Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-San: Episode 1 (Review)

By: v.o.lynnThis season’s food offering is Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san, Studio Gokumi’s anime adaptation of Naru Narumi’s Manga. The series formatting for the first episode is three Ramen-named minisodes at about 7 minutes each, following Koizumi-San's eating habits and Yu’s attempts to defrost the titular ice queen.

Episode 1 review – early spoilers ahoy!

Yu Osawa has a crush. The pretty but distant Koizumi transferred into her school, but Koizumi hasn’t opened up to anyone about anything, despite attempts by Yu and other classmates. With a stroke of luck, Yu’s own dinner plans are cancelled just before she notices a Ramen shop, with Koizumi waiting in line.With Yu as the narrator, we see Koizumi through the lens of someone who is curious about this enigmatic new addition to her school, but also with a sense of wonder, especially when Koizumi ties her hair back as though heading into battle, and then inhales a mountain of sprouts and noodles with absolute bliss.And so on.We get the idea in these first three episodes that Koizumi will be a tough nut for Yu to crack, but not impossible to get close to: the more that Yu shows an interest in ramen, the more likely she is to keep a conversation moving between the quiet Koizumi and herself. It’s just getting her past the silence into a comfortable conversation that’s the challenge. Yu, however, is happily willing to keep stumbling forward until she finds common ground with Koizumi.From a character perspective, Koizumi is clearly a wealth of information as a ramen fan. Yu gets schooled on why not to call Maayu Ramen “Horse Oil”. (That's because it’s not – it’s really a darkened garlic oil). Koizumi-san is a tour guide of broths, bases, and noodles.The series is just getting its feet, and if the opening and first episode is an indication of things to come, we can expect a lot more slurping from Koizumi-san, cheerful expressions from Yu, and hopefully more from Yu’s friends Mayu and Jun.Will Jun learn to love Ramen? Will Koizumi ever warm up to Yu? Will Maya ever get undivided attention from Yu? Keep watching “Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san” on Crunchyroll to find out!