Let me begin by saying that this is actually a series based on the manga of the
same name. That is to say, of course, that I haven't seen the entire thing. I've
seen the first four episodes of the TV series, and the OAV "Desperately Seeking
Shampoo." Outside of that, however, I haven't seen any of it.

That's not going to stop me from forming an opinion on it, of course.

Let me begin by saying that what I have seen of Ranma 1/2 is absolutely hilarious.
It's stranger than strange, as well. Here's the basic premise: Ranma Saotome
and his father, Genma, spent some time training in China. While there, they
visited an ancient Chinese spring. Ranma booted his father into one spring where
1000 years earlier a panda tragically drowned. Genma, emerging as a panda, then
smacked his son into the spring where, 1000 years earlier, a young girl had tragically
drowned. Suffice it to say, Ranma emerged from the spring as a girl.

And then one finds the "romantic" aspect to the story. You see, Ranma has many
different love interests. To begin there's the reluctant Akane Tendo, youngest
daughter of Genma's best friend, who has been arranged to marry Ranma. Look past
Akane, and you have Ukiyo, a young pizza-flipping girl who also loves Ranma, for
reasons I really don't know. Then we have Shampoo, a Chinese amazon who also loves
Ranma, and whose grandmother, Colonge, is obssessed with getting the two married.
There is also Kodachi, sister to Upperclassman Kuno, who also has a thing for our
unlucky boy/girl. Lastly, and most strange of all, we find Kuno himself, who is in
love with both Akane and the female incarnation of Ranma (he is also the only one
who has yet to figure out that the "pig-tailed girl" is Ranma).

And then we have Ranma's enemies. We begin with Mousse, a bespectacled young man
who loves Shampoo but because of Shampoo's feelings for Ranma he hates Ranma. Then
there's Ryoga, who is "directionally challenged" (to use a personal term of mine
and Dave's), loves Akane, and hates Ranma with a passion. We leave Ryoga only to
find the upperclassman himself, Kuno, who loves Akane but hates Ranma (and yet loves
the female version of Ranma, widely known as Ranma-chan). And then there is Akane
herself, who seemes to loathe Ranma (though she shows, through certain signs, that
she secretly cares for the idiot, too).

Now, here's where Ranma's life gets extra-complicated. If you splash him (or any
number of the misfortuned cast) with cold water, he turns into a girl (Genma, into
a panda; Shampoo into a cat; Mousse into a duck; and Ryoga into some sort of pig-type
animal I haven't been able to figure out yet). Splash them with warm water and they
turn into their regular selves.

This series is hilarious. Dubbed or subbed, it's amazing. The animation is above
par of most of the stuff you'll see out there, though it still breaks no new grounds.
There's nothing here that you haven't seen before, animation-wise.

The final verdict? Rent whatever you can of this series. If you like what you see
(and you certainly should) then buy it. It's well worth it. Now, if only I had the
money to collect the entire series....

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