Ranma 1/2 - RePost

Ranma ½ follows the arranged marriage woes of high school student/martial art dojo heirs Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo. Ranma and Akane's fathers agreed when they were very young to marry their families together in order to continue their martial arts form, the Anything Goes School of kenpo. Soun Tendo, Akane's father, settled down in suburban Tokyo to raise a family while running a dojo. Genma Saotome, Ranma's father, decided to hit the road and raise his son as a traveling martial artist.

    After most of his life on the road Ranma and his father return to Japan to live with the Tendo's and finalize the engagement. Having just returned from China they arrive at the residence in order to choose which of the three Tendo daughters Ranma will marry. There is just one problem, while in China practicing at a training ground, Ranma and his father became cursed when they each fall into ponds on the training grounds. Now Ranma turns into a girl after being doused with cold water and his father turns into a panda. The only way they can return to normal is with warm water. The day they arrive it is pouring cats and dogs and thus a spunky red headed girl with a giant panda stumble into the Tendo abode causing alarm and confusion. After their secret if revealed it is chosen that Ranma and Akane are to be wed, much to their disapproval.  Now, Ranma and his father live in the Tendo house, Ranma and Akane, who utterly despise each other, are to be wed against their will to carry on the dojo. Ranma and his father try to keep their curses secret while searching for a cure. On top of all of that a cast of martial art misfits continue to cause relationship and dojo woes for the Anything Goes Martial artists, including ones who also became cursed in the Chinese training grounds. Can Akane and Ranma ever accept their betrothal and defend the dojo; will Ranma and everyone else who is cursed be cured?

     Ok, Ranma ½ is an old and dated looking series, much like everything else that came out at that time. Yet it is one of the classics of anime, especially in America, that is near and dear to everyone's hearts. The entire series is seven seasons, totaling around 160 or so episodes. Although, like most of Rumiko Takahashi's works, the TV series does not stick to the manga series, especially with it’s ending. If for some reason you have never seen the series but have read the manga, do not be disappointed when the entire China story arc isn't even in the anime. Yet both versions of the title do end in essentially the same way, but to tell you how would ruin it for anyone who doesn't know. The biggest thing about the series is that it does truly begin to drag around the fifth season; the sixth season was incredibly tedious and aptly named by Viz. Martial Mayhem, sixth season title, was a lesson in futility as they producers showed just how many 'insert name here' martial art contests they could cram into its 26 episodes or so span. I mean, come on, if you thought the martial art delivery girl contest from season two was a bit much, wait until you see martial art tea ceremony and the goof ball family that does it. To make it even worst, these people keep showing up in season seven.

    So all in all, Ranma ½ is a fun series, even if it drags from time to time and through a season or so. It was my introduction to romantic comedies, although not to Takahashi, my first Takahashi creation was the classic Super Gal. The series has become a romantic comedy benchmark, at least in America.