is a Japanese
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series written and illustrated by
Jun Sadogawa. It was serialized between May 2002 and February 2006 in
Akita Shoten
is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita on 10 August 1948. As of 2020, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi.
Magazines Male-oriented manga magazines ''Shōnen'' magazines
* – Bimo ...
's ''
Weekly Shōnen Champion
is a Japanese ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Akita Shoten.
History
''Shōnen Champion'' was first published on July 15, 1969. It has had numerous popular series by manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai, Shinji Mizushima, Masami ...
'' and was collected in 17 volumes. A continuation titled ''Muteki Kanban Musume N'' was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Champion'' between March 2006 and April 2007 and was collected in five volumes. A 12-episode
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series adaptation animated by
Telecom Animation Film
is a Japanese animation studio founded on May 19, 1975 and currently affiliated with TMS Entertainment. The company produces television series, films, and original video animations (OVA).
Works Television series and original video animations ...
aired in Japan between July and September 2006. The original manga was licensed in North America as ''Noodle Fighter Miki'', and the anime was licensed in North America as ''Ramen Fighter Miki''. The series premiered on
Toku in the United States in January 2016.
Plot
''Muteki Kanban Musume'' is a comedy detailing the adventures of Miki Onimaru, a girl who recently turned 20, whose mother runs a Chinese
ramen
is a Japanese dish, Japanese noodle dish. It consists of served in a broth; common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen has its roots in Chinese ...
restaurant. Miki works as the delivery girl for the shop but frequently gets into trouble due to her boisterous, active personality. Much of the humor of the series derives from the characters' over-the-top behavior.
Characters
;
:
:Miki is the new delivery girl for the Onimaru family ramen shop (usually shortened to just ''Onimaru''). Though 20 years old, she still pretty much has the mind and maturity of a 12-year-old child, with a corresponding energy and fiercely competitive personality that makes her stand out. She is often seen to start fights and competitions; her physical strength is admirable and her fighting style is frantic and unpredictable. Violent as she may be, Miki is a caring and kind-hearted girl who is keen to help anyone in need. This sweet-gentleness comes to the forefront when she is drunk, turning her from a crude tomboy to the very portrait of an ideal Japanese lady (or
Yamato Nadeshiko
''Yamato nadeshiko'' ( or ) is a Japanese term meaning the "personification of an idealized Japanese woman", or "the epitome of pure, feminine beauty"; poised, decorous, kind, gentle, graceful, humble, patient, virtuous, respectful, bene ...
).
;
:
:Megumi is Miki's long-time rival and the delivery girl for the
bakery
A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who ...
directly across the street from Onimaru. As they attended the same grades in school, one can assume she is also 20. Like Miki, she is committed to being the best, but often falls short to the other girl's antics. Megumi specializes in throwing sharpened bamboo skewers (in the manner of
darts
Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...
); she learned to do this by training with an elementary school teacher who tossed bits of chalk at his students who fell asleep. While Megumi often claims to be ruthlessly bullied by Miki, her own behavior is by no means innocent, and she often sets traps for Onimaru. When push comes to shove, however, she can still be fundamentally kind-hearted like Miki, particularly when it comes to matters of helping children in need. And just as Miki becomes a lady-amongst-ladies when drunk, Megumi becomes the definition of a crude and violent tomboy when in a similar state (or more like a yakuza).
;
:
:Makiko is much more practical and down-to-earth than Miki. As Miki's mother, she genuinely cares about the girl, but can be quite harsh, and often loses her temper, slapping Miki around. This violence, however, is very unrealistic. It is once shown during a flashback, she was once actually quite beautiful; the stress of raising such an exasperating daughter like Miki was no doubt the cause of her current obesity. As she has Miki deliver ramen, Makiko's mantra is "Deliveries are about speed!" When she is drunk, she turns to be a drunken kung fu master.
;
:
:Akihiko is the owner of the
grocery store
A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...
next door to Onimaru. He spends a good amount of his free time at the ramen shop, hanging out with Miki's mother. He views his friends' goings-on with bemusement, but he accepts that that's the way she is. Ohta is a huge fan of ''
Super Space Battle Team Star Rangers''. He is also a skilled
graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
artist. He often takes some physical punishment at random times. When he was little he was often bullied by his classmates, such as forced to confess to a girl he doesn't like at all.
;
:
:He has just returned to the town after spending four years at college. He has a considerable grudge against Miki because she used to
bully
Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by ot ...
him, despite being younger than him. Kankuro is a
case study
A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular fi ...
(however comic) of the effects of abuse: despite being a 24-year-old
college graduate
Bachelor's degree or higher is a commonly used term by the United States Census Bureau and other U.S. government agencies on the federal as well as state and local level. The term describes the portion of the population that has either a bachelor ...
, his heart is forever unable to grow up and move on unless he destroys the traumatic past that is Miki. Kankuro is somewhat thickheaded, and often fails to take Miki's resourcefulness into account when he schemes against her. He almost always adds "nya" at the end of his sentences. He is poor and does odd jobs in order to support himself. What adds to Kankuro's hate towards Miki is the fact that Miki can never remember his name.
;
:
:She is a teacher at the local high school. She is greatly feared by students, because of her creepy appearance and the air of depression around her. She dislikes her job because of the pressure she puts on students even though she cares about their futures. The show makes visual references to
Sadako Yamamura
, also known as Park Eun-suh () and Samara Morgan, is the main antagonist of Koji Suzuki's ''Ring'' novel series and the film franchise of the same name. Sadako's fictional history alternates between continuities, but all depict her as the ven ...
when Miki, Akihiko, and Megumi first meet her. Ramen puts Tomoka in another mood and she cheers up and becomes ''incredibly'' cute when she eats it. Such is the beauty of her appearance in this state that drop-out delinquents fall in love at first sight, and diligently return to school just to see her ''adorable'' smile every day. Megumi doesn't know Tomoka's true identity, and believes she is a vengeful
ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
. It is also shown that she can climb up walls like a
gekko
''Gekko'' is a genus of Southeast Asian geckos, commonly known as true geckos or calling geckos, in the family Gekkonidae. Although species such as ''Gekko gecko'' (tokay gecko) are very widespread and common, some species in the same genus hav ...
, causing many people to mistake her for a vengeful ghost. Tomoka is poor as shown in the episode when Megumi first encounters her, she was up on a tree picking peaches for dinner. Also, in one episode you see her room which was really empty and the fact that she traded a plushie for ramen.
;
:
:He is a vicious dog that lives in town (though fears Makiko), and Miki's strongest non-human opponent. He is very strong as shown when he was able to act as a mount. Miki seems to understand its growls and barks, and thus she says it claims to bite people for the sake of
world peace
World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...
. Later on he becomes friends with Kankuro. He also appears in the every episode's ending titles.
;
:
: Toshiyuki's young owner, she is not threatened by the dog, who acts harmless around her.
;Super Space Battle Team Star Rangers
: A children's television action show in the world of ''Muteki Kanban Musume''. It is along the lines of ''
Super Sentai
is a Japanese superhero team metaseries and media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company, and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi ("Sentai" is the Japanese word for "task force" or "fighting squadron"). The sho ...
''. There are five members of the team: Red Star, Pink Star, Yellow Star, Blue Star, and Black Star.
;Hell's Bunny
: The Star Rangers' most nefarious and strongest foe. Depicted as an attractive woman in a long dress and partial rabbit costume, she wields a large wooden mallet and displays excellent attack skills.
;Pink Star
: A friend of the actress that plays Hell's Bunny. Before meeting Miki, she was not used to using too much force, probably due to a lack of confidence. Her attack, Star Light Knee had the power of a person's poke. Later she gained confidence due to Miki's behavior and began using more strength when using her character's special knee attack.
Media
Manga
''Muteki Kanban Musume'' is a
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series written and illustrated by
Jun Sadogawa. It was serialized in
Akita Shoten
is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita on 10 August 1948. As of 2020, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi.
Magazines Male-oriented manga magazines ''Shōnen'' magazines
* – Bimo ...
's ''
Weekly Shōnen Champion
is a Japanese ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Akita Shoten.
History
''Shōnen Champion'' was first published on July 15, 1969. It has had numerous popular series by manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai, Shinji Mizushima, Masami ...
'' from the 25th issue of 2002 to the 13th issue of 2006, sold between May 16, 2002, and February 23, 2006. It was collected in 17 ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes published between November 14, 2002, and June 8, 2006. The manga was licensed for release in North America by
ADV Manga
A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gree ...
under the title ''Noodle Fighter Miki''. A sequel titled ''Muteki Kanban Musume
N'' was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Champion'' from the 16th issue of 2006 to the combined 22nd/23rd issue of 2007, sold between March 16, 2006, and April 26, 2007. It was collected in five ''tankōbon'' volumes published between July 7, 2006, and July 6, 2007.
Anime
A 12-episode
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series adaptation, animated by
Telecom Animation Film
is a Japanese animation studio founded on May 19, 1975 and currently affiliated with TMS Entertainment. The company produces television series, films, and original video animations (OVA).
Works Television series and original video animations ...
, directed by Nobuo Tomizawa, and written by
Touko Machida
is a Japanese anime screenwriter. She debuted as a screenwriter in 2001, and in 2006 got to become the lead screenwriter for the first time with '' Ramen Fighter Miki''. Since ''Ramen Fighter Miki'', she has done screenwriting for many works, su ...
aired in Japan between July 4 and September 19, 2006, on
Chiba TV , doing business as , is a Japanese commercial terrestrial television broadcasting company headquartered at 11-25 Miyako-chō 1-chōme, Chūō-ku, Chiba serving Chiba Prefecture but spill-over is received in the neighbouring prefectures. It is a mem ...
. The anime was licensed for release in North America by
Anime Works
Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment corporation that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American ...
under the title ''Ramen Fighter Miki''. The series premiered on
Toku in the United States in January 2016. The opening theme is "Wild Spice" by
Masami Okui
is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Itami, Hyōgo. She began her professional musical career at age 21 as a concert backup singer. From almost the very beginning of her career, Masami has sung themes for anime television and movies. She ...
and the ending theme is by
Naozumi Takahashi
is a Japanese singer and voice actor
who released the two popular singles "Soshite Omae ni Deaeta Dake De" and "Muteki na Smile". Naozumi's single "Ashita No Kioku" was used as an opening theme for Black Blood Brothers.
Filmography
Anime
...
.
Episode list
See also
*''
Cooking Master Boy''
*''
Fighting Foodons
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by and serialized in ''Comic BonBon'' in 1998. It was adapted into an anime television series which aired on NHK-BS2 satellite channel from December 11, 2001 to June 25, 2002. It also receiv ...
''
*''
Iron Wok Jan
is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Shinji Saijyo. The manga was licensed in English by ComicsOne before the license was transferred to DrMaster.
A sequel, ''Iron Wok Jan! R: The Summit Operations'', was also released in Japan by ...
''
*''
Yakitate!! Japan
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takashi Hashiguchi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from December 2001 to January 2007, with its chapters collected in 26 ''tankōbon'' volumes. A sixty-nine ...
''
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Anime official website
*
{{TMS Entertainment
2002 manga
2006 manga
2006 anime television series debuts
ADV Manga
Akita Shoten manga
Anime Works
Comedy anime and manga
Cooking in anime and manga
Shōnen manga
TMS Entertainment
Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation original programming