Ranma 1/2 - Reviews

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mmm1995's avatar
Feb 15, 2022

Anime at least for me it was a waste of time and how many times does the same story repeat but a different girl,

so for me the anime is not worth the time.

This is what I saw and my reviews 

thank you for reading and your time be well and safe :))

4.5/10 story
5/10 animation
7/10 sound
2/10 characters
2/10 overall
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SEGHE's avatar
Sep 19, 2023

"Ranma ½" - A Hilarious Martial Arts Romp

Story (8/10): "Ranma ½" is a classic in the world of anime and manga, and for good reason. The story centers around Ranma Saotome, a martial artist who, due to an accident, can transform into a girl when splashed with cold water and back into a boy with hot water. The premise alone sets the stage for a wealth of comedic and absurd situations, and the series delivers on this front consistently. The episodic nature of the show, with various martial arts challenges and rivalries, keeps things fresh and entertaining. It's a blend of comedy, romance, and martial arts that remains engaging throughout.

Animation (7/10): Considering its age, the animation in "Ranma ½" holds up remarkably well. The character designs by Rumiko Takahashi are distinctive and memorable, and the exaggerated expressions add to the comedic appeal. While it may lack the visual polish of more recent anime, the animation serves its purpose effectively, especially in the context of comedy and martial arts sequences.

Sound (7/10): The soundtrack of "Ranma ½" features catchy and fitting tunes, enhancing the comedic and action sequences. The voice acting is commendable, with standout performances from the cast in capturing the personalities and quirks of the characters, including Ranma's gender-switching antics.

Characters (9/10): The characters are the heart and soul of "Ranma ½." They are a diverse and eccentric bunch, each with their own unique martial arts style and comedic traits. Ranma, with his dual personas, is a charismatic and lovable protagonist, while the supporting cast, including Akane, Ryoga, Shampoo, and many others, contribute to the hilarious and often absurd dynamics. Character development isn't the primary focus, but the interactions and rivalries among them keep you invested in their antics.

Overall (8/10): "Ranma ½" is a classic anime that has stood the test of time. It's a delightful blend of martial arts, comedy, and romance, driven by a memorable cast of characters. While it may not have the visual polish of modern anime, its humor and entertaining storytelling make it a must-watch for fans of classic anime and manga.

Comparing it to the manga/novel, the anime adaptation faithfully captures the essence of the source material, and both offer a similar experience. Reading the manga can provide additional content and details, but the anime stands as a highly enjoyable and complete series in its own right.

8/10 story
7/10 animation
7/10 sound
9/10 characters
8/10 overall
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ThatAnimeSnob's avatar
Aug 20, 2012

After the huge success of Urusei Yatsura (I made a review about it as well), mangaka Rumiko Takahashi decided to make an equally queer series, with more focus on action and characters. And the result was Ranma!

ART SECTION: 5/10, SOUND SECTION: 8/10
- Very old style but will stay adorable no matter how many years pass. This series has memorable character figures, distinguishable voices and behaviors, a huge heart-warming variety in backgrounds and humor that still gets to you without needing realism, CG graphics or unbelievable visual effects.
- Most episodes make several image and sound references to very known movies, traditions and myths (of the 80’s and before, that is) making most episodes a parody of every renowned title you can think of. The rest are funny, every day situations, with the characters experiencing new pleasures or taking part in weird games and contests. So, this department has no significance over the real value of the series.
- Production values are rather bad and become much worse as the show goes on but rejecting the series because of the old graphics and sound is NOT an excuse. Jerky movements and more crude graphics make the series less interesting later on but if you got all the way up to the turning point, it means you liked the series and this is not a major problem anymore.

STORY SECTION: 5/10 (6/10 in the manga)
A common trademark of all of Rumiko Takahashi’s works is the stale and unfinished scenarios (although Maison Ikkoku and Inu Yasha are exceptions). The series begins with a story, spends a few episodes introducing the characters and then has really thin continuity. All episodes are divided into stand-alone small story arks and only those introducing recurring characters or another attempt at a given situation can be called to have an on-going scenario. Beyond that, no matter what happens in the end of an ark will have little effect in the beginning of the next. Although there is an evolving story, the series is focusing on humor rather in scenario continuity. Especially, after the third season, the continuity becomes very scarce.
By the way, the manga takes the story far beyond the ending of the series and it is a must if you want to know more.

CHARACTER SECTION: 6/10
A major plus of the series. Almost all characters are hilarious albeit two are the most memorable.

Ranma: A cult figure, Ranma is a young male martial artist. He and his father fell in a cursed pond and now every time they are showered with cold water, he turns into a girl and his father into a panda! He has to hide this fact from everyone and find a cure. If that is not enough, he has been arranged to marry Akane, who doesn’t like men in general. Also, everyday he faces challenging martial artists, other cursed-pond creatures and weird people who are either in love with his male or his female side. He can be seen as the ridicule of the perfect Japanese manly stereotype, as he is supposed to act like a man, even when hiding in a dress.

Akane: A young female martial artist. She can be seen as the ridicule of the perfect Japanese girly stereotype, as she is good in beating people and completely useless at every task any typical housewife can do. She hates men and yet she is arranged to marry the queer Ranma. She is constantly chased by men who want to date her while defending her father’s dojo from challengers, as there are no male descendants to do the job.

The one theme, which stays constant in the series, is the true love between Ranma and Akane, despite their flawed nature. In many episodes they have opportunities to part ways, but always the two come back to each other. Some of the best dramatic moments in the series are in these episodes.

There are half a dozen other beautiful women that circle Ranma from time to time, giving the series a hint of harem anime. The main two are a Chinese noodle martial artist and a cross-dresser girl raised as a boy, who is also aimed to marry him. There are a hundred more secondary characters that spice up the story even more, from the pathetic fathers of the two main heroes, to their hentai martial arts master, to Akane’s day and night different sisters, to Ranma’s animal-based cursed rivals.

To sum it up, most characters are essentially reverse stereotypes of the ideal images of Japanese people. You must be well aware of Japan’s traditions if you want to “get the joke” but even if you are not, they are still very funny most of the time.

The main characters in Ranma are not totally stale as many of them change (not mature; CHANGE) as they interact with several secondary characters that are introduced later in the story. They also learn more fighting techniques and in theory become stronger. Still, they are not as memorable as those in Urusei Yatsura .

VALUE SECTION: 9/10
A must-series for all retro fans who seek quality. It still is amongst the longest and better comedies of the 80’s, even if its production values betray it half way. In fact, every martial arts comedy anime in the last 20 years owes something to this series. It has a pretty high rewatch value, since you can start at any episode and you are almost guaranteed a good laugh without spoiling any story continuity (because there is almost none). Its humor is a parody of the Japanese culture and its stereotypes, becoming a sort of self-criticizing essay on Japan’s history and thus offering some food for thought as well.

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 5/10
1/4th of the episodes are not funny at all. Especially after the 3rd season, the characters become more stupid and less interesting. But the rest made me laugh hard and that is all that matters. A great series, in spite of its flaws.

5/10 story
5/10 animation
8/10 sound
6/10 characters
6.5/10 overall
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angelsreviews's avatar
Aug 6, 2013

So wow, um… as you read from the description or just by knowing this pretty well known anime, this is a gender bender harem. As such, the show has numerous amounts of fan service, awkward tension, misunderstandings, and secrets. You can’t watch the whole series without a boob popping out once in a while or the occasional pervert showing up now and again. (Kurai: “You are not going to be seeing mine!”) (Angel: “Sounding more like a girl already are we?”) (Kurai: “Shut up!”)

I have a big question, how is every freaken boy after Akane? I never see anything in her that would be the normal of a girl the boys would drool over. I guess in a way, that’s what makes this show special. She’s not the nerdy girl with glasses, the moe girl with childlike aspects, or a full adult style body. She’s just a normal girl who practices martial arts and is kind of (ok, really bad) at cooking. Sometimes she does have a sweet side but she doesn’t show it to just anyone so how they know about it would be beyond me. We can understand why everybody wants Ranma though; he’s strong, agile, and really athletic. He is also somewhat like a bad boy so it sums him up slightly. But even in the first episode, Ranma shows that he can be sweet and has a code that’s rather good. Now if only he wasn’t afraid of cats… (Kurai: “Ha! That’s the stupidest fear…”) (Angel: “Watch it or when I find out yours, your going down!”) (Kurai: *Shuts up*)

One could also wonder about a lot of characters in this show because they are really super stupid. They may have some times where they are at least a little smart but oh god that doesn’t last long at all. I can understand some of the love triangles and some of the problems with nearsightedness, directional problems, and other such things. BUT… that does not excuse more then half the stupid stuff they do. Believe me, if I go too much into the other characters, we will be here all night. That’s another problem with the series; we have the main characters; the supporting characters; the characters that come up every other episode; the ones that stay for a short time, go away and come back again in the next season; and then there are the characters we think may show up again and don’t. (Akuma: “What about the ones that turn into animals?”) (Angel: “I’m getting to that.”) The ones who turn into animals (and I talk about the ones that actually are more like main characters) are somewhat interesting and if you really get into the animals they turn into and their personalities, they pretty much all fit.

Ryoga who’s the pig, and he is pretty much as strong as a boar and a lot of times he runs head first into a situation without thinking. He gets lost easy to the point that he would get lost going to the bathroom in his own damn house! There is Mousse who turns into a duck, and he pretty much talks like one when he starts explaining things all the time. And yet, he is so nearsighted that even when standing two inches away from something, if he doesn’t have his glasses, he thinks it’s someone else. And then there is Shampoo who turns into a cat, she’s feisty and acts like a cat in how cunning she can be.

Then we get to the point where I bet every one wants me to point out, the fact the series runs to damn long! There are seven seasons, three movies, and 12 OVAs. I will get to the OVAs later on though but the seasons… this show should not of gone on as long as it did and it still didn’t end! The manga didn’t end either but I feel that most of the reason the series went on so long is they were playing it out for the end of the manga. The jokes are reused so many times that it feels stale and I hate to say it but most of the episodes aren’t really even part of the manga.

There are some inconsistencies that happen within the show, as in the first episode, Genma turns into a man after being a panda but he has clothing on. One of the big things about people who turn into animals is that they lose their clothing. It’s a major part of the story but yet at times it seems that it only happens when it inconsistencies them. Other times they turn back with clothing on. It makes it a little confusing.

The artwork is rather good for how old the show is and it aged rather well. It does get even better in its later episodes as it grew with the time although the older ones have a nice feeling that they did different animation for flashbacks to previous episodes. The female body is very sexually created and yet many of the girls do seem to have a bit of muscular body structure to show they have been working out. There is a lot of nudity and though in the earlier episodes, they luckily don’t show the nipple (Well, at least for the moving images but then they are sitting there, sometimes they do. In the later ones though, they show practically a well-detailed body.

The English voice acting… well it gets better over time. Oh come on now, you can’t tell me that after how many seasons Ranma got (and the many amounts of movies) it wouldn’t at least get better. Many times the lip sink does get out of sink but with so many characters screaming and having exaggerated mouth movements, it happens. The music can be really fun at times and then switch to a mysterious few cords. They may be annoying but since they have been used over and over, there are ones I can pick out perfectly as what the soundtrack is supposed to represent.

6/10 story
5/10 animation
5/10 sound
6/10 characters
6/10 overall
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jacabang's avatar
Dec 27, 2020

Back in the day this is a one funny good anime, but now hhhmmm... after rewatching it, the water transform more focus than story telling is quite annoying, yes it is given that they transform due to water variation but not to the point that is nonsensically pushed or used it every 5 mins, quite annoying.

4/10 story
9/10 animation
9/10 sound
8/10 characters
7.5/10 overall
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