Muteki Kanban Musume

Ramen Fighter Miki is probably one of the more interesting anime series out there. Upon first look of it you may think this is just a simple cooking series with a little bit of action thrown in the mix. In actuality however it has little to with anything regarding cooking, let alone ramen. The best way to describe this series is: Picture if you will, what would happen if "Azumanga Daioh" and "Dragonball Z" had a baby...well you would get "Ramen Fighter Miki" as its off spring.

Story: 7/10
The story starts out with Miki’s first day at the restaurant, followed by her spilling ramen on her ... very first costumer. This episode is all about introducing the main characters, it shows a flash back on how Miki and Megumi grew up as kids and thus became rivals. Out of all 12 episodes of this series, this one is probably going to be the hardest for you to watch. As most of the characters are bouncing around all over the place, and there really is no story at all to it. (other than them trying to out do each other) Rest assured however, that episode 2 and on does in fact have a plot to each episode, as new characters are introduced as it progresses. There is no over all plot to the story, most of the time its Miki takingon her rivals (or in some cases helping them) in a fight, or simply her trying to make her deliveries......which most of the time ends up spilling. That being said though, the episodes as well as the humor itself, are thought out and executed quite well. Which is surprising considering that the show is made up mostly of random fights and gags. I didn’t find all of the humor in the anime funny, but it did have some unexpected jokes..........like the creepy teacher that pops out of no where at the most random (yet well placed) moments. Still, some anime fans might find some of the humor repetitive and a bit pointless.

Music: 7/10
The music that this series has to offer was also pretty decent, though sparse over all. The beginning intro is a little misleading to say the least, it opens up as a space theme and has all the main cast doing fighting poses, and features some action scenes between Miki and Megumi. At this point you might be thinking that Miki and friends are super hero’s on an adventure destined to save earth...yet none of the actually series takes place anywhere other than their home town. But the opening its self is a pretty good j-pop themed intro, which fits the series, as does the background music. Now the voices I have to say are great, while none of them ever stick over the others, they were fitting to each personality. I am not much of a fan of heavy metal music (which is what the opening consists of), but I did think it complimented what was going on during it!

Art: 8/10
The art style to this title is very well done, the animation along with the wacky humor is all thought out good, the fight scenes themselves are pretty stiff however, and won’t hold up to other action titles when compared to them, but it's a colorful series with well animated character design and detailed backgrounds. While it is by no means the best looking anime around, it more than gets the job done.

Characters: 6/10
All the characters that appear, (its not the largest cast you’ll see in a 12 episode series like this) I personally found to not have much distinction between them. Most of them love to make evil faces and laugh a lot. And here was my main complaint with the show: The characters themselves! Not only do most of them act alike, but we are never given much back story to them. While in the first few episodes we find that Miki picked on Megumi and Kankuro as a child, we are never given much more detail than that. In fact there were some characters such as Akihiko for example, I never really got who he was. Other than him working at the shop next to the restaurant, you never really get to feel what he was all about. Same thing with Miki herself, it was never explained just why she likes to fight, or even how she learned it. Her mom is a better fighter than her, so I guess we can just assume she got that fighting spirit from her. Heck we never even learn why Miki and her mom are even into the ramen business in the first place. Its all left up to guess work. I do realize that this is the kind of anime that puts humor above all else, but I still feel it couldn’t have hurt them to explain the characters more. To its credit though, nobody ever comes off as annoying, and since this title is all about random comedy...its main goal is to keep you laughing. Which I have to say it does a pretty good job of!

Bottom Line: 7/10
While it does have its flaws, overall Ramen Fighter Miki is a good title! People who are expecting a whole "ramen themed cooking" show may be disappointed. Even though it may not blow you away with its basic over the top humor, it does serves up enough laughs to keep you into it. If your a fan of action and/or random comedy anime, then I recommend giving this series a try. Watch the first two episodes, you’ll now by then whether you’ll like it or not. I mean, how could you not like an anime where the main characters biggest rival......... is the neighborhood dog?

Muteki Kanban Musume is a comedic anime based on a manga written by Sadogawa Jun. The anime was released shortly after the last manga volume. The adaptation was handled by TMS, a studio which is probably best known for Lupin III or Detective Conan, but they've done much more than those. None of which I can recall reviewing. Let's take a look.

This is one of those comedic works without an over-arcing story. The basic setup is that our titular invincible delivery girl, Miki, is working as the poster girl of her family's ramen restaurant. Miki has to juggle her work with combat challenges and ... various hijinks. The humour in this is a mix of parody, targets include super sentai shows, romantic comedies and action anime tropes, physical humour and zany craziness. The comedy is very effectively handled. Virtually every joke in the series is genuinely funny. The series likes to divide each episode in half, generally starting both with the same basic setup or having them be somehow related. You would think that this would lead to the second half of each episode being predictable and less entertaining, but the execution is very clever and the directions that these episodes go aren't what you would anticipate. Which leads to a lot of uproariously funny moments. The series even manages to keep its running jokes fresh throughout the series. Partially because it doesn't over-use any of them and partially because it constantly finds new and unexpected ways to deliver them.

The characters in this are goofy. They aren't particularly fleshed out or three dimensional, but they do interact very well for comedic purposes and they all have their share of comedic moments. For an absurd comedy, the characters are just about perfect.

The art is highly stylised. Some scenes will look pretty ordinary but most of the time they do something bizarre with the facial expressions or there'll be something odd thrown in. There are quite a few jokes that rely on the visuals and they're executed very well. The art can be outright bizarre, but it's honestly a perfect match for the series.

This series has a really good cast. Miki is voiced by Nabatame Hitomi, who also voiced Cyndi in Ika Musume and Kanade in Gokujou Seitokai, so she's no stranger to comedic works. You've also got Koshimizu Ami (Claes from the first series of Gunslinger Girl), Hiyama Nobuyuki (Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho) and Nakamura Yuuichi (FMA Brotherhood's Greed) to name a few. The entire cast does a really good job of putting a lot of boisterous energy into their performances, which is what the series calls for most of the time. They also do well in scenes that require them to pull things back and sound more serious. The music is fairly effective.

The ho-yay factor in this one is a 2/10. There is a scene in which two women encourage a third to remove her clothes. And even a scene as ordinary as that is executed in a weird way in this anime.

So, how is Muteki Kanban Musume overall? It's a bizarre series. The situations don't make a lot of sense and it's glorious. In of zany comedies, this one comes pretty close to perfection. It's thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end with a lot of really memorable, really funny moments. If you enjoy high energy zany comedies, give it a watch. My final rating is going to be a 9/10. Next week, Shin Sekai Yori.

Muteki Kanban Musume is a punchy (no pun intended) gag comedy about a girl working in a ramen shop that keeps getting into fights. It's an extremely simple, no-frills comedy series. There are probably no more than a dozen named characters in the entire series, and most are defined by a single gimmick or character trait. That's not to say it isn't an enjoyable series to watch though. The jokes are solid and pretty unique, not the kinds you'll probably be used to seeing in anime. The comedy style feels more in line with what you'd see from Looney Tunes or a classic Hanna Barbera ... series. The animation is also quite good, and makes good use of the strong character designs as a source of gags in and of itself (the reaction faces are especially good).

However, this series has a key flaw, and it's that it's so threadbare. While it still has moments of inspiration throughout, it's at its best in the first 3-5 episodes, when the jokes and characters are still fresh. After that point, it noticeably starts to slow down, chafing against the lack of new material. It's best enjoyed in small doses - I strongly recommend watching 1 episode a week like it's a currently airing seasonal rather than binging it - and it probably should have been a short rather than a full length TV anime to preserve some of the novelty.