Review of Ranma ½

Arguably Rumiko Takahashi’s (Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku) greatest creation, and with her comes Studio Deen and a slew of returning staff from her other works. Unlike Maison Ikkoku, Takahashi went back to the formula in which made Urusei Yatsura such a success. It was a slap stick romantic comedy with a main character having a harem of some sort. In this anime, Ranma Saotome is a boy trained in all things martial arts, and due to an accident while in training with his father; when splashed with cold water he turns into a girl, and changes back with hot water. There is no overarching plot, much likeUrusei Yatsura. Ranma and his father return from their training and head to the Tendo family household where the two fathers have arranged a marriage between Ranma and Tendo’s youngest daughter, Akane Tendo. From there, it consists of the love-hate interactions between Akane and Ranma, and occasionally with a slew of other characters introduced.

Characters throughout the anime hardly change once their initial introduction and most either join the harem of either Ranma or Akane. As the anime continues, some characters have similar inflictions as Ranma, various martial art bouts for some, or just a random episode encounter. Thus humour ensues from there. From start to finish the anime never strides far from this path other than the occasional episode of emotional attachment; again, just like Yatsura.

Animation and sound were fairly average for the time with some episodes being better than others. There is a distinct increase in animation once the anime hits the 100 episode mark. Also, unlike most anime from the 80’s, Ranma does not have a whole bunch of recycled scenes which is a huge relief. Sound and music remains consistent and always fits the tone of the anime.

Where Urusei Yatsura was strong, it carried over in the work of Ranma ½. Unfortunately, after the first couple of seasons, the show becomes stale and very repetitive. Much of the show is slap-stick comedy and mostly over the top characters that never change. This is an anime without any satisfying ending, but is a fun romantic harem comedy overall.