You know my normal philosophy is to not use the “Season Finale” header if there’s no official announcement of a sequel yet. But with Ranma ½ I really feel like it’s a very safe bet. In addition to the inherent logic that you wouldn’t have rebooted this long-finished chestnut if you had no plans to do the whole thing, that reboot is actually doing very well. It’s been one of the more heavily-merchandised anime franchises in Japan this past year, to the point where it’s surprised me a bit. And with a manga that’s been finished for decades, I have to think that was a pretty big piece of the financial puzzle.
MAPPA has generally done a nice job with Ranma ½ on the production side, but this episode was possibly the most impressive visually. The action scenes were seriously good – fluid, detailed, gorgeously choreographed. No big surprises in terms of the story, even if you aren’t a franchise veteran. I mean, I don’t imagine most people thought Akane was actually going to turn into a duck (though that does beg the question of where the actual duck came from). I mean, that would kill the joke that drives the premise, pretty much.
I have to say, on the whole I liked this season less than the first, largely because of which characters it focused on. Tatewaki, Mousse, Cologne, Happosai – none of them do much for me. I will say that either the reboot is minimizing Happosai exposure or my memory was just faulty, because I would have sworn he was a lot bigger presence in the story that he’s been so far. But Mousse pretty much dominated the final arc, and Tatewaki had his own as well. The thing is, Ryouga is actually a likeable guy but Mousse and Kunou are just kind of comic book jerkwads. And I don’t even have to get started with Cologne.
The thing about Mousse is, he really is a sneaky, underhanded guy. All his so-called fighting techniques are just basically a cross between prop comedy and abject cheating. Ryouga and even Tatewaki – to give him his due – do try and be genuine martial artists. Mousse just wants to win at any cost. The to the point where he tells Ranma mid-skirmish that he’d be thrilled to have Ranma let him win – which was the reason Akane set up the duel in the first place – of it meant he could date Shampoo (as she promised if he was the winner).
I guess in the end I sort of feel sorry for Mousse, because he’s more pathetic than anything else. He’s got it beyond bad for Shampoo, and pity is the best he can over hope for from her (indeed, he eventually gets it). But considering her background, trying to win her over by being a cheater is a fundamentally dumb idea to begin with. Shampoo is madly in love with Ranma of course but she doesn’t turn herself into a joke to try and win him over. She just assumes Ranma will eventually succumb to her feminine charms (which are considerable) and ramen.
Beyond that, of course we got our fair share of signature Rumiko screwball comedy here: Mousse dropping in on the bike, the wedding, the exploding eggs (duck eggs?), Ryouga’s omiyage froom the wrong prefecture. That’s the bread and butter of Ranma ½ of course, which is why it so perfectly fills the Witch Watch slot on the schedule (which perfectly filled the Ranma slot – hopscotch would be fine with me, but next season they’re both off, sadly). It’s a great show to finish the week on. I’ll always be partial to InuYasha where Rumiko’s shounen oeuvre is concerned, but among her comedies Ranma ½ has the most charm. Here’s hoping the next round of it comes sooner rather than later.
