IMDB listed Connections

 I happened to be browsing the International Movie Database today and noticed a couple new connections to Ranma. Here is from there:

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Spirited Away (2001)

Special Collector's Edition: Matilda (2011)
DVD mentioned

Far (2012)
David decribes this show to Hannah

I hadn't listed any of these in my list of Ranma references because I either missed the reference (A.I. and Spirited Away) or have not seen the movie/that version (I've seen Matilda but not the DVD version).

Casey and Andy - Ranma reference

I was reading webcomic called Casey and Andy yesterday and noticed a reference to Ranma ½. In strip 242, Andy has acquired water from the spring of the drowned girl and has the idea to sell it to transsexuals. I archive binged through the entire web comic and found it to be fairly enjoyable though it doesn't make it anywhere near the top of my list of webcomics to read (were I to have such a list).

Sorry about the long hiatus between posts. I just didn't feel like writing pretty much at all this year. I was browsing the web last night and found a few people have still been reading my blog. I encountered at the Ranma wikia (a site I was unaware it existed until just recently): Outside References to Ranma ½ which clearly had an editor that had viewed my blog since most of the references mentioned are mentioned by me in this blog and the same pictures, cropped the same way, were used. I also found out that Tvtropes has a few links to my blog as well as wikipedia (though strangely the wikipedia ones are not English language ones). Even though I have not been actively writing this blog for some time interest in it seems to be increasing since I'm getting more hits according to the stats and linked to more often and not just the Ranma posts some of my posts on Japanese culture and book commentary are being linked to quite a bit as well.

Blog not dead but very inactive

It has been a long time, nearly 6 entire months, since I last wrote a blog post. I did not intend to neglect this blog for so long it just kind of happened. While I have been reading fanfics almost none of them were Ranma fics. I still like Ranma ½ but the fan fics have far too much fanon and anime influence. I'm finding that they annoy me more than entertain me. I could have written about other things like Japan but with the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant problems thinking about Japan at the time was depressing.

I was reading volume 4 of A.I. Love you by Ken Akamatsu when I happened to notice that Hitoshi Kobe states that forty-chan has a Ranma complex. I find it a bit strange to call it a Ranma complex. Sure I suppose you could call a person who changes genders to have a Ranma complex but Ranma's personality doesn't change with the gender whereas this character's does.

A few things I feel like complaining about noticed in Ranma fanfics recently:
1. Stating that Chi and ki (sometimes though less often qi) are different things. They are the same thing. Similarly saying Chakra is different than ki rather annoys me since in Yoga chakra are the places where energy flows (prana -which is basically the same thing as ki) converge in the body. To be fair they are fictional universes in which the author can make it the way he or she wants but still I'd prefer if they did it in another way such as stating that there are multiple types of ki for example spirit ki and ki of the earth rather than using different languages/pronunciations of the same thing.

2. People complaining that Ranma is a god-like character. That annoys me only because Ranma pretty much is a god-like character in the manga. I wrote the post God like Ranma – writing about an over powered main character for a reason. That doesn't mean that Ranma is a faultless or incapable of making mistakes since he can. Ranma was overly skilled or powerful in the manga but he often limited himself in one way or another be it fighting defensively (defensive battles are generally harder than offensive ones); trying to avoid hurting, killing, or maiming his opponent (with very few exceptions mainly just on Saffron and that was only after he was running out of options since lesser force wasn't working); playing with his opponent or not taking his opponent seriously; being constrained by the rules of engagement (namely following the rules of the contest or limiting himself to the style); not using special techniques or his full abilities (for example he rarely hit people anywhere near as hard as he could since most fights do not have his opponents go flying with great force backwards like they did when he did hit them really hard - such as the time he hit Ryoga hard enough to go flying back into a cliff base with enough force to collapse the cliff onto Ryoga); hampered by his morals/conscience; using to little force (underestimating his opponents); etc.

3. This type of statement: Ranma wouldn't trust magic if his life depended on it.
- Ranma clearly trusts magic as much as he does anything else (Ranma is not a very trusting person though). In the manga it is pretty clear that he views magic as just another tool akin to a staff weapon or microwave. Ranma hasn't shown any reluctance to using magic (suggestion incense, magical weapons, girl repellent, etc.) That said Ranma is likely to be a little more cautious using it than say a nonmagic weapon or technology but that is only because magic is less known to him.

4. This type of statement in reviews just pisses me off: Ranma is way too knowledgeable in martial arts.
- Ranma's literal oldest memory is training. He has been training in martial arts for his entire life; religiously. He is devoted to martial arts to the point that it is the absolute most important thing he has. He'd rather die than give up martial arts and is willing to risk his life in the pursuit of it. That isn't even including that he is a very fast learner (stated multiple times).

5. I don't like the use of the terms master and grandmaster in Ranma fan fics because the titles really don't mean anything (often times people give themselves the title or they are given for some other reason other than ability level) and neither term really exists in Japanese or Chinese martial arts for that matter. They are western terms dating only back to around the 1950's.

Devil Hunter Yohko Ranma Reference

I watched Mamono Hantā Yōko (Devil Hunter Yohko) several years ago. It is a fairly good, short (6 episode), anime about a boy crazy sixteen year old girl who finds out that she is the 108th devil hunter in her family line. Her mother, Sayoko, would have been the 108th, but did not because a Devil Hunter must be a virgin to take on the power and responsibility. Even though the anime is short there are significant changes between the first and last episode. The most obvious is the art shift as the anime goes along the main character looks younger and the tone changes some possibly to appeal to a younger demography.

It has been recently brought to my attention that there is a Ranma ½ reference in the anime that I did not catch when I had watched it. Evidently, as can be seen in the picture above, behind the alarm clock that wakes up Yohko there is a stack of Ranchi ⅓ manga. They even match the older style manga of Ranma ½.

Filthy Lies webcomic Ranma reference

There are good webcomics and bad webcomics; most are somewhere in between. The defunct webcomic Filthy Lies is closer to bad than good. While it does have a few alright strips; I would not recommend that people read it. I can't relate with any of the characters. It is pretty vulgar, blasphemous, crude, and distasteful. One thing it does have going for it is a Ranma reference though, see the strip above that has a picture of a pig that looks like P-chan.

Well on the subject of Webcomics; My preferred method of reading webcomics is in large chunks offline. I most often use dial-up and require the use of the phone so reading them online is more of an annoyance. I tend to first check to see if a torrent of a webcomic exists (provided it is without good annotations). If a torrent does not exist I tend to downloaded it with the webcomic downloader Woofy. Which is more annoying than via torrents since many have to be add in manually and the program is no longer updated (or downloadable from that site). If I can't download it with Woofy; I'll use a program that saves websites like HTTrack Website Copier. That is even more annoying though since those programs download more than just the comic (which is time consuming on dial-up but I do occasionally have access to higher speed via other peoples computers and will download them on theirs).

Rosario + Vampire Season II Ranma reference

I have not read any of the Rosario + Vampire manga. Someone e-mailed me the above page from that manga since it does somewhat resemble Ranma and Genma and I have been listing possible Ranma references in other works.

Ranma Robot Chicken Sketch

At the 2009 Anime Expo, which is an American anime convention, a Robot Chicken preview was shown that had a mention to Ranma ½ (can be seen in the video above). I have never been to an anime/game/comic book/star trek/etc. convention. I don't really know what the experience would be like, considering I really dislike crowded places, I probably would not enjoy it all that much (that and they cost money, which I do not have very much of). While most of them are thousands of miles away, in places like California, there have been some at hotels in my area (less than 10 minute drive) just a few years ago. While I don't know of any that close in the last couple of years, there was an anime convention, at the beginning of June, a little more than an hours drive away.

As for Robot Chicken; I don't really like the show. I like when Ranma is mentioned/referenced in other media though. I also like that they didn't really attack Ranma ½ like they often do other shows.

Shortpacked!

Shortpacked! is a webcomic set in a toy store. The main character of the comic is a rabid collector of action figures. I find this web comic to be humorous on occasion. Since it is about toys, most often action figures in particular, it makes many references to anime, cartoons, science fiction, and comic books. I particularly like the spoofing of Batman. I also find that earlier pages are more amusing than the more recent ones.

I personally don't collect action figures. I only have a few, a Ryoko figurine from Tenchi Muyo and a few Star Trek ships. I was never really that interested in action figures. Partially because they cost too much and I have no place in which to put them. Sure I had some toy soldiers and teenage mutant ninja turtle action figures but I mostly played video games, baseball, and read books when I was young. My toys of choice was a rubber baseball and deck of cards (I used to build castles out of cards but haven't done that in years).

This comic does make mention of Ranma. The picture of the top, while not anywhere near the best this strip has, mentions Ranma. The link to the strip is here: http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20050914.html

Ben Dunn Ranma Connection

Ben Dunn creator of Ninja High School, a pretty good comic book (though I've only seen a few issues), based his comic partially on Takahashi's work. He mostly did it on Urusei Yatsura but there are references on Ranma. The picture above is taken from his book How to Draw Manga. The character looks a lot like Ranma's girl form. It mentions on the page that he recommends that you emulate your favorite manga character. In his works he does have cameo's from shows or manga so if you decide to read one of his comic books (manga style though) be on a look out for them.

I had gotten the book with the intention of drawing my own webcomic of sorts but I can't draw that well. Art was always my worst subject. I could, I suppose, draw a stick figure comic or a cut and paste type but I don't like them as much as actual drawings.

Speed Racer Ranma reference

Near the end of the new Speed Racer movie, there is a scene in a hotel room where Ninja's attack them. The ninja goes flying and things fall from his pockets, amongst the things that fall from his pockets is his keys which has a P-chan key ring (pictured above).

Ranma on Sluggy Freelance

In the comic Sluggy FreeLance, The character Zoe in her first appearance can be seen wearing a Ranma ½ Tee-Shirt. Ranma is mentioned at other times as well, there is a panda holding a sign with words, the alien eat the one characters Ranma ½ comics, etc. It's an alright comic and has a lot of references to things I like; Star Trek, Ranma, X-files, Twilight Zone, Vampires, Zombies, etc., but most of all a killer rabbit.

Sailor Ranko

I've been listing things that reference Ranma ½ for awhile now. This time it's more than just a reference or cameo. The Sailor Ranko webcomic is entirely about Ranma. It is based on a fan fic series by the same name. The fan fic that this is based on is pretty good though does contain more fanon than I would like and is more anime based than manga based. The comic itself is alright though I dislike the page where Ranma is being tutored in basic multiplication since he must be quite a bit more advanced than that just to be in the grade he is in.

Reisei to Jounetsu no Aida

The Japanese Drama Reisei to Jounetsu no Aida (Between Calmness and Passion) shows Ranma 1/2. I have not seen this movie and from what I read about it I don't really want to but Ranma is seen playing on the Television in the movie pictured above and below.

Slayers Ranma references

The above two pictures are of Sherra, the second general of Dynast Grausherra, in the Slayers novels. If you have not noticed Sherra looks an awful lot like Ranma-onna. This is probably not a coincidence. The artist, Rui Araizumi, that drew the characters for the Slayers novels also drew Ranma hentai doujinshi, more specifically Ran Ran Ran F.

Another Slayers - Ranma ½ connection is that Ranma-onna's anime seiyū (voice actress) and Lina Inverse's anime seiyū are the same person, Megumi Hayashibara.

There are also two twin girls, Mimi and Nene, in a Slayers Next episode (The Forbidden Dance? Where is the Strongest Spell?) that bear a striking resemblance to Shampoo from Ranma ½. Whether that is a coincidence or not is unknown. They are pictured below.

Ranma on One Pound Gospel

In the live action Japanese Drama 1 pound no Fukuin (one pound gospel), Uedo is seen reading a volume of Ranma 1/2.

Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century

In the 6th comic of Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century, a red haired female green lantern in the future travels around with a panda named Gen'ma. This is very likely a reference to Ranma.

Ranma referenced on anime arcadia

The webcomic Anime Arcadia made a mention of Ranma. The comic was about a guy who drew a cat girl and it came to life. I liked the comic but it appears to have disappeared, which is why I have now taken to saving comics on my hard drive (it's to bad I started doing that after this one disappeared), and is no longer being updated. If I remember correctly it had three different people draw it.

Megumi Hayashibara (Autobiographical Comic)

Ranma's female voice in the anime is done by Megumi Hayashibara who is (probably) the most famous voice actress in Japan. She has done voices for many other characters in other series as well for example she was Lina Inverse in Slayers and Rei Ayanami of Neon Genesis Evangelion amongst many others. In her autobiographical comic she mentions Ranma as seen in the above strip taken from her manga.

Ranma referenced in Hayate no Gotoku!

Hayate no Gotoku! also known as Hayate the Combat Butler has many references to other anime and parodies other anime. There are a couple of references to Ranma in the show. In episode 6, 17 minutes in, there is a Ranma statue and in episode 20, 5 minutes in, one of the books in the library is Ranma ½.

Ranma Simpsons

According to tv.com:

In the Mexican version of the Simpsons episode 242 Pygomoelian, the Doctor that Moe replaced in the soap opera said 'They can't replace me! I played the role of Doctor (??) and the voice of Ranma for the last (?) years!'. This was a play on the fact that the guy playing the voice of the Doctor in this episode was the same guy that made the voice of Ranma Saotome, lead character of an anime named Ranma 1/2 which played in Mexico for a while before this episode was made.

The above picture is a screen grab from the episode mentioned of the doctor that Moe replaced.