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The List - The Top Five Rumiko Takahashi Anime


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NickPG



Joined: 29 Oct 2017
Posts: 15
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 5:36 pm Reply with quote
While I fully agree that Maison Ikkokku is Takahashi's best work (that last page kills me every time), Lum's bikini is tiger skin ; as per your header image.
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KitKat1721



Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 952
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 5:48 pm Reply with quote
While I was definitely one of those fans who grew up watching Inuyasha's copious re-runs on Toonami in middle school, I can't really argue with most of those placements. Although I always really enjoyed Mermaid's Scar (but I've only read the manga), so I'd probably put that in 3rd or 2nd place over at least Ramna 1/2.
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kazenoyume



Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 425
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 6:04 pm Reply with quote
I guessed this ranking before I clicked it, though the inclusion of Mermaid was a surprise. Most long term fans imo don't acknowledge the quality level of Inuyasha because it came out past the point it would be nostalgic for them. Inuyasha's flaws are the same ones her other series have, and often to a far lesser extent. Though the last third of the manga was pretty tepid (to be fair, an issue Ranma has as well), the first half had some of the best writing she's ever done. And like it or not, it has more of a legacy in the west nowadays than any other Takahashi series.

This is a hard list for me to make though because I find... all of Rumiko's anime adaptations to be pretty bad? I feel like more than maybe any other mangaka with several works, she's gotten the short end of the stick in quality adaptations.

Urusei Yatsura is nigh unwatchable to me, because it's so clear the anime writers think they and their characters (Lum's stormtroopers) are funnier than Rumiko's (they're not). Ranma is already Rumiko's weakest writing (outside of Rinne), and the anime has so much filler it is hard to traverse.

For Inuyasha, the writers had different storytelling goals than are set up in the manga, and they make likable characters obnoxious by inserting a ton of out of place humor (again, the manga is funny enough on its own), plus the filler was all really bad. A lesser complaint that I don't so much hold against the anime because it was broadcast standards that caused this, is that the Inuyasha manga has some great horror in it, reminiscent of what we get from stuff like her short stories and Mermaid, and that's all pretty much lost in the anime. Maison Ikkoku is a fifteen volume manga, so the anime did not need to be almost one hundred episodes. It drags a lot because they decided it needed to be a season longer than it did.

(It's also weird to me that Inuyasha is constantly getting digs for its length when so many major shounen are way, way longer than it, and Urusei Yatsura is the same length.)

if I were to rank it by anime, my favorite would actually be Mermaid's Forest, the 2003 adaptation. It is a little watered down for tv, but it's a pretty solid adaptation. I don't know what I'd pick after then. Probably some of the movies like Urusei Yatsura the Final Chapter and the first Inuyasha movie. For manga, my top five would be:

5- One Pound Gospel
4- Urusei Yatsura
3- Inuyasha
2- Maison Ikkoku
1- Mermaid Saga


Last edited by kazenoyume on Sun Oct 27, 2019 6:11 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Levonr



Joined: 19 Nov 2003
Posts: 807
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 6:07 pm Reply with quote
For once I 100% agree with a rank list.

I just wish Viz would lose the Maison Ikkoku license and have Discotek release it on blu-ray. Viz having Maison Ikkoku kinda sucks, they either don't have much interest or just super slow getting around to releasing. Still waiting for Inuyasha which they said would get released on blu-ray this fall but I'm not too sure about that.
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zrdb





PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 6:17 pm Reply with quote
Maison Ikkoku is my favorite Rumiko Takahashi series-actually it's #1 on my list of all time favorite anime series. I just wish it would be released on bluray here, the japanese blurays are gorgeous.
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catandmouse



Joined: 02 Mar 2011
Posts: 212
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 7:29 pm Reply with quote
Very unpopular opinion here, but I enjoyed Kyoukai no Rinne. The complaints I heard about Sakura being boring or Rinne too plain are actually what I liked about the series. I liked the fact that Sakura was not a b*tch or a Rinne an a$$hole. Takahashi tends to create females that are b*tchy and males that's are a$$holish, so I found Rinne and Sakura refreshing. I enjoyed Inuyasha in the beginning, but Kagome got on my nerves and that killed the story for me. Never read/seen Lum, have read some of her Maison Ikoku and Mermaid Saga and I liked those as well as one pound gospel. Honestly the only one of her stories I can say I didn't like was Inuyasha.
Ranma 1/2 is a classic for me.
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fuuma_monou



Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 1816
Location: Quezon City, Philippines
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 7:43 pm Reply with quote
kazenoyume wrote:
Urusei Yatsura is nigh unwatchable to me, because it's so clear the anime writers think they and their characters (Lum's stormtroopers) are funnier than Rumiko's (they're not). Ranma is already Rumiko's weakest writing (outside of Rinne), and the anime has so much filler it is hard to traverse.


I never could get into the UY anime, and I didn't like what little I read of the manga over twenty years ago. Should I try out the new manga omnibuses Viz is putting out? I do love MI and like Ranma 1/2 and most of Takahashi's other work.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5406
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 8:03 pm Reply with quote
I have only watched Urusei Yatsura and Inuyasha to completion; the latter is one of my favorite anime series.
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FLCLGainax





PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 8:39 pm Reply with quote
I'd consider Inuyasha and Maison Ikkoku to be her best works, but have nostalgia for the Urusei Yatsura anime version. However, it's not her take on the characters but Oshii and Yamazaki's which I felt improved over her manga. I didn't much care for the original manga.
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fausti



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
Posts: 37
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 9:09 pm Reply with quote
MI is definitely her best work, but the Mermaid Saga is probably her second best. Both in manga and anime, they work. UY would be third to me, but mostly because of the manga and the movies. The TV series was so-so to me, as it was only an OK adaptation of the manga. But the movies are terrific. After that, I'd give it to Inuyasha and then One-Pound Gospel. Ranma never did much for me. The concept was cute, but it was beaten into the ground by the time it all ended.

1. Maison
2. Mermaid
3. UY
4. Inuyasha
5. One-Pound Gospel
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Oggers



Joined: 29 Nov 2017
Posts: 357
Location: Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 9:16 pm Reply with quote
I was hugely into Inuyasha during middle school and high school, but for some reason I've never been able to get into any of Takahashi's other works. I tried Ranma 1/2 because a friend of mine was raving about it to me and was hoping I'd like it too, but it just didn't gel with me. Maybe it's because I got into Inuyasha first and seeing so many of the same character types that are in Takahashi's other series just felt old. She sure does like her constantly bickering couples...
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 9:35 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
a rowdy, intemperate half-dog, half-demon named Inuyasha

So...since his father was a dog-demon are you suggesting his mother was a bitch? Shocked All this time I thought she was a human. With this and the "leopard print bikini" I'm wondering if you've even seen these.

Inuyasha is probably my favorite of her works, but I also really liked Mermaid Forest (not sure how the 13 episode series relates to Scar, Gaze, Saga and whatever), and One Pound Gospel. I've tried three times to watch Ranma, but I don't think I've ever made it past 8 or so episodes. The only Urusei Yatsura I've seen was the "Beautiful Dreamer" movie and I bailed on that halfway through too. Well actually, it literally put me to sleep, and I didn't bother with it further. One of these days I'm going to have to give Maison Ikkoku a try.
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prime_pm



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 2333
Location: Your Mother's Bedroom
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 10:52 pm Reply with quote
To be honest, the sole reason I liked Uresei Yatsura was because of the second movie, Beautiful Dreamer. First one I saw of the series, best one in my opinion. So trippy.

Can you believe they cancelled the showing at Otakon this year because of "disturbing imagery?" Ridiculous. I mean I know it's a little WTF seeing the cast putting together a Nazi-themed cafe in the beginning, but is that five minutes enough to warrant a cancellation in mid show? I don't know.
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4564
PostPosted: Sun Oct 27, 2019 11:42 pm Reply with quote
Inuyasha is the only Takahashi series I've seen any of, way back during my anime youth in the old [adult swim] days. Nowadays I know it's not particularly great from an objective standpoint, with incredibly-repetitive plotting and character arcs even when you don't take the copious filler into account, but it feels like my version of anime comfort food: it's not good for you, but it's warm and nostalgic and filling. I'm not sure any of Takahashi's other works could entice me to sit through the whole thing, unless it's something short like the Mermaid Saga, but I definitely want to see Beautiful Dreamer someday due to its nigh-legendary status.

(Sidenote: I remember when 167 episodes seemed incredibly long. Then I sat through all of Bleach...and then I got current with One Piece. Very Happy)
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DeTroyes



Joined: 30 May 2016
Posts: 520
PostPosted: Mon Oct 28, 2019 1:58 am Reply with quote
Urusei Yatsura was the first anime series I absolutely fell in love with, and to this day still holds a special place in my anime pantheon. Its a shame that the animes of both Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku have not been reissued in the US in more than a decade. I would buy both sets on Blu Ray in a heartbeat. Discotech, Sentai, Maiden Japan... are you listening?
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