Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles #1 Review : Fun, But Niche

Second only to sushi, ramen is one of the most popular dishes that Japan has ever created. One of the most popular manga characters, Naruto, even had an obsession with ramen as does others. Mangaka Naru Narumi loves ramen so much she went ahead and wrote a manga about it called “Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles.”

The story is about Yu Osawa and her friends meeting with Ms. Koizumi, their schoolmate who tends to keep to herself, by circumstance to talk about and eat ramen due to Ms. Koizumi loving and being a ramen expert.

That’s basically the entire plot of every chapter. Of course, this manga is pretty much made for ramen enthusiasts and it does that well. There is a ton of information about the different styles of ramen, different ways to serve ramen and even recipes on how to spice up “Top Ramen.” It’s a ramen lovers paradise.

If you’re looking for a cohesive plot, look elsewhere. This is a slice of life manga which figures characters eating and being massive ramen fans and practically every there is to know about ramen. There aren’t any plot-heavy chapters so that may be a turn off to some.

The art is fine. Some chapters have these high definition pages at the beginning which show off the art and then things get low res. That doesn’t mean the art is terrible, it’s just the art manga readers are used to that doesn’t have any major leaps in creativity nor anything that says “this mangaka can’t draw.” It does its job and is harmless.

If you’re a ramen enthusiast then “Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles” is your type of manga. All the different varieties, ways to eat and even recipes will make any ramen enthusiast water at the mouth. Everyone else may not enjoy the slice the life everything ramen chapters but there’s obviously a market for this and Narumi has tapped into it.