Here's Ranma!

Well, here we are at my number two favorite anime.

It's also a romantic comedy like UY, a classic love story of the love of a redhead for a panda. Um, wait, no. That's not it. In fact, considering this IS Japanese after all I can't say as that's a prudent line of humor...


Anyway, So Ranma 1/2, my second favorite anime of all time...







(Ranma 1/2 1st season opening)

Coincidentally, it stems from the same twisted mind that spawned Urusei Yatsura, Rumiko Takahashi, and tells the tale of an unlucky martial artist whose feminine side is more tangible than those of other men because with any amount of cold water (or cool, or even room temperature, apparently) he drops almost a foot in height, sprouts large breasts, his hair turns red and his undercarriage goes gal. In short, cold water = female, hot water = male. And so begins Ranma Saotome's personal hell, that he is all too willing to share with his new fiancee, Akane Tendo, who copes surprisingly well with a future husband whose cup size puts her own to shame.



The first season was amazing. It's easily my favorite in terms of animation, english dub quality and the general look and feel that makes it seem so poignant between moments of batshit Japanese insanity that go so far as to resemble both romance and the innocence of youth. Then a neighbor's hose bursts turning Ranma female almost summoning his stalkers and rivals simultaneously, nevermind that he will already be busy trying to dodge the violent attacks of his bride-to-be because he's done something to irritate her. Again.

This went on for 161 episodes during 6 seasons, there's also 2 movies and a small wealth of OAVs. Unlike UY's Ataru, Ranma is mostly a good kid... mostly. Ranma can't seem to help himself getting himself in blood feuds, challenges to the death, marked for assassination and targeted for scholastic justice by students and teachers alike because he's kind of a selfish idiot. Clearly a trait inherited by his father, but unlike Genma (Ranma's Dad) Ranma is a martial artist brimming with potential and he's the heir apparent intended to take over the "School of Anything-Goes-Martial-Arts" with the only caveat to that end being that he MUST marry one of the Tendo girls, in specific he's to marry Akane because she didn't say "NOT IT!" fast enough. To complicate things further, in addition to stumbling into death threats and random attempts on his life, he's also gotten himself engaged to a woman out to kill him, convinced his childhood friend who was trying to kill him to fall in love with him and enchanted the evil captain of a troupe of evil high school gymnasts.



Ranma's troubles listed to far just seem eccentric, the real dangers to Ranma sleep in the same house. When his own father isn't putting him through phobia inducing/curse dispensing training, he's attacking him at random and stealing his food; that is if he isn't already trying to sell Ranma, betrothe him to additional girls in exchange for dowries that he immediately runs off with to spend, sell or eat. Genma's worst blight against Ranma was probably covering him in fish and throwing him into a pit of hungry cats to teach Ranma a new technique called Cat Fu (see above) and instead gifted Ranma with a paralyzing fear of cats. Then there's Akane who's usually looking for a good alternative to angrily breaking bricks with her bare hands and Ranma's face is always her second favorite choice. This all pales in comparison to the horrors unleashed by the diminutive founder of their Anything-Goes school, Happosai, who (after digging himself out of the cave his students buried him in) forces his way into the Tendo household and lords over the family like Grandpa Satan for the remainder of the series as the primary antagonist for Ranma in addition to being a frequent plague upon their small town with his constant underwear thieving, food swiping, etc.

It's not even safe for the poor bastard to sleep because when Happosai isn't trying to fondle Ranma, he's trying to summon/enslave his girl half with discount black magic or Nabiki is stripping him naked and taking photos of him as a girl that she sells at school!


(This incredibly dorky anime music video (AMV) made by a fan displays exactly the kind of warmth and easygoing stuff you can expect in any Ranma 1/2 episode)

Ranma 1/2 is unique in the way it wanders between the innocence of stammering teenagers in love to Happosai literally motor-boating Ranma's bared girl-chest to incite a duel and literally every rival Ranma had collected up to that point popping out to challenge Ranma at the same time and the women who love him coming to defend/kill him. It's like some graceful ballet of havoc and madness that keeps this strange veneer of innocence and serenity. I guess it's a lot like being happily drunk when you can look at this stuff and be okay. I've been sober for a long time though and Ranma is still a lot of fun to watch, it's been my prozac equivalent for years and cured pretty much all of my depression and fended me through almost every funk.


(Apparently, this is Akane's "baka song" that she dedicates to Ranma, this is similar to the dorky Witch Doctor montage, but you really feel Akane's seething rage and the pace of Ranma's beatings in this go really well with the music)