Ranma ½: The Movie-Big Trouble In Nekonron, China

For Ranma Satome, the young warrior cursed to turn into a girl if he’s hit with cold water, the day started pretty average: dealing with a perverted martial arts master and avoiding death at the hands of his fiancée Akane.  But suddenly a Chinese girl named Lychee arrives on her giant elephant and the day gets bizarre.  Through pure misunderstanding, Akane finds herself abducted by Kirin, head of the 7 Lucky Gods.  He intends to marry her and defeats Ranma to prove his superiority.  But Ranma’s having none of it and soon he and his friends are off to Nekoron, China, home of the 7 Lucky Gods, to confront these new foes and save Akane. 

 

Ranma ½ feels like a legendary title seemingly lost to time.  I remember seeing the trailer for this movie tacked onto the end of a Pokemon VHS tape and was instantly curious (mostly thanks to the films kick ass theme song).  I cant recall how long ago it was that I saw it but that was definitely back when Ranma was a heavy weight title in the Anime community, one whos popularity seemed to equal Dragon Ball Z in die hard Anime circles.  So, years later, I finally got to see Ranma 1/2: The Movie at a special screening.  How did it go and did it work for me as a guy who has heard of Ranma ½  but has never seen it?

 

Im pleased to report that, all in all, I liked the film quite a bit.  It isn’t without flaws but Big Trouble in Nekonron, China (Hm why does that name sound a little familiar) was still a very enjoyable flick that is a decent intro to the world of Ranma.  The movie works a lot like most Shonen Action flics: you don’t get a lot of backstory for the world and just get thrown right into the mix.  In that regard, I was lucky to know the basic premise of the Ranma series, or at least why Ranma is suddenly changing sexes for whatever reason.  But even without it, The Movie is still something you can just run with because, at the end of the day for me, the characters made this movie work the most.  In that way, it’s both a positive and a negative.  I enjoyed Ranma and Akane’s back and forth bickering (very familiar since Ranma ½ author Rumiko Takahasi also did Inuyasha) and I did like how Ranma interacted with the large supporting cast, especially Ryoga and Tatewaki.  That said, the supporting cast does very little after the adventure to Nekoron gets going.  Everyone is defeated rather easily and as impressed as I was by their powers, especially Mouuse and his many weapons in his sleeves, it seemed like they didn’t matter a lot to the plot after the first act since it really just boils down to Ranma, Akane, Kirin and Lychee for most of the film.  Also, I didn’t know the bulk of the cast had transformations too besides Ranma and his father, so that kind of threw me off a little.

 

And yet I was never really holding the films neglegance of its cast against it.  The humor that Ranma ½ is best known for is on full display, balancing out the lack of action in the middle section quite well.  I was legitimately laughing at little things that had a lot of heart to their humor: like Akane trying to make a home cooked meal secretly in captivity or the fact that Kirin cant survive a meal that doesn’t have rice and pickles in it.  The banter was rapid fire amongst all character and the timing of the jokes was spot on.  I’m surprised I wasn’t as jarred by Ranma’s many transformations as I thought I would be, the guy bounced back between boy and girl so well that it’s kind of hard for me to make a call on which side I like better.  Not to mention I had to laugh at Ranma’s signature attack being named after the lyrics of a Christmas Carol.  Ranma’s hotheaded personality definitely matches his spiritual cousin, Inuyasha, but I did like his drive and his brilliance at fighting when he had to really test his resolve against Kirin.

 

The downsides to the film are about what you’d expect in a standard action flick.  I’ve mentioned the near useless inclusion of the supporting cast after the first act.  The action does take a while to kick in after Kirin’s first appearance and Akane’s abduction.  What little there is present isn’t bad but the film definitely emphasizes the comedy more than the action, not the best balance.  Also, a big pet peeve of mine with movie adaptations of a tv series: if the animation looks just like the TV series, it’s not going to work at 100% for me.  Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa and Cowboy Bebop: The Movie are perfect examples of movie level animation quality while still maintaining the aesthetic of their TV origins.  Ranma ½: The Movie looks kind of like the TV series snippets ive seen and sometimes it tries to break that mold and try something different.  It made for some inconsistencies I couldn’t ignore.

 

I will say this about Ranma 1/2: The Movie-Big Trouble in Nekonron, China, it does make me want to go seek out more of the series.  I feel like this is a title I missed out on growing up and probably would have enjoyed back then and still could today.  The Movie is pure 80’s classical fun, up there with some of the more decent Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z films.  The cast is great (if mostly underutilized), the comedy is gold and always used at the right time, and Ranma and Akane are a cute bickering couple to route for.  It’s ironic that the short trailer at the end of that Pokemon VHS tape would be my first reveal of this Anime classic…and now the film is my first true viewing of this forgotten gem and I want to see more soon.

 

7.5/10