Ranma Saotome is a 16-year-old student and heir to the "Anything Goes" style of martial arts. However, Ranma is not your average student: since a "fateful" day at a Chinese training ground called Jusenkyo, he turns into a cute girl when he comes in contact with cold water. Only a dose of hot water can reverse the effects...temporarily.
Yet the craziness of Ranma's life does not end here; due to an agreement between Soun Tendo and Ranma's father, Genma (who himself is cursed with transforming into a panda), the gender-wise unusual boy is now engaged to Akane Tendo, a rather violent and tomboyish girl. Sure enough, romance unwillingly blossoms and time brings about problems including cute pig-boys, ego-inflated Sempais and countless new fiancées...
Synopsis: Caya
Story & Characters
Ranma Saotome is a boy who practices marcial arts (free style wrestling to be more precise) with his father Genma
Saotome.
When Ranma was a little boy his father decided to marry him with one of the daugthers of an old friend called Shoun
Tendo. But something happened they didn't quite expect.
Genma decided to take Ranma to one of China's most dangerous training grounds, the Jusenkkio ponds. These ponds had
a terrible legends about men animals and other creatures that had drowned in them. If someone fell into one of these
ponds, they imediately transformed into that wich downed in it ages ago. Well, needless to say, Ranma and Genma had a
bit of this curse. Ranma fells in a pond in which a beautyful lady had drowned, and Genma fells in one in which drowned
a giant Panda bear. From that moment on, when they get wet with cold water, they tranform into these alternative forms.
And to return to their original forms, they must soak in hot water.
Imagine the surprise of Shoun Tendo and their daugthers when Ranma goes to Tokyo to meet his wife.
Full of humour, romance and lots of funny characters, this is (in my opinion) the best of Rumiko Takahashi's
works.
I must highlight the crazy fighting styles that appear along the story, such as Okonomiyaki Ryu, or Ganso Musabetsu Ryu,
etc.
Rating: 9
Art
The art is great. like in other Rumiko Takahashi's works, the drawing is quite simple, yet beautyful and full of
feelings. the backgrounds are very well thought. And the clothes the characters wear along the story define perfectly
their personalities and state of mood.
The fighting scenes are very well done howerver without the computer effects you´ll see in Rumiko's latest works
like Inu Yasha.
I love how she draws the girls, with a rather casual and sexy look. Without abusing of any aspect of their fisiology
(like the giant breasts shown in Bakkuretsu Hunters, Agent Aika or Ikkittousen). The only bad thing are the openings and
endings... Really laim... I think a great anime must have an opening that you can watch thirty times before you get
tired (Argento Soma, Evangelion, Card Captor Sakura, Chobits, etc). Rumiko didn't pay much attention to this
aspect... Whis is a big mistake.
Rating: 8
Sound
Here´s when I get in trouble... I consider Ranama's 1/2 sountrack as one of the WORST I´ve ever listened. Not
only the openings and endings which are awfully instrumetalized and sound like they were sung by 70 year old women. But
for the melodic tunes for the whole anime which are really mediocre.
Rumiko tries to overcome this mistake later when she chooses the audio for Inu Yasha (her earliest work) wich is simply
great.
All songs in Ranma have a chinese background, but the are not well composed... It´s a really big mistake for an
animé which has proved to be so beautyfull in every other aspect.
Rating: 3
Presentation
The beauty in Ranma Ninbunoicchi (1/2) lays in the incredible variety of characters Rumiko unloads in each of her
stories. From a lustful old marcial sensei who steal ladies underwear, to a spoiled little girl that names as a person
every object she desires and does everything to have it, to a mortal enemy without any sense of orientation, or a hidden
weapon fighting expert who wear glasses so thick he can´t tell the difference beetwen the woman he loves and a statue
of Coronel Sanders (it´s quite funny the scene in wich he proposes to a pig thinking it´s her), each one of the
million characters shown in this serie its filled with flaws, desires and love. And in the middle of all this mess is
Ranma, that has to choose a bride eetwen the girls that love him while he tries to escape alive from the most unexpected
and funny situations.
Ranma Ninbunoicchi is a beautyful anime and I encourage everyone to wach it. You´ll get trapped from the moment it
starts and you´ll do anything no to miss one episode, but, overall, I promisse you will laught your heart out...
Rating: 9
Final Verdict
7.8333 (good)
Reviewed by Norimune, Jan 22, 2005
