Ranma ½

If there is one good way to describe Ranma 1/2 (Nibun No Ichi), it would be absolutely HILARIOUS. The interaction between characters, and many of the characters' backgrounds are unbelievable-- There are so many odd characters in the series which you grow a liking for. It also mixes martial arts elements into, akin to Dragonball Z, except much more smoothly-animated. The combination of interesting fights with equally interesting characters makes this show one of the best, in my opinion.

At first, I was reluctant to see Ranma ½ , having heard it described as a gratuitous slapstick comedy, but I've changed my mind.

Ranma is one of the cutest and dearest series you will ever watch. On the surface, it is about a young man with a terrible, but comical curse who has a fiancée he is not too fond of. That in itself (the curse) is extraordinary, but the meaningful characters make Ranma ½ so much more.

In Ranma, things are not always what they seem, and besides the protagonist's dilemma, there's Akane, Ranma's fiancée. If I have to name my favorite character of all time, it must be Akane. (Much of this review is due to her.) Although Akane seems to be only a girl of violent temperament, she is really, deep down, gentle and eager to be more feminine and dear. Her hidden character glimmers through sometimes during the show, like when she tells Ranma something to the effect of, "I know you're not telling the truth when you say I'm cute, but I'm just happy you said it." (Ranma's bewildered facial reaction is, 'she really is cute'). Akane's model is her eldest sister, Kasumi, who is the epitome of Japanese feminine grace and beauty. (The show also focuses on Ranma and Akane's growing affection/love for each other.)

Of course, what would Ranma ½ be without the humor and the wit of which it has been so lauded for? The host of magically-cursed humans, especially the panda, is very cute and funny, and the fantastically silly Tendo-dojo is a place of endless fiancé and family fights (literally). There are many plays on words that non-Japanese speakers would miss (like how Ranma's last name foreshadows his curse, and Akane's name means crimson, scarlet). There are some gratuitous displays that would make some people blush, but you must keep in mind that Japanese view nudity in a different, less severe way, than the West.

I have seen an episode of Ranma ½ in English dubbed, and I recommend that you *never* see this version. The dubbing does no justice to the characters, especially Ranma and Akane, making them too forceful. If you have the means, see the original version or the subtitled version and enjoy the nuances of the voices.

Taken place in Japan of the 80s-90s era. Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome are both Martial Artists of the "Anything Goes School of Martial Arts". Soun is a father of 3 daughters while Genma has only 1 son. They both agree that Genma's son: Ranma Saotome would marry one of Soun's daughters when the time comes. So that way the whole "Anything Goes School" will continue on.

By the time Ranma is 16, it was time for him to be acquainted with the Tendo family. Soun Tendo had no idea what Genma's son is like. But it very excited for one of his 3 daughters: Akane, Nabiki, & Kasumi will be the fiancé of Ranma. Only the Tendo family will learn that both Ranma & his dad have been cursed by the sacred hot springs of Jusenkyo in China. Genma was cursed with the form of a Panda and Ranma is cursed with the forms of a red haired busty girl. When douse with cold water, they turn into their cursed forms, but warm water will change them back to their original forms.

Soun Tendo at first was disappointed with all this, but after learning about their trip to China and how their curse forms work with water temperature. He finds it to be no big deal. Soun introduces Ranma to his 3 daughters and said he can pick either one of them to be his future bride. However Nabiki & Kasumi agreed that their youngest daughter Akane will make a fitting wife with Ranma. Akane didn't like the decision at all, and find this prearranged marriage to be a joke. And she finds Ranma's ability to turn into a girl to be perverted. Ranma didn't care too much about this prearranged marriage either. Because he wants to go back to China to find a curse spring that'll make him a whole male again.

Only problem is his dad refuses him to go back to China, when Genma's hoped for so long for his son to be the fiancé of one of Soun's daughters. To make a long argument short, Ranma & Genma now stay at the Tendo's house as honoree guests. Both Akane & Ranma don't want to get more involved together. But pretty soon they do start to care about each other. Even though they don't show that care to one another.

Made back 1989, based off of one of Japan's best selling Manga written & drawn by Rumiko Takahata. Who worked on the series from 1986-1996. Also a success in America, way before Anime became popular as it is today. The thing I like most about it is the theme of the series, the flow of the story, and the comedy which occurs frequently in each episode. Next to the comedy is action and romance. Since this is a martial arts related anime, you do see a lot of it in each episode.

Through out the whole series, you'll see Ranma & Akane's relationship grow. As well as encounters with other rivals and other fiancés that create a huge and complicated love triangle. Those who like Inuyusha, Urusei Yatsura, & Rumiko's other works will admire this one a lot. In my opinion this is one of Rumiko's best works.

Remember this is only Season 1 of the 7 season series. If you like the first 18 episodes, be sure to see the other 6 seasons of the "Ranma 1/2: Anything Goes School of Martial Arts" series.

Also this is a perfect Anime for dates or for someone's girlfriend.

I pretty much got into manga and anime because of the first season of Ranma 1/2 (my first manga was the first appearance of Ukyo, and then a friend of mine loaned me his copies of the first season back in 1996). It's funny, clever, emotional, and well-animated. The dubbing was terrific--and after all these years, it's still the best dub I've ever seen, except for the Tenchi series (which, for some reason, I liked better than the Japanese voices)--but I just bought the DVD box set and watched the entire series in Japanese, and it's even better! I've been a big fan of Megumi Hayashibara (Girl-type Ranma, Tenchi's mother, Lina Inverse, Rei Ayanami, Momiji from Blue Seed, etc.) and I was not disappointed with her voice acting (I can't wait to hear her do the "Ranma's Declaration of Womanhood" episode). A bigger surprise for me was that the voice-actress of Nabiki also was Kiki from Majo no Takkyubin. Wonderful voices all around, but the Japanese Ryoga's voice is so strong and deep that I found it hard to believe he was as stupid as he is (interesting to note that he also plays the Jusenkyo Guide--I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen the credits!). Also, the subtitles gave some information that was important that was left out of the dub, and sometimes (such as repeatedly in the "Pelvic Fortune Telling" episode and that scene in Akane's lost love when they fight after eating hamburgers), I didn't understand what was really going on until I watched the subtitle. Still, I did find myself missing some of the Americanized jokes, especially in the episode where Akane loses her memories of Ranma and lists off a bunch of things that he must be ("That 1986 remake of King Lear directed by Akira Kurosawa" "That's Ran!" "That song by the Beach Boys!" "That's 'Help Me Ronda'"). Anyway, this is a wonderful series that doesn't have too much nudity and isn't too "kawaii" like Pokemon or Mon Colle Knights.

I simply picked up a copy of the Ranma 1/2 OAVs since I had some extra money when I was picking up my usual copy of a DBZ DVD(The Draw, to be precise). I had heard about Ranma and the comments were positive ones, and having read about the episodes in my Viz catalog I decided to try it out. When I popped the OAV video into my VCR, I never knew that when I was done I would be laughing my head off.

Now, I own half of the OAVS, one of the films, 4 Ranma DVD boxsets(seasons 2-5), and a ton of videos and DVDs, as well as about one third of the manga. Ranma's great. The weird, but awesome, fighting is just the icing on the cake. What we really have is Ranma trying to not get his rear handed to him by crazy rivals, Akane bashing Ranma's head in, Ryoga trying to find where in the world he is, Shampoo gloomping Ranma in a bear-hug that would probably strangle Arnold Schwarzenegger, and near-blind Mousse, who mistakes Ranma, Shampoo, Akane, and everyone else for just about everything. With this laugh-out loud silliness, it's obvious you know you're watching something great.

I think the best thing about the entire series is that I can really relate to Ranma(well, aside from the curses and stuff). He has a fear of a certain type of animal due to..... childhood circumstances, he feels like everyone uses him, blames him for things even if it's not his fault, he doesn't have many friends, and his father cares jack squat for him. This makes Ranma really empathetic for me, something most anime characters don't usually do.

Shockingly, one character I like in this is voo-doo fixated Hikaru Gosunkugi. I like the fact that he's not the typical Ranma rival who goes out and confronts Ranma directly. He's even able to actually have some effect with his plans. Of course, said plans usually backfire on him....

Finally, the show introduces just about the cutest anime character ever, Shampoo! Every time she purrs out "ailen," it makes me melt......

BOTTOM LINE: Watch Ranma 1/2! You don't know what you're missing if you don't!