Ranma ½ Review

Takahashi builds a machine and then runs it for thirty eight volumes. A boy who turns into a girl in cold water, a father who turns into a panda, a rival who turns into a piglet, a rotating supply of fiancees and challengers, and a martial arts school attached to every mundane activity a gag can hang on. The construction is superb. Each character wants exactly one thing, those wants collide in ways that are both predictable and funny, and Takahashi stages slapstick with a clarity of motion most action artists never reach.

Her paneling is the quiet achievement: a reader always knows where every body is, which is why the fights stay legible and why the comedy lands on the beat instead of a half second late. The limits are just as clear. Nothing develops. Ranma and Akane finish the series roughly where they start it, arcs reset between volumes, and by the middle of the run the same three jokes are appearing in new costumes.

The gender premise is played almost entirely for farce and the book has no curiosity about it. The setting is a collection of dojos and schools rather than a place anyone lives. Consensus treats it as one of the most influential comedies the medium has, credited alongside its anime with opening the American market, and also as a step below Takahashi's best work. Both readings are correct. It is enormously fun and it never grows up.