Title: らんま1/2 (Ranma 1/2)
English Title: Ranma 1/2
Country: Japan
Language: Japanee
Year: 2011
Episode: 01
Cast:
- 新垣結衣 Aragaki Yui
- 賀来賢人Kaku Kento
- 夏菜 Natsuna
- 西山茉希 Nishiyama Maki
- 長谷川京子 Hasegawa Kyoko
- 生瀬勝久 Namase Katsuhisa
- 古田新太 Furuta Arata
- 永山絢斗 Nagayama Kento
- 田山涼成 Tayama Ryosei
- 谷原章介 Tanihara Shosuke
- 金井勇太 Kanai Yuta
SYNOPSIS
Tendo Akane is a boyish girl who is an expert in martial arts and she is fervently determined to inherit her father’s dojo. However, her father makes a unilateral decision that his successor should be a man. Moreover, he has already chosen Saotome Ranma as Akane’s husband-to-be, unaware of Ranma’s one strange characteristic -- he changes into a girl when splashed with water!
Meanwhile, Ranma puts up a fierce fight against a dubious enemy as he tries to find the “hidden hot spring” which will help him transform into a normal man! Akane’s necklace which was passed down from her lost mother seems to be the item that holds the key.
REVIEW
I have watched the Ranma 1/2 animated series when I was young so watching the live-action adaptation was quite nostalgic. Saotome Ranma is a guy who turns into a girl when his head gets wet with water and he turns back into a guy when his head gets wet with hot water. I wondered how they're going to make the transformation scenes happen in a live-action adaptation but I suppose it makes sense to use different actors: an actor for Ranma in male form and an actress for Ranma in female form.
I'm not sure why Ranma was a fun character to watch, probably because he is very insecure when he is called girly by other people. He is very sensitive that he turns into a girl so he feels the need to declare that he's a guy or assert his masculinity.
One of the main themes of the drama is what it means to be strong. Men are generally physically stronger compared to women but it doesn't necessarily mean that females are the weaker gender. Based on some studies, there are several aspects wherein the women are generally considered stronger or better than men, such as emotionally and intellectually.
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らんま1/2 (Ranma 1/2)
