Rumiko Takahashi’s legendary martial arts comedy is again, and we check out what’s modified and what hasn’t.
The autumn anime season just lately began in Japan, and as all the time there are a few sequence that look intriguing, however which I do know I’m not going to have the ability to get round to till after they’ve aired their final episode. However Ranma 1/2? That’s a sequence I’ll gladly keep up till 12:55 a.m. to look at ASAP, which is what I’ve achieved for the previous two weeks.
▼ Preview video for the brand new Ranma 1/2 sequence, which airs on Nippon Tv in Japan and streams internationally on Netflix
Let’s begin with a bit little bit of background. Ranma 1/2 began as a manga by legendary creator Rumiko Takahashi. The sequence is centered on teenage martial artist Ranma Saotome, who, on account of a curse, turns into a woman when doused with chilly water, with a counter-splashing of sizzling water the one approach to reverse the consequences. Whereas trying in useless to stay the lifetime of an unusual highschool pupil, Ranma quickly acquires a rising roster of fiancés and martial arts rivals, many with water-based curses of their very own, creating fixed circumstances the place violence, romance, or laughter (and sometimes all three) may escape at any second.
Ranma was the third huge hit for Takahashi, following wacky sci-fi comedy Urusei Yatsura and coming-of-age-in-the-Bubble Economic system romance Maison Ikkoku. It was Takahashi’s first sequence to grow to be a world success, although, incomes passionate fanbases elsewhere in Asia and within the U.S. thanks largely to its anime adaptation, which initially aired on Japanese TV from 1989 to 1992 and likewise had quite a lot of movies and OVA/direct-to-video episodes by means of 1996, adopted by a one-off episode in 2008.
However in June, simply because the anime TV remake of Urusei Yatsura wrapped up, the announcement got here that Ranma 1/2 was getting a brand new anime TV sequence too, which premiered on October 6. So after two episodes, how does the brand new Ranma 1/2 examine to the unique TV sequence? Let’s check out it from quite a lot of angles.
● Visuals
The brand new Ranma anime doesn’t share any of the visible employees of the unique TV sequence, and whereas the characters are all immediately recognizable, additionally they look a good bit completely different from how they used to. In easy phrases, the brand new designs are plumper. There’s some extra smooth roundness to hips, legs, shoulders, and cheeks, and facial expressions too.
The distinction is perhaps a bit jarring for returning Ranma followers, particularly ones whose most distinct reminiscences are of the later manga chapters/authentic anime installments. Over the course of the manga’s nine-year run, Takahashi’s personal paintings advanced to grow to be a bit extra angular than it was at first, and over the seven years of the anime adaptation character designer Atsuko Nakajima’s tackle the characters grew to become significantly sharper nonetheless, and likewise featured massive, darkish pupils for the characters.
▼ The unique Ranma‘s later artwork model might be seen on this preview video for his or her OVAs and flicks.
In comparison with Nakajima’s late-installment work, new Ranma 1/2 character designer Hiromi Taniguchi’s model is far, a lot nearer to the Takahashi’s paintings from the corresponding early chapters that the brand new TV sequence has coated up to now, however with a touch of extra modern-trend softness that makes the characters look much less just like the manga originals than they did within the early episodes of the outdated Ranma TV sequence.
The larger change, although, is within the shade design. Whereas the unique Ranma TV sequence had a reasonably high-contrast aesthetic, MAPPA, the studio dealing with the brand new sequence, has opted for a softer palate, generally with borderline-pastels. Probably the most noticeable change is in feminine Ranma’s hair, which was a vivid crimson earlier than, however is now pink, Equally, Akane (Ranma’s arranged-marriage fiancé) was beforehand depicted having black or darkish blue hair, but it surely’s a number of shades of blue lighter now. At occasions, the brand new shade scheme can look a bit washed out, notably for those who’re accustomed to the brighter vibrant colours and darker darkish ones from earlier than.
One other main change is the brand new Ranma’s propensity for placing manga-style written sound results on display. It’s an fascinating selection, however relying on whether or not or not you’ll be able to learn the Japanese textual content, is perhaps extra distracting that entertaining.
Whether or not these adjustments are for the higher or worse goes to be a matter of non-public style, as is the general “cleaner” look of the trendy digital animation over the unique’s hand-drawn-and-painted cels. You undoubtedly can’t name the brand new Ranma a bad-looking present, and it’s clear instantly that it’s working with a bigger price range than the unique had. Common as it might go on to be, the unique Ranma anime has various occasions the place time/price constraints clearly saved the animators from with the ability to convey a way of pace and weight to the combat scenes. With prestige-series funding, the brand new Ranma 1/2’s punches, kicks, and sign-bashings really feel crunchier, and never solely does that make the motion sequences extra thrilling, it additionally provides additional impression to the slapstick comedy that’s as a lot part of the sequence’ appeal, if not much more, than the intense fistfights.
● Sound
The unique Ranma sequence featured one of the crucial star-studded voice casts ever assembled, one so iconic that the producers of the brand new sequence introduced as lots of them again as they may. Just about your complete core forged is returning, with 59-year-old Kappei Yamaguchi and 62-year outdated Noriko Hidaka reprising their roles as male Ranma and Akane, a pair of first-year highschool college students. Shockingly, greater than 30 years after their authentic performances, neither one in every of them feels like they’ve aged a day, and Kikuko Inoue and Minami Takayama, as soon as once more taking part in Akane’s older sisters Kasumi and Nabuki, additionally choose up vocally proper the place they’d left off. It’s truly Megumi Hayashibara’s efficiency as feminine Ranma that appears essentially the most modified, sounding barely deeper in pitch than within the authentic anime, however nonetheless with the entire brash confidence that largely defines the character’s persona.
In distinction to the returning voice forged, the brand new Ranma will get new opening and ending themes. The enjoyable opener, “Iinazukkyun” (a mashup of inazuke/“fiancé” and kyun, an excited feeling in your coronary heart) from J-pop mega-star Ado retains with the Chinese language audio motifs of the unique anime’s “Jaja Uma ni Sasenaide,” although it’s type of unhappy to not have the extremely catchy lyrics of “yappappaa, yappappaa” anymore.
However, the brand new ending theme, “Anta Nante” (a derogatory manner of claiming, loosely, “somebody such as you”), sung by Riria, is a relaxed quantity with a comfortable heat, making it a reasonably large departure from the swirl of feelings that made up the unique anime’s nearer “Platonic Tsuranuite.”
● Story, setting, and pacing
In its very first body, the brand new Ranma anime declares its setting to be “someplace in Tokyo within the Nineteen Eighties,” taking the identical course because the Urusei Yatsura remake anime by leaving its setting precisely the identical as the unique work’s. With Ranma’s preliminary run straddling the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, it’s not precisely a interval piece, however you’re not going to see social media, electronic mail, cell telephones, and even pagers (which middle-class youngsters like Ranma and Akane wouldn’t have had at the moment in Japan). Like within the authentic, communication within the new Ranma anime goes to need to be both face-to-face, with instant, direct (and maybe violent) repercussions, or relayed by means of handwritten notes, third-parties, or different comedic misunderstanding-conducive means.
The general environment, likewise, is spot-on with the unique up to now, with comedy being the principle focus whereas additionally laying some groundwork for deeper character interactions in a while. The brand new Ranma doesn’t seem to have any need to recontextualize itself or make daring thematic statements from a place of being a part of a vastly profitable popular culture franchise, and as a substitute appears centered on telling a narrative and offering laughs.
One level of divergence, although, is in on-screen nudity. Contemplating how typically somebody in Ranma wants to alter out of moist garments or hop right into a heat tub to take care of the consequences of their curse, the sequence has a variety of scenes the place somebody is bare. The brand new anime is extra reserved in the way it depicts this, preserving the digicam angled or tub towels positioned to point out much less naked pores and skin, although the primary episode of the brand new anime does embody one unobstructed topless shot of feminine Ranma, with no nipples represented, and an uncommon nude-from-behind shot the place the character has no butt crack. Typically talking, although, when there’s nudity in Ranma it’s meant to be extra for comedic impact than titillation, and the extra modest depictions haven’t majorly impeded that up to now.
As for pacing, the primary episode is actually a direct remake of the outdated anime’s first episode, proper right down to a number of strains of dialogue being word-for-word the identical. That’s to not its detriment, although, as there’s fairly a little bit of world constructing and character introduction work that must be achieved. The second episode picks up the tempo significantly, although, masking materials that was unfold out over two or three episodes within the authentic anime, and likewise has what seems to be the brand new anime’s first joke not current within the authentic, displaying how Ranma’s upperclassman Kuno manages to alter from his college uniform to his kendo outfit with out making a visit to the locker room.
● So, is it value watching?
Should you by no means watched the unique Ranma and the decades-old visuals are a hurdle for you, the brand new anime’s cleaner, higher-budget look can go toe-to-toe with nearly some other motion/comedy sequence on the market this season. The accelerated tempo of the second episode must also be a optimistic for these intimidated by the unique anime’s 161-episode size, because it suggests a zippier narrative (and to be honest, the unique Ranma anime’s leisurely begin acquired it initially cancelled earlier than coming again with a skip to later within the story to assist reel in viewers). The truth that the brand new Ranma is a straight remake, versus an alternate retelling or pseudo-sequel, additionally implies that there’s no prior data of the sequence required or Easter eggs to make you are feeling such as you’re lacking out on one thing. It’s telling its story from the beginning, so it’s a tremendous place to leap on.
And for those who’re somebody who loved the unique? You’ll most likely get a variety of enjoyment out of the brand new sequence too, even when the story seems to be to be the identical. The brand new Ranma is clearly made with a lot of love and a excessive respect for the earlier adaptation and manga. , Particularly with the unique voice forged concerned, it’s just like the 1993 Ranma 1/2 Christmas occasion OVA, in that you simply most likely know what’s going to occur, but it surely’s nonetheless a complete lot of enjoyable to be hanging out with these characters for some time.
Associated: Ranma 1/2 anime official web site, Ranma 1/2 anime on Netlfix
Photos: YouTube/MAPPA CHANNEL
● Need to hear about SoraNews24’s newest articles as quickly as they’re revealed? Observe us on Fb and Twitter!