Ranma ½
Ranma Forever:
From the Depths of Despair
Reviewed by:
Keith Trudeau (August 15, 2002)
Episode #1: "Pick-a-Peck o' Happosai." A set of demonic cards from
the Kuno family find their way into Happosai's hands. Happosai becomes
posessed by the devil (funny- he doesn't SEEM any different),
and is split into six different Happosai-demons, who go about terrorizing
the town. The background music in this story is pretty good, as is
the story itself. For those of you who find Happosai amusing, this
is probably the most Happosai you can possibly cram into 25 minutes.
Episodes #2/3: "From the Depths of Despair." The long-awaited animation
of the popular manga story lives up to the hype. Word-for-word, it's
a near-flawless copy of the original manga script, give or take a
few minor scenes. I'd go as far as to say the animated version actually
IMPROVES upon it.
For those of you who haven't read the manga, here's a summary. Ryoga,
while training in the mountains, stumbles across a new, and incredibly
powerful move (Shi-Shi Hokodan), which FINALLY enables him
to defeat Ranma, albeit in a practice match. Ranma, after a week of
trying, is unable to successfully copy the move, while Ryoga keeps
beating him into the ground. He eventually comes up with a new move
of his own (Moko Takabisha) to counter Ryoga, only to learn Ryoga
has PERFECTED the Shi-Shi Hokodan. Nevertheless, Ranma (as
he always does) still finds a way to grab victory from what looked
like a sure defeat.
The animation in late Ranma episodes has come under some scrutiny,
but "From the Depths of Despair" is truly an exception. The animation
is VERY good, as well as the fighting music. Ryoga's perfected
"Shi-Shi Hokodan" is just a step or two from terrifying. The dramatic
buildup in this story is not common enough in Ranma episodes, even
the fight scenes. This DVD is a "must-buy" for Ranma 1/2 enthusiests.
It gets my highest recommendation. However, there is one minor glitch,
there is no menu music.
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