Review of Ranma ½
Okay, so I haven't *actually* watched all of Ranma 1/2. And, uh, I have no intention of doing so. Forgive me, MAL Jesus. But honestly? I wouldn't recommend trying to watch all of it either. I wouldn't even trying to watch what you watch *in order*. Ranma is 161 episodes of seriously varying quality, but like Rumiko Takahashi's big hit before it, Urusei Yatsura, it doesn't matter if you watch the whole thing or not. A few dozen highest-rated episodes oughta do it. It's like... Look, Inuyasha has a plot, so I'm told. A plot that plods along at a filler-stuffed pace not unlike Naruto, but ithas a plot. Ranma 1/2 has a very amusing setup, and very amusing characters, but to say that it has a plot just ain't true. As is the case in a lot of Rumic stuff, you have to reset to zero at the end of a manga arc. But I won't deny that the setup is great: Cocksure martial artist teen Ranma Saotome turns into a girl when splashed with cold water, a boy again when hit with hot water, is raised by a dad who makes Gendo Ikari look like Will Rogers, and to top it all off he's a harem protagonist with a bunch of bickering fiances who can't stand each other! Stupid martial arts techniques pop in and out of relevance; Ancient Chinese doohickeys with magical powers appear for an episode before being forgotten; every teenaged character in the anime is horny for another character, leading to constant romantic tension and goofy fights. The plots write themselves, which is probably why it was the biggest thing in anime fanfiction in the 1990's.
The catch is that while it's good shit, it's usually the same shit over and over and over again. Ranma doesn't become less of an idiot, main heroine Akane Tendo never becomes good at martial arts or stops being the worst sort of tsundere, and while they're supposed to be the main romantic plot-driver in the anime I could never find that I was sold on them as a couple. So while plots write themselves, you aren't going to get a wide variety of plots, or plots that build on each other, or, well, anything of narrative significance at all, really.
The question you have to ask yourself when watching Ranma, then, is Does That Matter? Do you just wanna watch a proto-harem show with some of the most legendary voice talent of the nineties for the sub, that under no circumstances can find the energy to take itself seriously? Or do you want something that cares a little more about story? Because you have to meet Ranma on its own, very low terms, to enjoy it, and even then that's not always guaranteed. So that's why I'd recommend doing what I did, which is watch a few episodes here and there on late and lonely winter nights and enjoy it for what it is. Don't be like my roommate who watched all of it and now has sworn it off forever. Don't become that sort of person.