Neko Ramen 1 by Kenji Sonishi: A-

Book description:
Taisho was a former kitten model who ran away from home and had a hard life on the streets until the day he was saved by a kind ramen shop owner who later served as his mentor. Now Taisho takes pride in his noodles… and is easily angered when customers are dissatisfied! So step aside, Soup Nazi—there’s a new cat in town!

Review:
I readily admit that I haven’t read much 4-koma (like a comic strip, only vertical) manga and what I have read hasn’t thrilled me. I do like cats, though, so on that basis alone I had to at least flip through Neko Ramen, a new 4-koma series from TOKYOPOP. After some cute moments caught my eye, I knew I had to go back and read the whole thing properly. I’m glad I did, because it’s genuinely funny and I would’ve completely missed out otherwise!

Taisho grew up in the shadow of his super cute father, a famous cat model. After an unsuccessful attempt to follow in his footsteps, Taisho left that life behind and sought his way in the world, trying his paw at a variety of occupations (including, awesomely, driving instructor) before being taken in by the proprietor of a ramen shop and taught the trade. Once Taisho has achieved mastery, the owner leaves him in charge, and it’s there we meet him as the tale begins. He’s an ambitious cat, always trying out new menu items and entertaining ideas of expansion, but really only has one regular customer, a salaryman named Tanaka who thinks the food is awful but keeps coming back to make sure Taisho’s doing alright.

I think Neko Ramen is the first 4-koma to actually make me laugh because it relies primarily on the nature of cats for its punchlines, and that’s the sort of universal humor that requires no cultural notes to explain the joke. There are many amusing bits about Taisho’s difficulties with sticky rice, why his restroom isn’t fit for human clientele, and how his part-time employees spend most of their time snoozing on the counter. Taisho also doesn’t seem to realize that he is a cat and that cats don’t generally run ramen shops. The fact that he’s a curiosity never occurs to him.

Nearly every strip takes place in the ramen shop, though there are a few “short comic specials” that fill in elements of Taisho’s backstory. The best of these—“The Secret of Neko Noodles,” which tells the story of how Taisho came up with a special recipe to nurse an injured cat back to health—is not only positively adorable, but also explains just why Taisho’s noodles taste a bit weird. I seriously read this story about three times then made a fellow cat lover at work read it, too. She said this was the first time she’s ever wanted to read any manga I’ve told her about.

I think I smiled the entire time I was reading Neko Ramen. And though this review copy is ultimately destined for the hands of another Manga Recon reviewer, I plan to buy my own copy when it comes out. That’s how much I liked it.

Neko Ramen is published in English by TOKYOPOP, with the first volume due for release on June 1, 2010. The series is still ongoing in Japan, where four volumes are available so far.

Review copy provided by the publisher.