It’s hard to beat this Ranma remake for pure, check your brain at the door type fun. Yeah, the more problematical parts of the manga are still to come but on balance, I think this may be better than the first series. The old seiyuu sound remarkably fresh and the new ones are thoughtfully chosen. Even the pre-open omakes are really on-point. When you have the director of Ginga e Kickoff at the helm, I guess it’s not surprising that you’d get something that makes the most out of the material.

Ryouga and Ranma really grow on you as a pair. Their comic chemistry may be as good as any couple in the series. The A-part this week is really a celebration of that, with Akane and the skater pair playing their foil. That said, Azusa and Mikado are really funny. Their seiyuu are chewing the scenery like Laffy Taffy, and Yuuki Aoi especially is delivering one hilarious punch after another. It’s Ryouga who really takes charge of things for a while, though Ranma comes up with the plan that turns the tables in their favor (which I think was just because he really wanted to punch Ryouga).

This culminates in a ridiculous scrum in a crevasse with Ryouga desperate to stay out of the (very) cold water. And then Mikado being carried off on a stretcher, with Azusa – who has the attention span of a gnat and half the intellect – falling for his blanket and forgetting all about Charlotte. Akane is justifiably miffed about being fought over like a doggie toy but to be fair, Ranma was kind of defending her along those lines so he deservers at least a little credit.

This is preamble, however, to the character introduction to come. And it’s a big one, maybe the biggest after the main pairing. If there was a consensus fan favorite character among this huge cast, I imagine it would probably be Shampoo (Sakuma Rei, still sounding great). She shows up at the school (busting in through a wall) and immediately sets about trying to kill female-form Ranma. He/she obviously knows Shampoo well, and after a series of evasions manages to give her the slip by hiding in a locker.

Happily this gives us another chance to experience Yamadera Koichi as the Jusenkyo Guide, in terms of laughs per minute of screen time maybe the funniest character and performance in the series. All of these China flashbacks have been pure hilarity and this was certainly no exception. Shampoo is the champion fighter from the village of Amazons (in China, mind you). Ranma (girl) challenges Shampoo to a battle after she and Panda-san eat the feast that was to serve as the prize for the martial arts tournament. Shampoo loses, and losing to an outsider is the ultimate humiliation among her people. So she gives Ranma the kiss of death and begins the hunt that will lead her all the way to Japan.

Eventually Shampoo finds her way to the dojo (having followed Genma). And upon finding Ranma there in boy form and having him kick her ass too, she goes for the same attack. But this time it’s most certainly not the kiss of death. Sakuma unleashes some pretty credible Mandarin here (she’s had a lot of time to practice) and it’s immediately clear Shampoo is going to be an impact player. I’m not as nuts for her as some, but she’s definitely a live wire and an integral part of this unfolding carnival of the absurd.