Kenji Sonishi's Neko Ramen is definitely one of the
best book series I read. I enjoy it on a daily basis. It’s about a cat named Taisho who
owns a ramen shop. He has one frequent customer named Tanaka. Taisho is
constantly creating different sorts of unusual ramen and having Tanaka test
them. On top of that, Taisho hires more part timers than he can count, and most
of them don’t do much. There’s Mi Chan who sleeps all day. There’s Shige who
steals from the cash register. There’s an elder named Toku who is paid with
glasses of milk. There’s the second location guy who runs the second location.
There’s Maru who’s a chicken. Finally, there’s a bunch of prairie dogs.
Taisho’s father is the complete
opposite of Taisho. While Taisho is a middle class ramen shop owner, his father
is a rich and famous cat model who makes $1,000 a day. Taisho ran away from
home when he was a kitten and tried many occupations until he settled down with
ramen.
A scene I liked was when there was a sign for a new ramen dish called “All Fried Chicken Ramen". Tanaka thought Taisho had fried Maru, but it turned out that Maru cooked the ramen.
The artwork in Neko Ramen is very
simple. It appears to be drawn with a pen alone. It has a large charm to it. If you
like complex art, this is not for you.
Great review, Milo. Makes me want to read the series!
ReplyDeletebro - this is a great review. I love your phrase "large charm"! Keep the reviews coming!
ReplyDeleteSweet! I totally want to read this now, and I like complex (and simple) art. :)
ReplyDeleteReading your post, I feel like I would identify most with Taisho's father because Taisho's father is a super model and I am also a father and unusually good looking.
ReplyDeleteHi Milo! I think I might get this for my kids for Christmas. Have you read them all? Do you have any other recommendations for an 8-year-old and 4-year-old (he can read) who like kitties and funny, cute graphic novels without violence or superheroes? They really like Peanut Butter and Jeremy (http://www.amazon.com/Peanutbutter-Jeremys-Best-Book-Ever/dp/1891867466/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353457800&sr=8-1&keywords=peanut+butter+and+jeremy) and the older one likes Little Vampire.
ReplyDeleteYeah. you can totally get it for a 4 year old.
DeleteI've been trying to get my 12 year-old daughter to read more English books. She loves comics and I'll be coming back to your site often to get ideas for her. Now to figure out how to get Taisho to Qatar...
ReplyDeleteonline,
Deletethanks
Good review, GN! It sounds very interesting to be a ramen shop owner. Next time I'm in a Japanese restaurant, I will secretly know that things are even more intriguing than they seem!
ReplyDeleteMy two girls love stories with animals as the main characters. Have you read the graphic novel version of "warriors"? Great series!
ReplyDelete