Studio Deen has produced anime classics such as Urusei Yatsura (with a new remake released this year), Fruits Basket and Rurouni Kenshin. This month we’re putting the spotlight onto the studio’s excellent Ranma ½, a forerunner of gag anime, popularising some of the most well know visual comedy of the genre.
The story centres on Ranma Saotome, our shounen protagonist that is cursed to transform into a girl any time cold water is splashed on him. Splash him with hot water and he’ll turn back to his male form. The series sees Ranma struggling to rid himself of the curse, while navigating through various intricate relationships between himself, rivals, friends and fiancées.
Original Ranma 1/2 Anime Poster
Ranma ½ is set in Qinghai, China, where Ranma is training as a martial artist. The Bayan Har Mountain Range where the training grounds are is a real and stunning location. However, the Jusenkyo curse which Ranma is trying to rid himself of is fictional within the story, despite the depths of its lore as rich as any traditional myth or legend. The Jusenkyo is the cursed training ground with a plethora of springs and pools. It is said that hundreds of years ago people and animals would drown or ‘get immersed’ in these pools, with anyone that fell in afterward becoming whatever fell into them first. This leads to not just gender swapping, but characters turning into pigs, ducks and other various animals to comic effect and interesting story dynamics.
Original Ranma 1/2 Anime Poster
Original Ranma 1/2 Anime Poster
Original Ranma 1/2 Anime Poster
Original Ranma 1/2 Anime Cel
Along with comedic elements, there is a strong thread of romance running through the series, with Ranma struggling to choose who his true love is, and a shocking amount of fiancées for a 16 year old boy. He is pursued by both men and women alike, depending on his form, never returning their advances but not above using this to get what he wants.
Ranma ½’s mangaka, Takahashi Rumiko, was asked to make her initial story “more dramatic”, which led to the gender bending aspect so integral to the show. In interview, she was once asked if this was to try and “enlighten a male-dominated society”, however this was never her agenda. At its core, Takahashi wanted a “simple, fun idea… like a fairy tale”.
Original Ranma 1/2 Anime Cel
Her original folklore, character design and setting show she executed this perfectly. Her concept of a gender swapping pool has been used through anime time and time again as a useful story plot device, and comedic elements first used in her manga now are used so often it they have almost become a cliché of the genre.
Original Ranma 1/2 Anime Cel
Original Ranma 1/2 Anime Cel
With the final episode airing in September 1992, it is worth going back and rewatching this classic series this month. It is a laugh-a-minute wild ride, with some touching moments along the way.
