The Gimmick Game - Examining Narrative Hooks

In creative media, being different and standing out makes all the difference. And yes; the irony of writing that in yet another anime blog is not lost on me.

Many times, tropes and common narrative devices are needed because of their familiarity. However, some shows rely too heavily on these to carry the brunt of the weight.

The opposite is also true; some media focuses so heavily on the gimmick or narrative hook they forget everything else. With dozens of shows vying for the audience's attention every season, this makes it especially hard for anime. Even as adaptations, they can fall in the trap of trying too hard to get people watching.

Funnily enough, there were two shows making use of these narrative hooks that caught my attention this season. One handles it well, and the other... eh, not so well. These shows being Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san (or Teasing Master Takagi-san) and Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles.

Let's kick things off by examining each show's first episode. For better or worse, the first episode is a great way to get a feel for how a show handles its gimmick.

For the better, we'll begin with Teasing Master Takagi-san. This anime focuses on two middle school kids, the titular Takagi-san and Nishikata, the unfortunate victim of her pranks. Since they sit beside each other in class, she does her best to tease and distract him. Meanwhile, he, tired of constantly getting teased, tries his best to get the upper-hand and tease her back!

The first episode starts out strong with Nishikata making a homemade jack-in-the-box to surprise Takagi. However, after struggling with opening her own pencil case, she asks him for help. To his dismay, Nishikata proceeds to get preemptively pranked himself, as Takagi had also made a jack-in-the-box using her pencil case.

Another strong moment in this first episode is when Takagi, having forgotten her eraser, asks to borrow Nishikata's. Pretty normal so far, but she mentions a saying that if you write your crush's name on an eraser and use it up, the feeling will be mutual. He brushes this off as childish, but Takagi proceeds to pull his eraser out to check anyway. After she starts staring quizzically at one side, Nishikata begin to panic and second-guess himself. As such, he falls right into her trap.

However, the real kicker for this prank comes next. Takagi leaves her desk, while Nishikata notices that she did in fact remember her eraser. Deciding to get back at her, he grabs the eraser and pulls it out to start writing. Only... something was already written on it (at least from what little he saw). After agonizing over invading her privacy, he finally pulls the eraser out!

As expected, Nishitkata is pranked yet again. But it’s not all bad, as the camera reveals that his name was written on the other side of her eraser. It’s at this point that we see the main thrust of the show; Takagi teases Nishikata because she likes him, and all the while he's oblivious. As a sucker for slice-of-life, especially with a romantic comedy angle, I was down to watch more of this anime.

But what about the other anime I mentioned? How well does it handle its gimmick? Let's take a look at its first episode to find out!

If it wasn’t obvious by the title, Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles is an anime about a beautiful girl known only as Koizumi-san and her love of ramen noodles. Unlike Teasing Master Takagi-san, this show is pretty heavy-handed with its gimmick right off the bat.

After a tease of Koizumi in action , the show kicks off from Yuu Ohsawa's point of view. Yuu is infatuated with the new transfer student Koizumi. However, Koizumi's distant demeanor makes it hard to approach her.

Walking home from school that day, Yuu is surprised to see Koizumi standing in line for a ramen shop,. She strives to break the ice and become friends with Koizumi. Sadly, her cold, disinterested replies stop the conversation. That doesn't stop Yuu from trying!

It isn’t until after they enter the ramen shop and are served up their meals that Yuu sees Koizumi’s true side. After expertly ordering her preferred meal, tying her hair back, and rolling up her sleeves, Koizumi digs in! Yuu stares in shock as Koizumi chows down at a feverish pitch before finishing off with a blissful smile.

As she returns to her normal self, Koizumi continues to coldly reject Yuu’s advances. No matter how much Yuu tries to bridge the gap and become her friend, Koizumi responds with a hearty "No, thank you."

Funny, with how much this saying is repeated in this episode, it's almost like it's her catchphrase or something.

And this is the tone that envelops the first episode of this show; one that left an impression for the worse. For the rest of the runtime, we see some patterns emerge; Koizumi is cold, some trivia is given about different ways to prepare ramen, Koizumi enjoys said ramen with a passion, Yuu "yuri"s it up, rinse and repeat.

From the first episodes of both shows it looked fairly clear which way each one was going. Teasing Master Takagi-san is poised to take its gimmick and use it as a platform for some wholesome romantic comedy. Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles, on the other hand, looks to be content with repeating a pattern for the good majority of its runtime.

How surprised I was to discover that these shows are complete opposites of my expectations!

Teasing Master Takagi-san sadly doesn't grow much past its gimmick if at all. Sure, it does introduce another group of girls in the same class with their various antics. In fact, they are probably my favorite part of the show. Outside of these few moments, however, each segment of the show runs the same gambit.

Nishikata tries to one-up Takagi in her pranks, getting no reaction from her. Any time she does anything somewhat normal, he overthinks whether or not there is an ulterior motive. Turns out she was pranking him all along! Sure, the situations change (including a super awkward pool scene), but the characters feel just as deep as they did from the first prank.

Don't get me wrong; both Takagi and Nishikata are cute to watch and their relationship has its funny moments. Unfortunately, that isn't enough to keep me watching.

On the other hand, I was floored by how much I'd been enjoying Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles!

Its strength lies in the show's other characters. Koizumi remains the focal point and thanks to cutaway gags to flesh out her character becomes much more likable. Still, Yuu isn't the only character that interacts with Koizumi. Yuu's friends, Misa and Jun, also get some quality time with her. Misa's jealousy of how much attention the new transfer student is getting contrasts nicely with Koizumi's disinterest in anything not related to ramen.

Jun (as the serious bookworm type) cannot fathom Koizumi's obsession, expressing disbelief at the lengths she would go (and places she would travel to) just to get her fix. Yuu also gets some further development, going from innocent yuri attraction to stalking and borderline yandere behavior (which of course is played for laughs).

The setting also makes for an interesting showcase of ramen styles and ways to eat. From traditional to exotic, from spicy hot to chilled, from takeout to foreign; it's almost enough to make you want some yourself! This combined with the locales adds variety in much the same way as Teasing Master Takagi-san. The different being that in this show, it aids character interactions and aren't just setpieces.

Thanks to Koizumi, everyone in the show is brought together by the power of ramen. As corny as that may be, it sure is an interesting take on a gimmick as absurd as this. While both of these anime are great, I ultimately enjoy Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles more. I guess its narrative hook just worked better on me!

Watch this on YouTube!