Ranma ˝
Hard Battle Boxset
Reviewed by:
Alex Barry (December 20, 2002)
Cover: Like the first two DVD boxed sets, the actual box and individual
DVD covers are done in a unique style, with colorful character art
featured on top of faded images from the Ranma ˝ manga. This time,
the color scheme is a light purple with red and yellow text. The box
cover features a rather irritated-looking Ryoga (NOT female Ranma,
as Viz's catalogs and promotional shots showed), and Ukyo, Akane,
Kuno, Ling-Ling & Lung-Lung, and male Ranma on the five DVD covers,
respectively. The picture of Ranma is him in a fighting stance without
a shirt on, so I guess that's something the fangirls will enjoy. The
backsides provide episode listings and summaries, but no animation
shots.
Audio: The sound quality for this set is on par the two previous boxsets,
if not a little better considering the fact that these episode were
made later. The music is great (both opening/closing and BG), and
the voices continue to be some of the best out of any anime dub I've
heard in recent memory. If you're a fan of the dub, then this is the
last season to hear Sarah Strange as male Ranma, so enjoy it while
you can. There was some problem at one point with some of the episodes
on disk #5 not having a Japanese language soundtrack, but Viz has
set up a deal to replace any defected sets with a brand new one, free
of charge. Also, by the time you read this, most of the new sets you
see in stores or order online should have been corrected of this error.
Video: With Season 3, Ranma ˝ really moves up a notch in quality as
far as video goes, and is noticeably superior to the two previous
seasons. It isn't until Season 4 that the animation really takes a
step up (although even that is debatable), but the character designs
and color palette have definitely improved. Ranma ˝ has never been
about particularly flashy artwork, but it has very tasteful, clean
look to it, and serves as a great tool to tell the series' fantastic
stories. As for these DVDs, the art and animation are showcased incredibly,
and technical errors such as aliasing are minimal.
Extras: This boxset is completely void of any extras beyond language
and subtitle selections until you get to the last disk, where it offers
voice actor profiles, a line-art gallery, and textless versions of
the opening and closing themes. The textless opening and closing themes
are a very welcomed feature, and the line-art gallery is fun to browse
through. Sadly, in almost any other anime series, these bare-bones
special features are something that you'd expect on any average DVD,
and it's a shame that we have to wait until a large boxed set to get
them when it comes to Ranma ˝. They're very nice and all, but actual
actor interviews, character profiles, or even previews for some of
Viz's other series would have been more enjoyable.
Content: When I first heard that Viz was going to release the Hard
Battle season in a DVD boxset, I wasn't sure whether or not it would
be worth my money to buy. After viewing the undeniably charming Season
1, and the incredibly stylish Season 2, I honestly didn't know if
I could appreciate another set. Ranma ˝ is as addictive as crack,
though, and I eventually decided I had to own more. After viewing
the 3rd Season, I'm glad I made that decision.
Because critiquing each episode would take far too much time, I'll
review the set by its individual disks.
Disk 1 - Right off the bat, Hard Battle proves its worth by introducing
a new main character into the mix: Ukyo Kuonji. Ukyo is a childhood
friend of Ranma, and a master okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza) chef, who
comes looking for Ranma after he and his father abandoned her, years
earlier. It turns out that Ukyo was promised the position of Ranma's
future bride in exchange for her father's okonomiyaki cart, which
that zany Genma had to go and steal! After a very interesting introductory
battle, Ukyo joins Shampoo and Akane as one of Ranma's prospective
fiancé .
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