Red Cat Ramen

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.

Bunzo (文蔵)

Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda^[3]

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.

Pudding Sasaki (佐々木 プリン, Sasaki Purin)

Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama^[4]

A grey tuxedo cat and the laidback owner of Red Cat Ramen. He primarily manages the business' finances and office work, but often 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, he acted as her caretaker until her death. He then received a large inheritance, using it to open the restaurant.

Sabu (サブ)

Voiced by: Michiyo Murase^[4]

A black cat and the cheerful sous-chef at Red Cat Ramen. He is responsible for cooking side dishes, such as gyōza, and plating 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 who is skilled enough to compete in online tournaments against human players.

Hana (ハナ)

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya^[4]

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 tsundere. Prior to joining Red Cat, she worked as a social media influencer under the handle Love Pipi. She became the center of an animal abuse scandal after she willingly had her ear pierced, resulting in her leaving show business due to the harassment her owner faced from the incident.

Krishna (クリシュナ, Kurishuna)

Voiced by: Saori Hayami^[4]

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.

Tamako Yashiro (社 珠子, Yashiro Tamako)

Voiced by: Kurumi Orihara^[4]

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.

Jewel (ジュエル, Jueru)

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.

Yuzu Yamasato (山郷 ゆず, Yamasato Yuzu)

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 an unofficial mascot.

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.^[40] The series was also ranked fifteenth in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2023.^[41] It ranked nineteenth on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga of 2024 for male readers.^[42]