Netflix has recently done a remake of the classic Rumiko Takahashi series, Ranma 1/2. It feels a bit weird since there is a perfectly good existing Anime series already out there, though its from the early 90s era of anime. I believe this new series though has the selling point of being more accurate to the original 80s Manga.
Its been so long since I watched the original, or read the manga, that I can’t really vouch for how much more accurate it is.
I can say, this new series, is quite good. The animation is really smooth, and a lot of it feels very familiar. I mostly just wanted to comment a bit one some of the highs and lows a bit though there will be, spoilers, at some point, then possibly spoilers again for stuff likely to happen in the future. So depending on your familiarity with Ranma, at some point you may want to stop reading.
Just something I want to slide in here, because I remembered it later in the spoilery area. This remake does have “nudity” moments. But its basically entirely Ranma’s nipple-less breasts played for comedy.
But for now, lets go with, not really spoilers.
The basic plot of the show follows the exploits of Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendô, and their family and friends… frienemies I suppose really. A lot of the characters kind of flip back and forth or just skirt the line of being “rivals”. There are definitely straight villains, but most of the main characters are friendly to each other, in some combination.
There are basically two core elements to the stories of Ranma. Love triangles with 20 different sides and layers, and transformation curses
Not every character is cursed, but a fair number of them are. There is a Chinese marial arts training ground called Jusenkyo, with numerous cursed springs. Anyone who falls into one of the springs will be cursed to be transformed into whatever drowned there in the past when exposed to cold water. Ranma’s father, Genma, turns into a giant panda. Ranma, turns into a girl version of himself.
Hijinks ensue. Because this series is also a comedy series at its core.
Oh right, Ranma and Akane, much to the disdain of BOTH characters, are set up to be married by their fathers.
Also almost every problem is ultimately solved by a wacky, over the top, martial arts moment.
None of the Tendo family has any curse, but Ryoga, Ranma’s main rival for Akane, and one of the series’ four main characters, does.
I say “series’ four main characters” because in the Manga and original Anime, there are four, Ranma, Akane, Ryoga, and Shampoo, though in this new show, Shampoo only shows up briefly in the last few episodes of Season 1. There is ‘t any reason to to think she won’t continue to be prominent in any future seasons though, she is featured heaving during the title sequence along side the other three.
Arguably, Ukyo is the fifth main character of the series but there is no sign of her anywhere yet. I do hope she shows up eventually though because she is my favorite Ranma character. You could maybe rope Kuno as a main character as well, but his role so far is pretty small.
Anyway, look at me go, getting into spoiler territory. May as well have at it. The series has 4 main arcs with a few short arcs. The initial arrival of Ranma and Genma and the introduction of the arranged marriage angle and The curse. We also get a brief intro to Tatewaki Kuno at the school. Kuno being an extremely dense, but skilled Kendo fighter, who hates Ranma as a man, but loves “The Pigtailed girl” (Girl Ranma), and does not realize they are the same person.
Generally speaking, Ranma tries to keep his curse a secret. We also get an episode with Kodachi Kuno, Tatewaki’s sister, a gymnast martial artist from a rival school.
Early on we also get the addition of Ryoga, who shows up as a regular in every episode after his introduction. A lot of Ryoga’s purpose is to serve as a foil to Ranma and as comic relief. He is an extremely strong, but less skilled fighter than Ranma. He pretends to loathe Ranma, but they often team up despite their rivalry. Ryoga also is cursed to transform into an adorable little black piglet, which Akane keeps as a pet, not realizing her pet is actually Ryoga.
Ryoga’s pig form also causes trouble during the show’s longest arc, when a pair of ice skaters show up and challenge Ranma and Akane to a sort of, skating battle, with little piglet Ryoga and Girl Ranma as the prizes. There are some good moments in this arc and good back and forth between Ryoga, Akane, and Ranma, but I personally felt it went a little long and is spans like 3 episodes.
The series caps off with the brief introduction of Shampoo, a Chinese Amazon warrior who was defeated by Girl Ranma and comes to town planning to kill her, before falling for Boy Ranma. Her culture has a law that if one is defeated by another woman, they must kill that woman. If defeated by a man, they must marry that man. So, now Ranma gets two fiances, though at the close of the series, Shampoo leaves.
So, I really hope the show gets a second season. There is a lot more good stuff to explore, even if they don’t get to everything. The Manga was extremely long running with some 400 chapters released over a ten year period. I am not sure how many chapters were covered by this series, but it kind of feels like at most it was like 5 or 6.. I found some reference, it was easily close to 40. Still, thats potentially 10 seasons. Which I suppose would put it on track to match the original in terms of episodes.
At the very least, I hope they get to more of the popular characters. More Kuno would be good. Shampoo will almost certainly return, probably with her cat curse this time (received as punishment for failing to deal with Ranma.). If they want to cut something, they could probably dump a lot of anything to do with Happosei, or at least just, trim him down and reel him in. Happosei’s entire character is just, “Old man pervert”.
The show just doesn’t really need that. There is surprisingly little sex for a show that feels like it has a lot of underlying sexual and sexuality based themes. Girl Ranma shows up nude from the top up occasionally, though she has no nipples. Its essentially always just for comedic effect.
Its probably worth mentioning the sexuality of the series a bit as well. This whole series, especially being a product of the 80s, and probably a product of Japan, has its pretty progressive moments. Especially considering its very not progressive moments, like the multiple arranged marriages, and Happosei. Its never mentioned explicitly, but it does feel like there are some underlying LGBTQ+themes here, which is honestly, kind of unavoidable with the whole gender bending theme of the series.
Ranma doesn’t really like being cursed, but he also doesn’t seem to really mind being a girl, when he is a girl. Everyone who knows about Ranma, just kind of, rolls with it. Akane very often expresses a complete dislike of men, though there are some men she seems taken with, but its just, kind of really bisexual of her. Ryoga kind of teases Ranma. Some about his curse when Ranma is a girl. The Skater Villain dude is completely fine with it and just wants to turn Ranma back into a girl as needed. She has not been introduced, but I mentioned Ukyo, who starts out as a tomboy, pretending to be a man.
If anything, the best thing that may come of this remake is reintroducing this pretty good classic series, to a new, modern audience.
