Ranma ½

Episode 16

Is Ranma ½ really back without a “Meet Ranma Saotome” segment that takes some wild swings? This episode opens with Akane strolling through a museum, admiring paintings of the cast based on famous works of art: Akane in her gi as Mona Lisa, Ranma looking over his shoulder a la “Girl with the Pearl Earring,” and finally, Ranma as a girl with cat-Shampoo curled up on his belly, posed like “Ophelia.” Considering the conservatism of the adaptational choices outside of Ichiro's ever-present color commentary, these opening bits feel like the staff's biggest opportunity to be creative.

I can't even be mad this week, because seeing this arc animated feels like a long time coming. Allow me to explain.

By this point in the story, the original '80s adaptation had been canceled and revived as Ranma ½: Nettō-hen, which came with a noticeable drop in animation quality and action direction. In Rumiko Takahashi's original manga, the Cat Cafe moved to the beach for the summer, with the combined Tendo-Saotome clan following after them in pursuit of the Phoenix Pill that will allow Ranma to tolerate hot water enough to return to his male form.

However, water is hard to animate well. Fluid dynamics are tricky, and the arc's climactic battle takes place mostly on and in the ocean. Instead, the original anime's staff relocated the setting to a ski resort, transforming the martial arts watermelon race into a competition of carrying snowmen on skis. Not that the animation team was really up to the challenge of that either, but as the solid form of water, at least snow tends to stay predictably in one spot. Although I generally encourage anime to make smart departures from their original manga, the mountain setting felt like a step down. Imagine if I were the kind of person to get worked up about changing swimsuits to puffer jackets!

The gang heads to the beach, where Ichiro announces a watermelon-splitting race with a tantalizing first prize: a kiss from Shampoo! While Ranma initially plans to eschew the competition, Cologne (who I realized as I was watching has yet to actually have been named in the show, whoops) lets him know that she comes packaged with the Phoenix Pill. Naturally, Ranma enters, easily defeating the competition until Akane enters the fray, and she's not exactly seeking a smooch either. Though technically one of the smarter members of the cast, jealousy tends to make Akane lose her head. But even Soun, clad in a pink sunflower singlet, trying to make Ranma choose between the two, can't distract him from his goal; nothing makes Ranma focus quite like gender dysphoria. Just when he seems to have it in the bag, Cologne blocks him like a final boss.

Up to this point, I was vaguely disappointed with the episode. I was having fun, sure – when it comes to Ranma ½, it's rare for me not to enjoy it at least a little. However, the animation for the watermelon race was just kind of blah. Like the previous episode, it relied too much on still frames and other shortcuts. They avoid ever showing high-impact cuts, such as the sticks hitting the watermelon, robbing the race scene of the metaphorical impact as well.

But then Ranma and Cologne moved out to the water, and it became clear to me that this was the moment they had been saving all the juice for.

Cologne pretends to be cornered, but when Ranma agrees to marry Shampoo if she wins, she turns the tables right back around on him. She drags him into the sea, where she is just as formidable as on land, using her chi to attack him with waterspouts, watery shark-shaped attacks, and finally an actual shark. Ranma might have made it through the fight through sheer force of will, until Akane jumps in the water to try to help, because I guess she forgot she can't swim? Akane's intelligence seems to come and go based on what the plot needs at the moment. The water animation for this sequence is gorgeous, filled with brilliant blues and reflections. If you don't fight half-memorized like I do (this was in the first Ranma ½ manga volume I ever owned, which I read over and over), seeing the fight unfold is an absolute thrill, with its quick pace and rapid reveals.

Back on land, Shampoo tries to convince Ranma to give up, that he can't win against her great-grandmother, when he gets a great idea: with her help, he can unlock his ultimate technique. After him jumping into the water with her on his back only results in him running around shrieking like the little girl he appears to be, Akane shoves cat-Shampoo into his face, finally allowing him to unleash the cat fist and make short work of Cologne's shark buddy. Finally, the old woman admits defeat and gives up the pill, allowing Ranma to regain his manhood.

This arc brought in new characters and ideas, but it also marks the first time in the series that Ranma ever has to work for something. Ranma is a talented martial artist; after all, it's pretty much the only thing he's done since he was very small, when other children his age were busy having a childhood. He's arrogant, yes, but as we've seen, that arrogance is well-earned. Even in the arcs where he had to learn new techniques, such as rhythmic gymnastics and ice skating, he was mostly learning to work around them so he could make use of his fundamental skills.

However, that doesn't work with Cologne. She's as crafty as she is ancient, a pure martial artist like Ranma but with decades of training and experience. Ranma didn't just have to learn how to swing around an instrument, or kick like he always did, but this time with knives strapped to him; he had to tap into something much more fundamental to even get to the point where he could use his cat fist techniques. Even now, Cologne wasn't defeated so much as she conceded. Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire changes the way he fights, faster and more agile than he was before, and it will continue to affect his approach to battles throughout the series.

If the anime continues to follow the manga beat-for-beat, next up should be a Ryoga arc. I'm looking forward to seeing our favorite sopping wet cat… uh, pig.

Rating:

Caitlin Moore has been a fan of Ranma 1/2 since a two-episode VHS cost $30. She also writes and edits for Anime Feminist and posts pictures of her cat on her Bluesky.

Ranma ½ is currently streaming on Netflix.