I swear it’s a coincidence that I ate ramen (miso with sansho pepper, fascinating and delicious) for lunch today. If anything I usually have ramen the day after Ramen Akaneko (which is not a coincidence). It’s such a fascinating and diverse dish, with so many equally fascinating cultural elements in Japan. I just wish it was healthier and easier on the stomach (the stomach of someone who isn’t a teenager anyway). I try to limit myself to twice a month but I admit, this show has made that harder.

My particular love for voids makes it hard for anyone to supplant Sabu as my favorite cat in Ramen Akaneko. But Sasaki is without a question the most developed character in the feline cast. Here we see him take pity on a mother and baby suffering on a sweltering (as they all are here in summer) day, and invite them into the shop even as the others are getting ready for their break. Not only that, he babysits so the mom can have a rare meal in peace (though he at least doesn’t offer to make it free), refusing Hana’s offer to tag out. You can tell – he loves the idea of an army of mothers and babies descending on the shop, even as it horrifies his less soft-hearted comrades. Some cats deal with small children better than others, after all.

Next up it’s brushing time again, and Bunzou (who falls asleep) notes that Tamako seems to have gotten better at brushing lately. The others agree, apart from Hana who hasn’t noted any difference. As it turns out there a reason for that – Tamako has been afraid to mix things up with her, as particular (and tsuntsun) as she appears to be. But she relents and joins the sleeping cat brigade. Tamako has been doing her homework, researching feline anatomy and watching brushing technique videos on YouTube. Sasaki expresses disbelief that her last employer didn’t seem to appreciate her and while she denies it, it’s clear there’s more to that story.

Tamako is definitely fitting in, and Sasaki-san rewards her with a new stagehand outfit and a rare exclusive “Ramen Akaneco” t-shirt. Since Sasaki and Bunzou take shorter naps than the others, this gives her a chance to dig a little deeper into their history. For the first time we hear details about “Oyaji” (I love Bunzou’s dancing tail betraying his feelings about him), whose cart Bunzou took over. Turns out Bunzou and Sasaki were both rescues, and Oyaji did the rescuing. He was a terrible businessman (he had to pay the vets in ramen), but a true ramen baka – “more a researcher than anything”, Sasaki says. The ramen world has many chefs like that, in fact. There’s talk of visiting the old man, hinting that he might be in a hospital or senior home – again, there seems to be more to this thread.

Finally, a new dish. Krishna is making thin tiger-made noodles, and Bunzou working on the right broth to highlight them. This means a tasting job for Tamako, though she bemoans her likely inability to give honest feedback. It’s also a big deal as Boss is apparently extremely resistant to change – change to Oyaji’s menu, anyway. He’s loyal (cats are you know, extremely) that’s for sure. But a new menu item from Bunzou is enough to set the rest of the staff atwitter, and I suspect Oyaji will be just fine with it when he finds out.