Ranma ½: Difference between revisions
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Several ''Ranma ½'' [[video game]]s exist, generally in the form of [[fighting games]] and [[RPGs]]. |
Several ''Ranma ½'' [[video game]]s exist, generally in the form of [[fighting games]] and [[RPGs]]. |
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Of all of them, only two of the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] fighting games have been brought over to Western shores. The first fighting game, titled ''Ranma ½: Neighbourhood Combat'' (''Ranma ½: Chonai Gekitosen'' in Japanese), underwent [[ |
Of all of them, only two of the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] fighting games have been brought over to Western shores. The first fighting game, titled ''Ranma ½: Neighbourhood Combat'' (''Ranma ½: Chonai Gekitosen'' in Japanese), underwent [[Americanization]] to become ''[[Street Combat]]'', and replaced all characters and background music with American-themed characters. An example is the character Ranma, who was replaced by a blonde man in bright blue armor called Steven. |
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''[[Ranma ½: Hard Battle]]'' (''Ranma ½: Bakuretsu Rantouhen'' in Japanese), was also translated into [[English language|English]], this time |
''[[Ranma ½: Hard Battle]]'' (''Ranma ½: Bakuretsu Rantouhen'' in Japanese), was also translated into [[English language|English]], this time keeping the original graphics, music, and names of characters. The PAL version changed some characters' names such as using the name Adeline instead of Akane. |
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''[[Ranma |
''[[Ranma ½: Battle Rennaissance]]'' is the only known 3D Ranma ½ videogame for the [[Sony]] [[PlayStation]] by publisher RumicSoft. It features all of the cast, with changing weather conditions that actually change those who get soaked in cold or hot water to their other forms and affect strategy. |
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==Possible Influences on Other Media== |
==Possible Influences on Other Media== |
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Revision as of 16:32, 20 April 2007
Ranma ½ (らんま½, Ranma nibun-no-ichi, "Ranma one half") is a comedy anime and manga by Rumiko Takahashi about a boy named Ranma Saotome who was trained from early childhood to age 16 in martial arts, and who becomes a girl when splashed with cold water (and turns back into a boy with hot water) due to a magic curse.
The manga was serialized in Japan in Shogakukan's Shonen Sunday where it ran from 1987–1996. Takahashi has stated in interviews that she wanted to produce a story that would be popular with children. Ranma's main audience were boys from elementary to junior high school age. In western fandom, the anime is sometimes criticized for creating some internal inconsistencies compared to the manga[citation needed], which was less popular in the United States. Another major complaint is the animated series padding out the original story excessively[citation needed] and lacks a strong ending, though the series in North America tends to be much more analyzed than in the East.
Ranma was extremely popular among American anime fans in the 1990s, and popularized many of anime's most common visual gags. The infamous 'cursed springs' plot device has even come up in anime-themed custom role playing games as a quick transgender device. In fact, the anatomical logistics of the cursed condition were purposely glossed over by Ranma's creator to avoid making it too complicated or a detraction from its comedic effect.
In November 2006, the New York Comic Con announced that it will host the first-ever American Anime Awards. Anime fans had the chance to vote for their favorites online during the month of January 2007. Only the five nominees receiving the most votes were announced February 5th for each category. Among the 12 different categories, Ranma 1/2 was voted into the "Best Comedy Anime" category. As well as the Ranma 1/2 OVA series was voted into the "Best Short Series" category.[citation needed]
Storyline
On a training journey in the Bayankala Mountains (Bayan Har Shan) in the Qinghai Province of China, Ranma and his father, Genma Saotome, fell into the cursed springs at Jusenkyo (loosely translated, it means Springs of Sorrow). Each spring is associated with a story about someone or something that drowned in it hundreds or thousands of years ago, and anyone who falls in a spring is cursed to turn into whatever drowned in that spring whenever they come in contact with cold water, although they keep their original minds, personalities and skills in the new form; hot water reverts the cursed to their original form. Genma fell into the Spring of the Drowned Giant Panda, and Ranma fell in to the Spring of the Drowned Girl.
Upon returning to Japan, Genma informs Ranma that he has been engaged to a girl that he has never met when only a few blocks away from that girl's house. At the same time, Soun Tendo tells his three daughters that one of them is to marry Ranma (whom they have never even heard of) in order that the Tendo dojo might be carried on. When they first meet Ranma, they see him in his female form. This causes some confusion until Akane Tendo sees Ranma in his male form (after walking in on him in the bath) and finds out that he becomes a she upon application of cold water. The two older sisters push the engagement on the youngest sister, Akane, since she "hates boys" (due to the rude ways they treat her at school), "and Ranma is half girl." Thus begins the love/hate relationship between Ranma and Akane that lasts for the rest of the series.
This, combined with multiple suitors for both Ranma and Akane, many strange forms of martial arts, and the various curses of many of the cast members, makes this a bizarre series.
Manga
Origins
Takahashi drew inspiration for Ranma ½ from a variety of real-world objects. Some of the places frequently seen in Furinkan are modeled after actual locations in Nerima (both the home of Takahashi and the setting of Ranma ½). In addition, links have been shown between the manga and people, paintings, and even films.[1]
Japanese Publication
Ranma ½ began publication in September of 1987, appearing in Shonen Sunday 1987, Volume 36, following the end of Takahashi's previous major work Urusei Yatsura. From September 1987 until March of 1996, Ranma ½ was published on a near weekly basis with the occasional colorized page to spruce up the usually black and white manga stories. After nearly a decade of storylines, Ranma ½'s final chapter was published in Shonen Sunday 1996, Volume 12.[2]
Following publication in Shonen Sunday, the storylines are then grouped and published into small collections known as tankōbon. These are published several times a year, and color pages are converted to the normal black and white. Ranma ½ was eventually serialized into 38 of these volumes. In 2002, Shogakukan opted to republish these under a new format, the shinsōban. These were essentially the same as the tankoubans save for a different cover and the inclusion of the original colorized pages in Shonen Sunday.
In addition to the regular storylines, Ranma ½ has had several special releases. First, The Ranma ½ Memorial Book was published just as the manga ended in 1996. Acting as an endcap to the series, it collects various illustrations from the series, features an interview with Rumiko Takahashi,[3] and includes tidbits about Ranma: summaries of his battles, his daily schedule, trivia, and a few exclusive illustrations. Second, a Movie + OAV Visual Comic was released to illustrate the OAV episodes "The One to Carry On" (both parts) and the theatrical movie "Team Ranma vs. the Legendary Phoenix." It also included information on the seiyu, character designs, and a layout of the Tendo dojo. Finally, guidebooks were released for three of the Ranma ½ games; these included more than just strategies, also featuring interviews.[4]
United States Publication
VIZ Media, a company owned by Shogakukan and Shueisha, publishes the English version of the Ranma ½ manga. Viz started publishing the Ranma ½ in 1993 in a monthly comic book format. Because of the time needed to accumulate material, subsequent volumes became relatively slow to come. Each graphic novel covers roughly the same amount of material as a tankouban, but Viz incorporated minor differences in grouping so that the English language version spans 36 volumes rather than the Japanese number of 38. Volume 36, the final volume, was released in stores on November 14, 2006,[5] thus making it Viz's longest running manga, spanning over 13 years.
On March 18, 2004, Viz announced that they would be reprinting a number of their graphic novels. This was more than just a simple reprinting, with each title slightly reformatted. The content remained the same, but the novels moved to a smaller format with different covers. In the case of Ranma ½, the covers shifted from a variegated style to a more uniform cover. In addition, the price dropped to $9.95.[6]
However, the title would still retain its "flipped", left-to-right format, like the first edition. The popularity of Ranma ½ among early otaku was such that several scanlations and manga summaries in various forms have existed for years before the completion of the official release.
Episodes
Characters
Ranma ½ features a large and diverse cast of characters, the largest cast of any Rumiko Takahashi series created so far.[citation needed]. The table that follows presents the regular characters, ie, characters that had recurring spots or story-arcs. Some characters may have featured more prominently in either the anime or manga, but all are present in both. For further reference, please see the minor characters article. Japanese names are in the Western order (given name, then family name). Rather than a straight alphabetical listing, the characters are grouped into loose affiliations with more prominent characters listed before supporting characters within individual affiliations. Portrait drawings are from the manga.
| Character | Voice Actors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
The Saotome Family | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterRanma.jpg | Ranma Saotome (早乙女 乱馬, Saotome Ranma) | Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi (male) Megumi Hayashibara (female) Sarah Strange/Richard Cox (male) Brigitta Dau/Venus Terzo (female) | ||
| Training with Genma at Jusenkyo in China, Ranma was thrown into a spring called Nyanniichuan. He emerged as a young girl, according with the spring's curse. When splashed with cold water, he turns into an extremely attractive girl, but when splashed with hot water, he changes back to a boy again. As for our well-built 16-year-old hero/heroine, martial arts is his life. He also possesses a very large but easily wounded ego, believing his physical strength to be his only virtue. Whenever his pride is damaged, Ranma will go to great lengths to rectify the situation. He can come across as petty, insensitive and arrogant, as he is prone to cheat or give insults, often acts out of unthinking selfishness, and is a frequent braggart. However much of the above is caused by awkward immaturity. He's also very self-sacrificing when he needs to be. Ranma also has an incredibly illogical fear of cats, the result of his father's training him in a dangerous technique. | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterGenma.jpg | Genma Saotome (早乙女 玄馬, Saotome Genma) | Voiced by: Kenichi Ogata (Japanese); Robert O. Smith (English) | ||
| Genma is Ranma's insensitive, selfish and greedy father. He originally took Ranma to Jusenkyo because he'd heard about it in a Chinese brochure even though he can't read a word of Chinese. He also got cursed, turning into a panda. Unlike Ranma, he doesn't have much trouble with it, especially because he can get away from his problems in his panda form. While Genma frequently preaches duty and honor as a martial artist, he's truly a poor example to set those standards by. For all the wrongs he has committed, he usually tries to get Ranma to shield him from the consequences whenever any of those actions catch up with him. While he's usually either too lazy or scared to show it, he's an incredibly powerful martial artist, who invented the Umisen-ken and Yamasen-ken and possesses a towering battle-aura. | ||||
| File:Nodoka Saotome.gif | Nodoka Saotome (早乙女 のどか, Saotome Nodoka) | Voiced by: Masako Ikeda (Japanese); Lisa Bunting (English) | ||
| Nodoka is Ranma's loving mother. She hasn't seen him and Genma in over a decade though, when they left on their training trip. Stating that a doting mother would hinder Ranma's training, Genma made a contract with her to raise Ranma as "man amongst men", and if he failed, they would both commit Seppuku. However, because Ranma's curse makes him a woman half the time, they spent most of her appearances hiding from her as Ranko Tendo and her pet, Mr. Panda. Nodoka's heart was constantly broken by knowing that she wanted nothing more than to see her son again. Eventually in the manga, she does meet Ranma and Genma and discovers their curses. She was more accepting than either of them expected, however, mostly because after a while, she actually began to suspect that Ranma and Ranko were in fact, the same person. | ||||
The Tendo Family | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterAkane.jpg | Akane Tendo (天道 あかね, Tendō Akane) | Voiced by: Noriko Hidaka (Japanese); Myriam Syrois (English) | ||
| Akane is Soun's youngest daughter at age 16. She is a very insecure, awkward and sensitive girl with a hot temper and a big heart. After first encountering Ranma's male form as a naked stranger in the bathroom and becoming further upset by his insults, the engagement isn't off to a good start. With time, both Akane and the relationship mellow out, and she helps or risks her life for Ranma on several occasions. Akane always feels inferior to Kasumi in beauty and feminine pursuits, to Ranma and his other fiancées in cooking, martial arts ability or gymnastics, and to other students in swimming. She is trying hard to excel in everything, but is either clumsy or completely inept at all except for schoolwork and certain sports activities. When someone, frequently Ranma, belittles her lack of success, or calls her ugly, overmuscled, unfeminine and tomboyish (which she agrees with, but has complexes about) she often gets upset. She is shown as very friendly towards people who are polite and don't insult her and has consistently risked herself to help or save Ranma. | ||||
| File:Sounmanga.jpg | Soun Tendo (天道 早雲, Tendō Sōun) | Voiced by: Ryunosuke Ohbayashi (Japanese); David Kaye (English) | ||
| Soun is the head of the Tendo household and one of the two families to practice Anything Goes Martial Arts. While he owns his own dojo, students are never seen and he has a large house that is in need of constant repair due to the fights that take place. Oddly he has no visible source of income and spends most of his time playing shogi (Japanese chess) with his longtime friend Genma. Community representatives approach him when they have problems with unusual phenomena, so this may provide some of it. However he is shown to be very careful with the expenses and gets upset when Nabiki orders fast food or when Ranma throws the dinner on the floor. Soun is anxious for his daughter to say she loves Ranma — or the other way around. He'll start announcing wedding plans if Ranma and Akane seem romantically involved. Soun is able to manifest himself as a floating snake with a giant human head whenever he is upset. He generally assumes most incidents are Ranma's fault. He's shown as extremely protective of his children, especially Kasumi, and becomes sad if their affection is in doubt. Miss Hinako is attracted to him, but he is very loyal to his dead wife and visits her grave in memorial. | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterNabiki.jpg | Nabiki Tendo (天道 なびき, Tendō Nabiki) | Voiced by: Minami Takayama (Japanese); Angela Costain (English) | ||
| Nabiki is the middle daughter of Soun. She loves money above all else and is willing to sacrifice anyone to gain more of it, even ruin her family to win a bet. In most stories that she plays a vital role, she either attempts to extort money from someone, or sets up dangerous situations for her own amusement, or both in combination. In different translations, she has been outright stated to have 'no maidenly feelings' or be 'completely heartless', but she isn't above using her classy and highly attractive appearance as a lure for potential suitors/victims. She has a sarcastic, egoistic, manipulative, sadistic and completely amoral attitude that is a sharp contrast to her older sister. Nabiki has been stated to invest at least some of her earnings in personal stocks, but is extremely unwilling to spend her own money. She would rather steal Akane's wardrobe, get spoiled by an admirer or order expensive food on Soun's tab. She was briefly engaged to Ranma after Akane got frustrated and also played a role in bringing the two back together. | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterKasumi.jpg | Kasumi Tendo (天道 かすみ, Tendō Kasumi) | Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese); Willow Johnson (English) | ||
| Kasumi is the eldest of the Tendo girls, and the most traditional in the Japanese sense. She has graduated high school and spends most of her day looking after the Tendo household, acting as the family's substitute "matriarch" ever since her mother's untimely death by cooking, cleaning and helping her family. Sweet, innocent, caring, self-sacrificing and seemingly unaffected by the lunacy, Kasumi is probably the only character who never gets hurt at any point in the series, if you don't count her temporary possession by a mischievous demon. She's occasionally shown as wiser and more perceptive than she seems and can see through Nabiki's schemes. Beyond taking care of the household, she's been shown to go out to meet friends and has borrowed a pressure point book from her good friend Dr. Tofu, who is in love with her. | ||||
The Chinese | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterShampoo.jpg | Shampoo (珊璞, Pinyin: Shān Pú) | Voiced by: Rei Sakuma (Japanese); Cathy Weseluck (English) | ||
| Shampoo came to Japan to kill the female Ranma after he defeated her in an annual martial contest, so he and Genma could eat the prize, a fully stocked banquet table. She gave Ranma the "Kiss of Death", a promise to track her down and eventually kill her - until she realized Ranma was a boy. Now due to Amazon law, she must marry him. She returns home to be re-trained at Jusenkyo by her great-grandmother Cologne, but she became cursed and turns into a cat — the one thing Ranma fears most. Having returned to Nerima, Shampoo waits tables at the Cat Cafe (Neko Hanten), her great-grandmother's restaurant, and delivers ramen by bicycle, occasionally running down people—particularly Ranma—on the streets and rooftops. She has stated variations on 'obstacle is for killing' as a personal motto, which even included Akane when the latter was captured and tied up by Pantyhose Taro. | ||||
| File:Colognemanga.jpg | Cologne (可崘, Koron, Pinyin: Kě Lún) | Voiced by: Miyoko Aso (Japanese); Elan Ross Gibson (English) | ||
| Cologne is Shampoo’s great-grandmother and an elder (the leader?) of the Chinese Amazon tribe. She came to Nerima to see what this “future son-in-law” was made of, but she ended up staying and opening a café so that she could aid Shampoo in winning Ranma's heart. Though an extremely old woman, she remains an immensely dangerous martial artist who has taught Ranma the Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken and Hiryū Shōten Ha. Unlike the rest of the cast, Cologne seems to prefer to sit in the background and watch the madness unfold. If she has a motive — whether it be to help Shampoo in her efforts or to aid Ranma in his battles — only then will she step into the fray. She also runs a Chinese restaurant called the Cat Cafe, where Shampoo and Mousse both work. | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterMousse.jpg | Mousse (沐絲, Pinyin: Mùsī) | Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki (Japanese); Brad Swaile (English) | ||
| Mousse is a longtime friend of Shampoo, though she might not view it that way. He has been in love with her for most of his life, but she finds him annoying at best. He can't see very well without his glasses, often mistaking someone for something else! He comes to Nerima in search of this "new fiancé" that Shampoo has, and he stays to attempt to woo his sweetheart. Shampoo rebuked his advances when they were children and this still holds true by Amazon law, even if he manages to defeat Ranma in combat, but he remains persistent. Now a waiter at the Cat Café, he turns into a duck thanks to his own Jusenkyo curse. When in human form, his clothes hold weapons of drastic proportions, including needles, chains, swords, and just about anything else imaginable. In duck form, Mousse can hide knives in his feathers. | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterJusenkyoGuide.jpg | Jusenkyo Guide | Voiced by: Kouichi Yamadera (Japanese), Ian Corlett (English) | ||
| The Jusenkyo Guide turns up at odd points during the series. Though he speaks in somewhat broken Japanese (like Shampoo's accent), he is very knowledgeable about subjects concerning all things Chinese, especially the Jusenkyo Springs. Although he seems to genuinely care about the well-being of the people he guides, most of them end up falling into a spring and getting to hear him recite a very tragic story. For this reason, he keeps a list that contains the names of everyone who has been cursed. He also has a daughter named Plum and remains uncursed despite the long period of time he has been there and the number of people he has watched get cursed. | ||||
The Kuno Family | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterKuno.jpg | Tatewaki Kuno (九能 帯刀, Kunō Tatewaki) | Voiced by: Hirotaka Suzuoki (Japanese); Ted Cole (English) | ||
| Tatewaki Kuno is an upperclassman at Furinkan High and was the big man on campus – at least until Ranma came along. Hailing from a very wealthy family, he is also captain of the kendo club and wields both his fortune and sword with equal ease. Given to spouting off Shakespearesque poetry (he quotes Confucius in the Japanese original), he is madly in love with Akane. He also falls for Ranma’s female half and never realizes that she is really his mortal enemy in girl form. He never finds out her identity or her name due to his oblivious nature and appears to be too shallow to care; he only refers to her as the "pigtailed girl" for the entire series. | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterKodachi.jpg | Kodachi Kuno (九能 小太刀, Kunō Kodachi) | Voiced by: Saeko Shimazu (Japanese); Teryl Rothery (English) (Sylvia Zaradic (Season 6-7)) | ||
| Kodachi Kuno is the sister of Tatewaki and attends an all-girls school. A champion of Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics, she is defeated by Ranma (female) and thus earns her hatred. She believes that the female Ranma is in love with male Ranma, with whom Kodachi fell in love after he saved her from a fall, and thus a rival. Over the course of the series, she shows up with various plots to make him love her, usually through some sort of deviousness: paralysis gas in roses, sleeping pills in cookies, that sort of thing. | ||||
| File:Principal Kuno.jpg | Principal Kuno (九能 校長, Kunō-kōchō) | Voiced by: Tatsuyuki Jinnai (Japanese); Scott McNeil (English) | ||
| Principal Kuno is the long-absent principal of Furinkan High. Apparently off in Hawaii for quite some time, he returns rather suddenly and proceeds to make as much trouble as possible for the students. He is forever trying to discipline Ranma, especially in regards to his braided ponytail. Given to affecting Hawaiian speech and culture, he is also the long-lost father of the Kunos. His children are not particularly happy to see him, though. | ||||
Notable Nerima Residents | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterUkyo.jpg | Ukyo Kuonji (久遠寺 右京, Kuonji Ukyō) | Voiced by: Hiromi Tsuru (Japanese); Kelly Sheridan (English) | ||
| Ten years ago, on a training trip in the country, Genma stole Ukyo's father's okonomiyaki yatai (food cart), leaving her behind and breaking the arrangement he and her father made. However, before this Ranma and Ukyo were friends, though Ranma never knew she was a girl. Shamed and ridiculed by her peers, Ukyo decided she wouldn't like boys, dressed and lived as one, and devoted herself to okonomiyaki-style martial arts. After a heated battle, Ranma discovers her true sex. Meanwhile, she discovers that he does not get along with his "uncute" fiancée, Akane. They reconcile, and she falls in love with him again. Ranma still treats her as only an old friend, and her plots to win him over are usually less violent than those of his other suitors. Although she lives to cook okonomiyaki and runs a restaurant, "Ucchan's," to that end, Ukyo would give it all up to marry Ranma. | ||||
| File:Hikaru Gosunkugi.jpg | Hikaru Gosunkugi (五寸釘 光, Gosunkugi Hikaru) | Voiced by: Issei Futamata (Japanese); Michael Benyaer (English) | ||
| "Voodoo Spike" Gosunkugi is the least popular student in Furinkan and a student in Ranma's class. He's a painfully shy boy with few friends. Like many of the Furinkan students, he loves Akane and attempts to win her by doing away with Ranma through inefficient Voodoo magic, or outrageous plots. He also enjoys taking photographs on the sly and teams up with several other characters, notably Kuno, in various plots. Most of his parts were given to Sasuke, the ninja servant of the Kunos, in the anime. | ||||
| File:Tofumanga.jpg | Dr. Tofu Ono (小乃東風, Ono Tōfū) | Voiced by: Yuji Mitsuya (Japanese); Ian Corlett (English) | ||
| Dr. Tofu is the resident chiropractor and well-liked by the residents of Furinkan. He is also a martial artist, though never seen practicing, and is quite competent at tending Ranma and Akane in their various scrapes. He is also madly in love with Kasumi and becomes quite dangerous (albeit unintentionally so) when she is around. In these instances, he becomes an incompetent fool, sometimes harming his patients. Sadly, she doesn't feel the same way. He always seems to know what to do—until Kasumi arrives. The anime gives him a larger role. | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterHinako.jpg | Hinako Ninomiya (二ノ宮 ひな子, Ninomiya Hinako) | Voiced by: Yumi Touma (Japanese); Janyse Jaud (English) | ||
| Hinako is an English teacher hired by Principal Kuno for the purpose of reforming Furinkan High's many delinquents. Due to Happosai’s intervention when she was a small child, she has an unusual metabolism. By sucking out her enemy's battle aura through a circular opening, usually that of a five-yen coin, she transforms from an innocent child into a rather provocative woman. As a child, she is spastic and acts absurdly. In her adult form, she tends to be a bit cold and forward. Either way, however, she tries to take her job seriously, and has a crush on Soun. She's been shown to have bad housekeeping skills and a penchant for junk food. | ||||
Martial Artists | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterRyoga.jpg | Ryoga Hibiki (響 良牙, Hibiki Ryōga) | Voiced by: Koichi Yamadera (Japanese); Michael Donovan (English) | ||
| Ryoga is a childhood rival of Ranma's and is famous for losing his way thanks to a horrible sense of direction. After spending months looking for Ranma, he finally finds him in China but gets pushed into a Jusenkyo spring by Ranma and now changes into a small piglet. Given more fuel for his hatred, he seeks him out and discovers Akane who thinks that little “P-chan” is quite cute. Of course, she doesn’t know that it’s really Ryoga, but that doesn’t stop him from falling in love with her. When not upset he's usually polite, shy and softspoken, especially around women. His anger lessens with time, first into a fierce rivalry, then shifting back and forth between tense competition, uneasy allies or non-serious conflicts and, after a brief lapse, finally on friendly enough terms to repeatedly risk his life to help Ranma, but the competition between the two will likely persist forever. Ryoga spends his time wandering through the wilderness, training and amassing new techniques to exceed Ranma — if he can ever find his friend and nemesis. | ||||
| File:RanmaCharacterHapposai.jpg | Happosai (八宝斎, Happōsai) | Voiced by: Ichirō Nagai (Japanese); Paul Dobson (English) | ||
| The very definition of a dirty old man, Happosai is the grandmaster and founder of the Anything Goes Martial Arts school. Genma and Soun were his original disciples, but they got fed up having to steal lingerie for the old lech and decided to try and finish him off. They were quite surprised when he showed up many years later to make them miserable and find a successor in the Art. Unfortunately for Ranma, he was the incorrigible old freak's choice. He is an immensely skilled and powerful martial artist, with but one weakness: bras and panties. Happosai is so obscenely addicted to his perversion that he suffers from withdrawal if he goes without them for an extended period. It seems as though he always shows up at the most inconvenient moments. Happosai can go to very great lengths to ruin the life of anyone who displeases him, but is usually choosing silly methods. He nonetheless shows a soft spot for children. | ||||
| File:Pantyhosemanga.jpg | Pantyhose Taro (パンスト太郎, Pansuto-Tarō) | Voiced by: Shinnosuke Furumoto (Japanese); Matt Hill (English) | ||
| Pantyhose Taro has possibly the most unique curse in the series, having been baptised in the Spring of the Drowned Yeti Holding an Eel and Crane while Riding an Ox after his birth. Unfortunately, it was Happosai who performed the honor after helping his mother give birth while he was in one of his rare good moods. In Taro's society, the baptiser also receives the honor of naming the child, and he chose "Pantyhose," believing everybody would like it. Taro enjoys the power his cursed form possesses, even going back to Jusenkyo to get an octopus curse to add tentacles to his back. A cold, sadistic and thoroughly ruthless individual, he is driven entirely by his desire to capture Happosai and be renamed. | ||||
Video games
Several Ranma ½ video games exist, generally in the form of fighting games and RPGs.
Of all of them, only two of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System fighting games have been brought over to Western shores. The first fighting game, titled Ranma ½: Neighbourhood Combat (Ranma ½: Chonai Gekitosen in Japanese), underwent Americanization to become Street Combat, and replaced all characters and background music with American-themed characters. An example is the character Ranma, who was replaced by a blonde man in bright blue armor called Steven.
Ranma ½: Hard Battle (Ranma ½: Bakuretsu Rantouhen in Japanese), was also translated into English, this time keeping the original graphics, music, and names of characters. The PAL version changed some characters' names such as using the name Adeline instead of Akane.
Ranma ½: Battle Rennaissance is the only known 3D Ranma ½ videogame for the Sony PlayStation by publisher RumicSoft. It features all of the cast, with changing weather conditions that actually change those who get soaked in cold or hot water to their other forms and affect strategy.
Possible Influences on Other Media
The 2006 romantic comedy Zerophilia features a plot that is quite similar to that of Ranma 1/2. While there is no evidence to support that Zerophilia was inspired by Takahashi's work, the two do share very similar themes (those of teenage sexuality and friendship). Zerophilia seems to take more from the Futaba Kun series than Ranma.
See also
Notes
- ^ "Miscellaneous - Inspirations". Ranma ½ Perfect Edition. retrieved April 25, 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^
"Ranma ½ (manga)". Anime News Network. retrieved April 25, 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Interview with Rumiko Takahashi from the Memorial Book". Ranma ½ FAQ. retrieved April 25, 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Manga Summaries". Ranma ½ Perfect Edition. retrieved April 25, 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^
"Product page for volume 36". Viz Media. retrieved October 20, 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "2004 Press Releases". Viz Media. retrieved April 25, 2006.
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External links
- Shonen Sunday Museum Template:Jp icon
- Viz Media North American publisher of both anime and manga.
- Ranma ½ Perfect Edition A comprehensive Ranma ½ resource.