Jan 9, 2023
While Ramen Chai-Nyan might not provide a lot for newer viewers, it manages to a potent if condensed reminder of what the anime scene was like in the mid 2000s. Artwise, its a very short, relatively low quality animation, clearly made on basically no budget, but manages to show case a decent amount of talent for the animator, despite the unimpressive art style.
The story is of course, as one would expect, very simplistic for an video that is essentially 4 minutes long, but manages to cram in a wide variety of tropes seen as characteristic of anime in the early 2000s, from the chinese catgirl
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main character who runs a ramen shop, to DBZ style combat (including the associated sound effects), and of course mechas. These are juxtaposed together in a slapstick, self aware way, but are animated and depicted with a clear love of the genre of "anime" and its silliness. If Ramen Chai-Nyan is a parody its a deeply affectionate one, but more likely its just the creator having fun.
The voice acting is fine, not particularly impressive or anything, but they sound like actual actors, or at least amateur voice actors, and not just the creators filling in the voices. Some of the line reads by the side characters are flat, but the main character's VA for the most part manages to play her part convincingly.
Sound quality is less than stellar, but that's probably to be expected from an internet video from 15 years ago, depending on the version you watch it isn't grating. For such a short video there is a surprising variety of background tracks, I counted 5 in addition to the ending credits song, although some of those tracks may have been multiple clips from longer songs, they seemed relatively distinct and kept a good energy throughout the video.
Enjoyment probably is dependent on your nostalgia or curiosity for this era, but its by no means unpleasant to watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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