Ms. Koizumi loves ramen noodles. is a manga series written and illustrated by Naru Narumi, which began serialisation in Takeshobo’s Manga Life Storia magazine in September 2013.
The manga has received both live action and anime adaptations. You can read my review of the anime adaptation here. The manga is being published in English by Dark Horse Comics.
The first volume contains chapters one through to nine.
Ms. Koizumi loves ramen noodles… and Yu likes Ms. Koizumi! But she soon discovers the only way to get closer to this cool, mysterious transfer student is to become her pupil on the path of the one thing Ms. Koizumi really cares about… and you what that is, don’t you…?
As you would generally expect of the first volume of manga in any given series, we are introduced to our central characters here: Ms. Koizumi and Yu Osawa. Ms. Koizumi’s defining trait is given in the title of this manga, whilst Yu has a crush on Ms. Koizumi. A lot of this manga is Yu attempting to get closer to Ms. Koizumi, and that involves eating a whole lot of ramen.
Ms. Koizumi makes it blatantly clear that she really would rather have nothing to do with Yu, but Yu is a stubborn lass.
When it comes down to it, though, Yu wanting to be closer to Ms. Koizumi is only secondary. What takes the main stage here is the various types of ramen that Ms. Koizumi, Yu and a couple of other characters consume.
There’s plenty of different types of ramen, and get Ms. Koizumi talking about it and she can go on for ages. You’d probably be hard pressed to find any other manga that goes into such great detail about different types of ramen.
Simplicity is the order of the day for Ms. Koizumi loves ramen noodles., as for the most part each chapter ultimately leads to Ms. Koizumi (or another character, in some instances) eating ramen – and looking like they are having an incredible time doing so. There is definitely some euphoric eating going on in this manga.
Those seeking a deep, meaningful story will need to look elsewhere: this manga is first and foremost about eating ramen.
Being a manga centred on food, there is one piece of advice I can offer: don’t read it on an empty stomach. Naru Narumi does a pretty good job of conveying how much the characters enjoy their meals – whether its a familiar taste or a surprising new experience – that you may find yourself craving to try out some ramen yourself.
Rory Muses 