Ranma 1/2

Publisher
VIZ
Country of origin
Japan
Length
30 +
Year
1987

Ranma ½ Volume 4

By David Rasmussen
17th May 07

Quick. Tell me you remember the Golden Age of Rumiko Takahashi.
Please tell me that damnable series Inu Yasha hasn’t completely dissolved any rememberance of that time long long ago when Rumiko Takahashi wrote some of the most iconic series of the manga/anime genre.
Please tell me you remember Urusei Yatsura.
Please tell me you EVEN remember Ranma ½.
You don’t, do you. If you don’t… well… you’re not missing much. I didn’t like it that much.
Now before I get the hatemail from Ranma ½ fans (whoever’s left) let me remind you you already saw I gave it a good score, so stop staring at me like that. Just because I don’t like it it doesn’t mean I couldn’t score this good. I did. Now stop hating me.

Now a brief recap.
The Tendos are an average run-of-the-mill Japanese family (whose daughter Akane is a tomboy slated to marry the local weirdo Ranma who seems to have a soap opera amount of “fiancees”). Come to think of it, Akane also has somebody chasing after her, but it’s just not as interesting as Ranma (he who changes into a she at a splash of cold water). Apparently he visited this land of cursed springs in China with his dad, they each fell into one (whose transformation powers depends on whatever drowned in said pond) and they’re both screwed. Dad turns into a giant panda, Ranma into a hot chick (which made for the exsistance of a ton of Ranma (female)/etc lesbian slash fics). Oh, and a ton of other characters from this series has fallen into the springs in this area at one point or another, because it’s supposed to be funny.

Yes, the series did end eventually, then I heard something about the series getting going again with a spin-off but I never heard about that again after that rumor came about… who cares, after Inu Yasha came about people forgot all the golden age stuff of Takahashi anyway (like soap opera romantic entanglement love story Maison Ikkoku). Uh… where was I… oh, right, this review.

In this volume somebody is out to steal Akane from Ranma… go for it. To this end maybe uncovering Ranma’s weak point can be of help, which seems to help if you can get ahold of all the Japanese pet shops and clean them out of cats because it looks like Ranma has a deathly fear of cats. Things go badly after that when Ranma snaps and becomes a cat (mentally).

Then Shampoo comes up. If you’ve tortured yourself to the horror that is… wait, I forgot, my Editors don’t want me talking about (bleep) (bleep) poorly made porn. Forget I said that. Anyway Shampoo is supposed to be Ranma’s fiancee (if her freakishly freakish great grandmother has anything to say about it) since she changed her mind about killing him and decided instead to marry him (because marriage in these series usually turn into a slow death). To this end the great-grandmother manages to make Ranma sensitive to hot water (hence unable to change back to his male form) which she won’t reverse unless he (now she) agrees to marry Shampoo… (oh, it might also help that Shampoo fell into a cursed spring that drowned a cat so she can… you know…) oh, then the guy who has the hots for Shampoo (the blind as a bat Mousse) shows up and things gets even weirder (especially when he can’t tell who he’s looking at even at point blank range).

And that’s that. If I say anymore… you’ll never believe me.
It’s the Golden Age of Takahashi, before Inu Yasha darkened her mind and… the rest you know.
Return to the Golden Age if you hate Inu Yasha as much as I do.
Return to the Golden Age even if you like or love Inu Yasha… why you like that series I have no idea, but whatever floats your boat.
5 Heart rate checks… yes, I’m not going to keel over yet… out of 5.

-- David Rasmussen 17th May 07