Tsukemen (First Half)

**Tsukemen (First Half)** (つけ麺 (前編), *Tsukemen (Zenpen)*?) is the thirty-sixth chapter of the Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san manga series.

## Summary

With her back against a wall, Yuu is confronted by Koizumi-san after making the suggestion that Tsukemen was not actually ramen, having said, "Ramen is ramen, and tsukemen is tsukemen." Seemingly upset by the very idea, Koizumi-san goes on to correct Yuu by saying that tsukemen are just ramen noodles that are dipped into the soup, and served apart from each other. After then explaining its origins, Koizumi-san remarks that it is also very similar to abura soba, another kind of ramen. As Koizumi-san wanted to say more, she stops and excuses herself mid-sentence, puzzling Yuu.

One evening, Yuu gets together with Shuu and Ayane at a ramen shop that serves tsukemen. As Yuu explains to them what Koizumi-san had told her about tsukemen, Ayane recalls her first experience trying it as a student, when she mistakenly poured her soup into the noodles. Shuu adds to the conversation his own experience, saying that he is bad at pacing himself with tsukemen so much that the soup runs out before his noodles. As Yuu takes notes, she receives her tsukemen only to find the noodles cold, even as her soup is warm. Shuu suggests that she could have ordered "atsumori," which are warmer than the noodles commonly served with tsukemen. Even as she worries about the soup getting colder as she eats, Yuu attempts to keep eating, if not for the slight motivation that the noodles remind her of Koizumi-san's hair. As Yuu begins to enjoy her tsukemen, Ayane receives "wari soup," which is soup that one pours into the leftover soup after eating all the noodles.

Excited over her newfound discovery of tsukemen, Yuu texts Koizumi-san about her eating it that very moment. She also sends her a message about how mixing certain soups gives out a certain kind of richness, especially after observing Ayane pour wari soup into her leftover soup. Koizumi-san, who is eating tsukemen at a ramen mall, texts Yuu back and asks her if they would like to meet the next day, and that Yuu may have been on to something about her opinion on tsukemen and ramen. Shocked that she received a reply by Koizumi-san to meet, Yuu hardly believes the real Koizumi-san had sent it. But as she seriously considers meeting with her, she has to shuffle around her plans to meet with Misa and Jun that same time.

The following day, Yuu, together with Misa, Jun, and Koizumi-san, are aboard a train headed for Saitama. Misa is upset that their plans for the three of them to go to the movies and go shopping had changed, and that they would include Koizumi-san. Jun, on the other hand, does not mind the change in plans, and is also puzzled as to whether or not tsukemen was in fact ramen, and then asks the three about the exact definition of ramen. Koizumi-san responds by giving a basic definition - that ramen is composed of Chinese noodles created from kansui/brine - and noting that since "ramen culture" and its trends are constantly evolving, the definition will always be adjusted, to which Jun agrees that the word's connotation has constantly changed. Both Misa and Yuu are dumbfounded at their conversation, but Yuu is simply happy to hear Koizumi-san talking, and changes the subject to yakisoba. The three end up concluding that they have no clue whether it is ramen, much to the annoyance of Misa who feels left out of the conversation.

Eventually the train arrives in Saitama, and all four of them get off. Koizumi-san speaks to Yuu about what she said about tsukemen and ramen, and how Yuu's belief that the two are their own entities is in a sense correct, which is the reason why Koizumi-san brought them all there.