Ranma ½ is a remake of the original anime, which aired in the 1980s. It’s quickly become a new fan favorite. Fans like the art style of the show, and appreciate that the remake is closer to the original manga and a lot funnier than the original show.
Ranma ½ is a story about, of course, Ranma. While traveling, he accidentally falls into a pool that transforms him. Whenever he’s splashed with cold water, he becomes a cute pink-haired girl, and whenever he’s splashed with hot water, he turns back. The show is about his engagement to a family friend, Akane Tendo, martial arts, and the magical pools that changed him.
8Hot Competition
Season 1, Episode 7
Hot Competition is the episode after we meet Kodachi, otherwise known as the Black Rose. She’s supposed to fight a classmate of Akane’s, but Akane has to step in. You have to knock the other player out of the ring to win, but there are no other rules.
When Akane gets injured, Ranma takes over. The battle is hectic, and the two fighters do everything in their power to destroy the other. It’s an emotional battle, but in the end, Ranma seizes the win.
7Here’s Ranma
Season 1, Episode 1
The first episode of the remake is a great episode. It’s largely exposition, but it’s well worth watching (and kind of important to understand the show). The story starts with a familythat has three daughters. The father announces that he has a friend visiting, and he wants one of them to marry his son.
Instead, a girl with pink hair and a panda show up. This is how you learn more about Ranma and the ancient grounds he and his father went to. When he landed in the water, he became a girl, and when his father landed in a different pool, he became a panda.
6Who Says You’re Cute
Season 1, Episode 5
This episode is an Akane-based one. She ends up in the middle of a physical fight between Ranma and Ryoga, and during the fight her hair accidentally gets cut. Instead of wallowing in it, she decides to cut her hair. It’s a transformative moment for her, as you find out that she keeps her hair long because of a crush on her doctor.
However, once she cuts her hair, it’s a sign that she’s able to move on from her crush, maybe even to Ranma. Her new hairstyle makes her look different, and it’s easier for her to fight with shorter hair.
5The Hunter
Season 1, Episode 4
Episode four, The Hunter, is a great introduction to arecurring side characternamed Ryoga. He comes in search of Ranma with the need to challenge him to a duel due to wrongdoings in their past. Ryoga is a great character that’s full of pride, but a little bit aloof.
Through the fight, it’s discovered that Ryoga was at the pools as well. Only when cold water is splashed on him, he doesn’t turn into a girl. He turns into a pig, later coined P-Chan. This pig is later adopted by Akane as her pet, and both the pig and man versions of Ryoga appear a lot throughout the show.
4Kiss Of Death
Season 1, Episode 10
This episode is chaotic. There are two main plots happening at the same time. The first is a showdown between Ranma and Ryoga for Akane while they’re fighting a skating duo for P-chan (who is really the pig version of Ryoga). The chaos is so fun to watch, and the show gets more into Ryoga and Ranma’s true feelings for Akane.
We also meet Shampoo in this episode, who is another fantastic side character. She’s a girl from the Chinese Amazon who has (surprise, surprise) been defeated by Ranma. She has come to Japan to fight the girl version of Ranma, and kill her.
3I Hate Men
Season 1, Episode 2
At first, Ranma’s fiancé, Akane, seems like a normal girl. This episode proves that she’s not. Ranma and she are officially engaged, though they both adamantly protest. Ranma enrolls in her high school, and when they arrive, he finds an entire flock of boys waiting outside the school who all want to date her.
It turns out that every single morning, Akane fights all of these suitors to not date them. It changes something in her relationship with Ranma because he has more respect for her since she’s such a good fighter. Akane is such a wonderful character, and watching her kick butt is awesome.
2You I Love
Season 1, Episode 11
Shampoo is defeated by the male version of Ranma, not realizing that he’s the same person she came to Japan to kill. She proposes to Ranma and claims she wants to make him her husband, which shocks both Ranma and Akane.
Akane calls off the engagement, and Shampoo visits her to give her the kiss of death. This is a kiss that basically “marks” somebody as your next victim. The episode ends with Akane going missing.
1Shampoo Cleans Up
Season 1, Episode 12
This is theend of the first season(though there will be more episodes to come). In this episode, Ranma finds Akane, who has gone missing. She regains consciousness, but has completely forgotten Ranma. Though he’s always acted like he doesn’t want to be engaged to Akane, he’s devastated by the news.
Ranma works to find a way to get her memories back while Shampoo searches for the female version of Ranma, still not realizing that she’s the same person as the man she wishes to be her husband. Ranma is able to get her memories back through insulting her, which shows there is some love behind the bite.
