Ranma ½

Episode 4

Ladies, gentlemen, and nonbinary friends, I am pleased to introduce the potential next big thing in the blorbo fandom culture: Ryoga Hibiki. You may not be able to tell yet, but this boy has the sopping-wet cat energy the Tumblr girlies love. Just you wait.

But first things first: the episode introduces itself with another “Meet Ranma Saotome” segment, this time styled like a two-dimensional pixel fighting game. I can only assume this is a reference to Ranma ½: Hard Battle, the SNES fighting game that I have never played but have seen the trailer for more times than I can count because, in the VHS era, you had no choice but to sit through the trailers to get to the content. MAPPA has added a ton of stylistic quirks and shifts to this new anime, and while most of them feel like gilding the lily, this one was a delightful surprise. It felt like it was paying tribute to a part of the series' past, rather than just being tossed in just because they can.

But the real star of the episode is Ryoga, Ranma's greatest rival… at least when he can find his way to Nerima. The poor boy's sense of direction is pathologically terrible, as him seen ending up in Shikoku and Hokkaido on the way to Nerima. He's there to challenge Ranma to a fight, and he's furious. Why? After having to take a second to remember Ryoga's name, Ranma must wrack his brain to understand just why Ryoga might want to “ruin his happiness.”

While like most of the Japanese cast, Kouichi Yamadera has returned to play Ryoga in the Japanese, Ryoga has a new dub voice in Damien Haas, best known as the English voice of Laios in Delicious in Dungeon. I have to say, even as someone who clings tight to their memory of the old dub, Haas was a perfect choice. He's proven himself to be a talented actor already as Laios, and he plays Ryoga with a similar quality to Michael Donovan back in the day, balancing the over-the-top nature of the role without fully entering the hamminess of old dubs.

Ranma isn't the smartest guy in any way, and that includes an utter lack of emotional intelligence. We've seen it in the way he teases Akane and then complains about her starting fights, and now we see it in how he assumes the reason Ryoga is murderously angry at him is over some fights over bread at the school they once attended together. It's not really his fault; sixteen-year-old boys tend to be insensitive under the best of circumstances, and Genma raised him to be semi-feral. Plus, Ryoga isn't exactly forthcoming about what's going on – I'm not going to spoil it for the newbies, but there is some foreshadowing if you pay attention. Notice how he uses his umbrella to block the spray of water? Hmmm…

Ryoga is also the first character to introduce semi-fantastical elements to the martial arts of the show. So far Ranma has fought Akane, Genma, and Kuno; while all those battles involved superhuman agility and/or strength, their weapons and techniques were relatively grounded in reality. Ryoga, on the other hand, uses razor-sharp bandanas that he sends flying through the air like boomerangs and a super-heavy umbrella that he swings with one hand. It's a cleverly choreographed battle that uses both weightiness and weightlessness to great effect, demonstrating both boys' power.

Once again, I am unsure of the purpose of Ichiro, the radio club member who shows up to narrate the fights. The visual storytelling is strong enough to render him completely unnecessary. Did Tomokazu Seki really want a part, so they made one up for him? Did they not believe in modern audiences' ability to follow the action without narration? Please, if anyone reading this gets a chance to ask someone who worked on this show, ask. I'm dying to find out.

Ryoga is justifiably shocked when he finds out about Ranma's curse via tits in his face, but for some reason *cough cough,* Ranma complaining about his plight only enrages him further. He is so far gone with rage that he doesn't care about collateral damage, throwing his bandanas around in such a way that they nearly hit onlookers, and when Akane goes to get hot water, she almost ends up sliced to pieces. Ranma rescues her, but then his goddamned tendency to cover up his awkward feelings with rudeness comes out again and he yells at her for getting involved. I don't doubt that there's an element of fear to it too; Akane is strong, but she's a normal girl who hasn't spent most of her life on a training journey. Even if she can beat up the male half of the student body every morning, she's no match for Ryoga, especially when he's so determined to kill Ranma that he doesn't care who gets hurt.

And Akane is the one that gets hurt, when a bandana comes whizzing through the air and slices off her ponytail.

Rating:

Comparison points from the 1989 version:

• For years I only had the first six episodes on VHS, so my memory past this point is less crystal clear.
• The fight was extended by having the chemistry club get involved with trying to take out Ranma as revenge for his engagement to Akane, and then spilling over into the neighboring zoo. I actually prefer this more concise version.
• Akane's haircut was represented by actually cutting the physical frame, a move that has become legendary in animation circles that is impossible to replicate with modern techniques.

Ranma ½ is currently streaming on Netflix.

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