Noodle Fighter Miki [manga]

[Ragnar]

Noodle Fighter Miki
Jun Sadogawa

  I have to admit that when I picked this one off of the library shelf, I thought it had potential. I mean, it's got noodles, right? Noodles are always funny; throw in some martial arts, and it sounds like a winner. After reading this volume, there was only one thought in my mind pertaining to the aforementioned law: something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

I had forgotten to take into account a crucial factor: no matter how many noodles you make, you can never have enough to fill the places of plot and character development. In fact, the title is a bit of a misnomer; not only doesn't Miki use noodles to fight with, the only noodles in the entire story are located inside delivery boxes for Miki's mother's Ramen shop. Miki's fighting is also pretty much limited to random scuffles and bashing people in the face. And blood. There's a lot of blood, but not in a graphic way. Oh well, I suppose "Violent Shop Employee Miki" wouldn't have sold as well.

Basically, Miki is a girl who works in her mother's ramen shop, even though it was the last thing in the world she ever wanted to do. The only problem is that Miki's people skills are limited to making a lasting first impression on someone's skull. The rest of the plot involves her getting into all kinds of trouble, often at the expense of the friendly greengrocer who lives next door. It's unclear when he has time to work, as he always seems to be accompanying Miki on her little adventures. Miki has never made a successful delivery, and her mother has a comical habit of severely beating her (don't worry, cartoon damage never lasts).

The only things lacking are an overlying plot and any character depth. There seems to be no higher purpose to the book except to chronicle Miki's misadventures, which gets old quickly. All of the characters are also rather one-sided; the pretty-but-violent teenage girl (there's nothing even remotely risqué in here, either), the semi-dopey young adult guy, and the fire-spewing mother who genuinely cares for her daughter, although it doesn't look like it. While the art is good, it isn't wonderful, and the front cover sort of makes it look like Miki has a bizarre form of chicken pox.

Weakly entertaining at best, it isn't something I'd spend any money on.

  Rating: 3 out of 7
(New grading scale of 1-7: Failure, Poor, Not great, Fair, Good, Very good, Excellent)

[thepanda]

Well, I'd have given it a 4 rather than a 3. It isn't anything I'd recommend to someone, but it is the kind of thing I like to read. I think you're being a bit harsh with your expectations.

True, there is little character developement and the characters are fairly thin, but so was Ranma. Its a gag manga. Lighten up a bit. >_>;

[Ragnar]

Yes, but the difference is that I thought Ranma was funny, while I honestly felt like this book had just wasted my time. I know it's a gag manga, but if I thought it sucked, I'm going to say so.
My only expectation was that it would be funny. I thought it was weakly amusing at best. It may be a gag manga, but I thought it was a poor one.
I hope that this post doesn't sound overly agressive or hostile, as it really isn't meant to be; unfortunately, I am the kind of person who tends to get overly defensive. Anyway, I guess my point is that different people have different opinions and expectations, and while others may have found this book worthwhile, I just didn't enjoy it.