Marinate1016

Fresh off the coattails of the success of the amazing Urusei Yatsura remake comes Takahashi Rumiko’s latest “oldie but goodie”, Ranma 1/2. Even with just 12 episodes done, I can confidently say this is better in every way than the UY remake and is one of the best remakes of all time. High praise, I know, but it’s really how I feel. This show has perfectly captured the magic of 80s anime and brought it to the modern audience without compromising on what makes it great. For all the hype MAPPA get about their battle shonen adaptations, this is among the best work they’ve doneand we’re only getting started. If you’re on limited time this season, this is one of the few shows you need to check out. If there’s one thing Takahashi-sensei knows how to do, it’s write great character driven stories and cute romances. Ranma is where you really start to see that take shape in her work. My one big complaint with UY was Ataru not ever growing up and things staying stagnant for large portions of the series. It felt at times like we were running in a circle and getting nowhere. Opposite here. One cour in and I’ve already seen a ton of development from both of the main leads, episodes feel connected, romantic progression and frankly better mini-arcs. I don’t want to seem like I’m badmouthing UY, because I do love Lum and that story, but this is much more my speed. The relationship feels a lot more natural. Akane and Ranma bounce off each other so well and I love how they fight like an old married couple, but never stay mad at each other too long and will always be there for one another. The main gimmick that makes Ranma 1/2 unique and the meaning behind the title is Ranma’s ability to go from boy to female with the splash of water. This is such a funny gimmick to me. It never felt forced or out of place and made so many scenes in the show hilarious. But more importantly, it’s a nice allegory for gender dysmorphia and another example of Takahashi sensei being ahead of the curve on things. From creating popular romcom tropes we see everywhere today like tsunderes, to being a trailblazer for lgbt representation, this woman’s impact can never be overstated. The transformation also serves a really cool narrative purpose as it allows Ranma to connect with Akane more intimately as a woman than a man at times. Akane has a lot of insecurity about her femininity that serves as a driving force behind her character development in this first cour, I really liked how she was able to take strides towards accepting herself more thanks to Ranma. Them starting out as sworn enemies and gradually becoming sweet on each other and not knowing how to act around one another is some of the cutest stuff I’ve ever seen. To me their relationship felt like watching little kids who don’t know how to express themselves so they just tease the person they like. Thankfully, it’s never excessive or cringe to watch here! The other characters in this are also great! Supporting cast will also probably end up being better than Urusei Yatsura. You really just see a gradual evolution in Takahashi’s writing coming from her last work and that’s so cool to be able to retrace one of your fave creator’s path. Shampoo alone clears a lot of shows’ whole casts. Akane is going to have her work cut out for her in the second half. Ryoga is a riot and a nice rival for Ranma, as well as reminding me a lot of Koga from Takahashi’s most famous work, Inuyasha. Had no complaints with any of the cast really, even all the ones that came in for mini-arcs like the skating duo, or the ballet dancer, I need them all back in the future! MAPPA get a lot of hype for the work they’ve done on big battle shonen series, but what they’ve done in this remake can’t be overstated. It looks gorgeous, the animation is awesome, direction is great and most important the soundtrack bangs. They got the Inuyasha series composer and I cannot tell you how excited I feel every week to just hear the music in this show and be transported back to the early 2000s. I’m not sure if he worked on the original series, but it definitely fits here. Overall, Ranma 1/2 is an extremely promising start for what looks to be one of the best ever anime remake projects. Great production values, an amazing main couple, hilarious comedy that actually lands and some nice character development! If you’re a fan of any of Takahashi’s works, it’s a no brainer to check this out, or if you’re just looking for a new cute romance couple to get behind! Can’t sing enough praise about this show. Ranma 1/2 gets 9 out of 10.

MidniteAndBeyond

Ok, look. I know this is a beloved classic to a lot of people. I have no nostalgia for this series and previously only knew of it by name. If you've been enjoying it, I'm happy for you. I wouldn't dare ridicule someone for liking something I did not. So I hope you'll provide the same courtesy to me as I share my own thoughts. Ok? Ok... this is the worst anime I've ever seen in my entire life. So ya know how my least favorite part of InuYasha was all the terrible ship dynamics and how all the couples had absolutely zero chemistry withone another and we were just expected to interpret their constant fighting as them conveying their feelings for one another? Imagine if they made an ENTIRE show about just that one concept. Every time, and I do mean EVERY TIME a new character got introduced, I was like "Oh, thank god! Hopefully this new character will provide us with some new storyline to focus on and the horrible interactions between Ranma and Akane can be sidelined for a while!" But no. Instead they make every single new character obsessively predatory towards one of the two main characters and aggressively jealous of the other one. Every. Single. Time. The obliviousness of everyone not realizing Ranma or Ryoga's alter egos are also just unbelievably stupid. Not to mention that there's literally zero plot reason for them to hide their identities other than to repeat the same insufferable gags every stinkin episode. It's just nonstop love triangle after love triangle. And they're ALL awful. There's also a lot of very uncomfortable dialogue for LGBT viewers to listen to. I'm sure someone will defend it by saying it was a product of its time, but isn't the point of a remake to... REMAKE things for a modern audience? I really don't have much else to say. I hated every second of it. I have no clue how long this remake will last, but I hope I'll have at least ONE good thing to say about this series when all is said and done. 1/10