Ranma 1/2: An Overview

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

I'm Elke, and I'm driving for Ranma 1/2 this month, a fandom devoted to the manga and anime series created by Rumiko Takahashi. In its heyday it was anything but a small fandom, but activity has tapered off over the years, and most US media fans aren't familiar with anime fandoms, so here we go... I'm going to try to provide a cross-section of the fandom's classic and noteworthy stories in every genre this month. I'm a firm believer in IDIC and the various pairings (or threesomes) are all of interest to me... many fans stick strongly to a specific OTP in this fandom, or work hard to pair everyone in canon off with someone, while others break everyone up and thrive on the angst.



Ranma's a teenaged martial artist, being raised by his nomadic father to be a man among men. One problem: he's been cursed to turn into a buxom redheaded girl (see above) every time he's splashed with cold water, and it takes a splash of hot water to turn him back. Another problem: His father Genma has engaged Ranma to Genma's best friend Soun's tomboyish daughter Akane (see above, holding her pet pig P-Chan, who is more than he appears). However, that's not the only promise Ranma's father made... just how many fiances does Ranma have, anyway? And that isn't all... to describe Ranma's life with the words "utter chaos" wouldn't be an understatement.

The curses in Ranma 1/2 are from Jusenkyo, a martial arts training ground in China known for its cursed springs and tall bamboo poles. If you fall into one of the springs, you are cursed to turn into whatever creature drowned there long ago. It's a "very tragic story".

It's very important to note that turning into a cursed form does not usually affect a character's mind... for instance, Mousse's duck form can still understand spoken and written language, but he's unable to speak simply because duck vocal chords are insufficient to the task, and Ranma still thinks of himself as male even when he's transformed into a girl. "I'm a guy, OK!?!" There are certain odd circumstances that provide exceptions to this, but they're rare.

There are 38 volumes of manga (graphic novels) originally published in Japan in Shonen Sunday. The anime series, usually billed now as a "romantic martial arts comedy" in the US, ran for a total of 161 televised episodes from 1989-1992 in Japan, and there are also three feature films and 11 OAVs (original animated videos). Dozens of CDs have been released with music from the anime and movies. The distributor of the English language manga and subbed/dubbed anime DVDs for Ranma 1/2 is Viz Communications.

I'm not familiar with the Japanese-language fandom for Ranma 1/2, but I understand that there is quite an abundance of fan-made manga, called doujinshi, along with text-based fanfiction, and there is utterly gorgeous work made by fan artists and vidders around the globe.

The English-language fandom was most active during the mid- to late-1990s, on USENET and a few specific mailing lists, and then transitioning onto the web. Since the Viz DVDs have become widely available, there is also a new crop of writers unfamiliar with the abundance of wonderful stories which were originally posted on USENET.

Most fics which include pairings are Ranma with a female character from canon, but since Ranma is physically a girl about half the time, sometimes they're not het in the ways which US media fans would expect. There are stories which pair Ranma up with males from canon, though many of them use his girl-form. There is femslash, slash, and stories incorporating original characters and crossovers with other anime series as well. There really are a near-infinite number of pairings in this fandom, even including doppleganger Akanes or boy-Ranma/girl-Ranma. Authors usually used the anime-fandom conventions of labelling adult content fics lime or lemon, depending on how explicit they were, and most of those fics are set slightly after existing canon, so that the teenaged characters are college-age or older. I'll be doing my best to approximate ratings into the G-PG-PG13-R-NC17 spectrum when I post recs.

Character Descriptions, The Short Version

There are a lot of characters in this fandom. I'm hoping to cover the more common ones, to give new fans enough information to enjoy the fics I'll be recommending without being familiar with the entire storyline, or knowing every character who appears in either the manga or the anime. Most of these characters appear during the first two seasons of the anime, but I've tried to leave out spoilers for later plot developments.

Clockwise from top: Genma-panda, Mousse, Ryoga, Akane, Ranma girl-type, Shampoo, Ukyo, Ranma boy-type in center

Top left to right: Ranma, Shampoo, Happosai, Dr. Tofu, Akane, Kuno, Kasumi

Bottom left to right: Ryoga, Nabiki, Genma-panda, Ukyo, Mousse and Mousse duck-type, Cologne, Akari

Character Descriptions, The Long Version

(boy-type Ranma) (girl-type and boy-type Ranma) (girl-type Ranma)	Ranma Saotome - Engaged to Akane and Ukyo by his father, and to Shampoo by combat, he is heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. His curse turns him into a buxom redheaded girl. His father's insistence that he study a special Cat-Fu technique resulted in an overpowering fear of cats. He's usually confused by girls in his life, he calls Akane "uncute" most of the time, he doesn't feel ready to marry anyone until he's a full man free of his curse, and frankly... he's at the center of chaos, constantly, and at least some of it is not his fault. Also known as Ranma-chan (girl type) or Ranma-kun (boy type). In the manga, Ranma's girl type has black hair, and sometimes fanfic authors will denote which canon they are writing in by noting the color of her hair, since certain episodes were placed in different order in the anime than they had appeared in the manga. It's also a hint as to whether authors during the beginning of English-language Ranma fandom were writing from manga scanlations or fansubbed anime. Another such hint is whether the Tendo and Saotome martial arts are called "Anything Goes Schools of Martial Arts" or "Schools of Indiscriminate Grappling" as many of the fan translations called them early on.
(girl-type Ranma and Akane) (Akane and boy-type Ranma)	Akane Tendo - Engaged to Ranma by her father, a tomboy and martial artist, she is the heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts and is none too comfortable now that more powerful martial artists have moved into her town, the Nerima ward in Tokyo. Prior to Ranma and Genma's arrival, she had been fighting off all of the boys of Furinken high school every morning, ever since Kuno had issued the challenge that if any of her schoolmates wanted to date her, they had to first defeat her in combat. Not unsurprisingly, she says that she hates boys. She also calls Ranma a pervert quite frequently. She adopts a small black piglet not realizing that it is Ryoga in cursed form, and although Ranma knows Ryoga's secret, he is honor-bound not to tell Akane, and this is a source of constant tension between the three of them. During the first few episodes, she has long hair, but it's cut by accident during a battle between Ranma and Ryoga, and for the rest of the series she wears a short haircut. Akane is mildly interested in domestic arts, but unlike her homemaking sister Kasumi she seems to have little to no natural talent, nor the patience to start with the basics and learn them first. Her cooking develops a well-earned toxic reputation over the course of the series.
(Ranma and Ryoga, rivals) (Ranma and Ryoga, allies) (P-Chan and the Jusenkyo Guide)	Ryoga Hibiki - Incredibly infatuated with Akane; sworn rival to Ranma because of their earlier bread feud and botched duel appointment, Ryoga is a usually-honorable martial artist with no sense of direction whatsoever. He can literally get lost trying to get from one room in a house to a connected room, but he makes up for this by traveling very determinedly and fairly quickly. His curse turns him into a cute little piglet, which Akane considers to be her pet P-Chan... oh, and his curse is "all Ranma's fault!" One of his special attacks is depression-based, and he fights using a very heavy umbrella and throwing bandanas, since he apparently wears an infinite supply of them tied around his forehead. If Akane is in danger, Ryoga will seldom fail to leap to her defense, even if he has to ally himself with Ranma, his rival. Every now and then he decides he cannot honorably go on being Akane's pet pig, but circumstances usually conspire against him, and she's so kind to P-Chan that Ryoga, ever a lost and lonely loner, cannot resist her. Also known as Ryouga, or P-Chan (literally "pig-cute") or more rarely, Charlotte (a nickname given to the piglet form by Azusa Shiratori, a martial arts figure skater with a habit of stealing and renaming anything she thinks is cute).
(Genma-panda, Akane, Soun Tendo, and Ranma)	Genma Saotome - Not the most honorable of men, he's married to Nodoka. Father to Ranma, student of Happosai, he had a tendency to betroth Ranma for food and/or money… and his curse turns him into a panda. Also known as "Mister Panda". Soun Tendo - Father of Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane Tendo, friend to Genma Saotome, student of Happosai, widowed and raising his girls alone.
("Ranko", Nodoka Saotome, and Akane)	Nodoka Saotome - Has sworn to hold her husband Genma and her son Ranma to their promise: to make Ranma "a man among men" or to commit seppuku. She doesn't know about their curses... yet. If she happens to encounter Ranma's girl type, she thinks her to be Akane's cousin "Ranko" who happens to have a pet panda. Also known as "Auntie Saotome" or "Someone Else's Wife" (when used on signs printed by Mister Panda).
	Nabiki Tendo - The ultimate capitalist, she loves money, and is not above selling cheesecake/beefcake photos of her sister's fiance to make a quick buck. Because the Kunos are rich, she manages to get quite a lot of money out of Tatewaki Kuno by selling photos of both Akane and Ranma's girl form. Nabiki is not simply motivated by greed, however; she is the only Tendo who is good with money, and viewers get the definite impression that she's the one keeping the Tendo Dojo from bankruptcy as well as paying for frequent repairs and the grocery bill, which increased significantly when Ranma and Genma came to live with the Tendos.
	Kasumi Tendo - The homemaker of the Tendo household after the death of her mother, Kasumi is calm to the point of complete obliviousness to the chaos around her, and she's really very sweet. Kasumi is the heart of the Tendo home.
	Tatewaki Kuno - Brother to Kodachi, upperclassman Kuno is never without his kendo sword. Rich and self-important, he is in love with both "the fair Akane Tendo" as well as Ranma's girl side, who he calls "the pig-tailed girl,". He is convinced that Ranma's boy side, "the foul sorcerer Saotome," is evil and must be punished for keeping the two loves of his life in thrall. Also know as "The Blue Thunder of Furinken High," in his own mind, at least.
	Kodachi Kuno - In love with Ranma's boy side, she wants his girl side dead. She's also good with plant-based poisons and gymnastics weapons, and keeps a man-eating crocodile she calls "Mister Green Turtle" as a pet at the Kuno mansion. Also known as "The Black Rose of St. Hebereke High" according to the other girls on her martial arts rhythmic gymnastics team.
	Shampoo - The beautiful Chinese Amazon defeated by Ranma in combat, twice... she vows to marry his boy side, and vows to kill his girl side, not knowing that the two are the same, following Ranma and Genma all the way from China to Nermima. Unable to either kill or marry Ranma, she returns to China for training, and ends up with a Jusenkyo curse which turns her into a cat. Her weapons of choice are bonbori or a large sword, when she's not glomping onto Ranma like a limpet. She returns to Nerima a second time, followed by her suitor Mousse and her great-grandmother Cologne, and they settle down to run a ramen shop until Shampoo can resolve her situation with Ranma. Also known as Shan-Pu, or Shampoo-neko (literally "Shampoo-cat").
	Mousse - Desperately in love with Shampoo, this hopelessly nearsighted master of hidden weaponry follows his beloved all the way from their Amazon village in China. His curse turns him into a duck, albeit a well-armed one. He considers himself to be Ranma's rival for Shampoo. Also known as Mu-Tzu, or "Mu-Mu-Chan" (approximately meaning "cute ducky").
	Cologne - Great-grandmother of Shampoo, an Amazon elder who is expert at many types of martial arts and special attacks, she calls Ranma "future son-in-law".
	Ukyo Kuonji - Was betrothed to Ranma by her father in exchange for her father's okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake-crepes, with meat and vegetables) cart... unbeknownst to Ranma at the time, who thought Ukyo was really a boy. When Genma left with the cart, she was dishonored and then began dressing and living as a boy, but when Ranma learns later that she's a girl, she becomes known as "the cute fiance". Her weapons of choice are her single oversized okonomiyaki spatula and her smaller throwing spatulas. Also known as Ukyou, or "Uchan" (usually when Ranma is trying to be familiar and/or to bum a free meal at her restaurant).
	Tsubasa Kurenai - At first appearing to be a lesbian very good with odd disguises, it's later revealed that Tsubasa is a straight guy who likes to cross-dress, and who is madly in love with Ukyo.
	Dr. Tofu - Family doctor of the Tendos as well as being a martial artist, his glasses fog up and his higher mental functions fade when he's near his true love, Kasumi. Happosai - the founder of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, he has an unhealthy habit of collecting women's lingerie, stealing food and being a peeping tom. He's the martial arts master to Soun and Genma, and Ranma calls him "the old lech". Akari Unryu - A farm girl who raises sumo pigs, she is determined to marry a man who can beat her champion pig... namely, Ryoga. Konatsu - The most beautiful ninja in his family, he looks like a girl and is rather like Cinderella, thrown out of the family tea shop by his ugly stepsisters, he works for Ukyo and practically worships her. There are a huge number of other other minor characters. The best character descriptions available online are probably at Ranma 1/2 Perfect Edition.

Fandom Resources: Major Fic Archives and Links Collections

Note that some of these links are PG-rated genfic sites, but other links include hard-core adult fiction. I've tried to label them as appropriately as possible.

• An excellent character introduction/overview at Ranma 1/2's Perfect Edition


• The Ranma 1/2 FAQ


• Asagiri Kendai's Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction Site - an excellent couple of overview pages about Ranma and genres of fanfiction, as well as excellent links collections.


• /pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma - huge FTP archive of gzipped fanfics (note that you can put any URL from that archive into your browser's Location bar and remove the .gz file extension to view the file in plaintext)


• The Penultimate Ranma Fanfic Index - an absolutely incredible site


• Taleswapper's Tribute to the Best Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction - essays, meta-discussion about the most influential fanfic in the fandom, reviews, awards and links; Taleswapper was incredibly active in the very heart of Ranma fandom from 1995 to 1998


• A Long Strange Webpage - includes The Authors Encyclopedia, with overviews and links to the writers of the FFML (Fanfic Mailing List), one of the few epicenters of Ranma 1/2 fandom in the mid-1990s


• AnimeInfo.org's Ranma 1/2 Library A-L and M-Z - archive of fanfiction organized alphabetically by title


• The Tigress and Swan is a Shampoo/Mousse fanfiction directory, organized alphabetically by author - A-L and M-Z


• Philip Mak has both a Ranma/Ukyo directory and a Ranma/Shampoo directory


• Sakura Lemon Fanfic Archive - Ranma 1/2 (adult content only)


• Ranma 1/2 Lemon Stories Archive (adult content only)


• More lemon fics, at the FTP archive (adult content only)


• Anime Fanservice Image Gallery (formerly Nerima Ecchi Records Vault) - includes a gallery of canon Ranma 1/2 image screencaps, as well as Ecchi Edits (manipulated images, adult content).


• (if you're very brave, or very foolish, or driving crack_van for a month in Ranma 1/2) Ranma stories on fanfiction.net


• Vincent's Ranma 1/2 Anime Nexus Favorite Links - a collection of organized Ranma 1/2 links


• Andrew Huang's Ranma Fanfic Links - another good links page


• Anime Web Turnpike's Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction Pages links collection


• Anime Sekai has a good collection of links as well


• AAAnime Net's Ranma 1/2 Fanfics - beware, this page is a decent collection of links, but many of them are dead


• If you are looking for fan-made songvids (often called AMVs for anime fandoms, for Anime Music Videos) for Ranma 1/2, look no further than AnimeMusicVideos.Org, since it hosts and links to a huge collection of vids, in all sorts of anime fandoms.

If I've missed any significant resources in this fandom, please accept my apologies... and please enlighten me in the comments here!

Comments

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Haha!! Poor Ranma. Although, I suppose if a boy had to be a girl half the time, a buxom redhead is nothing to complain about. ;)

Thanks for this great overview, Elke!!

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

You're quite welcome! I'm going to have so much fun this month!!

[norabombay.livejournal.com]

Accccccckkkkk The memories.

It's been a decade since I last saw a Ranma Episode. But it's all flowing back to me.

Nice write up.

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[flambeau.livejournal.com]

P-chan! *nostalgia*

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

Hee! I know... I love this fandom!

[grimorie.livejournal.com]

Eee! Ranma in crack_van! Mad, mad love for this show.. to this day I'm collecting everything Ranma... My sweet, sweet, big mouthed boy XDD

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

*big happy grin*

I finally kept my promise to myself and bought all of the DVDs about a year ago.

[ebonbird.livejournal.com]

Screams of 'bakabakabakabakabaka!' and 'kawaiiikunneeeeeee' are ringing in my mind's ears.

Also, in the manga, the color of Ranma (girl-type) isn't specified.

I'm so excited that this 'dom is being explored here.

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

*happy smile*

Thanks. I was actively reading in the fandom from about 1996-1997 and was watching rented VHS as they were released, and then started again in 2003 when I started reading the manga and buying the DVDs. Most of what I know about the manga I learned from other fans who were reading scanlations back in the '90s, or from the websites I've linked above... I'm still on volume 12 because I'm reading them in order via the Viz rereleases. I know the anime pretty much backwards and forwards.

Hee! I know what you mean about mind's ears... "What'd you do that for?!"

[skywardprodigal.livejournal.com]

Oh man. Wow. MEMORIES.

Um. Were any stories recced for this 'dom?

I can get on board with this either way.

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

Here you go. (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=crack_van&keyword=Ranma+1/2+Fanfic+Recs&sortby=des)

I finally have all of the manga now. *cuddles it*