Ranma ½

Episode 10

I can only imagine the struggle among the staff when they realized how the figure skating arc would pace out. They'd have to make significant cuts to fit it all into two episodes, but a faithful recreation would leave the final two chapters of the battle's climax on their own. The action-oriented nature meant there were only a few minute's worth of material, dangling awkwardly at the start of a new arc. So they did something daring: they wrote new material.

I know. I know! It's a shocking idea. Garnishing Rumiko Takahashi's masterful work is a risky endeavor, as evidenced by the hit-or-miss nature of the old series' anime-original material. In that case, they moved the battle to a swimming pool instead of fighting it out on the ice floes of the shattered rink. Here, they really only needed to extend it by a few minutes so that Shampoo could break through the wall at the midpoint. They accomplish this by including a recap of the last episode and adding a few more interactions between the two teams.

Perhaps the most surprising thing is… it works! In fact, it may even improve things slightly, because it adds a bit more texture to Sanzenin and Azusa. Sanzenin assures Ranma that he's not a philanderer; he just loves and appreciates every woman, and that doesn't lessen or cheapen his feelings for whatever cute girl happens to be in front of him. Ranma, of course, calls bullshit, resorting to a headbutt to escape Sanzenin's embrace. While this justification is a classic for flirtatious characters, and not even far off from Kuno's excuses for how he can love Akane and Ranma at the same time, it speaks to his own arrogance. Ranma is extremely clear that he wants nothing to do with Sanzenin's kisses, but Sanzenin convinces himself that the issue is jealousy. He's such hot stuff, how could a woman say no in full sincerity!

Meanwhile, Ryoga's conversation with Azusa wraps up what has long been… not a plot hole exactly, but a minor story thread left unresolved. Azusa noticing him wearing Charlotte's collar was a one-off gag, quickly dismissed in the heat of the battle. Now they have time to talk, and Azusa wants to know just where her little piggy is. Perhaps it's slightly uncharacteristic how quickly Ryoga thinks on his feet, coming up with the story that he let Charlotte go because he felt bad for it and kept the collar as a trophy. After all, quick thinking and creativity are not Ryoga's strong suit. Still, Azusa's fury is a thing to behold, ramping up the episode's tension.

Meanwhile, Ryoga has still gotten it into his head that if he beats Ranma here, he'll win the right to date Akane. Uh-oh, Ryoga! You seem to have mistaken Akane for a championship belt and not a living, breathing human being with her own thoughts and feelings. However, for all that he's acting pretty sexist and totally misguided, his desperation to both avoid falling in the water and to overcome Ranma, combined with his superhuman strength, makes for some very solid action. The corresponding fight in the manga is, frankly, a bit confusing to read, but the consistently strong direction here made it much clearer and easier to follow.

The fight comes screeching to a halt when Akane throws a chunk of ice at them, stopping Ryoga from straight-up murdering Ranma in her name. She doesn't know this display of unfettered machismo is over her, but she's frustrated and upset that the boys are fighting for seemingly no reason when they were supposed to be a team! Ryoga promises a “good chat” after the battle, but when his attack on Ranma cracks the ice, Akane falls into the water. Yep, you guessed it, she can't swim and needs to be rescued. Ryoga jumps in without hesitation, an impulse that would have gotten him caught had Akane not been occupied with trying not to die. Considering he correctly identified earlier that she would probably be shocked and horrified that she had unknowingly been letting a teenage boy sleep in her bed, this was an honorable impulse that would have gone extremely badly for him under other circumstances.

It all works out in the end, with Sanzenin hospitalized, Azusa distracted with a new cute thing, and the status quo between Ranma, Ryoga, and Akane reestablished. That is until a beautiful girl wearing Chinese clothing and blurple hair comes literally busting in, announcing her intent to kill Ranma.

If this were taped before a live studio audience, this would be one of those moments where the audience would clap and cheer so much that the cast would have to freeze for an awkwardly long time before continuing on with their lines. It's the fan-favorite Shampoo! She's here! She's cute! She's unafraid to commit murder! Needless to say, Ranma is not stoked about her arrival. You see, she's a Chinese Amazon (a term invented for the English version, though I'm not sure what the original name of her tribe would translate to) and ever since Ranma ate her first prize and beat her in a tournament, she's honor-bound to chase him down to the ends of the earth and kill him.

The conversation around Shampoo and the representation of China in general in Ranma ½ is fraught and this review is getting long, so I'll save that conversation for next week. For now, I'll just grab my three-flavor Christmas popcorn bucket and settle back for the “best girl” conversations.

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Ranma ½ is currently streaming on Netflix.