Neko Ramen Volume 1: Hey! Order Up! (Manga)
Publisher: Tokyopop
Release Date: June 2010
Price: $10.99
Creator: Kenji Sonishi
Format: 160 pgs.; B&W
ISBN: 978-1-42781-779-2
Age Rating: Young Adult
ICv2 Rating: 3 Stars out of 5

Humor in Japan is not the same as humor in the U.S.  That is both the strength and the weakness of translated comedy manga.  The differences fascinate American readers, but the differences in humor are still an acquired taste.  So is ramen that’s been prepared by a cat.

In Neko Ramen, most of the book is told in the form of four-panel strips, the Japanese equivalent of daily comic strips, each of which has a punchline of sorts.  These are generally “reaction” punchlines, based on how the events of the strip affect the viewpoint character, usually a regular customer at this unusual ramen restaurant.  [Don’t ask why he keeps coming back…]

What’s so unusual about the ramen stand?  Well, the owner is a cat, and he isn’t a very good ramen chef.  The rest is mostly situational humor based on those two facts.

Strangely, it mostly works.  Taisho is only a cat in the way that Garfield is a cat... in body but not in mind or attitude much of the time.  His ideas for menu items are so bad that they’re funny.  His odd version of reality and interactions with the non-feline world around him create flashes of outrageous humor, but some jokes may fall flat if the reader isn’t big on cats or food.

This should not be the first manga you hand to a newcomer to the format, but for readers already comfortable with manga and with Japanese culture, it can be a lot of fun.

For young teens and up.

--Nick Smith: Librarian Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California.