Red Cat Ramen

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Angyaman. It began serialization as an independent comic published on Shueisha's ''Shōnen Jump+'' app and website in March 2022. It later became a full-fledged series in October 2022. An anime television series adaptation produced by E&H Production aired from July to September 2024. A second season has been announced.

Plot

''Red Cat Ramen'' centers around the titular establishment, a ramen shop established and run by talking cats. Focusing on Tamako Yashiro, a human woman who is working as a part-timer behind the scenes, the series focuses on the day-to-day antics of her and her fellow feline employees: Bunzo, the head chef; Sasaki, the owner and finance/business expert; Sabu, the sous-chef; Hana, the customer service manager; and Krishna, a tiger in charge of making the base ramen noodles in-house.

Characters

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: An orange tabby cat and the softspoken head chef at Red Cat Ramen. He was originally a stray before being rescued by the old owner of a ramen food cart. After the owner retired to a nursing home, Bunzo took over the business for him. He then eventually partnered with Sasaki to upgrade his food cart into a full restaurant.
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: A grey tuxedo cat and the laidback owner of Red Cat Ramen. He primarily manages the business' finances and office work, but also helps out his staff by serving customers. Like Bunzo, Sasaki was also a stray before being adopted by a wealthy businesswoman. When his owner became terminally ill at a young age, he acted as her caretaker up until her death. He then received a large inheritance, using it to open the restaurant.
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: A black cat and the cheerful sous-chef at Red Cat Ramen. He is responsible for cooking side dishes, such as gyōza, and plating the ramen. Sabu grew up as a stray in Chinatown before being scouted by Bunzo. As a result of his upbringing, he is very food-motivated. Outside of work, he is an avid gamer.
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: A white cat and the customer service manager at Red Cat Ramen. While she puts on a cute, bubbly persona for her guests, her real personality is more sassy and sharp-tongued. Prior to working at the restaurant, she was a social media influencer named Love Pipi. An animal abuse scandal erupted after she had her ear willingly pierced. She then closed her account due to the harassment her owner faced from the incident.
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: A tiger and the timid noodle-maker at Red Cat Ramen. The offspring of a Siberian tiger and Bengal tiger, Krishna was born and raised in a zoo before being recruited by Bunzo. Her imposing size sharply contrasts her shy and kindhearted nature. While she normally stays in the back of house, she is sometimes brought out front to scare away unruly customers.
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: The sole human employee at Red Cat Ramen. Her main responsibilities are washing dishes and brushing the staff. During service, she wears a ''kuroko'' outfit to blend into the background. Tamako left her former career at an advertising design company due to the toxic work environment. She admits to being more of a dog person than a cat person, which helps her land the job at Red Cat.
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: A grey long-haired cat and a customer service specialist at Red Cat Ramen. He is flashy and charismatic, often striking a pose whenever he introduces himself and handing out his personal business cards. Jewel first joins Red Cat with the dream of owning his own feline host club, in the hopes of finding the host who cared for him as a kitten before disappearing. After Sasaki locates the host and reunites the two, Jewel takes on a new goal of traveling to Italy to teach other cats about hospitality and how to avoid shedding in the workplace.
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: A Siamese cat and trainee at Red Cat Ramen. She is noted for her intelligence and strong sense of independence. Yuzu is fairly reserved, which initially causes her to remain distant from her coworkers and struggle with the customer service aspects of the job. She eventually warms up to the others and finds a suitable spot manning the register. She previously worked at a government-affiliated charity, albeit acting mostly as a mascot.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Angyaman, ''Red Cat Ramen'' was originally published on Shueisha's ''Jump Rookie'' website from November 26, 2021, to February 20, 2022. It later began serialization as an independent comic published on Shueisha's ''Shōnen Jump+'' app and website on March 14, 2022. It later got promoted to a regular serialization on October 2, 2022. Its chapters have been collected in ten volumes as of February 2025.

The series is published digitally in English on Shueisha's ''Manga Plus'' platform. The series is also published in France by Kurokawa.

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced on November 27, 2023. It was later confirmed at Jump Festa 2024 to be a television series produced by Good Smile Company and E&H Production, directed by Hisatoshi Shimizu, with Toru Kubo overseeing series scripts, Michinori Chiba designing the characters, and Hirotaka Matsuoka composing the music. The series aired from July 4 to September 19, 2024, on TBS and its affiliates. The opening theme song is performed by Wednesday Campanella, while the ending theme song is performed by Rikon Densetsu. Crunchyroll licensed the series. Medialink licensed the series for streaming in Southeast Asia and Oceania (except Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam) on its Ani-One Asia YouTube channel.

A second season was announced at Jump Festa 2025 on December 21, 2024.

Episodes

Game

On July 1, 2024, a licensed game, , was announced for Android and iOS phones. The game will have animated cutscenes for the game and new lines recorded by the cast.

Radio show

On June 7, 2024, a web radio show, , began streaming online through Good Smile Company's YouTube channel. Kurumi Orihara, who plays Tamako Yashiro in the anime, serves as the host.

Reception

The series was nominated for the eighth Next Manga Awards in 2022 for the web manga category and was ranked fifth out of 50 nominees. The series was also ranked fifteenth in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2023. It ranked nineteenth on Takarajimasha's ''Kono Manga ga Sugoi!'' list of best manga of 2024 for male readers.

Notes

References

External links

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* at ''Manga Plus''
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{{E&H Production

2022 manga
2024 anime television series debuts
Animated television series about cats
Anime series based on manga
Comedy anime and manga
Comics about anthropomorphic cats
Comics about anthropomorphic tigers
Comics about talking animals
Cooking in anime and manga
Crunchyroll anime
Japanese webcomics
Medialink
Shōnen manga
Shueisha manga
Slice of life anime and manga
TBS Television (Japan) original programming
Television series about talking animals
Television series set in restaurants
Upcoming anime television series
Webcomics in print