When you think of Rumiko Takahashi, what comes to mind?
Her representative works split neatly by generation: "Urusei Yatsura" is the '80s. "Ranma 1/2" is the '90s. "Inuyasha" is the 2000s. "Rin-ne" is the 2010s. ("Maison Ikkoku" is certainly a representative work too, but it's hard to categorize. My apologies, fans.) And recently, just when Urusei Yatsura got remade, now a Ranma 1/2 remake has been announced, becoming a hot topic lately.
The '90s anime "Ranma 1/2" had an incredibly lavish voice cast: Kappei Yamaguchi as the male Ranma, the protagonist. Megumi Hayashibara as the female Ranma. Noriko Hidaka as the heroine Akane Tendo. Rei Sakuma as Shampoo. Toshihiko Seki as Mousse. Koichi Yamadera as Ryoga Hibiki, and even just naming a portion of the cast, it's all people who count as legendary voice actors today.
For that cast to carry over as-is, there's no greater joy for fans.
The Ranma 1/2 TV anime began in 1989, and after passing episode 18, it shifted to the evening time slot, gained the subtitle "Netto-hen" (Heated Battle Arc), which ran a full 143 episodes. Later it earned considerable acclaim with 11 OVAs and 3 theatrical films.
You probably already know the story of Ranma 1/2 without my having to explain it, but it's a strange slice-of-life romantic comedy between Ranma Saotome, a martial artist who turns into a woman when splashed with water (and back into a man with hot water), and Akane Tendo, his fiancée (decided arbitrarily by their parents).
Early on, Ranma said he'd rather die than dress like a woman, but episode by episode, he ends up wearing leotards and bunny-girl outfits even in female form, gradually losing his fixation on being male. And being strong, this Ranma is especially popular with girls. He's cute in female form too, so he's popular then as well.
Now, let me introduce this score. This time the soundtrack is from the original "plain" version of Ranma 1/2, before the "Netto-hen" subtitle was added.
The composer is Eiji Mori. Besides Ranma 1/2, he's taken part in all sorts of works. From 1989, there's "YAWARA!"; others include "Kimi ni Todoke" and the Chinese drama "The Advisors Alliance," making him quite a versatile person.
Once Ranma 1/2 reaches the Netto-hen, Kenji Kawai and Akihisa Matsuura join the music, but since this is the plain version, I'll skip introducing them.
Let's listen to the score right away. First, Track 3, "Father-Daughter Squabble Sends the Panda Running."
Even people who don't know Ranma will probably recognize this track. It's BGM used in things like animal-introduction videos shown on TV.
You've probably also heard Track 4, "Who'd Be Engaged to a Guy Like This," right? This one seems like it'd be used in videos of siblings or animals bickering.
In any case, the new "Ranma 1/2" everyone's curious about begins airing in October 2024.
Quoted from the official site https://ranma-pr.com/
