comedy carries the series.
In addition to the usual artwork, each episode includes little snippets of more “artistic” (i.e. less cartoony) illustrations. These clever little pictures deliberately invoke traditional, classical Japanese art styles.
The opening theme song, Akaneko by EDM/ J-pop/ hip hop fusion group Wednesday Campanella (a.k.a. Suiyobi no Campanella), is a fun and bubbly pop song. Yet it’s also inventive and creative enough to avoid the repetitive earworm quality of so many anime songs.
The ending theme song, Honjitsu no Osusume (Today’s Recommendation) by Rikon Densetsu (a.k.a. Divorce Legend), is even better. It’s also a bouncy pop song, but less frantic.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Although Ramen Akaneko hasn’t finished its first serving yet, it’s clear that this oddball series is a definite winner.
Whether you’re a childless cat lady, or just in need of some laughs, you should let these cats cook.
