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Neko Ramen #1
Neko Ramen: Hey! Order Up!
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!
143 pages, Paperback
First published December 24, 2006
3 people are currently reading
339 people want to read
About the author
Kenji Sonishi
82 books10 followersAlso written as そにしけんじ. Is a Japanese manga-ka (comic book artist).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
March 27, 2017
Cool a bit of an asshole neko making ramen? Get it on! This manga (just short comic strips, actually) was super short and super cute. Also super funny. Definitely a must read for every cat lover.
January 20, 2014
It's a cute, heartwarming, humorous manga about a cat (a 'neko' in Japanese) opening a ramen (noodle) restaurant, but there's one problem: his ramen is as awful and outlandish as it can get!
All the characters (both cats and humans) are vivid and comical, it's delightful to see those characters react to one strange situation (and the awful ramen) after another. Our main character, Mr. Cat (aka Taisho) is a hotheaded, short-tempter at times youngman cat with a big dream: he wants to become chief among chiefs in the field of ramen restaurant. But the road to success is never a smooth one, and with his unhelpful employees, Mr. Cat's restaurant still has a long way to go to become popular.
As the story develops, we learn more about Mr. Cat's past and his family, this parts of the story are extremely hilarious as well.
I am looking forward to read the next volume.
All the characters (both cats and humans) are vivid and comical, it's delightful to see those characters react to one strange situation (and the awful ramen) after another. Our main character, Mr. Cat (aka Taisho) is a hotheaded, short-tempter at times young
As the story develops, we learn more about Mr. Cat's past and his family, this parts of the story are extremely hilarious as well.
I am looking forward to read the next volume.
November 19, 2015
Ulasan ini untuk volume 1 sampai 4.
Ceritanya unik. Untuk komik 4 panel, ide komik ini tidak biasa.
Karakter-karakternya semua absurd, dan kombinasi ramennya Taisho bisa membuat jenis ramen yang seharusnya sangat biasa malah jadi super-duper aneh. Jalan ceritanya juga tidak tertebak.
Tapi yah, begitulah komik ini. Saya memutuskan tidak lanjut mengoleksinya karena terjemahannya terhitung mahal untuk sebuah komik yang cukup tipis.
Tiga bintang.
Ceritanya unik. Untuk komik 4 panel, ide komik ini tidak biasa.
Karakter-karakternya semua absurd, dan kombinasi ramennya Taisho bisa membuat jenis ramen yang seharusnya sangat biasa malah jadi super-duper aneh. Jalan ceritanya juga tidak tertebak.
Tapi yah, begitulah komik ini. Saya memutuskan tidak lanjut mengoleksinya karena terjemahannya terhitung mahal untuk sebuah komik yang cukup tipis.
Tiga bintang.
April 15, 2015
A really fun little book. I love both Taisho and Tanaka and their friendship is cute. A very quick and easy read
February 12, 2022
Rereading this takes me back to my old primary school days where my brother and I would read this in the library together. I still laugh at all the jokes.
April 1, 2017
Short silly strips about a cat chef who is passionate about ramen. As the book progresses we learn more about Taisho's history and how he discovered his destiny was to be a ramen chef and see how his schemes to improve business pan out. A great simple read to unwind with.
March 30, 2023
This was such an adorable little manga, it actually made me laugh so many times. It follows the story of Taisho, a cute little cat who owns his own ramen shop. The manga has many little comics, each one funnier than the one before. If you love cats (and ramen!) be sure to pick this up! You’ll enjoy reading it 🍜😸
January 10, 2015
I can't say that I understand the appeal of this book that so many other readers have encountered. It has that awkward Japanese 4koma humor where something weird happens and the story's straight man reacts to that in a display of shocked facial expressions. This formula has found success in other forms of Japanese media (Watamote comes to mind, though I guess that it's more of the world reacting to Tomoko than a particular straightman), even within the realms of other 4komas. Except that the "weird happenings" here just boil down to Taisho putting something weird in the ramen, or making nonsensical business decisions. That's it. I can't even find enjoyment in the art, which is just so so. It looks as if a high schooler getting acquainted with the art of manga drew it, not an actual manga-ka. Then again, I don't really know much about this Sonishi fellow, so maybe he really is just getting on his feet. I don't know, and since I don't think I'll be searching for his other works, I never will.
I don't feel as if my time has been wasted, per say, but I don't feel like it's been put to good use either.
I don't feel as if my time has been wasted, per say, but I don't feel like it's been put to good use either.
November 21, 2015
Suka kucing? Ya!!
Suka ramen? Ngg.., biasanya sih doyan mie instan atau mie dok-dok yang lewat itu, tapi anggap saja...ya!!
Atas dasar itu aku nekat ngambil komik yang harganya 'istimewa' ini, icip 1 volume~
Gambar : 1.5 bintang
Kekoplakan : 4 bintang...kadang garing, kadang jayus, kadang kocak-kocak-bego yang menyenangkan (^,,^)
Tapi karena harganya itu...""( >,,<)
Aku ngarep nemu lanjutannya yang bekas Ｕ^皿^Ｕ *apabolehbuat*
Suka ramen? Ngg.., biasanya sih doyan mie instan atau mie dok-dok yang lewat itu, tapi anggap saja...ya!!
Atas dasar itu aku nekat ngambil komik yang harganya 'istimewa' ini, icip 1 volume~
Gambar : 1.5 bintang
Kekoplakan : 4 bintang...kadang garing, kadang jayus, kadang kocak-kocak-bego yang menyenangkan (^,,^)
Tapi karena harganya itu...""( >,,<)
Aku ngarep nemu lanjutannya yang bekas Ｕ^皿^Ｕ *apabolehbuat*
August 4, 2014
To be quite honest, this book just made me laugh over the absurdity of it all.
July 13, 2015
Odd...makes both cats and ramen less appealing.
March 20, 2018
This was such a fun little story! The comic strip style wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but I had a fun time reading this. I laughed a lot, and so much while reading this, and while I probably won't be continuing the manga because it's not exactly what I was looking for, I am still glad I picked this up!
July 13, 2017
So cute. A few laughs.
July 15, 2018
Cute, reccomended for a quick read. Story was decent, art was slap-dash.
Story: 8/10
Art: 4/10
Story: 8/10
Art: 4/10
August 23, 2018
Silly and adorable
February 9, 2020
有啲溫情，有啲勵志，由頭到尾都咁癡線嘅四格小故事，唯獨係個結局有啲夾硬嚟，算係少少遺憾。
July 21, 2021
Completely lovely. Divided into many many stand alone comics, with longer story arcs. I need more!
February 4, 2022
This is a graphic novel about a cat who runs a ramen restaurant and his most faithful customer.
May 4, 2025
I would 100% eat ramen prepared by not only this cat, but any cat.
August 31, 2019
taishō’s awful ramen and tanaka’s dismay and disgust over them really makes a good manga, huh ?? the comedy hit just right, and i can’t wait to continue this series !!!
May 30, 2012
Stuff I Read – Neko Ramen Vol 1
I think this is the first manga series that I have picked up that has been classified as strictly comedy. Most of the time manga tends towards battling or horror or high school drama or all of the above. But this manga acts more as a newspaper comic strip than a traditional manga, and that is all right by me. Indeed, the strip format, broken up now and again by slightly longer mini-comic books, is quite refreshing and makes returning to the manga easy. Which is nice, seeing as how I was reading this volume typically for about five to ten minutes at a time. I rarely had to stop right in the middle of things, as would have been the case for most other manga series. Instead, I just finished the strip and put the book down. Being able to put the book down is nice, giving the volume a lighter feel but still with the comic strip mentality, that each strip must delivery with the funny.
And it is not to say that the volume doesn’t have more long term appeal. There are threads and characters that recur over the course of the manga, and it is interesting to see the characters evolve more from the very simple first strips to the larger stories. While this might not be the volume to pick up if you are wanting epic storylines and giant battles, it is funny and cute and deliveries on what it promises, which is that it has a cat that makes ramen. That really is the point. For those that make peace with the fact that they are reading a manga whose premise is a cat makes ramen, this delivers with gusto. Because the humor is solid and the pacing great. The characters are all solid. Perhaps the greatest thing about this manga is that the cat in question really doesn’t act like a cat despite every other cat in the manga being completely normal. But his history and personality just work. As the editor says, a lot of humor arrives because this ramen-cooking cat does not acknowledge that he is a cat at all.
And so the manga just ends up working because the expectations of the reader is constantly being challenged in hilarious ways. Especially true in this is the short comic that deals with his first love. We, who tend to occupy the space of the human character in the series, assume what is happening and what is going on, but are turned around at the end, and it is funny and works because it is true to the character. We forget, along with the human character, that even though he acts human, he is a cat, and even though he is a cat, he has human traits. Finding the boundaries between the cat and human aspects of the character is where a lot of humor comes from. The volume also has some stuff at the back, from the author and translators and editor, and it all works nicely together to be a very neat volume. And while I am not on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next, I am interested to see what will happen to the characters, and so I will definitely pick up the other volumes sometime. So over all I give this volume a 7.75/10.
I think this is the first manga series that I have picked up that has been classified as strictly comedy. Most of the time manga tends towards battling or horror or high school drama or all of the above. But this manga acts more as a newspaper comic strip than a traditional manga, and that is all right by me. Indeed, the strip format, broken up now and again by slightly longer mini-comic books, is quite refreshing and makes returning to the manga easy. Which is nice, seeing as how I was reading this volume typically for about five to ten minutes at a time. I rarely had to stop right in the middle of things, as would have been the case for most other manga series. Instead, I just finished the strip and put the book down. Being able to put the book down is nice, giving the volume a lighter feel but still with the comic strip mentality, that each strip must delivery with the funny.
And it is not to say that the volume doesn’t have more long term appeal. There are threads and characters that recur over the course of the manga, and it is interesting to see the characters evolve more from the very simple first strips to the larger stories. While this might not be the volume to pick up if you are wanting epic storylines and giant battles, it is funny and cute and deliveries on what it promises, which is that it has a cat that makes ramen. That really is the point. For those that make peace with the fact that they are reading a manga whose premise is a cat makes ramen, this delivers with gusto. Because the humor is solid and the pacing great. The characters are all solid. Perhaps the greatest thing about this manga is that the cat in question really doesn’t act like a cat despite every other cat in the manga being completely normal. But his history and personality just work. As the editor says, a lot of humor arrives because this ramen-cooking cat does not acknowledge that he is a cat at all.
And so the manga just ends up working because the expectations of the reader is constantly being challenged in hilarious ways. Especially true in this is the short comic that deals with his first love. We, who tend to occupy the space of the human character in the series, assume what is happening and what is going on, but are turned around at the end, and it is funny and works because it is true to the character. We forget, along with the human character, that even though he acts human, he is a cat, and even though he is a cat, he has human traits. Finding the boundaries between the cat and human aspects of the character is where a lot of humor comes from. The volume also has some stuff at the back, from the author and translators and editor, and it all works nicely together to be a very neat volume. And while I am not on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen next, I am interested to see what will happen to the characters, and so I will definitely pick up the other volumes sometime. So over all I give this volume a 7.75/10.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2017
Silly fun.
March 24, 2022
so so cute ✨✨ would highly recommend
September 15, 2015
This is a 4-koma manga (4 panel comic strip) series about a cat who runs a ramen noodle shop. The art is simple but in the end it suits the gag strip format.
I tend to love (or at least be interested in getting hold of) any manga that's released in English that features cats (I'm pretty sure if I lived in Japan I'd be one of those crazy folks who buys doorstop-think books of cat-manga every other week). After being semi-burned on a couple of cat manga (I had to learn that just because it has cats in it doesn't mean its actually good), I started this one with a little bit of trepidation.
Not every strip here is laugh-out-loud funny, but I needn't have worried - almost all of the strips are amusing, and there actually were quite a few moments where I was sitting on my sofa giggling away (note - perhaps don't take this one to read on the bus).
The cornerstone of the humour in the book is the main character, Taisho. He's a cat who ended up going into the ramen business after running away from an overbearing (and overbearingly-cute) father, who was trying to force Taisho to follow in his footsteps as a cat model.
What I love about it is its quite straightforward: its like each time before writing a strip the author asks himself a question such as 'so, if this cat was running a ramen shop, how would he try to impress a critic?' or 'what would he serve as specials?' or 'what would the bathrooms be like?' and then answers those questions in chuckle-worthy ways :)
I haven't looked around there yet myself, but there's quite a snazzy looking Neko Ramen website that I think has previews of the manga on it --> www.neko-ramen.com
I tend to love (or at least be interested in getting hold of) any manga that's released in English that features cats (I'm pretty sure if I lived in Japan I'd be one of those crazy folks who buys doorstop-think books of cat-manga every other week). After being semi-burned on a couple of cat manga (I had to learn that just because it has cats in it doesn't mean its actually good), I started this one with a little bit of trepidation.
Not every strip here is laugh-out-loud funny, but I needn't have worried - almost all of the strips are amusing, and there actually were quite a few moments where I was sitting on my sofa giggling away (note - perhaps don't take this one to read on the bus).
The cornerstone of the humour in the book is the main character, Taisho. He's a cat who ended up going into the ramen business after running away from an overbearing (and overbearingly-cute) father, who was trying to force Taisho to follow in his footsteps as a cat model.
What I love about it is its quite straightforward: its like each time before writing a strip the author asks himself a question such as 'so, if this cat was running a ramen shop, how would he try to impress a critic?' or 'what would he serve as specials?' or 'what would the bathrooms be like?' and then answers those questions in chuckle-worthy ways :)
I haven't looked around there yet myself, but there's quite a snazzy looking Neko Ramen website that I think has previews of the manga on it --> www.neko-ramen.com
July 20, 2020
So I've just started reading this and have finished the first 2 chapters. This is a cute read. Although I ordered it off a book swapping website without realizing it was more akin to comic strips you'd find in the Sunday paper than an actual manga (It's pretty much exactly like newspaper comics gathered into a book, except each strip has a standard 4 panels, and they read top to bottom instead of left to right). But that's just fine with me, because it's pretty cute. Some of the little comics are episodic, some of them seem like serialized comics (much like those in the Sunday paper), and I think for any hardcore cat lover, this is a cute little read (and a very fast one at that, since there's 4 panels to each comic, and 2 comics per page). Since I'm pretty much a sucker for all things cat, comics about a cat that makes ramen sound pretty damn fun to me. I don't know that I'll go out of my way to hunt down and read the rest of this collection, but since I have this volume on hand, I'll definitely be finishing it, and enjoying a cute laugh.
Some of these stories are just ridiculous, but REALLY adorable. I love the little ones with the other cats, especially the ones where his assistant has kittens. Also, the comics where the theme is Taisho being bad at cooking ramen/not understanding actual cooking techniques (like simply adding ice to make cold noodles), those are pretty funny too.
UPDATE: I did finish this and it was really cute. Not the most amazing manga I've ever read, but for sure very adorable. And especially right now, during this whole pandemic, it's nice to have a cute and funny distraction. And as a cat lover, I definitely appreciated it for that. Because cats are the best, and you will always be able to suck me in with a cute cat being silly.
Some of these stories are just ridiculous, but REALLY adorable. I love the little ones with the other cats, especially the ones where his assistant has kittens. Also, the comics where the theme is Taisho being bad at cooking ramen/not understanding actual cooking techniques (like simply adding ice to make cold noodles), those are pretty funny too.
UPDATE: I did finish this and it was really cute. Not the most amazing manga I've ever read, but for sure very adorable. And especially right now, during this whole pandemic, it's nice to have a cute and funny distraction. And as a cat lover, I definitely appreciated it for that. Because cats are the best, and you will always be able to suck me in with a cute cat being silly.
April 24, 2011
Taisho runs a ramen shop... and he's a cat. The funny thing is, he doesn't think it's strange to have a cat make and sell ramen. When you walk in to his shop, be prepared to have any ingredient or topping served in your bowl. You can follow Taisho's adventures from starting out as a cat model to making his own way to a ramen chef with his own ramen shop. You will meet a wide variety of characters along the way including Taisho's baby brothers.
Neko Ramen is not your average manga. It is actually a yonkoma (or 4-koma) which is a gag comic strip. It is sort of like short stories as each story is told in four panels starting from the top and finishing at the bottom. Although the stories are not dependent on one another, they come together to create an overal story that makes you fall in love with Taisho. With Taisho in most of his scenes is the ever faithful customer Tanaka-san. Through Tanaka-san we learn more about Taisho and his very strange life as a cat Ramen Chef. This manga really is quite clever and funny and appeals to both people who like cats and ramen. From extremely ridiculous ramen ingredients to learning about Taisho's secret past as a cat model, there are many laughs to be had. Once you start reading you will not want to stop.
The art style to Neko Ramen is rather simplistic. What really makes it fun to read are all the facial expressions. There may not be much to the backgrounds or character designs, but the facial expressions really aid the storytelling process.
If you enjoyed Neko Ramen, you may want to try Hetalia-Axis Powers by Hidekaz Himaruya or Chi's Sweet Home by Kanata Konami.
Neko Ramen is not your average manga. It is actually a yonkoma (or 4-koma) which is a gag comic strip. It is sort of like short stories as each story is told in four panels starting from the top and finishing at the bottom. Although the stories are not dependent on one another, they come together to create an overal story that makes you fall in love with Taisho. With Taisho in most of his scenes is the ever faithful customer Tanaka-san. Through Tanaka-san we learn more about Taisho and his very strange life as a cat Ramen Chef. This manga really is quite clever and funny and appeals to both people who like cats and ramen. From extremely ridiculous ramen ingredients to learning about Taisho's secret past as a cat model, there are many laughs to be had. Once you start reading you will not want to stop.
The art style to Neko Ramen is rather simplistic. What really makes it fun to read are all the facial expressions. There may not be much to the backgrounds or character designs, but the facial expressions really aid the storytelling process.
If you enjoyed Neko Ramen, you may want to try Hetalia-Axis Powers by Hidekaz Himaruya or Chi's Sweet Home by Kanata Konami.
September 25, 2011
Review:There isn’t really a plot to this. There kind of is. But there’s not much to it. The cat on the front, Taisho, runs a ramen(noodle) shop. Tanaka, a man who to me looks like a young-middle aged man but could be any age due to the drawing style, is his only regular customer. The book is mainly four panel strips documenting their conversations regarding new ramen (dessert ramen with milk and strawberries, jumbo ramen with two giant fishcakes that is free if eating within the half hour, ad diet ramen, half the size of a normal portion and yet the same price), and occasionally other things such as Taisho’s ramen making history.
Neko Ramen is pure comedy. The plot doesn’t really progress, unless you count hiring staff our gaining random customers plot development. The real thing, aside from the comedy, is the characters.
Taisho and Tanaka are both very likeable. The enjoyment of Tanaka was slightly spoiled for me by the fact that the intro sheet at the front had a sticker over his name, and he doesn’t tell us in the strips until halfway through, but that’s not Kenji Sonishi or Tokyopop’s fault.
Taisho never stops coming up with outlandish ideas, no matter what’s going on with his business. My favourite ramen idea is the zero calories one. Which is a bowl of hot water. Even minor setbacks don’t seem to stop him. He’s an amazing cat.
Overall: Strength 4 tea to a fun little collection of strips that won’t fail to make you laugh somewhere along the line.
Neko Ramen is pure comedy. The plot doesn’t really progress, unless you count hiring staff our gaining random customers plot development. The real thing, aside from the comedy, is the characters.
Taisho and Tanaka are both very likeable. The enjoyment of Tanaka was slightly spoiled for me by the fact that the intro sheet at the front had a sticker over his name, and he doesn’t tell us in the strips until halfway through, but that’s not Kenji Sonishi or Tokyopop’s fault.
Taisho never stops coming up with outlandish ideas, no matter what’s going on with his business. My favourite ramen idea is the zero calories one. Which is a bowl of hot water. Even minor setbacks don’t seem to stop him. He’s an amazing cat.
Overall: Strength 4 tea to a fun little collection of strips that won’t fail to make you laugh somewhere along the line.
May 15, 2015
A 4 panel manga about a cat named Taisho who runs a ramen shop in Tokyo.
Each 4 panel is short and can be read individually but if you read them from beginning to end, they do tell a story.
The funniest is when the one lone customer that comes to the ramen shop every day asks to use the restroom. It's a litter box with a shovel and a couple of turds. And Taisho doesn't know what's wrong. For some reason, this cracked me up more than any other joke in this entire book.
And there's plenty of cat stories - hair in the gyoza, hair in the sushi, hairballs, lots of cat part-timers at the store, and above all - the really bad ramen noodles the cat sells.
I told myself I'm not continuing this series. Now part of me wants to find out if things get better for Taisho, so maybe. I'm not sure.
And now, even though it's 1 AM, I plan to go cook me up some cup o noodles.
Each 4 panel is short and can be read individually but if you read them from beginning to end, they do tell a story.
The funniest is when the one lone customer that comes to the ramen shop every day asks to use the restroom. It's a litter box with a shovel and a couple of turds. And Taisho doesn't know what's wrong. For some reason, this cracked me up more than any other joke in this entire book.
And there's plenty of cat stories - hair in the gyoza, hair in the sushi, hairballs, lots of cat part-timers at the store, and above all - the really bad ramen noodles the cat sells.
I told myself I'm not continuing this series. Now part of me wants to find out if things get better for Taisho, so maybe. I'm not sure.
And now, even though it's 1 AM, I plan to go cook me up some cup o noodles.
July 21, 2011
I remember watching the Neko Ramen anime back when Crunchyroll was still hosting fansub videos. It was hilarious and quirky and clearly a labor of love shared between various creators, thus giving each animated short a different style and atmosphere than the one before. I had extremely high expectations for the manga when I heard Tokyopop had licensed it for English language release and now that I've had a chance to properly digest the first volume, I can say with confidence that all my expectations were dashed to the floor.
Read the rest of my review at Nagareboshi Reviews!
Read the rest of my review at Nagareboshi Reviews!
January 4, 2026
Upon re-reading it, I feel like I loved it for the aesthetics more than anything, because it's a really charming art style and fits the overall vibe of a 2000s comedy manga. But I'm finding that unless it's related to a source material I like (i.e., Fire Emblem), I'm just not a fan of the 4koma format. A lot of the jokes are very repetitive, though some of them are good. The bonus comics are neat moments of character and world building, and I'm not expecting anything deep or profound from a manga about a talking cat running a ramen shop. It's just not clicking with me the same as it did the first time around.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews