While episode 1 starts ominously with a little girl crying, it’s not long before her ridiculous malady is made clear… By stifling her own emotions and only pretend to cry in her dramas, condiments come out instead of tears. Unlike many other anime where fragile human hearts are invaded by malevolent forces, the ‘mysterious diseases’ in Dr. Ramune seem to be dire, yet, creatively funny comments on one’s behavior. Emotions behave like a ‘condiment’ that enhances human interaction, thus, insincere emotions produce the wrong condiment, such as mayo or soy sauce tears. It’s stupid and funny but seeing the resulting anger from the mother and the mounting pain it causes the afflicted daughter does make you feel more than you would have first thought possible.

Dr. Ramune seems very flippant and jokey even as he deals with suffering customers. His extreme reactions and tendency to laugh at other’s suffering makes him seem unreliable and incompetent. Yet, his cures go beyond just alleviating an unwanted symptom. They force the afflicted to come to terms with their own shortcomings, forcing them to grow stronger and be less likely to suffer mysterious illnesses in the future. For instance, to remove the chikuwa surrounding a man’s body part, he must remove the lies that obscure his true self. From analogies to fully thought-out plans to force an issue to come to light, Dr. Ramune is much more capable than he appears at first.