Ranma ½
Digital Dojo Boxset
Reviewed by:
Keith Trudeau (July 17, 2002)
This DVD boxed set contains the initial eighteen episodes that make
up the first season of Ranma 1/2, also known as the "TV Series." It
contains four DVDs and retails for about $101.00 on Amazon.com. The
episodes included are:
Disc 1:
-"The Strange Stranger From China"
-"School is No Place for Horsing Around"
-"A Sudden Storm of Love"
-"Ranma and... Ranma? If It's Not One Thing, It's Another"
-"Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart"
Disc 2:
- "Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know"
-"Enter Ryoga, the Eternal Lost Boy"
-"School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga"
-True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!"
Disc 3:
-"P-P-P-Chan! He's Good for Nothin' "
-"Ranma Meets LoveHead-On! Enter the Deliquent Juvinille Gymnast!"
-"A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Gymnastics Challenge"
-"A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic
Gymnastics Challenge"
-"Pelvic Fortune Telling? Ranma is the No. One Bride in Japan"
Disc 4:
-"Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands"
-'Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul"
-"I Love You, Ranma! Please Don't Say Goodbye"
-"I Am a Man!' Ranma's Going Back to China!?"
This season, if you are not familiar with Ranma 1/2 and want to learn,
is a must-see. It encapsulates Rumiko Takahashi's earliest work on
the series in its truest from. No other series is as true to the manga
as this one.
The best of this set:
Obviously, the first few episodes come to mind, especially if you
are a Ranma newbie. The first disc hits you over the head with introduction
after introduction, as the district of Nerima is unveiled. From Ranma's
and Genma's curses, to Ranma's sudden engagement to Akane, to Akane's
fight with half the male population of Furinkan, to Dr. Tofu, to the
arrogant Tatewaki Kuno, the first disc will NOT disappoint.
As for the other three discs, the appearance of Ryoga Hibiki/P-Chan
is my personal favorite. His first few battles with Ranma are truly
dramatic, because in the beginning Ryoga is a complete mystery. No
one knows who he is or why he wants to kill Ranma. Kodachi also makes
what I consider her finest appearance, a three-part duel between she
and Akane, and later on Ranma, over Ranma's hand in marriage.
The bad:
A well-known fact about the first season is that, due to its initial
unpopularity it rushed the appearance of Shampoo, which created a
rift in the Ranma timeline (it pushed back "The Charlotte Cup" to
season two). Now for you Shampoo fans, that may be okay, but the manga
purists will be unhappy, and the "Charlotte Cup" fans (like me), will
have to go out and get the second season of Ranma 1/2 also. The last
episode didn't thrill me either. It's basically a rehash of the first
seventeen. Anyone expecting to see a fitting last episode had better
just skip it. The DVD extras are also nonexistent, besides the credits,
and the textless opening/ending videos.
As I said earlier, this set is a "must see" for Ranma fans. Those
of you who are fans yet have not seen season one are doing youselves
a diservice. I know its costly, but if you can afford it, its well
worth the buy.
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