“Whenever we want to combat our enemies, first and foremost we must start by understanding them rather than exaggerating their motives.” -Criss Jami
The 90’s was a magical and amazing time for someone like me who was an avid watcher of cartoons and anime on TV. We don’t have cable TV back then so we need to rely on local channels in order to satisfy our viewing pleasures. It was a time that we need to pay close attention to the shows that was aired and memorize the time and date it will be available otherwise, it’s over: you missed on whatever happened on that episode forever, unless there is a replay, which kinda rare to happen. One of the shows that I fondly remember watching every Sunday evenings is Ranma 1/2: a manga made by the famous Rumiko Takahashi.
Ranma 1/2 was really impressive back then when I watched it the first time since theshow has an abundant supply of martial arts, comedy, and story arcs in its disposal to keep me entertained for a long time. Another thing I like about the show is the awesome English dub made possible by the voice cast since it gave the show a distinctive great feeling whenever I watched it- and because I prefer English dub.
But alas, Ranma 1/2 was cut short when I was still watching it on the local channel it aired when I was kid. I never got to watch it for a long time since I was busy with school and eventually work. There were no VHS or VCD copy of Ranma 1/2 available that I can rent on our local video rentals which was a downer for me. However, after two decades of reminiscing, I finally got my hands on the entire show and did next best thing: binge-watched it on one sitting. Actually, that was impossible so I watched it for a couple days. How was the anime compared to when I was a kid? We’ll find that out with my review.
Plot that somehow blows
For those who are unfamiliar with the show, Ranma 1/2 is a story about Ranma Saotome, a martial artist who got cursed after accidentally taking a dip in one of the enchanted springs in China in a training expedition. The result is that he would turn into a girl when doused with cold water, and will revert back to a boy when splashed with hot water. The plot revolves around Ranma in a series of adventures that shifts to episodic to non-episodic with his main objective of finding a cure for his curse. As the narrative progresses, new story arcs would emerge every time a new character is introduced in which the main plot takes a brief rest in order to explore more on that person’s background. At times, the introduction of some these characters poses no relevance to the plot in which it is noticeable that they were just made for the sake of meeting a quota to expand the series.
Also, Ranma never had a chance to find a closure on achieving his goal of removing his curse due to the consistent story arcs being added in the series that either derails him from finding a cure or a quest which just boils down on doing nothing to remedy his current predicament. This is kind of a letdown especially for those who have invested a lot of time watching the show waiting for Ranma to finally be rid of his curse only to be crushingly disappointed at the end when he fails on achieving his goal either due to his incompetence, stupidity, or anything that could have influenced the failure to happen. With that in mind, the plot has a recurring formula that just drags on with more uninspiring or just boring stories, save maybe for some interesting episode arcs that are worth watching. I love watching the early episodes of Ranma 1/2 since they were if not awesome, at least would be good to watch that I would ask for more but the stories just keeps on getting bad as the series progresses.
Creative martial arts
Martial arts would also be another main concept for the show and most of the story arcs in which Ranma needs to use his skills and creativity as a martial artist in order to adapt and beat his opponents in their own game. They’ve thrust the idea of martial arts on almost everything like figure skating, ramen deliveries, tea ceremonies, and even on french cuisine and dining that I find it hilarious at times. I like the idea behind that since it is creative on its own way. However, one thing I don’t like is the somehow absurdity of the martial arts on some of the story arcs since the execution is sometimes bad and redundant that I found myself looking at the ceiling in disbelief. I also like the part where entire story arcs where dedicated to Ranma’s development of learning new techniques and mastering it in order to prevail against certain villains or rivals that need to be beaten.
Humor that hurts
The show’s humor relies upon many factor and one of my favorites in Ranma 1/2 is the use of slapstick comedy in which it is heavily used throughout the series. Many times I’ve seen characters take to the skies as characters have been mercilessly launched in the air by either brute force or by explosions which can even rival Team Rocket‘s eruptive exits. 
Maybe it was funny before the first time I watched it, but I never get the same results on laughing hysterically when watching the characters get seriously hurt as of now although I would smile a bit every now and then when I see it happen. The other things I least liked about the humor on this show is the weirdness and the ecchi factor in the form of Ranma who is always the target for being groped for the resident perverted geezer. I just don’t feel good with that part to say the least.
One dimensional characters
Characters in this show have their own quirks and charms, but feel very static for most of the cast. The development of the characters are little to non-existent for the rest of the fray. If the characters in the show do change, it is for the worst. An example of this would be Ranma’s father. At first he was serious, responsible, and albeit displays eccentricities 
that would annoy his son, but still a good father. However, as the episodes go, he slowly changes to a lazy bum whose only interest is to satisfy his needs to get food no matter the cost. The same thing also happens to the rest of the cast in which it their personalities become their permanent trademarks: Ranma is arrogant and lacks humility, Akane the sweet yet tsundere archetype, Happosai the eternal perverted degenerate, etc. However, even with this I still enjoy watching the entire cast of characters go about what they do for each episode since they are still an amusing bunch and I would not get bored even with their slight personality disorders.
Conclusion
All in all, Ranma 1/2 is not a show that should not be taken seriously and instead, an anime where it is geared to entertain us with its colorful cast of characters thrust on stories and see where it goes from there. Although there were some drawbacks with the plot, there are still some sufficient episodes to watch that is still memorable to view which I still enjoy up to this day. The transition of the quality of the anime from great to sub-par is noticeable as each season of the anime continues but they still manage to fix that on the OVAs. If you are looking for a lot characters with a lot of mayhem with a mix of everything in between, then Ranma 1/2 may be your cup of tea.
-DarkdaemonPK2
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