Ranma 1/2 - Netflix Series Review
I’m actually really excited about this review! My first one for 2025 😆
I’ve never done an anime review but i had to make an exception because this one is part of my childhood and feel it was just meant for me
I was scrolling on twitter when i saw a comparison of Ranma 1/2 from the 90’s (technically ‘89 but for simplicity sake I’m gonna say 90’s) and the remake
REMAKE????
And it was gonna be on Netflix?! I was so shocked, it feels like it just came out of the blue!
I was also shocked because of all the anime’s from the 80s and 90s, why Ranma? The manga/anime is just so outrageous and out there and that's what I love about it! but it also seems because of those reasons, it couldn't be adapted for this day and age (If you read the manga or watched the older anime, you'll understand why I'm saying this 😑)
Ranma 1/2 was one of the mangas of my childhood. I signed them out religiously from my local library, found out there was an anime adaption and soaked that right up along with the following movies and OVAs & when i got older i bought the mangas for myself.
So yeah…safe to say…i love this series, know it pretty well and feel it’s my duty to give you guys my review on this remake
Before i give my review and talk about what i like and didn’t like about it…I just wanted to say, I am so happy that this remake exists!
I think it will introduce a lot of new people to Rumiko Takahashi and her other creations (Inuyasha ,(THE anime of the childhood! 😆)Mermaid Saga and more) and the older anime version of ranma1/2 and i think that is great!
Like i said before, the series is so outrageous and wild and hilarious and just so out there I was so afraid that the remake would remove and change some aspects of it that make the series what it is and I’m happy to say….that’s not the case here...at least not yet 🫣
there is a few changes from, at least, the older anime version, that may seem like nitpicks but I think have an affect on the characters and how we see them...
FOR EXAMPLE!
In the older animated version...
when Akane & Ranma go to school for the first time in the show, they are..."welcomed" by a whole group of boys that want to date Akane...
Akane fights the boys as Ranma watches from the sidelines, Nabiki tells Ranma to get to school or less he'll be late, Ranma said yeah he knows but is worried about Akane...
Nabiki reassures him that it's okay, it happens every morning...
Ranma turns his attention back to akane as she finishes up and he SMILES.
so this moment isn't in the manga but I think it's a really nice subtle change that works for the character and the story. It shows that Ranma has already started to fall for akane and one of things he likes about her is her strength
at least, that's what I got 😅
by not doing it, the remake does stay faithful to the manga but I feel takes away almost the likability of Ranma
also also...
CAN WE JUST APPRECIATE THE MUSIC Here?!
I talk about it a little later on but the piece of music here is the instrumental version of the intro and it just works so well!
It pops up every now and then throughout the older series and it's just, chef kisses really!
And with that...!
INTRO SONG
i will admit i was AT FIRST very judgemental cause the first opening song for 90s version is just perfection, it really does set the tone for the series and plus…they say Ranma in it so 10/10, no notes
it’s so quirky and fun, just take a listen…
So yeah safe to say trying to top this one is hard and while i don’t think the new one does…it’s finnnneee
After listening to it a couple times i came around to it and found myself kinda enjoying it. I also have to note here i do like the different intro summaries takes as well. The narration is the same but the style will either be as a video game, cutouts, I think there was magician version one... it sets it apart from the older version and it's fun
How about that ending song thougghhh..!
that got me instantly! I love it!
You could almost call it Akane's song cause when you translate it, it's really her inner thoughts and struggle with her feelings for Ranma. You may not feel it now but as the series (HOPEFULLY) goes on you realllyyy get it! It's just so good
This part of the show, ⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5, ain’t bad, can’t wait to see and hear more theme songs!
FUN FAAAACT!
the composer, Kaoru Wada, for the show is the same composer who did Inuyasha and you can HEARRRRRR IT. There are musical cues that sound like they are taken straight from Inuyasha, I kid you not! But it's not stealing if it's from your self right? And it's not lazy if it works
Animation
So i don’t wanna say i did a "binge" cause i don’t think i did, i just did a really…thorough skim of a couple of animes after watching the remake
I found out that they had Gumdam Seed and Gumdam Seed Destiny also on Netflix, and i went down a long nostalgic train (I was sick (honestly still am 🤒) & this was just perfect timing)
During that time I came to the realization of why I’m not really a big fan of the animation of now. I always felt like this but didn't know how to explain it, to put it into words...now I can
i can explain it as, the older animes are like technicolor. It’s a form of art we don’t see anymore and probably won't (can't) ever get back. To me the older animes have this vibrancy and texture we don't see anymore...
it also has this almost…ethereal glow and the animation feels more fluid while animes nowadays feel so clean and limited.
here's a comparison I found on YouTube, don't worry about the audio, it more so the animation
I know this isn’t the case for all anime and i don’t watch a lot of the new stuff but from what i have seen, this seems to be the case
But this could also just be the old, miserable geezer in me that is still watching her vhs tapes 😅
so to sum up, animation was fine, i still prefer the older version and I’m not sold on the style changing during fight scenes, nothing wrong with it! it's different, people like it & I’m sure it will grow on me 😅
this part of the show, ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 out of 5. The animation is already fine, should the series continue (and I really hope it does) I'm sure there will be a quality increase in the animation
NOW!!
ON TO THE PART I REALLY WANTED TO TALK ABOUT!!!
MY MAIN ISSUE WITH THE SHOW!!!
THE VOICE ACTING!!!!
Now if you’ve seen the show your probably thinking…”but hold on, it’s the same Japanese voice actor from the older version (in Ranma’s case) so what’s the problem…”
And you would be right but guess what I did...
And i know this is probably considered sacrilege…but i watched the dub version 🫣
I KNOW! 😭
Unfortunately it is my go to, it always has been since i was little and it’s the version that lives rent free in my head, for all the animes i used to watch
and personally I think it’s fair to compare the voice acting of the older version with this version
this might be considered a hot take, but it's just how i feel..
I don’t like it.
I HATE it.
To me, the current dub voice actors sound so deprived of personality and emotion compared the 90s version it’s almost criminal! Like they don't push themselves like the older dub.
It's something that didn't get better after multiple viewings (yeah I watched the series more than once, I think I'm currently on my fourth full viewing)
The biggest culprits to me were the VA (voice actor) for Akane, Ryoga, Nabiki, Kuno, Kasumi, Dr. Tofu, Shampoo (okay she’s not too bad but when compared to the older version…) and the background characters (like the students and other random people)
Okay so…it’s most of the main cast 😅
Akane is the biggest one for me, it just feels like the voice really doesn’t fit and the VA sounds so dull.
Like listen to this…
and now listen to this...
(You get an idea of how I feel about this VA for Nabiki here too)
You can almost feel and see the annoyance in the previous VA's voice when talking about Ranma in the recording booth, you just don’t get that with the new version.
I think the problem might also be the translation, in the remake akane is just saying THE MOST
Also as the series progresses Akane gets softer, more "vulnerable" (I put the quotations because she still yells, fights and screams lol) and again you don’t feel that with this new VA and yeah it's still early on in the series so that might change 🤞
It’s nothing against her, to me it’s just almost night and day when comparing the two
Ryoga also sounds so dull. even when he talks about Akane, he should sound almost breathless and taken, a guy completely SMITTEN! But in the remake, he's almost stoic like... no feeling.
To me he sounds like any other dub voice in the most recent animes, actually kinda feel that way about the voice of boy Ranma…they sound so, generic…and it’s such a bummer really (geez what am i, 5?)
Ranma is voiced by a girl in the old dub if you couldn't tell. Pretty common then and now (like if you didn't know, Naruto's eng dub is female 😁)
UPDATE!!
Ranma's eng dub voice is growing on me
He kinda sounds like Sonic from the movies, doesn't he?
Shampoo too, the original eng dub VA was so…distinctive that it’s really hard for me to hear anyone else lol
In regards to the background characters, they are part of the comedy and when they don’t deliver, the jokes don’t land
Even the VA for the background characters in the older version had personality and were hilarious
the way the BG (background) character says "blue thunder" I find funny, her pitch goes up which makes it funny, now compare to the remake...
one more example...
the older version...
this issue with this one might actually be editing, I think having the pause before the audience scream works better then going straight into the audience scream after hearing akane
The only one that kinnnndddaaaa works for me is Kodachi and i think that’s because the VA for her sounds similar to the previous one so i don’t have too much of an issue here 😅
I know it probably sounds like i just want the older dub again (and...in some cases, especially with the BG characters and Akane...yeaaahhh) but I don't it's just I need to...feel more from the actors doing the eng dub.
I hope this series continues, honestly i want that more than anything! but i need eng dub to get better cause right now it’s killing me.
Another issue I have, which kinda fits here, is the translation ( I hope that's right)
For the Eng dub, they use language that is so…modern that it throws me right out of the show.
I’m okay with them saying “hell” and there’s an episode where Ranma says “oh sh***” ( I don’t think he says the whole word but whatever) and this was odd for me but i was like…meh okay fine
HOWEVER…
THERE WAS THIS ONE INSTANCE THAT GOT ME!
TOOK ME RIGHT THE HECK OUT!
It was the episode where Ranma and Ryoga (well akane at first) are competing in the ice skating battle
Ranma and Ryoga are fighting as usual and Akane is trying to make them stop, in doing so she accidentally falls into a pool of water…
To Ranma and Ryoga’s surprise, she can’t swim and starts to drown…
Ranma and Ryoga jump into the water to save her and Ranma turns to Ryoga and says…
“dude, you good?”
dude, you good...???? It took me right oouuuttt! Like people don’t talk like that! okay yes young people nowadays talk like that, sometimes I do too but it seemed so out place for this anime and setting, i just found it distracting.
Honestly this might be a nitpick but i had to add it
And i know your probably thinking, “just watch the Japanese version, it’s the proper version anyway” and honestly…i just might
later…
who knows...
Sorry i know this part was long but I really needed to talk about it
This part is ⭐️⭐️ out of 5 for me because I really just wanted more from the VA and even though I was so negative I actually do feel we'll hear a difference come season 2
I saw some people online saying the older version wasn’t really faithful to the manga and they’re right. At the beginning of the older version, it pretty close but further into the series it seems like they kinda made up their own stories that was different to manga
I’m not sure why this was done, it could have been that the anime caught up to the manga so they just had to take liberties with it (filler I guess). I didn’t mind it because i felt i had double the stories with the characters and world that i really liked.
The anime was its own thing and manga was its own thing.
Personally like the ending of the manga better and i really hope this new version adapts it, it would be SO great! IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW!
It feels like maybe I was more negative towards the show than i meant to be but that really wasn’t suppose to be the case cause I did enjoy it and more than anything…
I am so happy this anime is back!
I’m so happy the older generation is loving it and feeling seen
I'm so happy a younger generation is discovering it for the first time
Regardless of my issues with it, of course I’m going to keep on watching it
Of course I’m going to have it on in the background when I’m doing stuff
And of course I’m going to recommend it so we get more of it
Thanks for reading & happy new year! 🫧
