Once upon a time,a man named Genma Saotome took his son, Ranma, on a 10 year training jounrey to become the greatest martial artist in the world. At the end of their journey they travelled to China to train at the accursed Jusenkyo training grounds. The area was spotted with small pools of water with stalks of bamboo jutting from them. Genma and Ranma jumped atop the bamboo stalks disregarding their Guide's shouts and warnings.
Ranma knocks his father out of the air and sends him plummeting into one of the pools below. Ranma is shocked when a giant panda leaps out of the water and proceeds to attack him. The panda gains the upper hand and Ranma falls into one of the springs below. When he emerges he is shocked to find that he has turned into a girl.
The father and son travel to Japan to meet Genma's old friend, Soun Tendo. Even before their children were born, Genma and Soun promised to engage two of their children. Soun's daughters, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane are shocked to find one of them has been engaged to a girl, but once Ranma's secret is revealed, the two elder daughters elect Akane to be Ranma's fiancee. Ranma and Akane can not stand each other after their first meeting. Akane thinks Ranma is a pervert when he accidentally see her nude in the bathroom, and Ranma is not fond of Akane's aggressive outbursts. The two seem to be a match made in hell, and things only seem to get worse once school begins and faces new and old arrive to wreck havoc for Ranma and his new life with the Tendos.
Characters
- Ranma Saotome-Ranma Saotome, the only son of Genma and Nodoka Saotome has led a fairly difficult life. At a young age, he was taken by Genma on various training journeys. On one of the most recent ones, Genma decided to take Ranma to China to train in Jusenkyo, an area of cursed springs (which Genma did not know). Ranma was knocked in to the "Spring of Drowned Girl," and now transforms into a female version of himself when splashed with cold water.
- Akane Tendo-Akane Tendo, 16, is the youngest daughter of Soun Tendo. She is one of Ranma Saotome's numerous fiancees, and the only one that would rather not be. Akane is the only of Soun's daughters that practices martial arts, and is very capable in her own right.
- Genma Saotome-Genma Saotome is very much like his son, Ranma. He is somewhat arrogant when it comes to his martial arts abilities, which he rarely showcases due to cowardice or laziness. It was Genma that took Ranma to Jusenkyo. Because he was unable to read the pamphlet, which was in Chinese, he had no idea of the curses that existed there.
- Soun Tendo-Soun is the father of Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane. He has raised them alone since the death of his wife many years ago
- Kasumi Tendo-Kasumi Tendo, 19, is the eldest daughter of the Tendo family. She is kind and almost constantly cheery. After the premature death of her mother, Kasumi assumed her place and took care of the cooking, cleaning and everyday household chores.
- Nabiki Tendo-Nabiki Tendo, 17, is the middle daughter of the Tendo family. She is best described as conniving and money hungry. She is very intelligent when it comes to making money, and usually is able to do it with very little effort.
- Ryoga Hibiki-Ryoga is Ranma's biggest rival, and no matter how many times he has lost to Ranma, they have all been very close battles. Ryoga is almost Ranma's equal and is constantly improving his abilities to stay at the same level as Ranma and hopefully gain enough courage to tell Akane how he really feels about her.
Rating: Five Stars *****
Review: This is the series that started it all for me. My Favorite Seriesof all time. The animation is pretty good, not great but good. This romatic comedy's greatest strength is it randomness and great plot. There are several examples of this. The series relys heavily on martial arts, so they always have a martial artist show up. Kinda normal right? Wrong, the martial artists in question always practice stange styles like Anything goes Calligraphie or Anything goes eating.Since this series, I have come to expected to see Anything goes Anime review one of these days. There are loveable characters, unique scenarios, and fun gags.Despite the fact that The whole Guy turns into girl thing is kinda strange, the fact that there are 4+ girls (and several guys) fighting over Ranma makes it all the more funny. This is a unique take on the average boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl hits boy with mallet story, because of the gender issues involved. Ranma is a boy who physically turns into a girl due to a curse. Akane is a girl who acts completey like a boy due to being raised primarely by her father, so in a sense she is a girl who is a boy emotionally. Each character has some sort of issue that is used to further the plot in a funny non serious way. For example, Ryouga is known as the eternal lost boy due to the fact he gets lost extremely easily, they show this by spending one episode having him look for Ranma.He keeps ends in the same village, not once, not twice but six times, despite the fact he leaves the village and ends up in different area of japan (Teleportation perhaps). This series will keep you entertained no matter how many times you watch it. I can go on and on about this series, but to be honest It would be too long, so here is my recommendation. Either buy the graphic novels or Season One in box set right now and be amazed or buy both and be amazed. This series will not disappoint I guarentee.
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