Renge to Naruto! (れんげとなると！) is a manga series written and illustrated by Nicolai. It began serialization in 2024 and is currently ongoing, with five volumes available so far. A friend suggested this to me, and I was honestly blown away by how great a first impression it made in the three volumes I have read.
The series follows an adult male named Shinji Naruto as he discovers that the Chinese restaurant in his neighborhood, where he usually ate, has closed down. A few months later, it reopens with the same signboard but with a reorganized and flashier environment. Curious, he enters the establishment and finds a beautiful gal cooking over an intense flame, and he is immediately enthralled by her.
The girl is Renge, the new owner of the restaurant who took over after her grandmother passed away recently. She is adamant about keeping the business open, and her extremely energetic and positive attitude to life seems to attract everyone around her.
The story consists of segments that mostly take place within the restaurant as Shinji gets to know Renge better. He finds himself influenced by her to try harder in his own life. Alongside Shinji, other people are drawn in by Renge’s charm and begin using the restaurant as a place to hang out.
While there are romantic developments in the story, the pace is quite slow. The plot focuses more on the daily happenings around the restaurant and the various troubles Renge faces while trying to manage it. She is driven by a strong desire to keep her grandmother’s legacy alive, but she lacks experience, so any help is welcome.
The story is heavy on fanservice right from the beginning, primarily featuring Renge as the titular heroine, but also including the other women who are added to the main cast. I do not find it as distracting as in other series, perhaps because of the art style or the generally lighthearted mood of the series.
The main characters are:
Shinji Naruto
The protagonist of the story. He is a rather depressed man who works as a cleaning staff member and is generally disillusioned with his life. He sees a ray of light and hope in Renge’s positive attitude and her willpower to learn and improve. This inspires him to work hard to help her restaurant succeed.
Renge
The co-protagonist of the story. She is a young woman who, despite having never cooked Chinese food in her life, is doing her best to preserve her grandmother’s restaurant. She is beautiful, energetic, and extremely sweet, which makes everyone gravitate toward her.
Hayama Ryou
The first character to join the main cast. She is a surgeon by profession, but dreams of becoming an ero-mangaka. The issue is that her editor keeps telling her that her male characters "lack realism", which leads her to target Shinji to learn how real men interact during romance. She essentially spends her time observing Shinji and Renge.
Okumura Shiori
An extremely beautiful young woman who works as a librarian. She is also the "queen" of an SM club. She is very interested in Shinji and Renge, though she is sometimes seen plotting something in the background. Based on what I have read so far, I still do not know exactly what her goals are.
While all the characters are great, my favorite is definitely Renge. It is impossible not to feel soothed just by looking at her great smile and energetic personality. Being beautiful certainly helps, but there is more to her than just looks. The author did a great job making her shine as the center of everyone's attention.
I am looking forward to reading more volumes in the near future and will make another post about them once I am finished.
