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From the TV Tropes page for "Trope Codifier":

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You have before you three series. The first, Series A, was the first known use of a trope, but it may or may not have been intentional. The second, Series B, was the first intentional use of the trope. The third, Series C, does not claim originality, and may in fact have ripped off series B, but was much more popular than Series A or B and is the template that all later uses of this trope follow.

Series is called "Ur-Example" whereas Series B is the "Trope Maker" and Series C is the "Trope Codifier".

Concerning harem anime/manga,"Urusei Yatsura" is arguably the Ur-Example. For the Trope Maker, "Ranma 1/2" definitely falls under that category. For Trope Codifier, it is a toss-up between "Ranma 1/2" and 3 non-Takahashi series: "Ah! My Goddess", "Tenchi Muyo", or "Love Hina".

Gina Szanboti wrote:

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.

Of course I’ve seen these - I’ve seen all of them over and over again. I had to write this in a hurry so I made a few errors, but the point is - we want to know what your favorites are.

Remember last week when they asked for our opinion?

Here are the results, since they didn't put it in the article: animenewsnetwork.com/survey/836/result

1 - My Hero Academia (season 4)
2 - Stars Align
3 - Beastars
4 - Fate/Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia
5 - Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld
6 - The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious
7 - ORESUKI: Are you the only one who loves me?
8 - Blade of the Immortal
9 - No Guns Life
10 - Ascendance of a Bookworm

I still have not seen or read Maison Ikkoku so Ranma 1/2 is my favorite for now. I admit that's, in large part, because it appeals to my very niche set of favorite things, gender bending and transformations.

my favorite is Ranma.. I prefer comedy over drama. Maison wasn't bad though.

The first Ranma 1/2 VHS tape was one of the first two anime videos I purchased and the first I anime I ever saw. Unfortunately, before you could get to the over the top humor of Ranma and company there was a preview of another Takahashi series to get through. This was a preview of Mermaid's Scar with a scene involving one character scooping out an eye of another with his thumb. The disconnect between the horror and the humor was rather startling.

Zac wrote:

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the point is - we want to know what your favorites are.

I'll always have a soft spot for Ranma 1/2 since it was my first. However, between that, UY, Maison Ikkoku and Inu Yasha. I have no real preference. I've never seen the point of ranking different shows. My only categories are Keep and Throw.

Gina Szanboti wrote:

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not sure how the 13 episode series relates to Scar, Gaze, Saga and whatever

Mermaid Saga is Viz's title for the full four volume manga set covering all of the Mermaid stories to date. The 13 episode TV series covers all of the stories except for the last. The two earlier VHS issued OVAs cover the stories named (Forest and Scar). They are said to be rather more graphic than the later TV series though I don't have them to compare.

I really need to give Maison Ikkoku another chance. I got irritated with the casual "funny" cruelty of the early episodes as the other tenants constantly take advantage of Godai. Yotsuya is a constant irritant to me. I can't remember if there was a final straw or I just got tired of watching it. I know Godai had gotten into college and a superficial rival had shown up but I don't think I got much past the quarter point.

Urusei Yatsura has it's moments too but again it just gets too obnoxious too often. I read the manga through once and certainly preferred it but haven't felt any need to revisit it.

I don't have the nostalgia for Inuyasha that others do, but I enjoyed it and it gets bonus points for actually, enventually, getting an ending actually animated.

Did Rinne get one? I also just got tired of that one too.

Never did see Mermaid Forest etc, One Pound Gospel, and only some of "Anthology"

When it's good I much prefer Ranma 1/2 over anything else.

So...
1. Ranma 1/2
2. Inuyasha
...nothing else completely viewed, so how do I choose?

My reception to Rumiko Takahashi's work is a bit hit-or-miss. She has some titles of good writing quality, though I'm not a fan of the "fighting couples" trope milked with her popular romantic comedies like Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2. Factoring in what I've seen and read of her work, this would likely be my Top 5 favorite titles that she's written:

1. Rumic Theater
2. Mermaid Saga
3. Maison Ikkoku
4. Inuyasha
5. One-Pound Gospel

While that's a theme in other takahashi works, I really liked it in maison ikoku when the characters recognize that a lot of the relationship problems were also the fault of the girl; as in takahashi's female characters have actual agency over their relationships and can and do screw them up. very different from the little princess archetype and way back in the 80s.

I remember reading an interview (paper magazine) back in the 90s where when asked aobut the tendou sister she says they simbolyzie the roles women coudl tkae in japanese society, the perfect wife (kasumi), the calculating business woman(nabiki) and the rebelious person (akane).

prime_pm wrote:

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.

Beautiful Dreamer's the only part of UY I can go back to for repeated viewings. That movie in particular is so cerebral, it's pretty much an Oshii film with Takahashi's characters. The rest of the franchise, not so much. It's a bit juvenile by comparison.

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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.

The times we live in. While I remember Megane's fascination with the Third Reich coming off as a bit questionable, it seemed like in the past viewers could just brush it off as some momentary culture clash. Especially if they've seen the TV series beforehand, which has been out of print for nearly a decade now. I'd be pissed if I was in that screening and they shut the movie off mid-way. Mad

Last edited by Swissman on Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:18 pm; edited 2 times in total

I saw Urusei Yatsura during middle school for the first time and the movies/ovas a few years later. Therefore, this franchise will always have a special place in my heart. Not only did I fall in love with Lum as the title character, but also with the whacky and yet whimsical tone of the series which is greatly enhanced by the show's score (composed by not less than three different composers).
I have to agree with the opinion that the anime writers' stormtroopers can be obnoxious at times, especially Megane, but let's not forget that "obnoxious" is a given in this series. It is part of the title after all.

FLCLGainax wrote:

The rest of the franchise, not so much. It's a bit juvenile by comparison.

A difficulty for newcomers to UY is the animation quality and tone of the first twenty to thirty episodes which were quite different from the rest of the series. Those are, in my opinion, rather juvenile. I highly suggest to any newcomer to be patient in the beginning. Some of the middle episodes by Mamoru Oshii are amazing, such as "After you've gone", "And Then There was Nobody!?" or "Pitiful! Mother of Love and Banishment!?". The later is as much cerebral as Oshii's Beautiful Dreamer .

I love Maison Ikkoku the manga. It's one of my all-time favorites and I can go back every few years because it's storytelling is pure quality. I've never seen more than a third of the TV series, but I'm very fond of the japanese opening and endings.

Ranma 1/2 was another one of those series I adored watching on French television back in the early nineties. I adored the banter between Ranma and Akane and was quite fond of the japanese openings and endings when I saw some episodes in Japanese for the first time. The second movie also had some great fanservice with all of the main girls in hot suits and plenty of cleavage!

To my shame, I have never seen Mermaid's scar, even though I've seen all the other Rumik World OVAs (my favorites are probably Fire Tripper and Maris the Chôjo).

Inuyasha..... I don't know, I never got into that series. I read the first manga volume in Japanese and English back in the late nineties when it came out and some episodes of the first season, but I never got hooked by the premise of a young girl falling back into wartime Japan and meeting a half dog-demon nor by the main characters. I guess it's due to my lack of interest for stories with strong japanese folklore/fantasy settings and because I sensed some recurrency in the tropes used in the story. If Inuyasha had been my first Takahashi show, I'd probably like it more and think less highly of UY and Ranma.

@Spastic Minnow

Yotsuya is an irritant to you and UY gets too obnoxious too often ... and nevertheless you like Nichijou with all its mean humour and completely whacky characters? ^^;

killjoy_the wrote:

Remember last week when they asked for our opinion?

Here are the results, since they didn't put it in the article: animenewsnetwork.com/survey/836/result

Yeah, I want to add my voice to this. I’ve really enjoyed having the surveys back as part of The List. I’m hoping leaving out the survey results this week was just because Zac was rushed, and not because they’re going back to doing without. Certainly these last 2 surveys have generated lively discussion. Very Happy

Maison Ikkokku Is in my queue, heard good things, and InuYasha was the first long series anime I ever watched as an adult so it holds a special place in my heart. The other shows are all new to me.

I consider the anime and manga versions of Takahashi's stories different beasts since most adaptations of her series feel significantly different in some way, whether it's Oshii jamming in his own ideas and characters in UY or Ranma 1/2 being half-comprised of anime-original episodes.

That said, my rankings of her major series do remain the same across versions. Urusei Yatsura is far and away my favorite for its creativity and characters, and while its mostly a goofy comedy the emotional episodes like "After You're Gone", "I Love Darling's Sincerity", and of course The Final Chapter film really left a huge impression on me.

For the longest time I'd have considered Maison Ikkoku my second favorite because of how strong Godai and Kyoko's relationship is, but the more time goes on, the more I consider InuYasha to be my second favorite of her works. I feel the memes about InuYasha's length and repetitiveness have clouded genuine appraisal of the series' merits. It's filled with a lot of short but fun arcs that play upon Takahashi's love of horror, japanese folk lore, and monsters in fun ways. It has some incredible character writing (especially for Sesshomaru, who is one of Takahashi's best-written characters), and while the series does drag its feet in the middle, both its first and last thirds are strongly plotted and the final arc is especially satisfying. I started reading and watching her stuff all around the same time, but I definitely find myself thinking about InuYasha the most out of all her series besides UY.

After IY, Ranma 1/2 would be my third favorite because I find it a reliably funny sitcom with a great eccentric cast of characters. Maison Ikkoku would be fourth because while I do like it a lot, and I think the Godai and Kyoko relationship is the best developed and most maturely written of her romances, I find that I don't think about it as much beyond the last, really emotionally-satisfying stretch of it, and there aren't as many other characters that I remember as fondly in contrast to her other series' memorable casts of dozens.

Rinne is my fifth favorite because it's as good a sitcom as Ranma 1/2, though it's more of a dry style of humor compared to the slapstick of Ranma, but while I do like it there isn't as much of an emotional grounding as there is compared to her other stuff (best reflected by how Sakura is just kind of stoic and nonplussed by most things going on in the series in contrast to Takahashi's previous fiery and passionate heroines). After Rinne is where I put Mermaid Saga, One-Pound Gospel, and the Rumic Theather stuff. I like them all and they're all great short stories, but I admit her longer stuff leaves the most impression on me and fit the mold of the stuff I tend to think about and revisit most.

So, TL;DR, I'd go:

1. Urusei Yatsura
2. InuYasha
3. Ranma 1/2
4. Maison Ikkoku
5. Rin-ne
6. Mermaid Saga
7. One-Pound Gospel
8. Rumic World, Rumic Theater, & other short stories

Regardless of my preferences, I love all of Rumiko Takahashi's series and I'm always excited to see people write or talk about them. I enjoyed the list - InuYasha's inclusion felt a bit disingenuous since I remember Zac being dismissive of it and saying he hadn't watched much of the series back in the Rumiko Takahashi ANNCast, but I enjoyed the rest of the descriptions and really appreciated the love channeled for what makes the Godai and Kyoko relationship in MI special especially. I'm really glad that basically all of Takahashi's manga will be back in print starting next year, but I do really hope that the UY and MI anime will get reliscensed sometime soon too.

Swissman wrote:

@Spastic Minnow

Yotsuya is an irritant to you and UY gets too obnoxious too often ... and nevertheless you like Nichijou with all its mean humour and completely whacky characters? ^^;

It’s been a long time since I I’ve seen Maison Ikkoku but I can't seem to remember Yotsuya and others ever acting like lovable prankster trolls. More like bullies who might pull down Godai's pants and laugh at him for letting it happen.

I'm slowly crawling through Maison Ikkoku; not because I don't enjoy it, but because it's a good show to take your time on. Hope Viz rereleases the manga soon, and also on the Kindle. Also, the anime's OPs and EDs are GREAT. Yes, that includes that one episode with "Alone Again (Naturally)" as the OP.

Some people have been recommending One Pound Gospel. Is it that good? I've never even heard of it.

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