Hijinks continue
|
Rumiko Takahashi struck comic gold with "Ranma 1/2," the story of a guy who turns into a girl whenever he gets touched with cold water (and you'd be surprised how often that happens). The second volume picks up where the first left off, and Takahashi was obviously hitting her stride in this series.
Directionally-challenged Ryoga Hibiki makes it to the Tendos' home, and brawls with Ranma out in the yard. Turns out that Ranma accidently knocked Ryoga into a cursed spring -- and now Ryoga turns into a cute black piglet. As if this grudge weren't enough, Akane adopts the piglet, whom she names "P-chan," which drives Ranma into a frenzy.
Problems continue when Akane is injured before a martial arts gymnastics competition, leaving Ranma (in his female form) to take her place. The only problem is, it's against Kuno's psychotic sister Kodachi -- who loves Ranma as a boy, but loathes him as a girl. No sooner has Ranma dealt with that crisis than another combat challenge pops up: To get Ryoga/P-chan back from a ditzy ice skater, Ranma and Akane will have to learn martial-arts ice-skating. But Ranma's lessons take an unpleasant turn when he gets his first kiss... from a boy.
The boy-turns-into-girl-when-splashed-with-water shtick sounds like a one-off gimmick. But Takahashi shows new ways to get creative in the second volume of "Ranma 1/2." The stories flow a little faster and a little more smoothly, now that she's introduced the characters and their peculiar problems.
She also starts ideas that continues throughout the series -- sticking the words "martial arts" besides all sorts of activities, and having characters fall into various cursed springs. But she doesn't lose track of the personal relationships, such as various characters competing for Ranma and/or Akane's affections. One comic gem involves siblings Kuno and Kodachi, who are unknowingly competing for the same person in different form.
The characters have also changed a little. Akane no longer loathes all men, and is rapidly becoming a good partner for Ranma. Ryoga -- who apparently craves any form of affection -- falls in love with Akane after she cuddles him in his pig form. And obviously Ranma is starting to like Akane -- otherwise, why would he care if she cuddled Ryoga?
The "Ranma 1/2" series took off after the first volume, when Takahashi stepped up the pace and took her martial-arts-romantic-comedy to new and strange heights.
|
|
Ranma Rocks!
|
Takahashi outdoes herself again with this fantastic sequel to the first part of the Ranma 1/2 series.
My sister and I both agree that this is one of the most entertaining books we have ever read, and it is not hard to see why once you start to read them.In the crazy world of Ranma, he turns into a girl and his father decides to arrange a marriage for him with a girl he has never met. (as if things weren't back enough with the whole turning into a girl thing!) However, he appears to fall slowly in love with her, whether he likes it or not. In Ranma 1/2 the drawings are beautiful, the story gripping, the characters hilarious and the slowly-unfolding love-plot so utterly cute that you just have to see what will happen next between Ranma and Akane! Ranma 1/2 is probably one of the most beloved mangas ever written, and it's certainly not a mystery why. So buy it!!!
|
|
|
Ranma: comedy,romance and martial arts; the best combination
|
|
Ranma is basically about this boy who turns into a girl when splashed with cold water and back into a boy when hot water is poured on him. As you can imagine this leads to various comical situations. There is also a strong romance plot between our hero Ranma and a girl called Akane Tendo who have been forced to marry each other by their hilarious fathers. Of couse akane hates boys and of course ranma thinks akane is an "un-cute tomboy". Everyone in Ranma is some sought of martial artist with Ranma fending off all competion with style. Even though the books are packed with martial arts various scenes are captured better in the video and DVD sets ..... The jokes and the plot are very funny with Ranmas and Akanes father making you breathless from laughing so hard. However one thing that disapointed me was that the video series did not use all the books, stopping at around 25 of the 38 book set. This book is my favourite as it has in my opinion one of the strongest romance parts in the first few books which is my main reason for reading the ranma books. These books are crucial to any Ranma fan or any manga fan and the video and DVDs are completely worth it. I can also recommend Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop.
|
|
|
The best manga around!
|
|
Rumiko Takahashi is the best manga artist/writer around. Lum, Maison Ikkoku? Brilliant but they don't compare to Ranma! An absolute crack-up and something that you'll read over and over, well worth your ca$h!
|
|
|
Funny, Exciting,Great
|
|
This was a very funny book. I read it about 500 times and laughed harder each time. Due to Ranma being naked in Girl form it's not a good book for very young readers. I recommend this book to everyone who loves anime and loves to laugh!
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada