FIF#111-Ranma ½

During a training journey in China, Ranma Saotome falls into a spring, cursed by the spirit of a drowned girl.  As a result, whenever he is hit with cold water, Ranma changes into a girl and only by being doused in hot water can he return to normal.  Returning to Japan with his father (who has fallen in a cursed spring of his own), Ranma finds all manner of chaos waiting for him.  Every girl seems poised to marry him and every guy who’s jealous of him wants to kill him.  There may not be a way to lift Ranma’s curse…but his life is hardly boring anymore.

It’s funny, between todays title and Urusei Yatsura last time, it’s hard to tell which of Rumiko Takahashi’s two juggernaut titles was the bigger King of the 80s Action Comedy Anime.  Since Lum Invader continues to be a recognized poster girl for the genre I might slid the honor to Urusei Yatsura.  And yet I think I found myself liking Ranma ½ a bit more after the small offering of episodes I checked out for this weeks First Impression Friday.  I should note that this FIF is a bit different.  Normally I check out shows at the very beginning, covering the first 1-2 episodes.  However, this First Impression of Ranma ½ is being done based on a marathon screening I checked out a few weeks ago, episodes that plopped me right into the middle of the ongoing story.  It doesn’t really affect the article at all…just a minor change in judgement format I guess.

Being dropped right into the thick of Ranma ½ didn’t turn out to be a bad thing.  It was easy to catch onto or catch up on the overarching plot and get to know Ranma, Akane, Ryuga and the Saotome/Tendo household.  I’m also happy to report that Ranmas genderbending adventures have more than lived up to the legend they’ve created over the last few decades.  The schtick of changing from male to female and back over an extended period of time can wear a joke thin.  But Ranma paces itself well with these changes and both sides of Ranma are equally hilarious.  Ranma himself is a lot of fun, a jerk with a lot of heart who also happens to be good at fighting…seriously the fact that he can go toe to toe with opponents without breaking a sweat is kind of surprising in a way.  However, while I did enjoy the bulk of the cast, from Ranma’s fiancée Akane to his heated rival/best friend (?) Ryuga, the real winners of the cast were the characters this marathon focused on: Shampoo and Cologne.  Shampoo is probably one of the most beautiful girls ive ever seen in Anime: legs for days, a powerful fighter and an innocence about her that is undeniably cute.  If it weren’t for the clear bond between Ranma and Akane that peeks out from time to time, I’d say Shampoo would be the perfect bride for him.  Cologne is Shampoo Great Grandmother and the most adorable elderly Anime character of all time.  Just the fact that she flew into Japan in a house tied to the back of a plane and carried by birds was enough for me to welcome this wackiness without questioning it.  The fact that she can go toe to toe with Ranma is just an added bonus.  Oh and did I mention this show is beyond gorgeous to look at?  Seriously, this 80s series had serious money behind it to make it look just as good (if not better) than Macross or Zeta Gundam.

It probably would’ve only taken one episode to get me interested but I stuck around for three amazing and hilarious episodes of Ranma and it’s enough to give this show a seal of approval.  Not sure I’d fully dedicate myself to a straight on viewing but it could be good background noise, kind of said the same thing about Urusei Yatsura too.  Between watching these episodes and the Ranma ½ movie last year, I’m kind of kicking myself for not checking this out sooner.