Ramen Akaneko

 Ramen Akaneko (ラーメン赤猫) is a 12 episode work place anime based on the manga of the same name by Angyaman.  The series originally aired during the Summer of 2024.

    Yashiro Tamako is a young woman who finds herself applying for a part time job at a ramen restaurant operated and staffed solely by cats.  Her aunt had recommended her to the owners as a good addition to their staff, helping with some of the things that the cats struggle with.  Tamako had left an office job due to the extreme abuse she was enduring from her immediate supervisor and was happy to get any opportunity, though the idea of working for a groups of cats seemed a bit off putting.  The cats misunderstood why she was there when she arrived for her interview, thinking she was a customer.  Tamako, meek and apologetic, finally musters up the courage to tell them why she was there after enjoying her meal.  The cats, having observed her behavior as she was the only patron in the shop, decide to hire her after confirming that shes not a cat fanatic.  Her initial job is to regularly brush the staff, in an effort to keep as much fur out of the food as possible.  As she becomes more familliar with the shop and the cats become more comfortable with her presnece and what they can use her for, she finds herself doing more tasks around the shop, eventually being out in front washing dishes...even though she dons a veil and cat ears while doing so.

    Ramen Akaneko is in a unique position in the world the show presents.  Cats with enough motivation and desire are capable of human speech and complex thought.  The two cats who effectively manager and operate the restaurant, Bunzo and Sasaki, were stray kittens who were rescued by an elderly man running a ramen cart.  Not wanting to care for the cats, he found a home for them with a wealthy business woman.  Bunzo didn't have any interest in staying in the home and returned to the ramen cart, convincing the man to adopt him instead.  Both cats found themselves in situations in their lives that pushed them to become more independent and enter into the human world on more equal terms.  Bunzo learned the old mans trade and took over the ramen cart, encouraging the man to retire.  Sasaki, using inheritance from the woman who had adopted him and passed away, decided to join forces with his old friend and helped to find a more permanent place for the ramen cart.  Together they formed the business with an eye on creating a place for other cats to feel welcome as they too choose to become independent.

    One the surface this seems like a goofy and cute story, but in reality it is a sincere and mostly comedy free work place story.  While there is a lot of attention placed on the unique challenges the cats face in operating a public facing business in the human world, this is really well thought out and believable workplace series.  As the story progresses, the viewer becomes more familiar with the ramen shops' staff and its processes along with Tamako.  Over time the cats warm up to her presence and accept her into their world, understanding that the dynamic of the store and how it faces its customers is always on a balance of collapsing.  The shop has built a family that each member can depend on and the inclusion of a new person into the mix, one who does not share the same world view due to being a different species, could be problematic.  While Tamako is grateful to be given this chance of employment in the face of the terrible past at her previous employer, she is uncertain about how well she can do in the situation.  Low end food service isn't the highest paying or more stable employment and that is more concerning when your paycheck is written out by a cat.

    This was a surprisingly enjoyable and well done series.  The characters and writing was fantastic and one of the best work place stories I have seen.  I have a lot of dislike for the artwork though, as the 3d CG animation is stiff and unnatural in many instances.  Looking at the manga however, the design team worked at capturing the quality of the character designs from the source material, but I feel this series would have been better served with some higher quality design and work.  The story and character writing is so good...that if the artwork would have been upped it would find a lot more fans.  There is always the discussion about what anime to use to introduce people into the medium.  Ramen Akaneko may be one of the easiest anime to recommend for people who are not familiar or comfortable with the medium.  Its a well written drama that doesn't sweep its underlying premise under the rug.  It is devoid of the rote trappings needed to understand a lot of anime.  Its really quite devoid of deep Japanese-ness that makes a lot of anime difficult to approach for the uninitiated.  It also just tells a relatable and easy to understand story that just happens to be about a group of cats who decided to work for a living.  Its just a really good show.

    The series simulcast on Crunchyroll.