General Impression: Ramen Daisuke Koizumi-san

Synopsis

Koizumi is a high school girl who is admired by many for her mysterious air and attractive looks. Behind this silent beauty however lies a ramen master who is ready to scour all kinds of ramen restaurants at any time. Everyday she goes on a hunt for real-life places which serve the best ramen dishes. Not only is her knowledge of the noodle soup dish rather impressive but the way that she is able to gulp down a giant bowl of ramen will have you craving for the dish yourself.

First Impression

This is a great anime for those who hold a great love for ramen or simply like watching a good food series. There is a lot of good trivia on the different ways that the dish can be done and that you can’t help but feel the genuine appreciation for the dish. There has never been any anime that truly showed a deep appreciation for ramen like this series is showing and the way that the animation was presented with the characters just tied things together. Outside of the whole ramen appreciation though, there is some pretty good comedy that was slipped in.
The only issues noted for the first episode is the overall portrayal of the characters. They do very well comedy wise they do great but general wise it’s an overall hit or miss with this writer. They’re not really bad, but the whole mystery and beauty admiration of the female characters has been done before and Yuu can be rather overzealous. Other than is is really a nitpick on the ending and how it personally didn’t mesh well with the episode. ,

General Impression

In the span of the nine episodes so far, the appreciation for ramen just continues to grow. Seeing the different ways that the dish can be done, learning some interesting trivia and how all of them are designed just leaves a craving for the dish. The animation of the characters when they are eating the dish just seems slightly off though and would have been nice without the whole blushing looking of bliss, maybe it’s just this writer. Other than this, the ramen appreciation aspect of the series is just the best part of things.

It’s also nice that the series does some slight exploration on how the people connect to the dish and how it connects the characters. True, it could have done more character development or exploration such as with Koizumu and how she came to love ramen so much. As it is a slice of life/comedy however, there isn’t any real high expectations to be placed. Still, the characters are rather decent and the art and tones of the series are rather enjoyable.

Conclusion

This is a series that takes a food theme to a different level and that is what makes it worth a watch. The characters, comedy and overall flow are not the strongest point of the series but it does do a decent job in the characters’ relationship build. As a slice of life work, it just works just fine and leaves a good wholesome feeling as a food based series. The art and animation does great in detailing the shops and the ramen dishes down to the last noodle but the expressions of the girls when they finish eating could vary a little at least. Other than that, it’s a series worth watching and leaves a good craving for ramen.

Rating: 7.5/10