Ranma ½ 

A girl is involuntarily engaged to a boy who turns female when hit with cold water and male when hit with hot.

Creator:

Rumiko Takahashi

Stars:

Kappei Yamaguchi, Megumi Hayashibara, Noriko Hidaka

Cast

Series cast summary:
Kappei Yamaguchi	...	Ranma Saotome Male / ... 18 episodes, 1989
Megumi Hayashibara	...	Ranma Saotome Female / ... 18 episodes, 1989
Noriko Hidaka	...	Akane Tendo 18 episodes, 1989
Sarah Strange	...	Ranma Saotome Male 18 episodes, 1989
Myriam Sirois	...	Akane Tendo 18 episodes, 1989
Michael Donovan	...	Ryoga Hibiki / ... 18 episodes, 1989
Andrea Kwan	...	Ranma Saotome (Female) (Animax Asia dub) 18 episodes, 1989
Robert O. Smith	...	Genma Saotome / ... 17 episodes, 1989
Willow Johnson	...	Kasumi Tendo 16 episodes, 1989
Angela Costain	...	Nabiki Tendo 15 episodes, 1989
Venus Terzo	...	Ranma Saotome Female / ... 12 episodes, 1989
David Kaye	...	Soun Tendo 12 episodes, 1989
Ian James Corlett	...	Dr. Tofu Ono / ... 12 episodes, 1989
Candice Moore	...	Kodachi Kuno / ... 12 episodes, 1989
Brigitta Dau	...	Ranma Saotome Female / ... 11 episodes, 1989
Ted Cole	...	Tatewaki Kuno 8 episodes, 1989
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Ryoga Hibiki 8 episodes, 1989

Storyline

Rumiko Takahashi's story of a high school aged girl named Akane who finds herself engaged to be married because of an arrangement by her father. Unfortunately her fiance, Ranma, turns out to be less of a man than expected and was raised by a giant panda.

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Plot Keywords:

panda | sex swapping character | anime | arranged marriage | magic | 

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Taglines:

Just add water!

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official (publisher) of Ranma 1/2 (co-producer with Kitty Films) Ranma 1/2 (distributor) [United States]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

April 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ranma ½: The Digital Dojo

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kitty Animation, Kitty Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (18 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Ranma and the initial inspiration for the entire series originally spawned from Ryuunosuke Fujinami, a secondary character in Rumiko Takahashi's previous work "Urusei Yatsura" (1981). Ryuunosuke is a girl raised by her maniacal, single father to be a boy, and became skilled in martial arts through his daily, brutal training. She constantly longs to express her pent-up feminine side, but obstacles (usually her father) keep getting in her way.

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Goofs

Tatewaki Kuno constantly refers to female Ranma as "pigtailed girl". Female Ranma actually has a pony-tail.

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Quotes

Ranma Saotome: [repeated line, to Akane] You're so uncute!

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Alternate Versions

When shown in Korea, Mexico, and other countries, the TV versions in those countries have all the episodes heavily cut due to pantyhose jokes (Happosai is a pervert and panty thief) and martial arts violence.

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Connections

Referenced in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Scare Master (2015)

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Soundtracks

No Way! Part 2
Opening theme (episodes 46-69)
Performed by Yoshie Hayasaka
Contains a sample from "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik"
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

Hilarious combination of slapstick and romantic comedy

Hilarious combination of slapstick and romantic comedy features two young martial artists, betrothed against their will by their fathers. Ranma, the boy, is cursed to change into a girl when splashed with cold water (he changes back with hot water.) Akane, the girl, is a tomboy with a violent temper. Their messed-up lives are further complicated with rival fiancees and would-be fiancees, etc. Lots of martial arts action, jealous rages, mistaken identities, and knockabout comedy with the occasional tender moment. The strong characterizations make this series a standout and a cult favorite. For more info, there are about a million sites on this series on the Web.