I was going through the unreleased part of Grand License List, and noticed an entry for “Ramen Girl” by Media Blasters. It seems obvious that they meant the release of Muteki Kanban Musume, which Media Blasters saved from clutches of ADV. The later merry band of fan-hating, customer-bashing enterpreneurs licensed the MKM manga, issued 2 volumes, and stopped. You wanna read more? Study your Japanese! The Media Blaster’s name is Ramen Fighter Miki (Link goes to RACS because Media Blasters’ own website is a flash-only cesspool which cannot be navigated or linked).

BTW, since we’re on topic of initial reaction to MKM, I recall being impressed by Megumi’s beauty in a major way. I regard her as the prettiest character design across all anime I have ever watched up to this date (yes, even Feena cannot match her). Also, she received the only backgrounder in the series…

Alas, since she’s a nasty bitch, I cannot love her. Which is probably to the best, since she’s straight-jacketed by her role. I’d gone mad rooting for her to go beyond the #2 spot and the obsession with it. It is lucky twice, because MKM/RFM is not a series to reward any kind of emotional association with the characters.

I didn’t finish watching the first DVD when that was all I had, though I got most of the way. Part of the reason why is that it has a lot of extreme comedic violence — and Miki is often the victim of it. She’s drawn as a really cute girl — most of the time, anyway — and it made me cringe to see her getting thrown into a wall or clonked on the head by her mom. Coyotes, yes. Pretty girls, well, that’s not the same. (At least they didn’t show us any blood.)

On the other hand, I really did enjoy a lot of it. I think the problem was just that I was in the wrong frame of mind. I need to keep telling myself, “Tex Avery. OK? Tex Avery. This is anime as if it was done by Tex Avery. They’re just cartoon characters. She isn’t really a pretty girl. She doesn’t feel any pain. Tex Avery. Tex Avery.”

One quick note, speaking of the really cute girl:

It’s a win hands down over Miki (and I am not alone to think that).

But the observation about the frame of mind is quite astute. The only reason why I gave MKM a chance was the bloggage at then AoMM, with the best definition to date: “By no means a series carried by plot, fanservice, h-game pedigree, tsunderes, big name cast, or giant mecha, Muteki Kanban Musume relies purely on its brand of over-the-top humor.” Without the right mindset, MKM is boring, stupid, and even repetitive later on; ending is a big disappointment.

Nonetheless, I dropped PlaneteS because it was “too goofy“, yet I finished MKM (which is the definition of goofy). The frame of mind will do that.