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I first heard of Ranma ½ maybe a full year ago on a “Top Ten Funniest Anime” list. It sat comfortably in the number two spot, right before Full Metal Panic: Fammofu. After watching the latter, I was still curious about the former, so I gave Ranma a shot as well. The first time I saw the episode number on my favorite anime website, I honestly felt intimidated. This anime is REALLY LONG. If you aren't prepared, back out while it's still possible. Because of a vow- To always finish every anime I start, no matter how long, stupid, or bad it is- I had ... to watch every moment of this anime, all one-hundred-sixty-one episodes. It took me no less than six months, possibly more. And I'm genuinely sad now that it's all over, for two main reasons:

1.It definitely felt incomplete. More on that later.

2.I grew a somewhat powerful bond with the characters over the seasons and actually feel devastated having to let them go like this.


Story: 6

How sad. A pitiful little six. For those of you who don't realize, a strong plotline is the most important component of an anime. However, Ranma ½ just doesn't pull it off. Let's begin with my earlier point: it felt incomplete. The more sensitive people may consider the next paragraph a breeding ground of spoilers. It is for that reason that I indent here in order to be fair to everyone. However, in my personal opinion, these shouldn't count as spoilers, but warnings. I won't tell you what does happen, only what doesn't.




Ranma never confesses to Akane. Their relationship never gets anywhere. Ranma never becomes all-man. If there is any conflict that isn't resolved in the same episode it originated in, it will invariably persist throughout the series. Unfortunately, I can only think of one exception (codewords “Martial Arts Tea”). The last episode doesn't actually feel conclusive until its final moments, and not because anything happened there either; just because it was a familiar looking scene. The final two episodes have their own special conflict a step above the regular events of the series. However, ironically, not even that lonely circumstance is given a satisfying ending. Just another “we're back where we started” ending. Absolutely every single possible step forward is chained in place because of the character's inability to move out of square one. I don't know why they refuse to progress the plot even in the series' dying moments. Although an actual storyline may prevent the writers (namely Takahashi) from using ideas they surmised after they made it canonically impossible (i.e. if Ranma became all-man halfway through, then they couldn't use the female Ranma ever again), they should at least grant us a true ending where at least SOMETHING happens.

This series is episodic, and what I previously mentioned was only one of the flaws such a setup brings. The tones vary from episode to episode, sometimes with two neighboring stories feeling like two different anime for the a lack of a consistent voice. Special techniques Ranma learns during the course of one episode are quickly forgotten after the credits roll. He and Ryoga only readily use one attack each that we saw them train to obtain. The rest you never see again, even when they would clearly be useful. There are characters you only see once. And while the romantic scenes between Ranma and Akane become more common the longer you watch the series, they never last a very long time or tell you anything that you wouldn't already know.

However, each of these individual episodes are creative and well written. Ranma 1/2's colorful cast of friends, family, and enemies make this series an interesting watch to those who are already used to a decidedly more “American” structure. Even if they don't add to an overall plot, these are still very fun tidbits about the Tendo family and their daily affairs, about Ranma and his futile shear for a cure, or about some strange relic that's been unearthed. Excepting the episodes which yank the cast back onto linearity at the last second in order to prevent plot progression, Ranma's individual storylines and arcs are filled with action, comedy, and occasionally even heartwarming moments. Something which I can say about Ranma with a clear conscience is that it is never, ever dull. However, it's famous sense of humor may have been only slightly overrated. You'll still enjoy it if it's your style.


Art: 7

I don't care about animation quality. I like eye candy as much as the next guy, but the only time I'll ever be angry about animation is if it somehow detracts from from the overall experience. And I enjoyed Evangelion's ending, so it looks like I have pretty low standards regarding this subject. Or a low attention span. Anyway, Ranma ½ has a noticeably slow frame rate along with a purposeful lack of detail. I love the art style anyway, as its movements and colors, along with Rumiko Takahashi's flawless character designs, fit the series perfectly. I liked the lighting in particular. The backgrounds are relatively simple, too, though again, it really shouldn't matter if you like the anime.


Sound: 8

Ranma ½ has fantastic music. The battle themes and everyday songs were well composed and well used. None of the songs have stuck with me, but I was instilled with excitement or a sense of calm whenever I heard them play. There wasn't a single opening that I didn't try to sing along to, even if most of the endings lack that charm. It's hard to describe music, though. The Japanese voice acting was great, too. Every voice fits each character with perfection.


Character: 9

No doubt the series strong point. Its varied cast is full of faces, voices, and personalities that you're certain to remember long after the series ends. None of them are simple, lazy archetypes, but full-fledged well thought out people that really help flesh out Ranma's crazy universe, even if you sometimes don't see certain favorites for ten or so episodes. However, they don't often develop.


Enjoyment: 8

As I mentioned earlier, while Ranma ½'s storyline isn't as strong as I'd like, everything else pretty much makes up for it. This is an anime that I find impossible to hate. There's too much spirit in it for me to ever even comprehend slandering its good name. Simply put, it isn't hard to see why this is a classic, though you'll have to see the anime for yourself to truly realize why, even with my detailed description.


Overall: 7

While Ranma's story may never reach condescending levels of greatness, the depth of the characters, the hilarity and fun, and its truckloads of charm pull through to give it a passing grade. This series isn't for everyone, but if you want to immerse one of your good-humored friends in the world of anime, this would be an excellent first step.




Rezindez, the Immortal Crow

Alright, this thing is only three minutes long, so naturally this review is going to turn up short also.

Story: Skipped

This anime was created to promote the OVA releases of Urusei Yatsura, Inuyasha, and Ranma 1/2 respectively. Of course, it's all one-hundred-and-ten-percent fanservice, but if that's not why you're watching it, then what are you expecting? The entire reason "Rumic World" exists is so that you can experience the novelty of Ranma misunderstanding Inuyasha's species, seeing Inuyasha attack Lum, believing her to be some sort of demon, and, of course, to see Ataru flirt with every female character that showed up for the crossover, including ... girl Ranma.

Art: 9

The animation is great, of course. They'd have to be pretty lazy to neglect filling something this short with eye-popping moments of art, each of it staying true to Takahashi Rumiko 's art style (for example, when Ranma punches Amaru in the beginning, you can plainly see Amaru's fingers doing the Spider Man pose as he flies away.)

Sound: 7

I don't remember much of the music, but the voice acting was pulled off at the expected level. Everyone sounds great. Nothing else to say here. Moving on.

Character: 8

The characters act exactly as you would expect them to, and in humorous ways, almost like the crossover is natural to them. They all look as great as they did in their series. Presumably. I admit, though, at only having watched Ranma 1/2 so far, so I'm not entirely certain.

Enjoyment: 9

Finally, this really is enjoyable to the point where I was fairly disappointed when it ended. Of course, there isn't enough time for the gimmick to wear off, so the "OMFG INUYASHA VS. ATARU" stays strong throughout.

Overall: 8

If you like even one component of Takahashi's work, then watch this. If you've never heard of Takahashi Rumiko before (the wealthiest female comic artist in the world) then this would serve as a fantastic introduction. If you hate her beyond all measure, then why not watch it anyway? It's less than three minutes long, so it won't exactly kill you. I give this my general recommendation.

Once, my friend came over and brought the first disc of this anime in a bag he always had with him. The cover entailed two topless women with tails sexually attacking what you could assume was the main character. The cover art was screaming "don't watch me." Regardless, I was curious, so I began watching it anyway just to see what it was about, why the cover was so risque, and to see exactly how terrible it was. This is probably the third worst anime I've ever seen, the second being the Chrono Trigger OVA and the first being Mars of Destruction. Anybody who gives ... this a higher score than a seven has serious mental issues. My friend gave it an eight. I'm going to start with the most painful aspect of this trash: The storyline.

Story:4

I don't even think they were trying. They probably assumed it was enough to simply, yet forcefully, create another "sexy" anime, walk away, and never speak of it again.

A storyline is pretty much the most important thing in an anime, or any other form of entertainment media with special exceptions given to music and videogames. Most of this piece of crap just shows Chizuru's unwanted sexual advances toward Kouta.

The beginning is especially horrible. Kouta's walking on some bridge and glances toward Chizuru. Then the theme song plays. After you watch that, Chizuru is hopelessly in love with Kouta. No explanation at all. The entire first episode is a pretty awkward introduction besides.

Later, you're introduced to something similar to an antagonist. They exist for what, two episodes? After they get in and cause some mischief, they mysteriously leave right after Kouta rips off Rosario and Vampire.

And Nozomu's very existence is pointless. She's supposed to be a rival to Chizuru, but she... well, she doesn't do much. Her affection towards Kouta doesn't really affect the plot. They could pretty much have made this entire anime without her aside from the moments introducing her and one episode later in the series having to do with a love potion.

The ending isn't especially horrible, but it isn't great either.

In the end, the story is just about Chiziru and some trivial problems she has in winning Kouta's love. That's about it.

Art: 8

Animation doesn't really matter to me. If it moves, I can accept it. That said, Kanokon's animation is pretty impressive, with lots of movement and few, if any, screw ups. Art's nice, too. All I could say about that.

Sound: 6

Nothing good, nothing bad, and I sort of slightly like the theme song. I've entirely forgotten the ending theme. Gets a six.

Character: 6

For me, this is a pretty controversial element. While some characters are terrible, others are enigmatic and interesting. The best character by far is Tayura, who I found so enjoyable that I actually added him to my "Favorite Characters" list. Tayura has a slightly stronger role in the story than other support characters, which is fortunate. The other support characters are also pretty nice, even if they're only archtypes. As I said before, Nozomu, a rip-off of Nagato and Rei, has no real reason to be in this series. And if you watched Evangelion and hated Shinji (I believe Shinji is actually fantastic) you will hate Kouta, who whines ten times as much. Or maybe it just seems that way because his voice is so high. He isn't a character in truth, but a plot device. He has no redeeming qualities, which will either make you think "Ha! if this guy can have a personal harem, then I can at least get laid!" or "God, even that guy can get a girlfriend and I can't? Why am I so hopeless?" In other words, it will either give you confidence or depress you terribly. I am a part of the latter group who wants Kouta to get eaten by a bear. He's the worst character I have ever seen. Chizuru is okay, too, but she's also just an archtype.

Enjoyment: 7

How could such a terrible anime have an enjoyment level of seven? Because it is, in fact, pretty fun to watch. Only a few of the jokes are particularly funny and I'm going to skip over the excessive fanservice entirely. However, the ways the characters react to situation after situation is undeniably enjoyable. Although the characters aren't good in the truest sense (except for Tayura, who always manages to be awesome in some way or other) each of them is used effectively and the entire series does have a distinctive charm. I think I would actually recommend Kanokon to somebody if I was a lesser man. The writers, admittedly, have created a pretty entertaining, if not truly funny, script.

Overall: 5

This isn't an anime you should scour the internet for. In fact, it'd probably be better for you short term, and the anime industry long term, if you just walked away. I'd compare this anime to drugs, I suppose, and that's neither a compliment nor insult, but a fact. If you watch it, you might like it, even though I'm warning you that it really is pretty bad. If this is your thing, though, go ahead.

Rezindez,
The Immortal Crow