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Shelf Life - The Other 1/2

I've been pretty reluctant on Psycho-Pass. The morals of preventing crime before it happens feels too similar to Minority Report.

No it wasn't just the dub, the characters are just as mean spirited in the sub and the manga. I would argue that the anime exaggerated their more unfavorable traits though (especially Akane's.)

Strangely enough, while I usually can't get into a series where nearly everybody is unsympathetic, Ranma 1/2 is the exception for me. It may be because it rarely takes itself seriously and there are those little moments that give them some form of humanity. It's also extremely funny when the humor is done right, which it usually is. I defy you not to at least chuckle at Kuno whenever he opens his mouth (props for whoever's idea it was to let him talk cheesy Shakespeare in the dub.)

Ranma was huge back then. It spawned endless discussions, countless fanfics, and an infamous roleplaying usenet thread that regularly threatened to engulf rec.arts.anime.misc. The manga was still running, so nobody knew how it would end. The various character pairings had some pretty intense partisans, and...I don't know, there was a passion for it in fandom that could be pretty crazy and sometimes pretty annoying, but I kind of miss those times.

So Ranma rose with the internet? That explains a lot.

but isn't (Rumiko Takahashi's wealth) based on never letting a series say "die" until the premise could be milked for all it's worth?

I've been pretty reluctant on Psycho-Pass. The morals of preventing crime before it happens feels too similar to Minority Report. That movie was mystery and suspense, while this is supposedly more psychological, but I can't help but feel that underneath their exteriors, they're pretty much the same idea, just with different executions.

vanfanel wrote:

Ranma was huge back then. It spawned endless discussions, countless fanfics, and an infamous roleplaying usenet thread that regularly threatened to engulf rec.arts.anime.misc. The manga was still running, so nobody knew how it would end. The various character pairings had some pretty intense partisans, and...I don't know, there was a passion for it in fandom that could be pretty crazy and sometimes pretty annoying, but I kind of miss those times.

So Ranma rose with the internet? That explains a lot.

Ranma 1/2 remains the only Rumiko Takashi series where I've seen no episodes, trailers, bits or sorts which is odd since it was the first one I've heard off. Also, I've never fully watched a Rumiko Takashi series either because they are Rumiko Takashi series - she may be one of the wealthiest mangakas out there but isn't that based on never letting a series say "die" until the premise could be milked for all it's worth?

Rumiko Takashi ... may be one of the wealthiest mangakas out there but isn't that based on never letting a series say "die" until the premise could be milked for all it's worth?

I felt that Pupa was an admirable failure. It tried to do something different, which was create a viable horror anime production in 12 small bites.

consignia wrote:

I felt that Pupa was an admirable failure. It tried to do something different, which was create a viable horror anime production in 12 small bites.

Might I interest you in Yami Shibai? I haven't seen it myself, but from what I've heard it is an effective horror show that has five-minute episodes. It aired last summer, so it's pretty recent.

This review comes at a neat time for me; just last night I got nostalgic and started looking up sites and newsgroups I used to follow in the mid-90's, back when anime was all still shiny and new. A surprising amount of that stuff is still floating around out there. Ranma was huge back then. It spawned endless discussions, countless fanfics, and an infamous roleplaying usenet thread that regularly threatened to engulf rec.arts.anime.misc.

The manga was still running, so nobody knew how it would end. The various character pairings had some pretty intense partisans, and...I don't know, there was a passion for it in fandom that could be pretty crazy and sometimes pretty annoying, but I kind of miss those times.

More to the point, it was one of the first and most accessible series that went mainstream,

back in the days when US anime was either inscrutable failed art features like Streamline, cheap failed OAV's which were the only thing small startup companies could get their hands on,

or strange short-run sci-fi series like Lain. When fans were praising Record of Lodoss Wars because it was one of the only things you could buy at Suncoast, things were bad back then.

Once Viz hit the shelves--to cash in on the manga fans and say "Ranma talks!"--every company had to have one long-run comedy series. Software Sculptor's Slayers also became one of the first nutty audience-friendly comedies to hit the mainstream stores, and also became an instant thing in the US,

while Pioneer offered the Tenchi Muyo OAV box, but you can usually tell which audiences started with that version first.

Which, in Ranma's case, boils down to the basic issue that A), it's funny, and B), it's funny in ways that are universal enough to not need too much explaining.
Even though AnimEigo already had Urusei Yatsura out on VHS, you usually showed Ranma to strangers first, since the funny slapstick and Ranma & Akane's battle-of-the-sexes were much easier for gaijin to understand than UY's wacky free-form cultural refs, although both had Rumiko's trademark for a crazy ensemble of slightly-off characters.

I had heard of it, but didn't check it out at the time. I've just watched the first episode, and I think it's good. Love the art style, and they get quite a nice little horror vignette in it's short time. Thanks.