Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san – Episode 10 – [Review]
By: v.o.lynnIn this episode, we delve into the depths of Yuu’s obsession, visit a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, and an all-you-can-eat Ramen restaurant. And good lord, do we get a lot of Yue to make up for not having her in the last one. Recap and spoilers below!
Ramen with Unknown Flavor
Okay, so.Yuu’s got a problem. Or rather, she is a problem, but she’s got a problem. Yuu’s obsession with Koizumi is being played up for laughs in parts one and two of the episode, but I think that I just didn’t understand the depths of her crazy until this episode. We already know that Koizumi keeps a log of her ramen activities and ramen knowledge, she whips it out in one of the early episodes to reference it.So this episode, we see a similar log – a Koizumi-san “observation log”, with Yuu in a dark room ala Death Note.
The activity itself, a log on a visit to an artsy ramen place not unlike “Kipposhi” in Japan. (I'm not going to lie, I looked this one up. According to one source, the light blue broth comes from seaweed, but poison does sound more fun.) Yuu tries a cocoa ramen (not overly sweet, but with a subtle background flavor of chocolate).
The content of the narration isn’t as creepy as just the fact that the log is dedicated to her activities with Koizumi-san. Yuu’s problem is that she’s really into Koizumi, and while she is aware of it she’s unaware of exactly how crazy she’s acting.The problem with Yuu is that she is a genki girl stereotype doing stalker girl activities, and it’s a wonder Koizumi-San lets her accompany her out ever. The bump music has a delightfully creepy undertone after this segment as well.
Conveyor Belt Ramen
In which Shu, Yuu’s Brother, takes Yuu out to lunch: Conveyor Belt Sushi is featured here and there in anime (Assassination Classroom comes to mind, for example). Shu and Yuu tease each other until Yuu’s Koizumi-sensor goes off – she’s sitting across from their booth!
Oddly enough, Yuu doesn’t actually go over and interrupt Koizumi’s meal this time, which seems to be just as well; introducing Shu directly to Koizumi might have killed Yuu with the abundance of jealousy.
And then, of course, everyone eats Ramen, and the next bump goes back to normal.
Accepting Challenges!!/Challenge Accepted!!
Jun invites Yuu, Misa, and Koizumi out to an all-you-can-eat Ramen restaurant and a pretty lovely time is had all around. Jun’s mom made reservations for her company to eat out, but something came up and the event was cancelled. Jun was told to bring as many people as she’d like... and then a monstrous Gyoza appears!
Although nobody else gets to the Ramen except Koizumi-san, she does acknowledge that she is leaving most of the Gyoza to the other three girls. It's really sweet how Koizumi believes that she wouldn't win a ramen-eating competition, but I think that just goes with her desire to stay focused on eating Ramen for the enjoyment of the activity.