Ranma ½

I used to watch this when I was little and used to think nothing of it other than "yay colorful characters", but now? What an absolute mess. And while I do hold some dear memories related to it since my dad is the one who used to download the episodes for me to watch in the early 2000s, years after having picked up the manga I must identify this "adaptation" as what it is: a disrespect to the source material; Yes, anime adaptations don't always have to be a copy and paste of the manga, however the changes should be for the better and not as extreme, which is not the case here.

First off, whoever was in charge (which is obviously many people and studios given the discontinuity in characterization and art style) clearly had no clue of what was going on and who the mains were since we have like 100+ "original" episodes centered on either secondary and even irrelevant background characters who have minor roles in the manga. And yes, I know the manga was still ongoing when the 89s version began, but then what's the point of calling it Ranma½ if you're just doing whatever and hardly looking at its author's work? Either do something else or wait for the story to be finished, but then again, the ones who directed this evidently thought a little too highly of themselves if they thought their ideas were better.

I've read the manga multiple times now and Ranma's comedic timing is fast-paced and very light, which is something you don't see here at all, on the other hand they make an arc that is, what, 4/5 chapters long in the manga 4 episodes long and make it slow, boring and still manage to cut everything that makes these characters and their romance essential to this story out and insert sloppy "original" plotlines that they apparently thought was good (spoiler alert: they were not)

In short: nothing wrong with those who enjoy it to this day, but it's better to consider this as a standalone and not the "og" (that's the manga) and consider supporting 2024's remake on Netflix (aka an actually faithful adaptation worth of the name).

Remember folks: just because something came first, doesn't mean it's better ;)

P.s. The only reason I am not giving it 1/10 is because of the soundtracks which I admit were genuinely good. However even those are a misfit and were meant for a different genre, which is likely what they thought Ranma to be.

While I enjoyed watching Viz's imports of the series, I was curious enough to decide to watch the OVAs that were produced during the series' popularity. Of course, I should have been laughing at one of them, but I was really horrified by what happened in the first OVA. Of course, I didn't watch all of it yet, but the first 6 minutes, which showed Shampoo beating Ranma to a pulp, were too much for me. It was enough to head to IMDb and write this review. I'd give the series 5 stars, but the OVA deserves far less than that!

I was totally left speechless and gaping by the way Shampoo was treating poor Ranma, normally I had no sympathy for Ranma whatsoever (I cared more for Shampoo, Ryoga, Mousse and Akane) I was completely horrified regardless. Seeing Ranma get smacked repeatedly was just hard for me to tolerate. The OVA gets -5 stars for this reason, I can't believe many people allow their children to watch that stuff, that's why people get into brutal fights at schools and their victim ends up on life support in the hospital.

Simply put, CONDEMNED!

The show opens with the woman screaming, "I hate men," setting the tone for a narrative that comes across as divisive rather than thought-provoking. By definition, sexism involves prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination based on sex, and this show seems to embody that exact issue under the guise of commentary. Rather than offering insightful critiques or balanced perspectives, it feels like a one-sided attempt to push an agenda. The lack of nuance makes it hard to take seriously, leaving it feeling more like femcel propaganda than meaningful entertainment. Unfortunately, it's not worth the watch.

Here's the story as I've heard it, regarding the first story arc in Ranma's second season (which is referred to in the first season, when Akane remember Ranma saying, "Akane is my fiancee. You touch her, and I'll kill you."). First of all, in the comic, the martial arts figure skating appears *before* the Shampoo incidents, so it makes sense to have the reference. But from what I've heard, they were thinking about cancelling the show, so they skipped it and did the Shampoo episodes, hoping to garner more viewers, then tacked on the silly final "rememberance" episode to cap the story, in case it was cancelled. It wasn't, but it was sent to a very different animation house (I think--at least it was directed by different people) in hopes of making it more lively. And in some ways, it is. The cheaper production values allowed them to have continuous motion and stuff, but in the process lost it's thoughtfulness and visual creativity. The animation is often repetitious and downright crude at times (fast-moving kicks that are simply animated as the same series of blurred lines, bodies that warp too much as they spin, choppy walking, etc). Still, the first storyline is well told and animated, and for the most part, the stories are still pretty good. But by the end, they're all just a bunch of one-episode arcs that often have no connection to the ones before it, and the same sorts of things happen over and over, especially in regards to Akane and Ranma's relationship (this was also starting to become a problem in Rumiko Takahashi's comic--they would fight, make-up, and break-up again in the last page of a story arc). Finally, the dubbing quality goes downhill, especially in Hard Battle and Outta Control (I stopped watching them after the voice-actress (Sarah Strange?) of Boy-Type Ranma quit and was replaced). I don't know if the Japanese version did any better after the second season.

Ranma 1/2 is the only romantic-comedic anime that I've enjoyed. I usually only watch serious adult anime, but Ranma 1/2 is quite exceptional both in its humor and unique character design. If you love randomness and quirky plots, this anime is for you. However, I feel that the full Ranma experience is in reading Rumiko Takahashi's superior manga.

As far as the animation goes, it tends to get progressively sloppy as well with the scriptwriting, which heavily borrows on Takahashi's brilliance to make ends meet. Despite this, the funniest episodes are later on in the series hidden within the hit-and-miss seasons. There are some admittably stupid episodes, but what can you expect from a long-running series?

The show's strong points are its accurate portrayal of teen romance, complex character profiles, unpredictable non-linear plot lines, and zany humor.